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:
Dec. 09, 2003
Filed:
Mar. 08, 2000
Michael R. Conboy, Austin, TX (US);
Sam H. Allen, Jr., New Braunfels, TX (US);
Russel Shirley, Pflugerville, TX (US);
Elfido Coss, Jr., Austin, TX (US);
Advanced Micro Devices, Inc., Sunnyvale, CA (US);
Abstract
The detection of a processing deviation in a cluster tool of a wafer processing system is achieved by assigning individual wafers a set of positional coordinates each time the wafer moves within the cluster tool. In an example embodiment, a wafer is placed into a first chamber of the cluster tool and it is rotated to a certain angle of rotation. Each time the wafer moves within the cluster tool the wafer is given a different angle of rotation; both the rotation angle and the wafer location are then recorded as a set of positional coordinates. The wafer exits the cluster tool and is examined for structural or surface defects that indicate that there was a variation in the processing parameters. A wafer movement map is developed from the positional coordinates and the map is then used as an analysis tool to identify the processing location that caused defect to occur. An important advantage is the increased control and traceability that the tracking method brings to single wafer handling and processing.