WO-2026096403-A1 - SUBSTRATE BOW MEASUREMENT AND CONTROL

Abstract

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to substrate bow measurement and control. For example, a system may include a memory, and at least one processing device, operatively coupled with the memory, to initiate a process with respect to a substrate, obtain thermal radiation data corresponding to one or more locations on the substrate, determine an amount of bow of the substrate based on the thermal radiation data, and cause at least one corrective action to be performed based on the amount of bow of the substrate. The least one action includes at least one of cause an alert to be generated, or cause at least one process parameter of the process to be changed.

Inventors

• SANCHEZ, Erica de Leon
• KIRSCHENHEITER, Thomas
• MALDONADO-GARCIA, Maribel
• ZHU, ZUOMING
• DUBE, ABHISHEK

Assignees

• APPLIED MATERIALS, INC.

Dates

Publication Date

20260507

Application Date

20251027

Priority Date

20251015

Claims (20)

1. 1. A system comprising: a memory; and at least one processing device, operatively coupled with the memory, to: initiate a process with respect to a substrate; obtain thermal radiation data corresponding to one or more locations on the substrate; determine an amount of bow of the substrate based on the thermal radiation data; and cause at least one corrective action to be performed based on the amount of bow of the substrate, the at least one corrective action comprising at least one of: cause an alert to be generated; or cause at least one process parameter of the process to be changed.
2. 2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the process comprises an epitaxial deposition process.
3. 3. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one processing device is further to: determine whether the amount of bow of the substrate satisfies a threshold condition; and in response to determining that the amount of bow of the substrate satisfies the threshold condition, cause the at least one corrective action to be performed.
4. 4. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one processing device is further to input the thermal radiation data into a machine learning model trained to perform at least one of: determine the amount of bow; or cause the at least one corrective action to be performed.
5. 5. The system of claim 1, wherein the thermal radiation data is obtained based on a plurality of thermal radiation signals, and wherein each thermal radiation signal of the plurality of thermal radiation signals corresponds to a respective location on the substrate. Attorney Docket No.: 36119.2819 (L2293PCT)
6. 6. The system of claim 5, wherein the thermal radiation data is obtained based on an average of the plurality of thermal radiation signals.
7. 7. The system of claim 1, wherein the thermal radiation data comprises a change in intensity of thermal radiation between a first radiation signal received from a given location of the substrate at an initial state of the process, and a second radiation signal received from the given location of substrate at a current state of the process.
8. 8. The system of claim 1, wherein the thermal radiation data is obtained during the process.
9. 9. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one process parameter comprises at least one of: a temperature, a pressure, a process duration, or a flow.
10. 10. A method comprising: initiating, by at least one processing device, a process with respect to a substrate; obtaining, by the at least one processing device during the process, thermal radiation data corresponding to one or more locations on the substrate; determining, by the at least one processing device, whether the thermal radiation data satisfies a threshold condition; and in response to determining that the thermal radiation data satisfies the threshold condition, causing, by the at least one processing device, at least one corrective action to be performed to address bow of the substrate.
11. 11 . The method of claim 10, wherein the process comprises a deposition process.
12. 12. The method of claim 11, wherein the deposition process is an epitaxial deposition process.
13. 13. The method of claim 12, wherein the epitaxial deposition process is superlattice epitaxy.
14. 14. The method of claim 10, wherein the thermal radiation data is obtained based on an intensity of at least one thermal radiation signal. Attorney Docket No.: 36119.2819 (L2293PCT)
15. 15. The method of claim 14, wherein the at least one thermal radiation signal comprises a plurality of thermal radiation signals, and wherein the thermal radiation data is obtained based on an intensity of each thermal radiation signal of the plurality of thermal radiation signals.
16. 16. The method of claim 15, wherein the thermal radiation data is obtained based on an average intensity of the plurality of thermal radiation signals.
17. 17. The method of claim 10, wherein causing the at least one corrective action to be performed comprises causing an alert to be generated.
18. 18. The method of claim 10, wherein causing the at least one corrective action to be performed comprises causing at least one process parameter of the process to be changed.
19. 19. The method of claim 18, wherein the at least one process parameter comprises at least one of: a temperature, a pressure, a process duration, or a flow.
20. 20. A system comprising: a processing chamber comprising a substrate support assembly; a thermal radiation detector located above the substrate support assembly; and a bow monitoring system comprising at least one processing device, operatively coupled with a memory, to: initiate a process with respect to a substrate on the substrate support assembly; obtain, from the thermal radiation detector during the process, thermal radiation data based on an intensity of a plurality of thermal radiation signals, wherein each thermal radiation signal of the plurality of thermal radiation signals corresponds to a respective location of a plurality of locations with respect to an edge region of the substrate, and wherein the thermal radiation detector is configured to rotate to measure thermal radiation at each location of the plurality of locations; and cause at least one corrective action to be performed based on an amount of bow of the substrate corresponding to the thermal radiation data, the at least one corrective action comprising at least one of : cause an alert to be generated; or cause at least one process parameter of the process to be changed.

