CN112397411A

CN112397411A - Process system including extraction device and monitoring method thereof

Info

Publication number: CN112397411A
Application number: CN201910742706.8A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 魏恺进; 陈哲夫
Original assignee: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co TSMC Ltd
Current assignee: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co TSMC Ltd
Priority date: 2019-08-13
Filing date: 2019-08-13
Publication date: 2021-02-23

Abstract

A method for monitoring a process system including a pump-out device. First, a process system is provided, which comprises a process device and a pumping device, wherein the pumping device and the process device can be communicated through a pipeline. Information is then received, which includes a process equivalent for the process. Then, the process is performed by the process equipment, and the solid by-products in the process equipment are removed by the extraction equipment. Then, the thickness variation of the pipe wall of the pipeline is measured. Then, the cumulative equivalent of the solid by-product adhering to the extraction device is calculated from the thickness variation. Then, the current value of the extraction device is measured. Then, the state, the accumulated equivalent weight or the current value of the processing device is judged to obtain the accumulated state of the solid byproduct in the extraction device.

Description

Process system including extraction device and monitoring method thereof

Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to a process equipment including an extraction device and a monitoring method thereof, and more particularly, to a method for monitoring the accumulation of solid residue in an extraction device in real time, so as to determine the replacement or cleaning time of a rotor of the extraction device and prevent the process equipment from stopping without warning due to excessive accumulation of solid residue.

Background

In the semiconductor process, the reaction chamber of the processing device can be communicated with the extraction device through a pipeline. The pumping device can be used for stabilizing the pressure of the reaction chamber or removing substances such as by-products, impurities and the like which are not scheduled to be formed on the wafer in the reaction chamber, so as to prevent the wafer from being polluted.

In the process of being extracted, the byproducts and impurities may be attached to the pipeline or the extracting device, although the attachment phenomenon does not cause immediate harm to the processing device or the extracting device, the attachment phenomenon is not easy to be observed in real time, and after long-time accumulation, the extracting device or even the processing device is not stopped with early warning.

Disclosure of Invention

According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, a method for monitoring a processing system including a pump-out device is provided. The method may include the following operations. First, a process system is provided, which includes a process apparatus and a pumping apparatus, wherein the pumping apparatus and the process apparatus can be connected via a pipeline. Information is then received, which includes a process equivalent for the process. Then, the process is performed by the process equipment, and the solid by-products in the process equipment are removed by the extraction equipment. Then, the thickness variation of the pipe wall of the pipeline is measured. Then, the cumulative equivalent of the solid by-product adhering to the extraction device is calculated from the thickness variation. Then, the current value of the extraction device is measured. Next, the state, the accumulated equivalent weight or the current value of the processing device is judged to obtain the accumulated state of the solid byproduct in the extraction device.

According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, a method for monitoring a processing system including a pump-out device is provided. The method may include the following operations. First, a process system is provided, which includes a process device and a pumping device, wherein the pumping device and the process device can be connected through a pipeline. Then, the processing apparatus receives information, which includes a process equivalent, a first standard cumulative equivalent and a first standard current value of the process. Then, a validation operation is performed to validate the reliability of the first standard cumulative equivalent and the first standard current value. The validation operation comprises performing the process with a process apparatus and removing solid by-products in the process apparatus with a pull-out apparatus; obtaining a first cumulative equivalent of solid by-product adhered to the extraction device; measuring a first current value of the extraction device; and determining whether the first cumulative equivalent is equal to or higher than a first standard cumulative equivalent and/or determining whether the first current value is equal to or higher than a first standard current value.

According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, a processing system including a pump-out device is provided. The processing system including the extracting device includes a processing device, a controller, an extracting device and a thickness measuring device. The processing apparatus is configured to perform a semiconductor process, wherein the semiconductor process produces solid by-products. The controller is configured to receive information, wherein the information includes a volume of a solid byproduct of a semiconductor manufacturing process. The extraction device is communicated with the processing device through a pipeline, and is electrically connected to the current measuring device, and the current measuring device is connected to the controller in a communication manner. The thickness measuring device is arranged in the pipeline and is in communication connection with the controller.

Drawings

One embodiment of the present disclosure can be more readily understood from the following detailed description when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. It is emphasized that, in accordance with the standard practice in the industry, various features are not drawn to scale and are used for illustration only. In fact, the dimensions of the various features may be arbitrarily expanded or reduced for clarity of discussion.

FIG. 1A is a schematic block diagram illustration of a processing system according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 1B is a schematic diagram of an apparatus of the processing system of FIG. 1A;

FIG. 2 is a flow chart illustrating a method for monitoring a processing system including a pump-out device according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3A is a partial flow diagram illustrating the operation of establishing a standard;

FIG. 3B is a flowchart illustrating the operation of determining a standard value;

FIG. 3C is a flow chart illustrating operation of a process system using normalized values for monitoring according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 4A is a schematic cross-sectional view of a semiconductor structure;

FIG. 4B is a schematic top view of a semiconductor structure;

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating the operation of patterning a photoresist layer;

fig. 6 is a schematic diagram of an operation of etching the pattern layer.

