Tokyo Electron Limited

Tokyo Electron Yamanashi Limited

Masayuki Tomoyasu

Akira Koshiishi

Kazuya Nagaseki

Keizo Hirose

Kosuke Imafuku

Yukio Naito

Shosuke Endo

Kazuhiro Tahara

Merritt Funk

Hiroshi Nishikawa

Yoshio Sakamoto

Mitsuaki Komino

Hiroto Takenaka

Kevin Augustine Pinto

Asao Yamashita

Masaya Odagiri

Akira Iwami

Lemuel Chen

Hiroyuki Takahashi

Shinji Himori

Masayuki Kojima

Radha Sundararajan

Yoshifumi Tahara

Naoki Takayama

Ryo Nonaka

Kevin Lally

Tomihiro Yonenaga

James E Willis

Hideki Tanaka

Hiroo Ono

Yoshio Fukasawa

Shuji Kikuchi

Hatsuo Osada

Shigetoshi Hosaka

Hiroshi Tsuchiya

Hin Oh

Isao Kobayashi

Taro Komiya

Riki Tomoyoshi

Raymond Peterson

A processing system and method for chemical oxide removal (COR) is presented, wherein the processing system comprises a first treatment chamber and a second treatment chamber, wherein the first and second treatment chambers are coupled to one another. The first treatment chamber comprises a chemical treatment chamber that provides a temperature controlled chamber, and an independently temperature controlled substrate holder for supporting a substrate for chemical treatment. The substrate is exposed to a gaseous chemistry, such as HF/NH, under controlled conditions including surface temperature and gas pressure. The second treatment chamber comprises a heat treatment chamber that provides a temperature controlled chamber, thermally insulated from the chemical treatment chamber. The heat treatment chamber provides a substrate holder for controlling the temperature of the substrate to thermally process the chemically treated surfaces on the substrate.

Method and system for performing a chemical oxide removal process

The present invention provides a gas process apparatus that realizes uniform exhaust without depending on process conditions, a gas process chamber that constitutes the gas process apparatus, a baffle plate mounted on the gas process chamber, a method of producing the baffle plate, and an apparatus for producing the baffle plate. The baffle plate of the present invention serves as a partition between a process space in which a chemical process is carried out with a supplied gas, and a duct that is adjacent to the process space and functions to discharge exhaust gas generated as a result of the chemical process. In accordance with the difference between the pressures on both sides of the baffle plate, which difference varies depending on the location on the baffle plate, the baffle holes are disposed on a plurality of locations on the baffle plate.

Baffle plate, apparatus for producing the same, method of producing the same, and gas processing apparatus containing baffle plate

According to the present invention, multivariate analysis model expressions are generated for a plasma processing apparatusA and a plasma processing apparatusB by executing a multivariate analysis of detection data provided by a plurality of sensors included in each plasma processing apparatus when the plasma processing apparatusesA andB operate based upon first setting data. Then, when the plasma processing apparatusA operates based upon new second setting data, detection data provided by the plurality of sensors in the plasma processing apparatusA are used to generate a corresponding multivariate analysis model expression, and by using the new multivariate analysis model expression corresponding to the plasma processing apparatusA generated based upon the second setting data and to the plasma processing apparatusB, a multivariate analysis model expression corresponding to the new second setting data is generated four the plasma processing apparatusB.

Method for generating multivariate analysis model expression for processing apparatus, method for executing multivariate analysis of processing apparatus, control device of processing apparatus and control system for processing apparatus

A method for implementing FDC in an APC system including receiving an FDC model from memory; providing the FDC model to a process model calculation engine; computing a vector of predicted dependent process parameters using the process model calculation engine; receiving a process recipe comprising a set of recipe parameters, providing the process recipe to a process module; executing the process recipe to produce a vector of measured dependent process parameters; calculating a difference between the vector of predicted dependent process parameters and the vector of measured dependent process parameters; comparing the difference to a threshold value; and declaring a fault condition when the difference is greater than the threshold value.

Fault detection and classification (FDC) using a run-to-run controller

In a plasma processing method for monitoring data, first and second measurement data are obtained; and a first and a second model are formulated based on the first and the second measurement data. Further, third measurement data is obtained; and weight factors are obtained by setting the third measurement data as weighted measurement data wherein the weighted measurement data is obtained by multiplying each of the first and the second measurement data by one of the weight factors to produce first and second weighted data and summing the thus produced first and the second weighted data. Therefore, a third model is formulated by multiplying each of the first and the second model by one of the weight factors to produce first and second weighted models, and summing the thus produced first and the second weighted models.

Plasma processing method and apparatus

An observation window airtightly installed at a wall of a processing room of a plasma processing apparatus includes a body having a through hole with an opening facing the processing room, a transparent member installed at a side of the body opposite to the processing room and a magnetic pole pair having two different magnetic poles disposed opposite each other with the hole interposed therebetween. The magnetic pole pair is configured to have a sufficient magnetic field strength to prevent electrons which form a plasma in the processing room from reaching the transparent member through the hole.

