Abstract: A system for delivering pulses of a desired mass of gas to a tool, comprising: a mass flow controller including flow sensor, a control valve and a dedicated controller configured and arranged to receive a recipe of a sequence of steps for opening and closing the control valve so as to deliver as sequence of gas pulses as a function of the recipe. The mass flow controller is configured and arranged so as to operate in either one of at least two modes: as a traditional mass flow controller (MFC) mode or in a pulse gas delivery (PGD) mode.

Abstract: A system for delivering pulses of a desired mass of gas to a tool, comprising: a mass flow controller including flow sensor, a control valve and a dedicated controller configured and arranged to receive a recipe of a sequence of steps for opening and closing the control valve so as to deliver as sequence of gas pulses as a function of the recipe. The mass flow controller is configured and arranged so as to operate in either one of at least two modes: as a traditional mass flow controller (MFC) mode or in a pulse gas delivery (PGD) mode. Further, the dedicated controller is configured and arranged to delivery pulses of gas in accordance with anyone of three different types of pulse gas delivery processes: a time based pulse delivery process, a mole based pulse delivery process and a profile based pulse delivery process.

Abstract: A system for delivering pulses of a desired mass of gas to a tool, comprising: a mass flow controller including flow sensor, a control valve and a dedicated controller configured and arranged to receive a recipe of a sequence of steps for opening and closing the control valve so as to deliver as sequence of gas pulses as a function of the recipe. The mass flow controller is configured and arranged so as to operate in either one of at least two modes: as a traditional mass flow controller (MFC) mode or in a pulse gas delivery (PGD) mode.

Abstract: A system for delivering pulses of a desired mass of gas to a tool, comprising: a mass flow controller including flow sensor, a control valve and a dedicated controller configured and arranged to receive a recipe of a sequence of steps for opening and closing the control valve so as to deliver as sequence of gas pulses as a function of the recipe. The mass flow controller is configured and arranged so as to operate in either one of at least two modes: as a traditional mass flow controller (MFC) mode or in a pulse gas delivery (PGD) mode.

Abstract: A system for delivering pulses of a desired mass of gas to a tool, comprising: a mass flow controller including flow sensor, a control valve and a dedicated controller configured and arranged to receive a recipe of a sequence of steps for opening and closing the control valve so as to deliver as sequence of gas pulses as a function of the recipe. The mass flow controller is configured and arranged so as to operate in either one of at least two modes: as a traditional mass flow controller (MFC) mode or in a pulse gas delivery (PGD) mode.

Abstract: A system for delivering pulses of a desired mass of gas to a tool, comprising: a mass flow controller including flow sensor, a control valve and a dedicated controller configured and arranged to receive a recipe of a sequence of steps for opening and closing the control valve so as to deliver as sequence of gas pulses as a function of the recipe. The mass flow controller is configured and arranged so as to operate in either one of at least two modes: as a traditional mass flow controller (MFC) mode or in a pulse gas delivery (PGD) mode. Further, the dedicated controller is configured and arranged to delivery pulses of gas in accordance with anyone of three different types of pulse gas delivery processes: a time based pulse delivery process, a mole based pulse delivery process and a profile based pulse delivery process.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for removing residue on a wafer is described. A first solution is applied to remove a first type of residue from a metal mask on the wafer. A second solution is applied to remove a second type of residue from the metal mask on the wafer.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for removing residue on a wafer is described. A first solution is applied to remove a first type of residue from a metal mask on the wafer. A second solution is applied to remove a second type of residue from the metal mask on the wafer.

Abstract: An apparatus and a method for cleaning a wafer are described. A chamber has a substrate support. A nozzle is disposed above the substrate support to spray de-ionized water droplets. The nozzle is coupled to a source of de-ionized water and a source of nitrogen. The nozzle is configured to mix the de-ionized water and the nitrogen outside the nozzle to have independent flow rate control of the two fluids for an optimized atomization in terms of spray uniformity in droplet size and velocity distributions. The nozzle to wafer distance can be adjusted and tuned to have an optimized jet spray for efficiently removing particles or contaminants from a surface of a wafer without causing any feature damage.

Abstract: An apparatus and a method for cleaning a wafer are described. A chamber has a substrate support. A nozzle is disposed above the substrate support to spray de-ionized water droplets. The nozzle is coupled to a source of de-ionized water and a source of nitrogen. The nozzle is configured to mix the de-ionized water and the nitrogen outside the nozzle to have independent flow rate control of the two fluids for an optimized atomization in terms of spray uniformity in droplet size and velocity distributions. The nozzle to wafer distance can be adjusted and tuned to have an optimized jet spray for efficiently removing particles or contaminants from a surface of a wafer without causing any feature damage.

Abstract: A capacitor structure is formed in a window in a dielectric layer of an integrated circuit. The lower electrode (or plate) is disposed on a portion side surface of the cavity but not on the top surface of the dielectric. A layer of dielectric material is disposed on the lower electrode and upon the top surface of the integrated circuit dielectric. Finally, an upper electrode (or plate) is disposed on the layer of dielectric material. Because the lower electrode is removed from a portion of the cavity sidewall and top surface of the dielectric shorting problems which could result during planarization are avoided. A technique for fabricating an integrated circuit (IC) for use in multi-level structures is also disclosed. The technique is readily incorporated into standard multi-level processing techniques. After a window is opened in the particular dielectric layer of the IC, a conductive layer is deposited in the window and forms the lower plate of a capacitor.

