An<i> in situ</i> monitoring method for PECVD process equipment condition

Kang, Gi‐Hwan; An, Seongpil; Kim, K; Hong, Sang Jeen

doi:10.1088/2058-6272/aafb2b

Cited by 13 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…PVD system employs plasma as other plasma process, and conventional plasma process monitoring techniques in conjunction with equipment SVID data are feasible. It is fortunate that PVD system does not include chemical reaction during the process, so the complexity of the analysis of in situ OES becomes relatively easier for the practice of e-maintenance research (Kang et al , 2019). Thus, we practiced the suggested e-maintenance study on the newly installed 6-inch metal PVD system for university R&D facility.…”

Section: Subject Mattermentioning

confidence: 99%

IOT-based in situ condition monitoring of semiconductor fabrication equipment for e-maintenance

Lee

Kwon

Seok

et al. 2021

JQME

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PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to demonstrate industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) solution to improve the equipment condition monitoring with equipment status data and process condition monitoring with plasma optical emission spectroscopy data, simultaneously. The suggested research contributes e-maintenance capability by remote monitoring in real time.Design/methodology/approachSemiconductor processing equipment consists of more than a thousand of components, and unreliable condition of equipment parts leads to the failure of wafer production. This study presents a web-based remote monitoring system for physical vapor deposition (PVD) systems using programmable logic controller (PLC) and Modbus protocol. A method of obtaining electron temperature and electron density in plasma through optical emission spectroscopy (OES) is proposed to monitor the plasma process. Through this system, parts that affect equipment and processes can be controlled and properly managed. It is certainly beneficial to improve the manufacturing yield by reducing errors from equipment parts.FindingsA web-based remote monitoring system provides much of benefits to equipment engineers to provide equipment data for the equipment maintenance even though they are physically away from the equipment side. The usefulness of IIoT for the e-maintenance in semiconductor manufacturing domain with the in situ monitoring of plasma parameters is convinced. The authors found the average electron temperature gradually with the increase of Ar carrier gas flow due to the increased atomic collisions in PVD process. The large amount of carrier gas flow, in this experimental case, was 90 sccm, dramatically decreasing the electron temperature, which represents kinetic energy of electrons.Research limitations/implicationsSemiconductor industries require high level of data security for the protection of their intellectual properties, and it also falls into equipment operational condition; however, data security through the Internet communication is not considered in this research, but it is already existing technology to be easily adopted by add-on feature.Practical implicationsThe findings indicate that crucial equipment parameters are the amount of carrier gas flow rate and chamber pressure among the many equipment parameters, and they also affect plasma parameters of electron temperature and electron density, which directly affect the quality of metal deposition process result on wafer. Increasing the gas flow rate beyond a certain limit can yield the electron temperature loss to have undesired process result.Originality/valueSeveral research studies on data mining with semiconductor equipment data have been suggested in semiconductor data mining domain, but the actual demonstration of the data acquisition system with real-time plasma monitoring data has not been reported. The suggested research is also valuable in terms of high cost and complicated equipment manufacturing.

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Section: Subject Mattermentioning

confidence: 99%

IOT-based in situ condition monitoring of semiconductor fabrication equipment for e-maintenance

Lee

Kwon

Seok

et al. 2021

JQME

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…In particular, plasma has played a significant role in plasma processes such as plasma etching [ 1 , 2 , 3 ], ashing [ 4 ], deposition [ 5 ], and plasma decomposition [ 6 , 7 ]. To analyze the process chemistry and mechanism, several instruments have been developed and utilized, such as voltage–current probes [ 8 , 9 ], optical emission spectroscopy [ 10 , 11 ], and quadrupole mass spectrometers [ 12 , 13 ]. Recently, understanding plasma behavior in plasma processing has attracted significant attention, since plasma produces chemical species and thus dominates process chemistry [ 14 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Determination of Plasma Potential Using an Emissive Probe with Floating Potential Method

et al. 2023

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Despite over 90 years of study on the emissive probe, a plasma diagnostic tool used to measure plasma potential, its underlying physics has yet to be fully understood. In this study, we investigated the voltages along the hot filament wire and emitting thermal electrons and proved which voltage reflects the plasma potential. Using a circuit model incorporating the floating condition, we found that the lowest potential on the plasma-exposed filament provides a close approximation of the plasma potential. This theoretical result was verified with a comparison of emissive probe measurements and Langmuir probe measurements in inductively coupled plasma. This work provides a significant contribution to the accurate measurement of plasma potential using the emissive probe with the floating potential method.

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“…Many studies have attempted to reduce maintenance time in plasma processes in order to improve the yield reduction and cost increase (since this is a complicated process). Changes in chamber conditions have been confirmed through process monitoring using plasma diagnostic sensors [4,5], and equipment/sensor data were used to detect equipment failures to determine equipment component failures [6,7]. Even small parts can cause etching characteristic problems in advanced plasma etching processes.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

On-Wafer Temperature Monitoring Sensor for Condition Monitoring of Repaired Electrostatic Chuck

et al. 2022

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The temperature of electrostatic chuck (ESC), a wafer susceptor used in semiconductor etch equipment, must accurately control the temperature of wafers during the etching process to obtain uniform and consistent process results. Failure to control the precise temperature can lead to rejection from the high-volume semiconductor manufacturing site (one of the most high-cost equipment components which can be repaired for its extended use). In this research, we propose a wireless-type on-wafer temperature monitoring system (OTMS) for easier and faster temperature monitoring to help temperature measurements of the repaired ESC in atmospheric and vacuum conditions. The proposed method, which can effectively measure the temperature distribution of the ESC, should manage the operational condition of ESC. A successful demonstration of the 300 mm size OTMS for the repaired parts enhanced the quality assurance with a temperature deviation of ±3.83 °C over 65 points of measurement.

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An in situ monitoring method for PECVD process equipment condition

Cited by 13 publications

References 10 publications

IOT-based in situ condition monitoring of semiconductor fabrication equipment for e-maintenance

IOT-based in situ condition monitoring of semiconductor fabrication equipment for e-maintenance

Determination of Plasma Potential Using an Emissive Probe with Floating Potential Method

On-Wafer Temperature Monitoring Sensor for Condition Monitoring of Repaired Electrostatic Chuck

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