Patents by Inventor Zhaozhao Zhu

Zhaozhao Zhu has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Publication number: 20240128100
    Abstract: Spectral data associated with one or more regions of a surface of a substrate is identified. The substrate has been processed according to one or more first operations of a process recipe that is unknown to a system controller for the manufacturing system. The spectral data is provided as input to a machine learning model that is trained to predict, based on given spectral data, a respective process recipe associated with the substrate and one or more operations of the respective process recipe that have already been performed. A determination is made, based on one or more outputs of the machine learning model, that the substrate is associated with the process recipe and that one or more second operations are yet to be performed. The substrate is caused to be processed according to the one or more second operations of the process recipe.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 11, 2023
    Publication date: April 18, 2024
    Inventors: Hsinyi Tsai, Thomas Li, Zhaozhao Zhu, Michael Kutney, Upendra V. Ummethala
  • Publication number: 20240096715
    Abstract: An article includes a device, a first layer deposited on a surface of the device, and a second layer deposited on the first layer. The first layer includes a first sense material deposited on a first portion of the surface and a second sense material deposited on a second portion of the surface. The second layer includes a first etch material deposited on the first sense material and a second etch material deposited on the second sense material. Responsive to the second layer being etched during an etch process performed at a processing chamber of an electronics processing system, at least one of the first sense material or the second sense material can be detected at the surface of the device.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 27, 2023
    Publication date: March 21, 2024
    Inventors: Keith Berding, Blake Erickson, Soumendra Barman, Zhaozhao Zhu
  • Patent number: 11927543
    Abstract: A system includes a memory, and at least one processing device, operatively coupled to the memory, to facilitate an etch recipe development process by performing operations including obtaining, from an optical detector, first material thickness data for a first material and second material thickness data for a second material resulting from an iteration of an etch process using an etch recipe. The first material is located at a first reflectometry measurement point and the second material is located at a second reflectometry measurement point different from the first reflectometry measurement point. The operations further include determining one or more etch parameters based on at least the first material thickness data and the second material thickness data.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 26, 2023
    Date of Patent: March 12, 2024
    Assignee: Applied Materials, Inc.
    Inventors: Blake Erickson, Keith Berding, Michael Kutney, Soumendra Barman, Zhaozhao Zhu, Michelle SanPedro, Suresh Polali Narayana Rao
  • Patent number: 11830779
    Abstract: An article, apparatus, and method for detecting an etch material selectivity is provided. A device including a first layer and a second layer is placed in a processing chamber. The first layer includes a first sense material deposited on a first portion of the device and a second sense material deposited on a second portion of the device. The second layer deposited on the first layer includes an etch material. During an etch process based on an initial set of etch parameter settings, a first amount of time to etch the second layer at the first portion of the device and a second amount of time to etch the second layer at the second portion of the device are measured. A first etch rate and a second etch rate of the processing chamber is determined based on the measured first amount of time, the measured second amount of time, and a thickness of the second layer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 10, 2021
    Date of Patent: November 28, 2023
    Assignee: APPLIED MATERIALS, INC.
    Inventors: Keith Berding, Blake Erickson, Soumendra Barman, Zhaozhao Zhu
  • Publication number: 20230326773
    Abstract: A process recipe associated with a substrate at a manufacturing system is identified. A first set of measurements for the substrate is obtained from a substrate measurement subsystem. A second set of measurements for the substrate is obtained from one or more sensors of a chamber of the manufacturing system. A determination is made based on the obtained first set of measurements and the obtained second set of measurements of whether to modify the process recipe by at least one of modifying an operation of the process recipe or generating an instruction to prevent completion of execution of one or more operations of the process recipe.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 15, 2023
    Publication date: October 12, 2023
    Inventors: Upendra V. Ummethala, Blake Erickson, Prashanth Kumar, Michael Kutney, Steven Trey Tindel, Zhaozhao Zhu
  • Publication number: 20230295799
    Abstract: A method includes receiving, by a processing device, first data from an optical sensor of a processing chamber. The method further includes processing the first data to obtain second data. The second data includes an indication of a condition of a coating on an interior surface of the processing chamber. The method further includes generating an indication of performance of a processing operation of the processing chamber in view of the second data. The method further includes causing performance of a corrective action in view of the indication of performance of the processing chamber.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 16, 2022
    Publication date: September 21, 2023
    Inventors: Jeffrey Yat Shan Au, Sidharth Bhatia, Zhaozhao Zhu, Nicholas Ryan Pica, Varoujan Chakarian, Chenfei Hu
  • Publication number: 20230298872
    Abstract: A method includes receiving, by a processing device, first sensor data indicating a state of a wall corresponding to a first processing chamber. The first sensor data includes optical spectral data. The method further includes determining, by the processing device, a first value based on the first sensor data. The first value corresponds to a first amount of a product disposed along a surface of the wall at a first time. The method further includes determining, by the processing device, a first update to a first process operation associated with the first processing chamber based on the first value. The method further includes performing, by the processing device, one or more of (i) preparing a notification indicating the first update for presentation on a graphical user interface (GUI), or (ii) causing performance of the first process operation in accordance with the first update.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 16, 2022