[ notation ] to show

10: method of producing a composite material

20. 30, 40, S21, S22, S23, S24, S25, S26, S27, S31, S32, S33, S34, S35, S36, S37, S41, S42, S43, S44, S45, S46, S47: operation of

100: process system

110: process device

111: controller

112: drive module

120: pipeline

121: thickness measuring device

130: extraction device

131: current measuring device

133: flow velocity adjusting module

135: rotor

140: server

150: cavity body

151: gas introduction unit

152: carrying platform

160: access port

162: discharge port

200: semiconductor structure

210: base material

220: patterned layer

230: the photoresist layer

232: region(s)

234. 236: solid by-product

L1, L2: thickness of

Detailed Description

In advanced semiconductor processing, gaseous, liquid, and even solid byproducts are often generated in the process chamber as the process progresses. To prevent these byproducts from remaining in the process chamber, the process chamber is usually connected to an extraction device (e.g., an air pump) for extracting the byproducts. However, there is a higher chance that solid byproducts will remain in the extraction line or extraction device than gaseous and liquid byproducts that are more easily extracted therefrom. In particular, when excessive solid byproducts remain on the rotor of the extraction device, the rotor may not operate and the extraction device, and even the process equipment, may be shut down.

There is no method to monitor the operation of the rotor and the accumulation of solid byproducts, which can only predict the time point for replacing or cleaning the rotor according to the operation time of the device, or only replace or clean the rotor when the device is stopped due to the failure of the device. However, the use of the estimated time may cause the rotor to be replaced prematurely, which wastes the manufacturing cost; continuing the process to the device shutdown results in loss of the wafer being processed at the time of the shutdown. Therefore, there is a need to provide a method for monitoring the operation of the rotor and the accumulation of solid byproducts.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, a method for monitoring an extraction device is provided, in which an equivalent of solid byproducts corresponding to a lot of wafers (lots of wafers) undergoing a semiconductor process is calculated, and a device for measuring a thickness of a tube wall of a pipeline and a device for measuring a current of the extraction device are used to obtain a load condition of the solid byproducts in the extraction device. In some embodiments, a database containing a plurality of historical data is established by extracting the byproduct accumulation equivalent weight and the current value in the device, and a standard value for replacing or cleaning the rotor can be obtained based on the historical data. In other embodiments, the criteria obtained are validated. In a further embodiment, the cumulative equivalent and current values (referred to as cumulative equivalent and cumulative current) of processes completed at the completion of each lot of wafers or within a specified time are monitored, and the rotor may be replaced or cleaned when one or both of the cumulative equivalent and cumulative current exceeds established criteria. The method of one embodiment of the disclosure is beneficial to accurately know the time for replacing or cleaning the extraction device, can avoid the loss of the wafer caused by the shutdown in the manufacturing process, and can also save the manufacturing cost. In addition, in other embodiments, the method according to an embodiment of the disclosure is also advantageous to adjust the operation power (e.g., the pumping rate) of the pumping device according to the equivalent of the solid byproduct corresponding to each batch, so as to further achieve the energy saving effect.

Referring first to FIG. 1A, a schematic block diagram of a processing system according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown. The processing system 100 of FIG. 1A includes a processing device 110, a controller 111, a thickness measurement device 121, a current measurement device 131, and a server 140. The thickness measuring device 121 and the current measuring device 131 may be respectively in communication with the controller 111 to transmit the measured values to the controller 111. The controller 111 may be communicatively coupled to the extraction device 130 and may command the extraction device 130 to adjust the extraction rate of the extraction device 130. The server 140 may be communicatively coupled to the processing tool 110 and may instruct the processing tool 110 to stop the operation of the processing tool 110 according to the results obtained by the thickness measuring device 121 and the current measuring device 131, for example: and performing equivalent conversion, calculation and data integration judgment. The signal connection may be a wired or wireless signal connection.

Referring next to FIG. 1B, therein is shown a schematic view of the apparatus of the processing system of FIG. 1A. As shown in fig. 1B, the processing apparatus 110 includes a process chamber 150, a gas introduction unit 151, and a carrier 152. The extractor 130 includes a rotor 135, and the extractor 130 is provided with an inlet 160 and an outlet 162 for drawing in and exhausting the byproducts extracted from the process chamber 150. The process chamber 150 and the extraction device 130 are connected by a pipe 120, and the thickness measuring device 121 shown in fig. 1A may be disposed in the pipe 120 for monitoring the thickening of the pipe wall. Furthermore, the current measuring device 131 shown in fig. 1A may be coupled to the extraction device 130, for example: may be electrically connected to the rotor 135. The server 140 may be communicatively coupled to the gas introduction unit 151, for example, to instruct the gas introduction unit 151 to stop delivering the process gas when the cumulative equivalent or current value is higher than a standard value. In other embodiments, the server 140 may also be communicatively connected to a transportation device for transporting wafers, so as to instruct the transportation device to stop transporting wafers when the cumulative equivalent or current value is higher than a standard value. The processing apparatus 110 may be, for example, a machine for performing dry etching. The extraction device 130 may be, for example, a vacuum pump. The server 140 may include, for example, Statistical Process Control (SPC), Fault Detection and Classification (FDC), and other systems.

Please refer to fig. 2, which is a flowchart illustrating a monitoring method of a processing system including a pumping device according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. In the method 10, first, as shown in operation 20, a standard value is established.

Please refer to fig. 1A and fig. 3A simultaneously. FIG. 3A is a partial flow diagram of operation 20 for establishing criteria, which may include establishing a database with a plurality of historical data, and calculating criteria from such historical data. In operation S21, information regarding a process recipe equivalent for a lot of wafers is received prior to a semiconductor process. In some embodiments of operation S21, the process equivalent corresponds to an amount of solid byproducts generated during a process performed on all wafers in the batch. The process equivalent varies with the thickness of the layer to be formed, the pattern, and the number of wafers. In some embodiments, the process referred to herein includes any process that produces solid byproducts performed in the same chamber, such as: a photolithography process, an etching process, or the like, but an embodiment of the present disclosure is not limited to the illustrated example. In some embodiments, the information of the process recipe is transmitted from the server 140 to the controller 111.

