Other

Asml Holding N.v.

Asml Holdings N.v.

Aviza Technology Limited

Gm Global Technolgoy Operations, Inc.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Silicon Valley Group, Inc.

Asml Us, Inc.

Hilario L Oh

Nannaji Saka

Nam Pyo Suh

Dikran S Babikian

Jamie Nam

Jiun-Yu Lai

Jason Melvin

Nanaji Saka

A method and system for managing healthcare delivery is presented. The method includes receiving data related to patients and the patients' scheduled procedures. Based on the data, a queue is generated for screening the patients. The patients are screened in accordance with the screening queue. Once screened, data related to tracking the patients is obtained. The tracking data is used to generate a tracking queue. The patients are tracked in relation to the tracking queue.

Method and system for managing operations and processes in healthcare delivery in a hospital

A semiconductor wafer fabrication system that includes at least a track system and a scanner system compensates for deviations from nominal periodicity in the scanner system by dynamically introducing time delays when such deviations are detected. Preferably prior art static wait states are also introduced into the wafer recipe to reduce probability of resource conflicts. The resultant semiconductor wafer fabrication system can enjoy enhanced wafer throughput in that synchronization of wafer flow is maintained, despite such deviations.

Method and system to compensate for scanner system timing variability in a semiconductor wafer fabrication system

The invention allows a cluster tool to change from a first recipe to a second recipe, while preserving periodicity and ensuring that there are no delays at critical points. This procedure is referred to as recipe cascading. Cascading involves emptying a first lot of wafers off a cluster tool and populating the cluster tool with another lot of wafers, serially and simultaneously. The procedure is performed with no delays incurred at critical process steps; and with no additional robots and process modules other than those called for by the recipe and throughput requirements of the entering and the exiting lots. The entering lot may also have different recipes and throughput requirements from the exiting lot. A program residing on a computer determines a schedule for the cluster tool which enables recipe cascading. The program may use a genetic algorithm to determine the schedule, or any other optimization technique.

Recipe cascading in a wafer processing system

A chemical mechanical polishing system having a wafer carrier assembly is provided. The wafer carrier assembly includes a wafer carrier support frame, a wafer carrier head housing rotable mounted on the wafer carrier support frame, with a base including a bladder bellows operating connecting the wafer carrier base to the wafer carrier head housing such that rotational torque is transferred from the wafer carrier head housing to the wafer carrier base. Further provided is a retaining ring, operatively connected to a retaining ring bearing which allows relative axial motion while constraining relative radial motion between the retaining ring and the wafer carrier head housing; and a retaining ring bellows, operatively connecting the retaining ring bearing to urge the retaining ring against a polishing member. A chamber formed by the bladder bellows, the wafer carrier base and the wafer carrier head housing may be pressurized to load the wafer carrier base against a polishing member, independent of any frictional loads on the retaining ring.

Apparatus and method for chemical mechanical polishing of substrates

A wafer cluster tool is described which operates in a regular, periodic fashion. Embodiments of the invention have a periodicity of one sending period. The invention enables the determination of pick-up times for process chambers in the cluster tool, and embodiments of the invention allow the creation and maintenance of an updated timetable. The timetable indicates times when each of the process chambers is to be serviced. These values are updated as the process chambers receive new wafers. Robots in the cluster tool may pre-position themselves in front of modules, or process chambers, to be served. Robot pre-positioning eliminates the wait time of individual modules beyond queue times which have been pre-determined for the modules. This renders the path of the individual robots pre-deterministic, and enables the cluster tool to utilize single gripper robots.

Robot pre-positioning in a wafer processing system

A method and apparatus for providing in-situ monitoring of the removal of materials in localized regions on a semiconductor wafer or substrate during chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) is provided. In particular, the method and apparatus of the present invention provides for detecting the differences in reflectance between the different materials within certain localized regions or zones on the surface of the wafer. The differences in reflectance are used to indicate the rate or progression of material removal in each of the certain localized zones.

In-situ method and apparatus for end point detection in chemical mechanical polishing

A wafer track and lithography cluster tool for performing a series of processes with a scheduler which synchronizes all events in a substrate processing system. Events in the cluster tool are scheduled to occur at regular, periodic intervals, thereby improving throughput and quality. The scheduler also eliminates conflicts for transportation resources between modules in the cluster tool. Wafers are loaded into the cluster tool at a regular interval, referred to as a sending period. All events in the system are synchronized with the sending period, and all event timings are normalized in terms of the sending period. The conflicts are resolved by selectively adding delays in modules which can tolerate them without degrading throughput or performance in the system; modules that cannot tolerate delays are exempted. The periodicity of the scheduled cluster tool enables the identification of wafers in the cluster tool. The identification of the order in which a wafer was loaded also identifies a module path followed by the wafer.

Method and apparatus for resolving conflicts in a substrate processing system

A wafer cluster tool comprising a series of processes has a scheduler which synchronizes all events in the system. Events in the cluster tool are scheduled to occur at regular, periodic intervals, thereby improving throughput and quality. The scheduler also eliminates conflicts for transportation resources between modules in the cluster tool. Wafers are loaded into the cluster tool at a regular interval, referred to as a sending period. All events in the system are synchronized with the sending period, and all event timings are normalized in terms of the sending period. The conflicts are resolved by selectively adding delays in modules which can tolerate them without degrading throughput or performance in the system; modules that cannot tolerate delays are exempted. The periodicity of the scheduled cluster tool enables the identification of wafers in the cluster tool. The identification of the order in which a wafer was loaded also identifies a module path followed by the wafer.

A method of chemical mechanical polishing of a metal damascene structure which includes an insulation layer having trenches on a wafer and a metal layer having a lower portion located in trenches of the insulation layer and an upper portion overlying the lower portion and the insulation layer is provided. The method comprises a first step of planarizing the upper portion of the metal layer and a second step of polishing the insulation layer and the lower portion of the metal layer. In the first step of planarizing the upper portion of the metal layer, the wafer and a polishing pad is urged at an applied pressure p and a relative velocity v in a contact mode between the wafer and the polishing pad to promote an increased metal removal rate. In the second, the insulation layer and the lower portion of the metal layer are polished in a steady-state mode to form individual metal lines in the trenches with minimal dishing of the metal lines and overpolishing of the insulation layer.

Chemical mechanical polishing of copper-oxide damascene structures

In the Chemical Mechanical Polishing (CMP) process employed for microelectronics manufacturing, three contact regimes between the wafer surface and the polishing pad may be proposed: direct contact, mixed or partial contact, and hydroplaning. However, an effective in situ method for characterizing the wafer/pad contact and a systematic way of relating contact conditions to the process parameters are still lacking. In this work, the interfacial friction force, measured by a load sensor on the wafer carrier, has been employed to characterize the contact conditions. Models that relate the friction coefficient to the applied pressure, relative velocity, and slurry viscosity are developed and verified by experiments. Additionally, a correlation between friction coefficient and the material removal rate (MR) is established and the effects of process parameters on the Preston constant are investigated.

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Oakland Township, MI, United States of America

Hilario L Oh