System for indirectly monitoring and controlling a process with

Details System for indirectly monitoring and controlling a process with System for indirectly monitoring and controlling a process with

1995-02-21

1998-01-27

Tung, T.

Adhesive bonding and miscellaneous chemical manufacture

Differential fluid etching apparatus

With microwave gas energizing means

1566261, 1566431, 1566461, 216 58, 216 60, 216 67, H01L 2166

Patent

active

057118434

ABSTRACT:
The invention enables real-time control of a process using information regarding process properties that are indirectly related to the state of the process. A set of properties that characterize the process environment (fingerprint) is measured and used by a process results estimator to infer information regarding the state of the process and by a process condition monitor for monitoring the process to ascertain whether a particular type of condition exists. In one embodiment, optical emission spectra (OES) are used as the fingerprint. The process results estimator is sufficiently powerful to enable the process state to be inferred even when the relationship between the process environmental properties and the process state is complicated and difficult to describe with traditional mathematical models. In one embodiment, the process results estimator is embodied by a neural network. The process condition monitor can also be embodied by a neural network. Because the invention does not directly measure the process state, the invention is particularly useful in situations in which it is difficult or undesirable to directly determine the state of the process during the process such as monitoring and control of a plasma process such as plasma etching.

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C. Himmel et al., "Advantages of Plasma Etch Modeling Using Neural Networks Over Statistical Techniques", IEEE Trans. on Semiconductor Manufacturing, vol. 6, No. 2, May 1993, pp. 103-111.

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