Optics: measuring and testing – Inspection of flaws or impurities – Surface condition
Reexamination Certificate
1996-03-14
2003-11-18
Pham, Hoa Q. (Department: 2877)
Optics: measuring and testing
Inspection of flaws or impurities
Surface condition
C356S237400, C438S006000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06650409
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a semiconductor device producing method capable of processing semiconductor works at a high yield rate by a processing apparatus for processing a semiconductor work, such as a sputtering apparatus or a CVD apparatus for forming films on semiconductor substrates, such as semiconductor wafers and TFT substrates, an etching apparatus for patterning films, a resist coat forming apparatus, an exposure apparatus or a cleaning apparatus, by reducing dust particles adhering to semiconductor substrates or semiconductor works, a system for carrying out the same semiconductor device producing method, and a processing apparatus included in the same system.
Semiconductor device producing methods and systems for carrying out the same methods are disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 5-218163 (corresponding to U.S. Pat. No. 5,463,459), Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 4-56245 (corresponding to U.S. Pat. No. 5,233,191), Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 4-152545 (corresponding to U.S. Pat. No. 5,274,434), Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 3-285339 (corresponding to U.S. Pat. No. 5,233,191), Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 3-44054 (corresponding to U.S. Application Ser. No. 07/908550), and Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 6-258239.
In these prior art techniques, however, careful consideration is not given to the reduction of dust particles adhering to semiconductor substrates, such as semiconductor wafers or TFT substrates, or semiconductor works on a processing apparatus, such as a sputtering apparatus or a CVD apparatuses for forming films on semiconductor substrates, etching apparatus for patterning films, a resist coat forming apparatus, an exposure apparatus or a cleaning apparatus, to produce semiconductor devices at a high yield rate.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to provide a semiconductor device producing method capable of processing semiconductor works at a high yield rate by a processing apparatus, such as a sputtering apparatus or a CVD apparatus for forming films on semiconductor substrates, such as semiconductor wafers and TFT substrates, an etching apparatus for patterning films, a resist coat forming apparatus, an exposure apparatus or a cleaning apparatus, by reducing dust particles adhering to semiconductor substrates or semiconductor works, and a system for carrying out the same semiconductor device producing method.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a processing apparatus, such as a sputtering apparatus or a CVD apparatus for forming films on semiconductor substrates, such as semiconductor wafers and TFT substrates, an etching apparatus for patterning films, a resist coat forming apparatus, an exposure apparatus or a cleaning apparatus, capable of processing semiconductor works at a high yield rate by reducing dust particles adhering to semiconductor substrates or semiconductor works, and a system including the same processing apparatus.
With the fore going object in view, the present invention provides a semiconductor device producing method comprising: measuring the condition of adhesion of dust particles (foreign particles) adhering to a semiconductor work by a dust particle detecting apparatus incorporated into a processing apparatus before the semiconductor work is processed by the processing apparatus; measuring the condition of adhesion of dust particles adhering to the semiconductor work by the dust particle detecting apparatus after the semiconductor work has been processed by the processing apparatus; and processing the semiconductor work to produce a semiconductor device by the processing apparatus while managing a changing condition of adhesion of dust particles by comparing the condition of adhesion of dust particles before the semiconductor work is processed and the condition of adhesion of dust particles after the semiconductor work has been processed, by managing unit.
The present invention provides a semiconductor device producing method which gives an alarm when the generating state of dust particles is abnormally so that the processing apparatus can be delayed the time for cleaning or can be extended a cleaning cycle.
According to the present invention, in the aforesaid semiconductor device producing method, the delivery of the semiconductor work to the next process is controlled on the basis of the number of dust particles adhering to the semiconductor work by the processing apparatus.
According to the present invention, a semiconductor device producing method comprises generating an alarm when measured number of dust particles on wafers of a lot in process or wafers tends to increase with time, or the measured number of dust particles is changed with time to abnormally large.
According to the present invention, a semiconductor device producing method comprises:
registering a database specifying the relation between a dust particle distribution map showing distributions of dust particles adhering to semiconductor works obtained by analyzing known semiconductor works and causes of adhesion of the dust particles to the semiconductor works; comparing measured data of an abnormal semiconductor work with known data, and specifying a mode of occurrence of faults when the measured data of the abnormal semiconductor work is similar to the known data to curtail time between finding of abnormality and taking measures to cope with the abnormality.
According to the present invention, in the aforesaid semiconductor device producing method, a method of cleaning the processing apparatus (overall cleaning or part cleaning) is specified.
According to the present invention, in the aforesaid semiconductor device producing method, an instruction is given for further detection.
According to the present invention, a semiconductor device producing method uses an interface common to a plurality of various apparatuses or simple stages, mounts the interface on desired one of the plurality of various apparatuses to use a single detection head in combination with the plurality of various apparatuses or an individual detecting apparatus.
According to the present invention, a semiconductor device producing method checks the condition of adhesion of dust particles to a semiconductor work and detects a specific dust particle appearance mode.
According to the present invention, a semiconductor device producing system has composite functions including a film thickness measuring function and an ID read function.
According to the present invention, a semiconductor device producing method and a system for carrying out the semiconductor device producing method measure the condition (the number of adhering dust particles or a dust particle distribution map showing distribution) of dust particles adhering to a work before and after processing, by a dust particle detecting apparatus included in a processing apparatus, and process the work by the processing apparatus while managing the condition of adhesion of dust particles being obtained by comparing the measured condition of adhesion of dust particles adhering to the work before processing and that after processing, by a managing unit (CPU).
According to the present invention, a semiconductor device producing method and a system for carrying out the semiconductor device producing method measure the condition (the number of adhering dust particles or a dust particle distribution map) of adhesion of dust particles to a work (semiconductor substrate) before and after processing, by a dust particle detecting apparatus included in a processing apparatus, manage a generating condition for each lot or each wafer by a managing unit (CPU) when processing the work, in accordance with comparing the measured conditions of adhesion of dust particles to the work before and after processing, and process the works for production by using the processing apparatus while controlling the feed of works to the processing apparatus by the control unit on the basis of condition of adhesion of dust particles adhering to the work for each lot or each wafer.
Accor
Doi Hideaki
Endo Fumiaki
Kembo Yukio
Matsuoka Kazuhiko
Morioka Hiroshi
Antonelli Terry Stout & Kraus LLP
Hitachi , Ltd.
Pham Hoa Q.
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