Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Comp. Ltd.

Jong-I Mou

Jo Fei Wang

Yen-Di Tsen

Sunny Wu

Po-Feng Tsai

Chin-Hsiang Lin

Andy Tsen

Chun-Hsien Lin

Jui-Long Chen

Keung Hui

Chia-Tong Ho

Hui-yun Chao

Ming-Yu Fan

Jin-Ning Sung

Chih-Wei Hsu

Chun-Lin Louis Chang

Shin-Rung Lu

Chi-Ming Yang

Hsin-Hsien Wu

Jun-Lin Yeh

Jih-Jse Lin

Zin-Chang Wei

Jo-Fei Wang

Wang Jo Fei

Heng-Hsin Liu

Tseng Chin Lo

Yi-Ping Hsieh

Chyi-Shyuan Chern

Chih-Tien Chang

Kuo-Hung Chao

Ta-Yung Lee

Cheng Yen-Wei

Chien-Chih Liao

Yen-Wei Cheng

Jill Wang

Tze-Liang Lee

Chyi Shyuan Chern

Fei-Gwo Tsai

Jui-Chun Peng

Chia-Hung Huang

Yu-Jen Cheng

Soon-Kang Huang

Sheng-Wei Lee

Wen-Pin Liu

Huang Soon Kang

Chen-Yen Huang

Mei-Jen Wu

Chih-Sheng Shih

Ming-Yeon Hung

Liu Bo-Tsun

Jung-Chang Chen

Hsin Kuan

Chia-Hsing Liao

Chin-Ti Ko

Wu Cheng-Hung

Peng Jui-Chun

Keuing Hui

Kun-Ming Chen

Dung-Yian Hsieh

Hui-Ru Lin

I-Ching Chu

Shun-Ping Wang

Monghsung Chuang

Fu-Min Huang

A system and method for aligning a probe, such as a wafer-level test probe, with wafer contacts is disclosed. An exemplary method includes receiving a wafer containing a plurality of alignment contacts and a probe card containing a plurality of probe points at a wafer test system. A historical offset correction is received. Based on the historical offset correct, an orientation value for the probe card relative to the wafer is determined. The probe card is aligned to the wafer using the orientation value in an attempt to bring a first probe point into contact with a first alignment contact. The connectivity of the first probe point and the first alignment contact is evaluated. An electrical test of the wafer is performed utilizing the aligned probe card, and the historical offset correction is updated based on the orientation value.

Method of test probe alignment control

An apparatus and a method for controlling critical dimension (CD) of a circuit is provided. An apparatus includes a controller for receiving CD measurements at respective locations in a circuit pattern in an etched film on a first substrate and a single wafer chamber for forming a second film of the film material on a second substrate. The single wafer chamber is responsive to a signal from the controller to locally adjust a thickness of the second film based on the measured CD's. A method provides for etching a circuit pattern of a film on a first substrate, measuring CD's of the circuit pattern, adjusting a single wafer chamber to form a second film on a second semiconductor substrate based on the measured CD. The second film thickness is locally adjusted based on the measured CD's.

Multi-zone temperature control for semiconductor wafer

An apparatus and method for providing target thickness and surface profile uniformity control of a multi-head chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) process is disclosed. An exemplary method includes providing at least two wafers; determining a surface profile of each of the at least two wafers; determining an operation mode for a chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) process based on the surface profiles of the at least two wafers; determining a CMP polishing recipe for each of the at least two wafers based on the operation mode; and performing the CMP process on the at least two wafers based on the determined CMP polishing recipes.

Apparatus and method for chemical mechanical polishing process control

A method and system for removing control action effects from inline measurement data for tool condition monitoring is disclosed. An exemplary method includes determining a control action effect that contributes to an inline measurement, wherein the inline measurement indicates a wafer characteristic of a wafer processed by a process tool; and evaluating the inline measurement without the control action effect contribution to determine a condition of the process tool.

Method and system for tool condition monitoring based on a simulated inline measurement

One or more methods or systems for performing chemical mechanical planarization (CMP) are provided. The system includes at least one of an emitter, a detector, a spectroscopic signal generator, a comparator, a spectral library, a controller or a CMP device. A spectroscopic signal is generated and is used to determine the thickness of a first material formed on or from a wafer by comparing the spectroscopic signal to a spectral library. Responsive to the thickness not being equal to the desired thickness, the controller instructs the CMP device to perform a rotation to reduce the thickness of the first material. The system and method herein increase the sensitivity of the CMP, such that the thickness of the first material is reduced with greater accuracy and precision, as compared to where the thickness is not measured between consecutive rotations of a wafer.

Method and/or system for chemical mechanical planarization (CMP)

A system, a method, and a non-transitory computer readable storage medium for controlling an ion implanter are disclosed herein. The system includes a sample module and a control module. The sample module is configured to generate a summarized value from process data of the ion implanter, and the process data correspond to a control parameter. The control module is configured to tune a control parameter, and the control module performs an ion implantation by releasing tools of the ion implanter in accordance with the control parameter when the summarized value meets a predetermined stability requirement.

