US2007158201A1PendingUtilityA1
Electrochemical processing with dynamic process control
Est. expiryJan 6, 2026(expired)· nominal 20-yr term from priority
Inventors:Eashwer Chandra Vidhya Sagar KollataAntoine P. ManensPierre FontarenskyGregory LeeAlain Duboust
B23H 5/08C25D 5/18C25D 5/22C25D 21/12
41
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Claims
Abstract
Embodiments of the invention generally provide a method for electrochemically removing material from a substrate. In one embodiment, a method for electrochemically processing a substrate includes determining a process target for a substrate; electrochemically processing the substrate; determining a deviation between expected and actual process indicators while processing, and changing at least one process variable during processing in response to the variation.
Claims
exact text as granted — not AI-modified1 . A method for processing a substrate comprising:
determining a process target for a substrate; electrochemically processing a surface of the substrate; determining a deviation between expected and actual process indicators while processing; and changing at least one process variable during processing in response to the variation.
2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the process target further comprises:
determining a profile for the surface to be processed.
3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the process target further comprises:
determining the thickness of a film disposed on the substrate in a plurality of locations.
4 . The method of claim 3 , wherein the thickness is determined through a non-destructive measuring technique.
5 . The method of claim 4 , wherein the non-destructive measuring technique is at least one of eddy current, capacitance sensing or interferometry.
6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein changing at least one process variable further comprises:
adjusting a current driving the electrochemical process.
7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein electrochemically processing the surface further comprises:
pressing the surface of the substrate against a polishing material; and establishing relative motion between the polishing material and the surface of the substrate.
8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein electrochemically processing the surface of the substrate further comprises:
basing the surface of the substrate relative to an electrode spaced apart from the surface of the substrate; and providing an electrolyte in contact with the electrode and the surface of the substrate.
9 . The method of claim 1 , wherein electrochemically processing the surface of the substrate further comprises:
pressing the surface of the substrate against a conductive polymer surface in the presence of an electrolyte; applying an electrical bias to the surface of the substrate through the conductive polymer surface; and providing relative motion between the surface of the substrate and the conductive polymer surface.
10 . The method of claim 1 , wherein electrochemically processing the surface of the substrate further comprises:
pressing the surface of the substrate against a dielectric polymer surface supported by a platen; establishing a conductive path between the surface of the substrate and an electrode supported by the platen through an electrolyte; applying an electrical bias to the surface of the substrate through an electrical contact extending from the platen; and providing relative motion between the surface of the substrate and the dielectric polymer surface.
11 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of determining further comprises:
comparing an expected current with a measured current.
12 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of determining further comprises:
comparing an expected charge with a measured charge removed from the substrate.
13 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of determining further comprises:
comparing an expected thickness with the actual thickness during the electrochemical process.
14 . The method of claim 1 , wherein changing at least one process variable further comprises:
adjusting a voltage driving the electrochemical process.
15 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of changing at least one process variable further comprises:
adjusting a process variable in a first process zone independently from a process variable for a second process zone so that an electrochemical removal rate is independently controlled in each process zone.
16 . The method of claim 1 , wherein a voltage V I driving the electrochemical process is changed in response to a deviation D i , wherein V i is a bias voltage applied in a respective process zone of a processing system wherein the electrochemical process is performed, D i is a deviation between expected and actual process indicators in a respective process zone of the processing system, and i is the number of laterally arranged process zones in the processing system.
17 . The method of claim 16 , wherein V I may be expressed as
V
i
(
t
+
Δ
t
)
=
V
i
(
t
)
+
P
×
Ie
i
(
t
)
+
I
×
Ce
i
(
t
)
D
×
ⅆ
(
Ie
(
i
)
(
t
)
)
ⅆ
t
where,
Ie i is an error in current for zone i;
Ce i is error in charge for zone I; and
P, I and D are constants.
18 . The method of claim 1 further comprising:
determining a change in a projected processing time during processing; and adjusting the electrochemical process to compensate for the determined change.
19 . The method of claim 18 , wherein adjusting the electrochemical process to compensate for the determined change further comprises:
maintaining an offset in arrival at an endpoint between a fastest and slowest processing zone within a predetermined period.
20 . The method of claim 1 further comprising:
setting process parameters based an incoming thickness profile of a film to be processed on the substrate to yield the process target.
21 . A method for processing a substrate comprising:
determining a target profile and expected process indicators for achieving the target profile; contacting a conductive surface of a substrate to a processing pad assembly, the pad assembly comprising an electrode having a plurality of zones; establishing a conductive path between the conductive surface of the substrate and at least one zone of the electrode through an electrolyte; independently controlling an electrical bias applied between the conductive surface of the substrate and each zone of the electrode; determining a deviation between expected and actual process indicators while processing; and changing at least one process variable during processing in response to the variation.
22 . The method of claim 21 further comprising:
determining a change in a projected processing time during processing; and adjusting the electrochemical process to compensate for the determined change.
23 . The method of claim 22 , wherein adjusting the electrochemical process to compensate for the determined change further comprises:
maintaining an offset in arrival at an endpoint between a fastest and slowest processing zone within a predetermined period.
24 . A method for processing a substrate comprising:
determining a target profile and expected process indicators for achieving the target profile; contacting a conductive surface of a substrate to a processing pad assembly, the pad assembly comprising an electrode having a plurality of zones; establishing a conductive path between the conductive surface of the substrate and at least one zone of the electrode through an electrolyte; independently controlling an electrical bias applied between the conductive surface of the substrate and each zone of the electrode; determining a change in projected processing time required to arrive at the target profile in at least one zone; and adjusting the electrochemical process to compensate for the determined change.
25 . The method of claim 24 , wherein adjusting the electrochemical process to compensate for the determined change further comprises:
maintaining an offset in arrival at an endpoint between a fastest and slowest processing zone within a predetermined period.Join the waitlist — get patent alerts
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