Systems and methods for processing semiconductor structures using laser pulses laterally distributed in a scanning window

Abstract

Systems and methods process structures on or within a semiconductor substrate using a series of laser pulses. In one embodiment, a deflector is configured to selectively deflect the laser pulses within a processing window. The processing window is scanned over the semiconductor substrate such that a plurality of laterally spaced rows of structures simultaneously pass through the processing window. As the processing window is scanned, the deflector selectively deflects the series of laser pulses among the laterally spaced rows within the processing window. Thus, multiple rows of structures may be processed in a single scan.

1 - 15 . (canceled) 
     
     
         16 . A system for processing structures on or within a semiconductor substrate, the system comprising:
 a laser source configured to generate a series of laser pulses;   a first deflector configured to receive the series of laser pulses and to selectively deflect the series of laser pulses within a processing window; and   a motion stage configured to scan the processing window with respect to the semiconductor substrate, a plurality of laterally spaced rows of structures simultaneously passing through the processing window as the processing window is scanned,   wherein the first deflector comprises a switching time of 100 μs or less,   wherein, as the processing window is scanned over the semiconductor substrate in a scan direction, the first deflector is further configured to selectively deflect the series of laser pulses among the laterally spaced rows within the processing window, and   wherein, with respect to the scan direction, at least one pulse series of laser pulses is deflected in a reverse direction and laterally.   
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 16 , wherein the first deflector is further configured to deflect the series of laser pulses in a first direction and in a second direction, wherein the first direction is substantially perpendicular to the scanning direction of the processing window, and wherein the second direction is substantially parallel to the scanning direction. 
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 16 , wherein the first deflector comprises an acousto-optic deflector configured to deflect the series of laser pulses within a deflection angle range of +/−4 mradians. 
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 18 , wherein the acousto-optic deflector is further configured to selectively provide a precision of 0.8 μradians within the deflection angle range. 
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 16 , wherein the first deflector comprises an electro-optic deflector. 
     
     
         21 . The system of  claim 16 , further comprising a lens configured to focus the series of laser pulses onto the semiconductor substrate. 
     
     
         22 . The system of  claim 16 , wherein the motion stage is further configured to continuously move the processing window with respect to the semiconductor substrate from a first end of the plurality of laterally spaced rows to a second end of the laterally spaced rows. 
     
     
         23 . The system of  claim 22 , wherein the motion stage is further configured to move the processing window with respect to the semiconductor substrate at a constant velocity. 
     
     
         24 . The system of  claim 22 , wherein the motion stage is further configured to vary a scanning velocity based on a changing number of structures in the laterally spaced rows currently passing through the processing window. 
     
     
         25 . The system of  claim 24 , wherein the motion stage is further configured to accelerate the scanning velocity when one or more of the laterally spaced rows comprises a relative gap between successive structures. 
     
     
         26 . The system of  claim 16 , wherein the motion stage is further configured to step the processing window between a first location relative to the semiconductor substrate and a second location relative to the semiconductor substrate, the first location corresponding to a first subset of structures and the second location corresponding to a second subset of structures. 
     
     
         27 . The system of  claim 26 , wherein the first deflector is further configured to:
 while the processing window is at the first location, selectively deflect the series of laser pulses to a first structure in the first subset of structures; and   while the processing window is at the second location, selectively deflect the series of laser pulses among the second subset of structures.   
     
     
         28 . The system of  claim 16 , wherein the first deflector is further configured to:
 deflect a first laser pulse from the series of laser pulses to a first structure in a first row, the first structure being within the processing window; and   deflect a second laser pulse from the series of laser pulses to a second structure in a second row, the second laser pulse immediately following the first laser pulse in the series of laser pulses.   
     
     
         29 . The system of  claim 16 , further comprising a second deflector configured to:
 receive the deflected laser pulses from the first deflector, the first deflector configured to deflect the laser pulses in a first direction; and   deflect the laser pulses in a second direction.   
     
     
         30 . The system of  claim 29 , wherein the first direction is substantially perpendicular to the scanning direction of the processing window moving with respect to the semiconductor substrate. 
     
     
         31 . The system of  claim 30 , wherein the second direction is substantially parallel to the scanning direction. 
     
