The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jun. 26, 2018
Filed:
Oct. 06, 2014
Asml Netherlands B.v., Veldhoven, NL;
ASML NETHERLANDS B.V., Veldhoven, NL;
Abstract
The present invention provides a number of innovations in the area of computational process control (CPC). CPC offers unique diagnostic capability during chip manufacturing cycle by analyzing temporal drift of a lithography apparatus/ process, and provides a solution towards achieving performance stability of the lithography apparatus/process. Embodiments of the present invention enable optimized process windows and higher yields by keeping performance of a lithography apparatus and/or parameters of a lithography process substantially close to a pre-defined baseline condition. This is done by comparing the measured temporal drift to a baseline performance using a lithography process simulation model. Once in manufacturing, CPC optimizes a scanner for specific patterns or reticles by leveraging wafer metrology techniques and feedback loop, and monitors and controls, among other things, overlay and/or CD uniformity (CDU) performance over time to continuously maintain the system close to the baseline condition.