In some embodiments, the process equivalent of the single wafer is calculated in a manner satisfying formula (1):

process equivalent (1) is the sum of the area to be removed x the thickness of the layer to be removed

In equation (1), the process equivalent may correspond to the total volume of material that is to be removed per wafer for the process. To obtain the process equivalent of the whole batch of wafers, the process equivalent of a single wafer is multiplied by the number of wafers.

The process equivalent calculation is described below with reference to fig. 4A and 4B, wherein fig. 4A is a schematic cross-sectional view of a semiconductor structure, and fig. 4B is a schematic top view of the semiconductor structure. In fig. 4A, the semiconductor structure 200 may include a substrate 210, a patterned layer 220, and a photoresist layer 230, wherein a region indicated by a region 232 is a portion to be removed. As shown in fig. 4B, the region 232 may have an area of a1, for example, while the pattern layer 220 of fig. 4A has a thickness L1 and the photoresist layer 230 has a thickness L2. In the following process, the photoresist layer 230 in the region 232 is removed by dry etching to expose the patterned layer 220 under the region 232, and then the remaining photoresist layer 230 is used as a mask to perform dry etching to remove the exposed patterned layer 220. Therefore, the process equivalent of the wafer can be calculated as a1 × (L1+ L2) in the process. Specifically, the operation of removing a portion of the photoresist layer 230 using an etching process may not be performed by wet etching, which may cause contamination.

In other embodiments, the photoresist layer 230 may be patterned in other cavities (not shown) by applying a developer after exposure. Since the removed photoresist layer 230 in this embodiment does not result in the loading of the solid by-

products

234, 236 of the pump-out apparatus 130 of FIG. 5, the process recipe calculation does not include the thickness of the photoresist layer 230 when performing the patterning of the photoresist layer 230 in other chambers. In short, the parameters involved in calculating the process equivalent are only considered to increase the loading of the

solid byproducts

234, 236 in the extractor 130.

In some embodiments, the substrate 210 may comprise, for example, a semiconductor substrate. For example: the substrate 210 may be silicon having a crystal structure, an element semiconductor such as germanium, a compound semiconductor such as silicon carbide, gallium arsenide, indium phosphide, or the like. Optionally, the substrate 210 may also include silicon-on-insulator (SOI) which may include epitaxial regions, isolation regions, doped regions, conductive layers, non-conductive layers, and/or semiconductor devices.

In some embodiments, the patterned layer 220 may include an anti-reflective layer, such as a nitrogen free-reflection coating (NFARC), which may include silicon oxide, silicon oxycarbide, or silicon oxide obtained by PECVD. In other embodiments, the patterning layer 220 may be a hard mask layer, which may include one or more layers, and the material thereof may include amorphous silicon, silicon oxide, silicon nitride, titanium nitride, other suitable materials, or a combination thereof. In other embodiments, the patterned layer 220 may also include a high dielectric material layer, a gate layer, a hard mask layer, an interfacial layer, a cap layer, a diffusion/barrier layer, a dielectric layer, a conductive layer, other suitable layers, and/or combinations thereof.

In some embodiments, the photoresist layer 230 is sensitive to radiation used in a photolithography exposure process and is resistant to etching (or implantation). The photoresist layer 230 may be formed by a spin-on process. In some embodiments, the photoresist layer 230 is also treated with a soft bake process. In some embodiments, the photoresist layer 230 is sensitive to radiation such as I-line light, DUV light (e.g., krypton fluoride (KrF) excimer laser light (248nm) or argon fluoride (ArF) excimer laser light (193nm)), EUV light (e.g., 135nm light), electron beam, or ion beam. In this embodiment, the photoresist layer 230 is sensitive to EUV radiation. In some examples, the photoresist layer 230 may be dissolved in a positive type developing solution after exposure to EUV radiation. Alternatively, in other embodiments, dry etching may be used to pattern the photoresist layer 230.

The photoresist layer 230 may include a photosensitizer, a polymer material, and a solvent. In some embodiments, the photoresist layer 230 is a Chemical Amplification (CA) photoresist. For example, CA photoresists are positive-type, comprising polymeric materials that, upon reaction with an acid, will be soluble in a developer or removed via dry etching. In another embodiment, the CA photoresist is negative-tone, comprising a polymer material that, after reaction with an acid, will be insoluble in a developer such as an alkaline solution or may not be removed by dry etching. In yet another embodiment, the CA photoresist comprises a polymeric material that changes polarity after reaction with an acid.

Next, as shown in operation S22, the semiconductor process is performed in the process chamber of the processing apparatus 110, and the solid byproducts generated by the process are removed by the extraction apparatus 130. Operation S22 may be performed, for example, in the embodiments shown in fig. 5 and 6, where fig. 5 illustrates the operation of patterning the photoresist layer 230 and fig. 6 illustrates the operation of etching the patterned layer 220. In FIG. 5The semiconductor process performed in the process chamber 150 may be a process of patterning the photoresist layer 230, and may be, for example, a dry etching process such as plasma etching. Specifically, the patterning layer 220 and the photoresist layer 230 are formed on the substrate 210 placed on the stage 152 of the process chamber 150, and after exposure, an etching gas is supplied through the gas inlet unit 151, and the etching gas is ionized by an electric field in the chamber 150 to remove a portion of the photoresist layer 230. In some embodiments, the etching gas used for patterning the photoresist layer 230 may be, for example, oxygen (O)₂). The removed photoresist layer 230 may be removed from the chamber 150 by the pumping device 130 in the form of solid by-products 234. For example: after the solid byproduct 234 is pumped out of the chamber 150, the solid byproduct 234 enters the interior of the pumping device 130 through the pipe 120 and the inlet 160 of the pumping device 130, and is discharged from the outlet 162.