System and method for controlling ion implanter

The present disclosure provides various methods for tool condition monitoring, including systems for implementing such monitoring. An exemplary method includes receiving data associated with a process performed on wafers by an integrated circuit manufacturing process tool; and monitoring a condition of the integrated circuit manufacturing process tool using the data. The monitoring includes evaluating the data based on an abnormality identification criterion, an abnormality filtering criterion, and an abnormality threshold to determine whether the data meets an alarm threshold. The method may further include issuing an alarm when the data meets the alarm threshold.

Qualitative fault detection and classification system for tool condition monitoring and associated methods

An apparatus, a system and a method are disclosed. An exemplary apparatus includes a wafer processing chamber. The apparatus further includes radiant heating elements disposed in different zones and operable to heat different portions of a wafer located within the wafer processing chamber. The apparatus further includes sensors disposed outside the wafer processing chamber and operable to monitor energy from the radiant heating elements disposed in the different zones. The apparatus further includes a computer configured to utilize the sensors to characterize the radiant heating elements disposed in the different zones and to provide a calibration for the radiant heating elements disposed in the different zones such that a substantially uniform temperature profile is maintained across a surface of the wafer.

Real-time calibration for wafer processing chamber lamp modules

The present disclosure provides various methods for tuning process parameters of a process tool, including systems for implementing such tuning. An exemplary method for tuning process parameters of a process tool such that the wafers processed by the process tool exhibit desired process monitor items includes defining behavior constraint criteria and sensitivity adjustment criteria; generating a set of possible tool tuning process parameter combinations using process monitor item data associated with wafers processed by the process tool, sensitivity data associated with a sensitivity of the process monitor items to each process parameter, the behavior constraint criteria, and the sensitivity adjustment criteria; generating a set of optimal tool tuning process parameter combinations from the set of possible tool tuning process parameter combinations; and configuring the process tool according to one of the optimal tool tuning process parameter combinations.

Systems and associated methods for tuning processing tools

A method of semiconductor fabrication is provided. The method includes providing a model for a device parameter of a wafer as a function of first and second process parameters. The first and second process parameters correspond to different wafer characteristics, respectively. The method includes deriving target values of the first and second process parameters based on a specified target value of the device parameter. The method includes performing a first fabrication process in response to the target value of the first process parameter. The method includes measuring an actual value of the first process parameter thereafter. The method includes updating the model using the actual value of the first process parameter. The method includes deriving a revised target value of the second process parameter using the updated model. The method includes performing a second fabrication process in response to the revised target value of the second process parameter.

Dynamic compensation in advanced process control

Among other things, systems and techniques are provided for detecting defects on a wafer based upon non-correctable error data yielded from a scan of the wafer to determine a topology of the wafer. The non-correctable error data is reconstructed to generate a non-correctable error image map, which is transformed to generate a projection. In some embodiments, the non-correctable error image map is transformed via a feature extraction transform such as a Hough transform or a Radon transform. In some embodiments, the projection is compared to a set of rules to identify a signature in the non-correctable error image map indicative of a defect.

Detection of defects on wafer during semiconductor fabrication

A method of processing first and second semiconductor wafers is provided. Each of the first and second semiconductor wafers has a first layer and a second layer over the first layer. A first lithographic process is performed on the first layer over the first semiconductor wafer using a first inter-field correction and a first intra-field correction. An overlay error of the first lithographic process is determined. A second inter-field correction and a second intra-field correction are computed based on the first inter-field correction, the first intra-field correction, and the measured overlay error. A second lithographic process is performed on the second layer over the second semiconductor wafer, based on the second inter-field correction and the second intra-field correction.

Scanner overlay correction system and method

A system and method for monitoring a process tool of an integrated circuit manufacturing system are disclosed. An exemplary method includes defining zones of an integrated circuit manufacturing process tool; grouping parameters of the integrated circuit manufacturing process tool based on the defined zones; and evaluating a condition of the integrated circuit manufacturing process tool based on the grouped parameters.

Integrated circuit manufacturing tool condition monitoring system and method

Among other things, one or more systems and techniques for retuning a semiconductor fabrication component are provided. The semiconductor fabrication component, such as an advanced process control (APC) component, is configured to evaluate or adjust various fabrication parameters associated with semiconductor fabrication processing. Processing data associated with the semiconductor fabrication component is evaluated to formulate performance indices used to evaluate performance of parameters used by the semiconductor fabrication component. One or more fabrication process change simulations are performed to generate a component operating behavior data structure indicating how different values for the parameters result in improved or degraded performance by the semiconductor fabrication component. In this way, the component operating behavior data structure is evaluated to identify tuning values for the parameters that are used to retune the semiconductor fabrication component.

Semiconductor fabrication component retuning

A system and method of automatically calculating boundaries for a semiconductor fabrication process. The method includes selecting a first parameter for monitoring during a semiconductor fabrication process. A first set of values for the first parameter are received and a group value of the first set is determined. Each value in the first set of values is normalized. A first weighting factor is selected based on a number of values in the first set. The embodiment also includes generating a first and a second boundary value as a function of the weighting factor, the first set normalized values and the group value of the first set and applying the first and second boundary values to control the semiconductor fabrication process.

Systems and methods of automatic boundary control for semiconductor processes

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Hsinpu Township, Hsinchu County, Taiwan

Jong-I Mou