Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Comp. Ltd.

Yen-Hsun Wu

Yi-Hua Cheng

Methods are provided for recycling a dummy wafer so that the dummy wafer may be repeatedly used in a deposition process. The dummy wafer includes a substrate and an oxide layer on the substrate that is formed by the deposition process. A thickness of the oxide layer on the dummy wafer may be measured, and the dummy wafer may be subjected to recycling depending on whether the measured thickness of the oxide layer exceeds a threshold thickness. The dummy wafer is recycled by removing the oxide layer, which may be accomplished by performing an etching process. A mechanical polishing process may be performed to smooth the surface of the substrate. The dummy wafer may then be reused in a subsequent deposition process.

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Kaohsiung, Taiwan

Yen-Hsun Wu