Next, as shown in FIG. 6, the patterned photoresist layer 230 is used as a mask to etch the patterned layer 220. In this embodiment, the gas introduction unit 151 may provide an etching gas during an etching operation. In some embodiments, the etching gas used to etch the patterning layer 220 is different from the etching gas used to etch the photoresist layer 230. For example: fluorine-containing gases (e.g., CF) may be used₄、C₅F₈Etc.) as an etching gas to etch the pattern layer 220, the fluorine-containing gas has an etching selectivity to the pattern layer 220 with respect to the photoresist layer 230. The removed patterning layer 220 may be removed from the chamber 150 by the extraction device 130 in the form of solid by-products 236. For example: after the solid byproduct 236 is pumped out of the chamber 150, the solid byproduct 236 enters the interior of the pumping device 130 through the pipe 120 and the inlet 160 of the pumping device 130, and is discharged from the outlet 162.

In some embodiments, during the removal of the

solid byproducts

234, 236, a portion of the

solid byproducts

234, 236 adheres to the walls of the pipe 120. In other embodiments, during the removal of the

solid byproducts

234, 236, a portion of the

solid byproducts

234, 236 adheres to the rotor 135 of the extraction device 130.

Then, as shown in operation S23, for example, after the process is finished, the wall thickness of the pipeline is measured. In some embodiments of operation S23, the thickness of the

solid byproducts

234 and 236 accumulated on the wall of the pipe 120 can be measured by the thickness measuring device 121. In some embodiments, the thickness measuring device 121 may include, but is not limited to, a Residual Gas Analyzer (RGA), an infrared sensor, a UV sensor, an X-ray sensor, an ultrasonic sensor, or the like. In some embodiments, the thickness measuring devices 121 may be mounted at different positions of the pipe 120, and the average thickness of the

solid byproducts

234 and 236 attached to the pipe wall of the pipe 120 may be obtained by averaging the thicknesses obtained by the thickness measuring devices 121. Specifically, the embodiment of fig. 5 and 6 only shows 2 thickness measurement devices 121, but in other embodiments, other numbers of thickness measurement devices may be distributed at different positions of the pipe 120. In some embodiments, the average thickness is calculated in the controller 111 after each thickness measuring device 121 returns its thickness measurement to the controller 111. In a further embodiment, the average thickness calculated by the controller 111 may be subtracted from the average thickness of the tube wall before the batch of wafers is performed to obtain the variation of the tube wall thickness caused by the batch of wafers.

Next, as shown in operation S24, the equivalent of the

solid byproducts

234 and 236 of the extraction device 130 is calculated by using the amount of change in the wall thickness. In some embodiments, the controller 111 of the processing apparatus 110 subtracts the equivalent of the

solid byproducts

234 and 236 in the pipeline (converted from the variation of the wall thickness) from the process equivalent received in operation S21 to obtain the equivalent of the

solid byproducts

234 and 236 in the pumping device 130 resulting from the semiconductor process performed on the batch of wafers. Although a portion of the

solid byproducts

234 and 236 are exhausted through the exhaust port 162 in the processing system 100 shown in FIG. 1A, in the embodiment of the disclosure, it is assumed that the ratio of the

solid byproducts

234 and 236 exhausted through the exhaust port 162 is not changed every time, so that the equivalent amount of the exhausted

solid byproducts

234 and 236 is positively correlated with the equivalent amount of the other

solid byproducts

234 and 236 except the

solid byproducts

234 and 236 on the pipe wall, and therefore the equivalent amount of the

solid byproducts

234 and 236 exhausted through the exhaust port 162 does not affect the desired standard value (i.e., a relative value). In other words, the equivalent of the

solid byproducts

234, 236 of the extraction device 130 substantially includes the equivalent of the

solid byproducts

234, 236 discharged from the discharge port 162. In a further embodiment, the cumulative equivalent weight of the

solid byproducts

234, 236 in the extraction device 130 can be calculated by the controller 111. The cumulative equivalent may be, for example, the equivalent of the

solid byproducts

234, 236 produced by the semiconductor process performed on the batch of wafers in the extraction device 130, and the cumulative equivalent of the

solid byproducts

234, 236 that existed before the batch of wafers.

In some embodiments, the wall thickness variation may be converted to an equivalent weight according to equation (2) below:

equivalent of solid by-product in the pipeline of semiconductor process for each batch of wafers (tube wall area x tube wall thickness variation) (2)

In equation (2), the equivalent of the solid byproduct in the pipeline is equivalent to the volume of the solid byproduct attached to the pipe wall after each batch of wafers is processed.

Specifically, in some examples, assuming that the total wall area of the pipe 120 is a2, the average wall thickness measured this time is t2, and the average wall thickness measured the previous time is t1, the equivalent of solid byproducts accumulated in the pipe during the semiconductor manufacturing process of the batch of wafers is a2 × (t2-t 1). In the example given by the above formula (1), if the process equivalent of the batch of wafers is a1 × (L1+ L2), the equivalent of the

solid byproducts

234 and 236 deposited in the extraction device 130 after the batch of wafers is processed by the semiconductor process is a1 × (L1+ L2) - [ a2 × (t2-t1) ].

