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US 7,120,514 B1Granted
Method and apparatus for performing field-to-field compensation
AssigneeAdvanced Micro Devices, Inc.
InventorsChristopher A. Bode, Joyce S. Oey Hewett
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The present invention provides for a method and an apparatus for performing field-to-field compensation during semiconductor manufacturing. At least one semiconductor device is processed. Metrology data is collected from the processed semiconductor device. A field-to-field metrology analysis is performed based upon the metrology data. Residual-error analysis is performed based upon the field-to-field analysis.
Claims34
A method, comprising:
- processing at least one semiconductor device;
- acquiring metrology data from said processed semiconductor device;
- performing a field-to-field metrology analysis based upon said metrology data to determine a field-mean error;
- determining a wafer-mean error;
- comparing said field-mean error to said wafer-mean error;
- performing residual-error analysis based upon said field-to-field analysis and said wafer-mean error, said residual-error analysis comprising determining whether significant residual error exists as a result of comparing said residual error with a predetermined tolerance, said residual-error analysis being based upon said comparison of said wafer-mean error and said field-mean error data;
- and
- performing at least one of a field-level adjustment and a wafer-level adjustment based upon said residual-error analysis.
5 more elements
A system, comprising:
- a computer system;
- a manufacturing model coupled with said computer system, said manufacturing model being capable of generating and modifying at least one control input parameter signal;
- a machine interface coupled with said manufacturing model and said computer system, said machine interface being capable of receiving process data from said manufacturing model and said computer system;
- a processing tool coupled with said machine interface, said processing tool being capable of receiving at least one control input parameter signal from said machine interface and performing a manufacturing process;
- a metrology tool coupled with said processing tool, said metrology tool being capable of acquiring field-level metrology data;
- and
- a metrology data processing unit coupled with said metrology tool and said processing tool, said metrology data processing unit being capable of organizing and analyzing said acquired field-level data and calculating at least one manufacturing error based upon a comparison of a field-mean error and a wafer-mean error for generating modification data, wherein said manufacturing error comprises a residual error determined as a result of comparing said field-mean error and said wafer-mean error.
4 more elements
An apparatus, comprising:
- means for processing at least one semiconductor device;
- means for acquiring metrology data from said processed semiconductor device;
- means for performing a field-to-field metrology analysis based upon said metrology data to determine a field-mean error;
- means for determining a wafer-mean error;
- means for comparing said field-mean error to said wafer-mean error;
- means for performing residual-error analysis based upon said field-to-field analysis and said wafer-mean error, said means for performing said residual-error analysis comprising means for determining whether a significant residual error exists as a result of comparing said residual error with a predetermined tolerance, said residual-error analysis being based upon said comparison of said wafer-mean error and said field-mean error data;
- and
- means for performing at least one of a field-level adjustment and a wafer-level adjustment based upon said residual-error analysis.
5 more elements
A computer readable program storage device encoded with processing at least one semiconductor device;
- acquiring metrology data from said processed semiconductor device;
- performing a field-to-field metrology analysis based upon said metrology data to determine a field-mean error;
- determining a wafer-mean error;
- comparing said field-mean error to said wafer-mean error;
- performing residual-error analysis based upon said field-to-field analysis and said wafer-mean error, said residual-error analysis comprising determining whether a significant residual error exists as a result of comparing said residual error with a predetermined tolerance, said residual-error analysis being based upon said comparison of said wafer-mean error and said field-mean error data;
- and
- performing at least one of a field-level adjustment and a wafer-level adjustment based upon said residual-error analysis.
4 more elements
A system, comprising:
- a processing tool to process at least one semiconductor device;
- a metrology tool to acquire metrology data from said processed semiconductor device;
- a controller to determine a field-mean error and a wafer-mean error based upon said metrology data and comparing said field-mean error and said wafer-mean error to determine a residual error, the controller also to determine whether a significant residual error exists as a result of comparing said residual error with a predetermined tolerance, said residual-error analysis being based upon said comparison of said wafer-mean error and said field-mean error data, the controller also being adapted to perform at least one of a field-level adjustment and a wafer-level adjustment based upon said residual error.
An apparatus, comprising:
- a controller to determine a field-mean error and a wafer-mean error based upon metrology data relating to a processed semiconductor device and comparing said field-mean error and said wafer-mean error to determine a residual error, said controller also to determine whether a significant residual error exists as a result of comparing said residual error with a predetermined tolerance, said residual-error analysis being based upon said comparison of said wafer-mean error and said field-mean error data, the controller also being adapted to perform at least one of a field-level adjustment and a wafer-level adjustment based upon said residual error.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.