    Publication date: September 21, 2023
    Inventors: Jeffrey Yat Shan Au, Joshua Thomas Maher, Varoujan Chakarian, Sidharth Bhatia, Patrick Tae, Zhaozhao Zhu, Blake W. Erickson
  • Publication number: 20230258500
    Abstract: An apparatus includes a base component and a plurality of collimators housed within the base component. Each collimator of the plurality of collimators corresponds to a respective location of a plurality of locations of a wafer in an etch chamber. The plurality of locations includes a center location of the wafer, a plurality of inner ring locations along an inner ring of the wafer associated with a first set of radially symmetric optical emission spectroscopy (OES) signal sampling paths, and a plurality of outer ring locations along an outer ring of the wafer associated with a second set of radially symmetric OES signal sampling paths.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 25, 2023
    Publication date: August 17, 2023
    Inventors: Blake Erickson, Keith Berding, Michael Kutney, Zhaozhao Zhu, Tsung Feng Wu, Michael D. Willwerth, Jeffrey Ludwig
  • Publication number: 20230236583
    Abstract: A substrate processing system includes a process chamber, one or more robot, a substrate measurement system, and a computing device. The process chamber may process a substrate that will comprise a film and/or feature after the processing. The one or more robot, to move the substrate from the process chamber to a substrate measurement system. The substrate measurement system may measure the film and/or feature on the substrate and generate a profile map of the film and/or feature. The computing device may process data from the profile map using a first trained machine learning model, wherein the first trained machine learning model outputs a first chamber component condition estimation for a first chamber component of the process chamber. The computing device may then determine whether to perform maintenance on the first chamber component of the process chamber based at least in part on the first chamber component condition estimation.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 25, 2022
    Publication date: July 27, 2023
    Inventors: Chunlei Zhang, Zhaozhao Zhu, Michael Kutney
  • Publication number: 20230238266
    Abstract: An apparatus includes a substrate holder, a first actuator to rotate the substrate holder, a second actuator to move the substrate holder linearly, a first sensor to generate one or more first measurements or images of the substrate, a second sensor to generate one or more second measurements of target positions on the substrate, and a processing device. The processing device estimates a position of the substrate on the substrate holder and causes the first actuator to rotate the substrate holder about a first axis. The rotation causes an offset between a field of view of the second sensor and a target position on the substrate due to the substrate not being centered on the substrate holder. The processing device causes the second actuator to move the substrate holder linearly along a second axis to correct the offset. The processing device determines a profile across a surface of the substrate based on the one or more second measurements of the target positions.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 25, 2022
    Publication date: July 27, 2023
    Inventors: Patricia Schulze, Gregory John Freeman, Michael Kutney, Arunkumar Ramachandraiah, Chih Chung Chou, Zhaozhao Zhu, Ozkan Celik
  • Publication number: 20230236569
    Abstract: A method includes processing a substrate in a process chamber according to a recipe, wherein the substrate comprises at least one of a film or a feature after the processing. The method further includes generating a profile map of the first substrate. The method further includes processing data from the profile map using a first model, wherein the first model outputs at least one of an estimated mesa condition of a substrate support for the process chamber, an estimated lift pin location condition of the substrate support an estimated seal band condition of the substrate support, or an estimated process kit ring condition for a process kit ring for the process chamber. The method further includes outputting a notice as a result of the processing.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 5, 2022
    Publication date: July 27, 2023
    Inventors: Chunlei Zhang, Zhaozhao Zhu, Michael Kutney
  • Patent number: 11688616
    Abstract: A method for determining whether to modify a manufacturing process recipe is provided. A substrate to be processed at a manufacturing system according to the first process recipe is identified. An instruction to transfer the substrate to a substrate measurement subsystem to obtain a first set of measurements for the substrate is generated. The first set of measurements for the substrate is received from the substrate measurement subsystem. An instruction to transfer the substrate from the substrate measurement subsystem to a processing chamber is generated. A second set of measurements for the substrate is received from one or more sensors of the processing chamber. A first mapping between the first set of measurements and the second set of measurements for the substrate is generated. The first set of measurements mapped to the second set of measurements for the substrate is stored.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 19, 2021
    Date of Patent: June 27, 2023
    Assignee: Applied Materials, Inc.
    Inventors: Upendra V. Ummethala, Blake Erickson, Prashanth Kumar, Michael Kutney, Steven Trey Tindel, Zhaozhao Zhu
  • Patent number: 11668602
    Abstract: An apparatus includes a base component and collimators housed within the base component. The collimators correspond to collection cylinders for sampling optical emission spectroscopy (OES) signals with respect to locations of a wafer in an etch chamber. The apparatus further includes a guide, operatively coupled to the plurality of collimators, to guide the sampling of the OES signals along paths for sampling the OES signals.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 20, 2021
    Date of Patent: June 6, 2023
    Assignee: Applied Materials, Inc.