Further, as shown in operation S25, the current value of the extracting device 130 is detected. Specifically, when the solid byproducts 234 accumulate in the extraction device 130, particularly on the rotor 135, the operation of the rotor 135 is problematic, such that the resistance value is increased, and thus the current value of the extraction device 130 may be gradually decreased. Therefore, the current value of the detecting and extracting device 130 can also be used as a reference for monitoring the state of the extracting device 130. Similarly to operation S24, the current value is also returned to and recorded in the controller 111. In other embodiments, operations S24 and S25 may be performed simultaneously, or operations S25 may be performed after operation S24.

Thereafter, as shown in operation S26, it is determined whether the pumping device 130 is stopped due to excessive solid byproducts accumulated in the pumping device 130. If the extracting device 130 is not stopped, the operations from S21 to S26 are repeated until the extracting device 130 is stopped. When the extraction device 130 is stopped, the cumulative equivalent of the

solid byproducts

234 and 236 in the extraction device 130 at the time of the stop and the current value of the extraction device 130 are recorded and counted by the controller 111, as shown in operation S27.

The operations of S21 to S27 are repeated to accumulate the accumulated equivalent weight of the

solid byproducts

234 and 236 in the extraction device 130 and the current value of the extraction device 130 corresponding to the multiple shutdowns, so that a database of the accumulated equivalent weight and the current value can be respectively established according to the historical data. In some embodiments, repeating operations S21-S27 may include repeating operations S21-S27 during a semiconductor manufacturing process performed for each of a plurality of lots, wherein each lot is the same, and the semiconductor manufacturing process performed is the same, such that the corresponding process equivalent is the same for each lot. For example: each wafer of each lot produced in each cycle of S21-S27 has the same pattern, the same thickness of patterned layer 220 and photoresist layer 230 (fig. 5 and 6). In other embodiments, repeating operations S21-S27 may include repeating operations S21-S27 during a semiconductor manufacturing process performed for each of a plurality of lots, wherein each lot may be different, the semiconductor manufacturing process performed may be different, and thus the corresponding process equivalents may be different for each lot. For example: the number of wafers per lot produced in one cycle of S21-S27 may be different, or different lots of wafers may have different patterns, thicknesses, etc. of the patterning layer 220 and the photoresist layer 230.

In some embodiments, a single cycle of operations S21-S27 may span a semiconductor process that performs a batch of wafers (e.g., including tens, hundreds, or more wafers), such as: before a first wafer of a lot begins to be processed, the controller 111 receives the process equivalent of the lot of wafers and then begins to process the first wafer. In this embodiment, the process equivalent varies with the number of wafers in the lot. After the last wafer of the batch of wafers is processed, the wall thickness, the cumulative equivalent of the

solid byproducts

234 and 236, and the current value of the extraction device 130 can be detected or calculated to monitor the influence of the

solid byproducts

234 and 236 on the extraction device 130 in real time.

In other embodiments, operations S21 through S27 may be performed within a fixed time. For example: measurements are performed in operations S23 through S25 every several hours, wherein the process equivalent in this embodiment is determined by the number of wafers processed and the type of process performed during the several hours. For example, if the number of wafers processed in the first process is S, the process equivalent of a single wafer processed in the first process is W, the number of wafers processed in the second process is X, and the process equivalent of a single wafer processed in the second process is Y, the process equivalent for calculating the variation of the tube wall thickness in the period of time is sxw + xxy.

After the historical data is built, the standard cumulative equivalent of the

solid byproducts

234, 236 and the standard current value for the

solid byproducts

234, 236 to be stopped by the processing apparatus 110 and for the rotor 135 to be replaced or cleaned can be calculated according to the cumulative equivalent of the

solid byproducts

234, 236 and the current value of the extraction apparatus 130 recorded by the historical data. In other words, in the actual line operation, in order to avoid wafer loss caused by unexpected shutdown, the time for replacing or cleaning the rotor 135 can be determined according to the standard cumulative equivalent and/or standard current value. In some embodiments, the standard cumulative equivalent may be, for example, the average, median or a value close to the above value of each cumulative equivalent in the database when the processing apparatus 110 is shut down, such as about 1 to about 3 standard deviations of the average or median of the cumulative equivalents. In other embodiments, the standard current value may be, for example, the average, median or a value close to the above value of each current value in the database when the processing apparatus 110 is stopped, and may be, for example, about 1 to about 3 standard deviations of the average or median of the current values.

For example, referring to tables 1-1 through 1-3 below, in some examples, the processing tool 110 is shut down after performing semiconductor processing on wafers from lots 1-3, lots 4-6, and lots 7-9, respectively. The average cumulative equivalent weight of the

solid byproducts

234, 236 of the extractor 130 and the average current value of the extractor 130 may be used as a criterion based on the solid byproduct cumulative equivalent weight of the extractor and the extractor current value recorded for the three shutdowns, for example. In other words, in the mutexamples shown in tables 1-1 to 1-3, the aforementioned standard cumulative equivalent may be ((T-A) + (T ' -A ') + (T ' -A "))/3, and the standard current value may be (C3+ C6+ C9)/3.

TABLE 1-1

Tables 1 to 2

Tables 1 to 3

Wherein, T is T1+ T2+ T3, T 'is T4+ T5+ T6, T' is T7+ T8+ T9, A is A1+ A2+ A3, A 'is A4+ A5+ A6, and A' is A7+ A8+ A9.

In some embodiments, lots 1 to 9 having the same number of wafers are subjected to semiconductor processes having the same process conditions, such as an etching process for forming the photoresist layer 230 having the same pattern and thickness and the pattern layer 220 having the same pattern and thickness. In other embodiments, lot 1 to lot 9 may be subjected to a semiconductor process under similar process conditions, which may include, for example, a first etching process to form photoresist layer 230 and patterning layer 220 having a first pattern and a first thickness, and a second etching process to form photoresist layer 230 and patterning layer 220 having a second pattern and a second thickness. It should be noted that although tables 1-1 through 1-3 show a specific number of processes, these processes are merely illustrative of the operation of one embodiment of the present disclosure and are not intended to limit the scope of one embodiment of the present disclosure, and other numbers of processes are also included within the concept of one embodiment of the present disclosure.