Abstract: The specification describes an interferometric in-situ end point detection technique for plasma etching in which the end point is predicted before any overetching occurs. It is based on the recognition that the wavelength of the monitoring beam can be selected so that only a single interferometric fringe appears before clearing. Knowing there is only one fringe, detection is simplified and the etching process can be terminated while a finite but small thickness of the layer remains. This allows etching partial thicknesses of layers. It also allows a two step etch process wherein the etch chemistry can be changed to a highly selective etch to complete clearing of the layer.

Abstract: A data visualization method and apparatus permit the representation of multi-dimensional input data sequences as output sequences of closed form visual representations known as blobs. By noting changes in the shape of blobs as processing of the input sequence progresses, changes in characteristics of entities represented by the input sequence can be readily ascertained by observation. In an illustrative embodiment, a plasma etching process used in semiconductor fabrication can be observed and controlled by monitoring changes in blobs corresponding to the etching process variables.

Abstract: A method for determining the endpoint of a plasma etch process is disclosed. The endpoint of the plasma etch process is determined using an acoustic cell attached to an exhaust port on a reaction chamber of a plasma reactor. At least a portion of the gas from the reaction chamber flows into the acoustic cell during the plasma etch process. Acoustic signals are periodically transmitted through the gas flowing in the acoustic cell and a first velocity for the acoustic signals associated with etching a first material layer formed on a substrate is determined. Thereafter, the endpoint of the plasma etch step is determined when the first velocity changes to a second velocity associated with etching the first material layer through its thickness to its interface with an underlying material layer. The gas from the reaction chamber optionally flows through a compressor prior to flowing into the acoustic cell. The compressor increases the pressure of the gas that flows into the acoustic cell.

Abstract: A process for device fabrication in which polarized light is used to monitor film thickness. The polarized light is made incident on the surface of a substrate with a film thereon that has a different reflectivity than that of the underlying substrate. The surface of the film is non-planar, either by virtue of the fact that the film is formed over a substrate with a non-planar surface, or because there is a patterned layer formed over the film, or both. The substrate is subjected to conditions that change the thickness of the film on the substrate. The polarized light that is reflected from the substrate is detected at a selected wavelength or wavelengths and a trace of the intensity of the reflected light both parallel and perpendicular to the substrate surface over time is obtained. This trace is compared to a model trace which is obtained by approximating the film thickness, and the relative amount of the areas of different reflectivity on the substrate surface.

Abstract: A non destructive method of spectroscopic ellipsometry adapted to measure the width of features in periodic structures, particularly those features which are less than one micron wide. The method is also adapted to make comparisons between a known reference structure and a sample structure, and to control the fabrication of periodic structures in a plasma etching reactor. Peaks in functions DELTA and PSI versus wavelength are monitored and correlated against reference curves, permitting etching conditions to be modified. This technique avoids the need for use of scanning electron microscopy to measure the linewidth, which is a destructive method. It also posses an advantage over scatterometry which requires several detectors arrayed at different angles from an incident beam to measure the different diffracted orders.

Abstract: The present invention is predicated upon the fact that a process signature from a plasma process used in fabricating integrated circuits contains information about phenomena which cause variations in the fabrication process such as age of the plasma reactor, densities of the wafers exposed to the plasma, chemistry of the plasma, and concentration of the remaining material. In accordance with the present invention, a method for using neural networks to determine plasma etch end-point times in an integrated circuit fabrication process is disclosed. The end-point time is based on in-situ monitoring of at least two parameters during the plasma etch process. After the neural network is trained to associate a certain condition or set of conditions with the endpoint of the process, the neural network is used to control the process.

Abstract: The present invention provides a method and apparatus for monitoring the state of an attribute of a product during the manufacturing process. The invention employs an intelligent system trained in the relationship between the signatures of the manufacturing process and the product attribute as a function of time. In one embodiment the intelligent system comprises two intelligent systems: the first, trained in the relationship between the signatures of the manufacturing process and one or more signatures of the state of the attribute as a function of time; and the second, trained in the relationship between the product-state signatures as a function of time and the product attribute as a function of time. The disclosed apparatus can be an integral part of the manufacturing machinery allowing the process to continue until the exact moment when the desired state is achieved.

Abstract: An ellipsometric method for process control in the context of device fabrication is disclosed. An ellipsometric signal is used to provide information about the device during the fabrication process. The information is used to better control the process. An ellipsometric signal of a particular wavelength is selected. The signal is selected based on the composition and thickness of the films on the substrate through which the ellipsometric signal will pass before it is reflected from the substrate. Once the appropriate wavelength is determined, the ellipsometric signal is used to monitor the thickness of the films on the substrate over time, to assist in controlling the deposition and removal of films on the substrate, and to perform other process control functions in the context of device fabrication. The ellipsometric method is used to control the deposition and removal of films that underlie patterned masks with aspect ratios of 0.