     
         32 . A laser processing system comprising:
 a laser source configured to generate a series of laser pulses;   a motion stage configured to move a processing window with respect to a workpiece; and   a deflector configured to deflect, as the processing window moves over the workpiece in a first direction, a first laser pulse to a first structure on the workpiece within the processing window and a second laser pulse to a second structure on the workpiece within the processing window, the second laser pulse being subsequent to the first laser pulse in the series of laser pulses,   wherein, with respect to the first direction, the second laser pulse is deflected in a reverse direction and laterally, and   wherein the deflector is further configured to deflect the second laser pulse to the second structure within 100 μs after deflecting the first laser pulse to the first structure.   
     
     
         33 . The system of  claim 32 , wherein the motion stage is further configured to move the processing window in the first direction with respect to the workpiece, and wherein the deflector is further configured to deflect the series of laser pulses in a second direction with respect to the workpiece. 
     
     
         34 . The system of  claim 33 , wherein the deflector is further configured to deflect the series of laser pulses in the first direction. 
     
     
         35 . The system of  claim 32 , wherein the first structure is not adjacent to the second structure. 
     
     
         36 . The system of  claim 32 , wherein the deflector is selected from the group comprising an acousto-optic deflector and an electro-optic deflector. 
     
     
         37 - 40 . (canceled) 
     
     
         41 . A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising a plurality of program instructions stored thereon that, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform a method for processing structures on or within a semiconductor substrate, the method comprising:
 providing a series of laser pulses to a first deflector configured to selectively deflect the laser pulses within a processing window;   scanning the processing window over the semiconductor substrate, a plurality of laterally spaced rows of structures simultaneously passing through the processing window as the processing window is scanned; and   selectively deflecting the series of laser pulses among the plurality of laterally spaced rows within the processing window,   wherein, as the processing window is scanned over the semiconductor substrate in a scan direction, a first laser pulse is deflected to a first row of the laterally spaced rows and a second laser pulse is deflected to a second row of the laterally spaced rows, the second laser pulse being subsequent to the first laser pulse in the series of laser pulses,   wherein, with respect to the scan direction, the second laser pulse is deflected in a reverse direction and laterally, and   wherein the second laser pulse is deflected to the second row within 100 μs after the first laser pulse is deflected to the first row.   
     
     
         42 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 41 , wherein the first laser pulse and the second laser pulse are consecutive laser pulses in the series of laser pulses. 
     
     
         43 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 41 , wherein the first laser pulse is deflected to a first structure in the first row and the second laser pulse is deflected to a second structure in the second row, and wherein the first structure and the second structure are laterally aligned such that a straight line passes through both the first structure and the second structure, the straight line being perpendicular to a scanning direction of the processing window. 
     
     
         44 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 41 , wherein the first deflector is configured to deflect the series of laser pulses in a first direction and in a second direction, wherein the first direction is substantially perpendicular to a scanning direction of the processing window, and wherein the second direction is substantially parallel to the scanning direction. 
     
     
         45 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 41 , wherein the first deflector is selected from a group comprising an acousto-optic deflector and an electro-optic deflector. 
     
     
         46 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 41 , wherein scanning the processing window comprises continuously moving the processing window with respect to the semiconductor substrate from a first end of the plurality of laterally spaced rows to a second end of the laterally spaced rows. 
     
     
         47 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 46 , wherein continuously moving the processing window comprises moving the processing window with respect to the semiconductor substrate at a constant velocity. 
     
     
         48 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 46 , wherein continuously moving the processing window comprises varying a scanning velocity based on a changing number of structures in the laterally spaced rows currently passing through the processing window. 
     
     
         49 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 48 , wherein varying the scanning velocity comprises accelerating the scanning velocity when one or more of the laterally spaced rows comprises a relative gap between successive structures. 
     
     
         50 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 41 , wherein scanning the processing window comprises stepping the processing window between a first location relative to the semiconductor substrate and a second location relative to the semiconductor substrate, the first location corresponding to a first subset of structures and the second location corresponding to a second subset of structures. 
     
     
         51 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 50 , wherein selectively deflecting the series of laser pulses comprises:
 while the processing window is at the first location, selectively deflecting the series of laser pulses among the first subset of structures; and   while the processing window is at the second location, selectively deflecting the series of laser pulses among the second subset of structures.   
     
     
         52 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 41 , further comprising providing the deflected laser pulses from the first deflector to a second deflector, the first deflector configured to deflect the laser pulses in a first direction and the second deflector configured to deflect the laser pulses in a second direction. 
     
     
         53 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 52 , wherein the first direction is substantially perpendicular to a scanning direction of the processing window moving with respect to the semiconductor substrate. 
     
     
         54 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 53 , wherein the second direction is substantially parallel to the scanning direction.