In some embodiments, each processing system 100 may establish a separate database, so that the database and the established standard may be closer to the actual operation of the production line.

In still other embodiments, the database including the historical data may be created by continuing to perform operations S22 to shut down the extraction device 130 due to the accumulation of excessive

solid byproducts

234, 236, and performing operations S23 to S25 and S27 to obtain the cumulative equivalent of the

solid byproducts

234, 236 that caused the extraction device 130 to shut down.

Referring to FIG. 2 again, after the standard value is determined (operation 20), the determined standard value is validated, as shown in operation 30. FIG. 3B is a schematic flow chart of operation 30 for determining standard values, including a standard cumulative equivalent and a standard current value. As shown in operation S31, the standard cumulative equivalent and the standard current value are obtained through the aforementioned operation 20. Then, as shown in operation S32, a semiconductor process is performed in the reaction chamber 150, similar to operation S22, and the

solid byproducts

234, 236 produced by the process are removed from the chamber 150 by the extraction device 130. Next, as shown in operation S33, similarly to operations S23 to S25 of fig. 3A, the wall thickness is measured to calculate the cumulative equivalent of the

solid byproducts

234 and 236 of the extraction device 130, and the current value of the extraction device 130 is measured.

Then, as shown in operation S34, it is determined whether one or both of the cumulative equivalent and current values of the

solid byproducts

234, 236 of the extraction device 130 are equal to or higher than the standard cumulative equivalent and standard current values obtained in operation S31. When neither the cumulative equivalent weight nor the current value of the solid by-

products

234, 236 exceeds (i.e., falls below) such standard values, operations S32 to S34 are repeated based on the standard cumulative equivalent weight and the standard current value obtained in the original operation S31. On the other hand, when one or both of the cumulative equivalent and current values of the

solid byproducts

234, 236 are equal to or higher than the standard cumulative equivalent and standard current values obtained in operation S31, then the process apparatus 110 is observed to shut down immediately after the standard values are exceeded. The immediate shutdown, as referred to herein, may be, for example, a shutdown of the processing tool 110 due to the excess

solid byproducts

234, 236 being pumped out of the tool 130 during the processing of the next wafer after the threshold value is exceeded. In some examples, the operation S35 may be performed by, for example, manually stopping the operation of the processing apparatus 110 after determining that the threshold value is exceeded, then manually restarting the processing apparatus 110 to operate, and observing the shutdown of the processing apparatus 110. In other examples, the operation S35 can be performed, for example, after determining that the value exceeds the predetermined value, the controller 111 returns the determination result to the server 140, and the server 140 sends an instruction to the processing apparatus 110 to stop the operation of the processing apparatus 110. Thereafter, the processing tool 110 is restarted again and the processing tool 110 is observed for an immediate shutdown.

When the manufacturing apparatus 110 is determined to be stopped immediately after the standard values are exceeded, the obtained standard cumulative equivalent and/or standard current values accurately reflect the accumulation of the

solid byproducts

234, 236 in the extraction apparatus 130, so that the standard cumulative equivalent and/or standard current values are determined and applied to the subsequent process flow shown in FIG. 3C, as shown in operation S36. On the other hand, when the processing tool 110 is not immediately stopped after exceeding the standard value, the standard value obtained in operation S31 is not sufficient to reflect the accumulation of the

solid byproducts

234, 236 in the extraction device 130. At this time, as shown in operation S37, after the processing apparatus 110 is automatically stopped, operations S32 to S35 and S37 are repeated for a plurality of times (e.g., 3 to 5 times, but the present disclosure is not limited to the number of times), and the cumulative equivalent and current values of each automatic stop of the processing apparatus 110 are recorded. Then, the cumulative equivalent and current values recorded at these times are calculated together with the standard cumulative equivalent and the standard current value obtained in the aforementioned operation S31 (for example, the average or median of the cumulative equivalent and the cumulative equivalent recorded at these times, and the same applies to the current value) to obtain a new standard cumulative equivalent and a new standard current value. Thereafter, the validation operation 30 is performed again from operation S31 with the new standard cumulative equivalent and the standard current value.

In some embodiments,

operations

20 and 30 of fig. 2 may be performed by machine learning (machine learning), such as: the operation controller 111 repeats the operations of calculating the standard value, determining whether the standard value is valid, and continuously approaching an appropriate standard value based on the standard value that is not valid until the standard value is valid by a plurality of Iterative Learning Controls (ILC) to reflect the accumulation of the

solid byproducts

234 and 236 of the extraction device 130.

Next, as shown in operation 40 of FIG. 2, this criterion is applied to learn the point in time to replace or clean the rotor. Please refer to fig. 3C, which is a flowchart illustrating a method for monitoring a processing apparatus including a pull-out device. Please refer to fig. 1A, fig. 5 and fig. 6 together. First, in operation S41, similar to operation S21 of FIG. 3A, the controller 111 of the processing apparatus 110 receives information regarding a process recipe before a semiconductor process. In some embodiments, before, during or after operation S41, the controller 111 may be caused to receive the standard cumulative equivalent and the standard current value established by operation 20 of fig. 3A and validated by operation 30 of fig. 3B.