    Inventors: Blake Erickson, Keith Berding, Michael Kutney, Zhaozhao Zhu, Tsung Feng Wu, Michael D. Willwerth, Jeffrey Ludwig
  • Publication number: 20230168210
    Abstract: A system includes a memory, and at least one processing device, operatively coupled to the memory, to facilitate an etch recipe development process by performing operations including obtaining, from an optical detector, first material thickness data for a first material and second material thickness data for a second material resulting from an iteration of an etch process using an etch recipe. The first material is located at a first reflectometry measurement point and the second material is located at a second reflectometry measurement point different from the first reflectometry measurement point. The operations further include determining one or more etch parameters based on at least the first material thickness data and the second material thickness data.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 26, 2023
    Publication date: June 1, 2023
    Inventors: Blake Erickson, Keith Berding, Michael Kutney, Soumendra Barman, Zhaozhao Zhu, Michelle SanPedro, Suresh Polali Narayana Rao
  • Patent number: 11619594
    Abstract: A system includes a memory and at least one processing device operatively coupled to the memory to facilitate an etch recipe development process by performing a number of operations. The operations include receiving a request to initiate an iteration of an etch process using an etch recipe to etch a plurality of materials each located at a respective one of a plurality of reflectometry measurement points, obtaining material thickness data for each of the plurality of materials resulting from the iteration of the etch process, and determining one or more etch parameters based on the material thickness data.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 28, 2021
    Date of Patent: April 4, 2023
    Assignee: Applied Materials, Inc.
    Inventors: Blake Erickson, Keith Berding, Michael Kutney, Soumendra Barman, Zhaozhao Zhu, Michelle SanPedro, Suresh Polali Narayana Rao
  • Publication number: 20230078567
    Abstract: Implementations disclosed describe a system including a light source, an optical sensor, and a processing device. The light source directs, during a first time, a probe light into a processing chamber through a window. The light source ceases, during a second time, directing the probe light into the processing chamber through the window. The optical sensor detects, during the first time, a first intensity of a first light. The first light includes a portion of the probe light reflected from the window and a light transmitted from an environment of the processing chamber through the window. The optical sensor detects, during the second time, a second intensity of a second light. The second light includes the light transmitted from the environment of the processing chamber through the window. The processing device determines, using the first intensity and the second intensity, a transmission coefficient of the window.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 15, 2021
    Publication date: March 16, 2023
    Inventors: Patrick Tae, Zhaozhao Zhu, Blake W. Erickson, Chunlei Zhang
  • Publication number: 20230062206
    Abstract: Spectral data associated with a first prior substrate and/or a second prior substrate is obtained. A metrology measurement value associated with the first portion of the first prior substrate is determined based on one or more metrology measurement values measured for at least one of a second portion of the first prior substrate or a third portion of a second prior substrate. Training data for training a machine learning model to predict metrology measurement values of a current substrate is generated. Generating the training data includes generating a first training input including the spectral data associated with the first prior substrate and generating a first target output for the first training input, the first target output including the determined metrology measurement value associated with the first portion of the first prior substrate. The training data is provided to train the machine learning model.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 14, 2022
    Publication date: March 2, 2023
    Inventors: Thomas Li, Upendra V. Ummethala, Blake Erickson, Prashanth Kumar, Michael Kutney, Steven Trey Tindel, Zhaozhao Zhu
  • Publication number: 20220349833
    Abstract: A system includes a memory and at least one processing device operatively coupled to the memory to facilitate an etch recipe development process by performing a number of operations. The operations include receiving a request to initiate an iteration of an etch process using an etch recipe to etch a plurality of materials each located at a respective one of a plurality of reflectometry measurement points, obtaining material thickness data for each of the plurality of materials resulting from the iteration of the etch process, and determining one or more etch parameters based on the material thickness data.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 28, 2021
    Publication date: November 3, 2022
    Inventors: Blake Erickson, Keith Berding, Michael Kutney, Soumendra Barman, Zhaozhao Zhu, Michelle SanPedro, Suresh Polali Narayana Rao
  • Publication number: 20220333989
    Abstract: An apparatus includes a base component and collimators housed within the base component. The collimators correspond to collection cylinders for sampling optical emission spectroscopy (OES) signals with respect to locations of a wafer in an etch chamber. The apparatus further includes a guide, operatively coupled to the plurality of collimators, to guide the sampling of the OES signals along paths for sampling the OES signals.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 20, 2021
    Publication date: October 20, 2022
    Inventors: Blake Erickson, Keith Berding, Michael Kutney, Zhaozhao Zhu, Tsung Feng Wu, Michael D. Willwerth, Jeffrey Ludwig
  • Patent number: D977504
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 22, 2020
    Date of Patent: February 7, 2023
    Assignee: Applied Materials, Inc.
    Inventors: Upendra V. Ummethala, Blake Erickson, Prashanth Kumar, Michael Kutney, Steven Trey Tindel, Zhaozhao Zhu