Observation window of plasma processing apparatus and plasma processing apparatus using the same

There is provided a plasma processing system and method capable of decreasing the non-uniformity of a field distribution on the surface of an electrode and making the density of plasma uniform, in a plasma processing using a high density plasma which can cope with a further scale down. First and second electrodesandare provided in a chamber so as to face each other. A feeder plateis arranged so as to be slightly spaced from the opposite surface of a surface serving as a feeding plane of the first electrode facing the second electrode. A feeder rodis connected to the feeder plateat a position which is radially shifted from a position corresponding to the center of the feeding plane of the first electrode. The feeder plateis rotated to rotate the feeding position of the feeder rodon the feeding plane of the first electrode. A high frequency electric power is thus fed to form a high frequency electric field between the first and second electrodesandto form plasma to plasma-process a substrate W.

Plasma processing apparatus and method of plasma processing

A process control system that controls processing executed on semiconductor wafers by processing apparatusesinstalled in each bay (area)inside a factory the processing results of which are predictable, having installed in the corresponding bay, at least one measuring apparatusthat executes a measuring operation on workpieces undergoing the processing in the bay, a transfer pathof a transfer apparatus, through which the workpieces are transferred among various apparatuses installed within the bay including the individual processing apparatuses and the measuring apparatus and a process control devicethat controls the processing apparatuses, the measuring apparatus and the transfer apparatus in the bay. This structure reduces the length of time (cycle time) to elapse from the processing through the inspection operation and also improves the operating rate of each processing apparatus.

Process control system and process control method

An apparatus for treating a substrate which includes a chamber and an opening formed in the chamber allowing the substrate to be conveyed into the chamber or taken out thereof. The chamber, also, includes a detachable baffle plate that fits around an electrode. For treatment to commence, the substrate is placed on the electrode and the chamber is exhausted of or supplied with gases. The electrode is then vertically lifted together with the baffle plate and the baffle plate is moved either to a position that is higher in level than an upper end of the opening of the chamber or to a position that is lower in level than a lower end of the opening of the chamber. This allows the baffle plate to shield a region near the opening of the chamber from a treatment region and allows reaction products to be adhered to the baffle plate.

Plasma treatment method and apparatus

When in a chamber, an upper electrode and a lower electrode (suscepter) are provided opposite to each other and with a to-be-treated substrate supported by the lower electrode, the high-frequency electric field is formed between the upper electrode and the lower electrode to generate plasma of the process gas while introducing the process gas into the chamber held to the reduced pressure, and an etching is provided to the to-be-treated substrate with this plasma, the high frequency in the range from 50 to 150 MHZ, for example, 60 MHz, is applied to the upper electrode, and the high frequency in the range from 1 to 4 MHz, for example, 2 MHz, is applied to the lower electrode.

Etching method

A plasma treatment method comprising exhausting a process chamber so as to decompress the process chamber, mounting a wafer on a suscepter, supplying a process gas to the wafer through a shower electrode, applying high frequency power, which has a first frequency f,lower than an inherent lower ion transit frequencies of the process gas, to the suscepter, and applying high frequency power, which has a second frequency f,higher than an inherent upper ion transit frequencies of the process gas, whereby a plasma is generated in the process chamber and activated species influence the water.

A plasma treatment method comprising exhausting a process chamber so as to decompress the process chamber, mounting a wafer on a suscepter, supplying a process gas to the wafer through a shower electrode, applying high frequency power, which has a first frequency f.sub.1 lower than an inherent lower ion transit frequencies of the process gas, to the suscepter, and applying high frequency power, which has a second frequency f.sub.2 higher than an inherent upper ion transit frequencies of the process gas, whereby a plasma is generated in the process chamber and activated species influence the wafer.

Plasma treatment method utilizing an amplitude-modulated high frequency

A plasma processing apparatus comprises a chamber, and an upper electrode and a lower electrode, parallelly provided in the chamber to oppose each other at a predetermined interval, for defining a plasma generation region between the electrodes. An object to be processed is mounted on the lower electrode. RF powers are supplied to the electrodes, so that a plasma generates between the electrodes, thereby performing a plasma process with respect to the object to be processed. A cylindrical ground electrode is provided around the plasma generation region in the chamber, for enclosing the plasma in the plasma generation region, and has a plurality of through holes for passing a process gas.

Plasma processing apparatus

In a plasma etching apparatus, an inactive gas and a reactive gas are supplied from gas spouting holes into a process chamber, and are turned into plasma by means of RF discharge, so that a semiconductor wafer placed on a susceptor is etched by the plasma. An antenna formed of a solenoidal coil is arranged around the side wall of the process chamber, so as to generate an RF inductive electric field in the process chamber. A plurality of barriers are arranged to extend into the skin-depth region of the plasma from the side wall of the process chamber, so as to limit a mean free path of electrons in the skin-depth region. The barriers decrease density of low energy electrons in the skin depth region, so as to suppress progress of dissociation of the reactive gas, thereby obtaining a predetermined etching selectivity.

Growing community of inventors

Nirasaki, Japan

Masayuki Tomoyasu