Then, similar to the operation S21 described above, in operation S42, a process is performed in the reaction chamber 150 of the processing apparatus 110, and the

solid byproducts

234 and 236 generated by the process are removed by the extraction apparatus 130. Operation S42 may be performed, for example, in accordance with the embodiments illustrated in fig. 5 and 6.

Then, similar to operation S23, in operation S43, the thickness of the pipe wall of the pipeline is measured, for example, after the semiconductor process for a lot of wafers is finished. Next, similarly as shown in operation S24, in operation S44, the equivalent amount of the

solid byproducts

234, 236 of the extraction device 130 is calculated using the amount of change in the wall thickness. Further, similarly to operation S25, in operation S45, the current value of the extraction device 130 is detected. In other embodiments, operations S44 and S45 may be performed simultaneously, or operations S44 may be performed after operation S45.

Thereafter, as shown in operation S46, it may be determined by the controller 111 whether the cumulative equivalent of the

solid byproducts

234, 236 of the extraction device 130 exceeds the standard cumulative equivalent, and/or whether the current value of the extraction device 130 exceeds the standard current value. When both the cumulative equivalent weight and the current value do not exceed the criterion, the operations S41 to S46 are repeated; however, when at least one of the cumulative equivalent and the current exceeds the standard, the controller 111 returns the determination result to the server 140, and the server 140 sends a command to the processing apparatus 110 to stop the operation of the processing apparatus 110 and replace or clean the rotor 135, as shown in operation S47. In some embodiments, when the controller 111 can send the determination result back to the server 140, the server 140 can also issue a shutdown warning to the user, so as to immediately process the problematic processing apparatus 110.

For mutexample, referring to table 2 below, in some mutexamples, the processing apparatus 110 is used to perform semiconductor processes on lots 10 to 12, and determine whether at least one of the cumulative equivalent of the pumped

solid byproducts

234 and 236 and the pumping current value is greater than, for mutexample, the standard cumulative equivalent (((T-a) + (T '-a') + (T "-a")/3) or the standard pumping current ((C3+ C6+ C9)/3) obtained in table 1 after the semiconductor process of each lot is completed. According to the example of table 2, at both batch 10 and batch 11, the cumulative equivalent of extractor solid by-product and extractor current values are less than the standard cumulative equivalent and standard current, i.e.: (T10-A10) and [ T10-A10+ T11-A11] are both less than ((T-A) + (T ' -A ') + (T ' -A "))/3, while C10 and C11 are both less than (C3+ C6+ C9)/3. In batch 12, which was run after completion of batches 10 and 11, C12 was less than (C3+ C6+ C9)/3, but [ (T10-A10) + (T11-A11) + (T12-A12) ] was greater than ((T-A) + (T ' -A ') + (T ' -A))/3. Therefore, after the batch 12 is completed, the controller 111 returns the determination result that the cumulative equivalent exceeds the standard cumulative equivalent to the server 140, and the server 140 sends an instruction to the processing apparatus 110 to stop the operation of the processing apparatus 110. In addition, the server 140 may also prompt the user to replace or clean the rotor 135 according to the determination result.

TABLE 2

In some other embodiments, between operations S41 and S42, the method further includes: the controller 111 may issue a command to the flow rate adjustment module 133 (fig. 1A) of the pumping device 130 according to the process equivalent, so that the flow rate adjustment module 133 adjusts the pumping rate of the pumping device 130. For example: when the process equivalent is small, the pumping rate of the pumping device 130 can be reduced; on the contrary, when the process equivalent is larger, the pumping rate of the pumping device 130 can be increased. This operation contributes to energy saving and cost saving of the overall process.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, a method for monitoring an extraction device is provided, which can obtain the real-time loading condition of solid byproducts in a vacuum pump and also estimate how much solid byproducts are generated by each process. The method of one embodiment of the present disclosure includes the following advantages: the method can accurately know the time for replacing or cleaning the vacuum pump, avoid the loss of the wafer caused by the shutdown in the manufacturing process, save the manufacturing cost and save the energy.

According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, a method for monitoring a processing system including a pump-out device is provided. The method may include the following operations. First, a process system is provided, which includes a process apparatus and a pumping apparatus, wherein the pumping apparatus is connected to the process apparatus through a pipeline. Information is then received, which includes a process equivalent for the process. Then, the process is performed by the process equipment, and the solid by-products in the process equipment are removed by the extraction equipment. Then, the thickness variation of the pipe wall of the pipeline is measured. Then, the cumulative equivalent of the solid by-product adhering to the extraction device is calculated from the thickness variation. Then, the current value of the extraction device is measured. Next, the state, the accumulated equivalent weight or the current value of the processing device is judged to obtain the accumulated state of the solid byproduct in the extraction device.

According to some embodiments of the foregoing, measuring the thickness variation of the pipe wall of the pipe further includes converting the thickness variation into a first equivalent of the solid byproduct.

According to some embodiments of the foregoing, calculating a cumulative equivalent of solid byproducts deposited in the extraction device includes subtracting the process equivalent from the first equivalent to obtain a second equivalent, and adding the second equivalent to a third equivalent to obtain a cumulative equivalent, wherein the third equivalent is another cumulative equivalent in the extraction device before the process is performed.

According to some embodiments, the status of the processing apparatus is determined, and the status includes a status that the processing apparatus is continuously operated or stopped.

According to some embodiments, the monitoring method further comprises recording the cumulative equivalent and the current value and calculating the standard cumulative equivalent and the standard current value after the processing apparatus stops operating.

According to some embodiments, the determining the cumulative equivalent or the current value includes determining whether the cumulative equivalent is equal to or higher than a standard cumulative equivalent and/or determining whether the current value is equal to or higher than a standard current value.