Description

Attorney Docket No.: 36119.2819 (L2293PCT) SUBSTRATE BOW MEASUREMENT AND CONTROL TECHNICAL FIELD [0001] Embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to metrology, and more specifically relate to substrate (e.g., wafer) bow measurement and control. BACKGROUND [0002] Substrates such as wafers may be processed for a wide variety of applications, including the fabrication of integrated devices and microdevices. One method of processing substrates includes depositing a material, such as a semiconductor material or a conductive material, on an upper surface of the substrate. [0003] A substrate may become bowed because of processes performed on the substrates and/or during execution of processes on the substrate. Bow is a phenomenon seen in electronic device (e.g., semiconductor device) processing in which a substrate (e.g., a wafer) develops a deviation (e.g., curvature and/or distortion) from a flat surface. Bow may impact electronic device quality and yield. For example, bow may result in misalignment in patterned features, increase the likelihood of defects, and thus decrease yield, negatively impact performance of the electronic device, etc. Some causes of bow include stress on the substrate due to differences in material properties (e.g., coefficients of thermal expansion) of materials deposited on the surface of the substrate, temperature gradients due to uneven heating and/or cooling of the substrate during a process, etching processes that result in removal of material from the surface of the substrate that cause imbalances, etc. SUMMARY [0004] The following is a simplified summary of the disclosure to provide a basic understanding of some aspects of the disclosure. This summary is not an extensive overview of the disclosure. It is intended to neither identify key or critical elements of the disclosure, nor delineate any scope of the implementations of the disclosure or any scope of the claims. Its sole purpose is to present some concepts of the disclosure in a simplified form as a prelude to the more detailed description that is presented later. [0005] In some embodiments, a system includes a memory, and at least one processing device, operatively coupled with the memory, to initiate a process with respect to a substrate, obtain thermal radiation data corresponding to one or more locations on the substrate, determine an amount of bow of the substrate based on the thermal radiation data, and cause at least one corrective action to be performed based on the amount of bow of the substrate. The Attorney Docket No.: 36119.2819 (L2293PCT) least one action includes at least one of cause an alert to be generated, or cause at least one process parameter of the process to be changed. [0006] In some embodiments, a method includes initiating, by at least one processing device, a process with respect to a substrate, obtaining, by the at least one processing device during the process, thermal radiation data corresponding to one or more locations on the substrate, determining, by the at least one processing device, whether the thermal radiation data satisfies a threshold condition, and in response to determining that the thermal radiation data satisfies the threshold condition, causing, by the at least one processing device, at least one corrective action to be performed to address bow of the substrate. [0007] In some embodiments, a system includes a processing chamber including a substrate support assembly, a thermal radiation detector located above the substrate support assembly, and a bow monitoring system including at least one processing device, operatively coupled with a memory, to initiate a process with respect to a substrate on the substrate support assembly, and obtain, from the thermal radiation detector during the process, thermal radiation data based on an intensity of a plurality of thermal radiation signals. Each thermal radiation signal of the plurality of thermal radiation signals corresponds to a respective location of a plurality of locations with respect to an edge region of the substrate, and the thermal radiation detector is configured to rotate to measure thermal radiation at each location of the plurality of locations. The bow monitoring system is further to cause at least one corrective action to be performed based on an amount of bow of the substrate corresponding to the thermal radiation data. The at least one corrective action includes at least one of cause an alert to be generated, or cause at least one process parameter of the process to be changed. [0008] Numerous other features are provided in accordance with these and other aspects of the disclosure. Other features and aspects of the present disclosure will become more fully apparent from the following detailed description, the claims, and the accompanying drawings. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS [0009] The present disclosure is illustrated by way of example, and not by way of limitation, in the figures of the accompanyin