초록 ▼

An improved apparatus and process for detecting aberrations in production process operations is provided. In one embodiment, operations of a plasma etch reactor (10) are monitored to detect aberrations in etching operations. A reference end-point trace (EPT) is defined (62) for the etch process. Reg

An improved apparatus and process for detecting aberrations in production process operations is provided. In one embodiment, operations of a plasma etch reactor (10) are monitored to detect aberrations in etching operations. A reference end-point trace (EPT) is defined (62) for the etch process. Regions are defined in the reference end-point trace (70) and characteristics and tolerances for each region are defined (72-80). The etcher is run and an actual EPT is obtained (82) from the running of the etcher. The actual EPT is analyzed to identify proposed regions of the actual EPT (86), and then the proposed regions of the actual EPT are matched with regions of the reference EPT (96). The system employs a series of heuristic functions in matching proposed regions of the actual EPT with regions of the reference EPT. Characteristics of the matched regions of the actual end-point trace are compared (66) with characteristics of the corresponding regions of the reference end-point trace to determine whether aberrations have occurred during the etch process. The invention provides for an improved matching and improved comparison of actual end-point traces with reference end-point traces.

대표청구항 ▼

A method of monitoring end-point traces of a plasma etch reactor comprising: establishing a reference end-point trace for a predetermined etch process; dividing the reference end-point trace into predefined regions; conducting the predetermined etch process on a semiconductor device; obtaining an ac

A method of monitoring end-point traces of a plasma etch reactor comprising: establishing a reference end-point trace for a predetermined etch process; dividing the reference end-point trace into predefined regions; conducting the predetermined etch process on a semiconductor device; obtaining an actual end-point trace for the etch of the semiconductor device; dividing the actual end-point trace into candidate regions in accordance with predefined criteria based on changes in said actual trace; matching candidate regions of the actual end-point trace with corresponding regions of the reference end-point trace by analyzing characteristics of a candidate region of the actual end-point trace over characteristics of a region of the reference end-point trace to be matched; and comparing characteristics of regions of the actual end-point trace with corresponding characteristics of matched regions of the reference end-point trace.