According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, a method for monitoring a processing system including a pump-out device is provided. The method may include the following operations. First, a process system is provided, which includes a process apparatus and a pumping apparatus, wherein the pumping apparatus is connected to the process apparatus through a pipeline. Then, the processing apparatus receives information, which includes a process equivalent, a first standard cumulative equivalent and a first standard current value of the process. Then, a validation operation is performed to validate the reliability of the first standard cumulative equivalent and the first standard current value. The validation operation comprises performing the process with a process apparatus and removing solid by-products in the process apparatus with a pull-out apparatus; obtaining a first cumulative equivalent of solid by-product adhered to the extraction device; measuring a first current value of the extraction device; and determining whether the first cumulative equivalent is equal to or higher than a first standard cumulative equivalent and/or determining whether the first current value is equal to or higher than a first standard current value.

According to some embodiments of the foregoing, when the first cumulative equivalent is equal to or higher than the first standard cumulative equivalent, and/or the first current value is equal to or higher than the first standard current value, the validating operation further includes observing whether the processing apparatus stops operating. Wherein, when the manufacturing apparatus stops operating, the first standard cumulative equivalent and the first standard current value are determined; or, when the processing device does not stop operating, repeating the validation operation.

According to some embodiments described above, repeating the validation operation further comprises obtaining a second cumulative equivalent of solid byproduct attached to the extraction device; measuring a second current value of the extraction device; and calculating a second standard cumulative equivalent according to the second cumulative equivalent and the first standard cumulative equivalent, and calculating a second standard current value according to the second current value and the first standard current value.

The foregoing outlines features of various embodiments so that those skilled in the art may further understand the aspects of one embodiment of the present disclosure. Those skilled in the art should appreciate that they may readily use the disclosed embodiments as a basis for designing or modifying other processes and structures for carrying out the same purposes and/or achieving the same advantages of the embodiments introduced herein. It should also be understood by those skilled in the art that the same structures described above may be made, substituted or replaced without departing from the spirit and scope of an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Claims

1. A method for monitoring a processing system including a pump-out device, comprising:

providing a processing system, wherein the processing system comprises a processing device and a pumping device, and the pumping device is communicated with the processing device through a pipeline;

receiving information, wherein the information comprises a process equivalent of a process;

the manufacturing process is carried out by the manufacturing device, and a solid by-product in the manufacturing device is removed by the extraction device;

measuring a thickness variation of a pipe wall of the pipeline;

calculating a cumulative equivalent of the solid byproduct adhered to the extracting device according to the thickness variation;

measuring a current value of the extraction device; and

a determination is made of a state of the processing apparatus, the accumulated equivalent or the current value to determine an accumulated condition of the solid byproduct in the extraction apparatus.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the act of measuring the thickness variation of the wall of the tube further comprises converting the thickness variation to a first equivalent of the solid byproduct.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the operation of calculating the cumulative equivalent of the solid byproducts deposited in the extraction device comprises:

subtracting the first equivalent from the process equivalent to obtain a second equivalent; and

adding the second equivalent to a third equivalent to obtain the cumulative equivalent, wherein the third equivalent is another cumulative equivalent in the extracting device before the process is performed.

4. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the determining operation is performed on the status of the processing apparatus, and the status comprises a status of the processing apparatus being continuously operated or stopped.

5. The method as claimed in claim 4, further comprising the step of, after the step of stopping the operation of the processing apparatus:

recording the cumulative equivalent and the current value; and

a standard cumulative equivalent and a standard current value are calculated.

6. The method as claimed in claim 5, wherein the determining the cumulative equivalent or the current value comprises determining whether the cumulative equivalent is equal to or higher than the standard cumulative equivalent and/or determining whether the current value is equal to or higher than the standard current value.

7. A method for monitoring a processing system including a pump-out device, comprising:

receiving information including a process equivalent, a first standard cumulative equivalent and a first standard current value of a process; and

performing a validation operation to validate the first normalized cumulative equivalent and a reliability of the first normalized current value, wherein the validation operation comprises:

the process is carried out by the process device, and a solid by-product in the device is removed by the extraction device;

obtaining a first cumulative equivalent of the solid byproduct adhered to the extraction device;

measuring a first current value of the extraction device; and

determining whether the first cumulative equivalent is equal to or higher than the first standard cumulative equivalent, and/or determining whether the first current value is equal to or higher than the first standard current value.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein when the first cumulative equivalent is equal to or higher than the first standard cumulative equivalent and/or the first current value is equal to or higher than the first standard current value, the validating further comprises:

observing whether the processing device stops operating, wherein:

when the manufacturing apparatus stops operating, the first standard cumulative equivalent and the first standard current value are determined; or

When the processing device does not stop operating, the validation operation is repeated.

9. The method as claimed in claim 8, wherein repeating said validating operation further comprises:

obtaining a second cumulative equivalent of the solid byproduct adhered to the extraction device;

measuring a second current value of the extraction device; and

calculating a second standard cumulative equivalent according to the second cumulative equivalent and the first standard cumulative equivalent, and calculating a second standard current value according to the second current value and the first standard current value.

10. A processing system including a pumping device, comprising:

a processing apparatus configured to perform a semiconductor process, wherein the semiconductor process generates a solid byproduct;

a controller configured to receive information, wherein the information comprises a volume of the solid byproduct of the semiconductor manufacturing process;

a drawing device, which is communicated with the processing device through a pipeline, is electrically connected to a current measuring device and is in communication connection with the controller; and

and the thickness measuring device is arranged in the pipeline and is in communication connection with the controller.