Calibration of an aligner station of a processing system

US11823937B2 · kind B2 · utility

Assignee

• Applied Materials, Inc. · US

Inventors

• Nicholas Michael Bergantz · Sunnyvale, US
• Andreas Schmid · Duisburg, DE
• Leon Volfovski · Mountain View, US
• Sanggyum Kim · Sunnyvale, US
• Damon K. Cox · Round Rock, US
• Paul Z. Wirth · Kalispell, US

Key dates

• Filing date: Aug 11, 2020
• Grant date: Nov 21, 2023
• Expiry date: Jun 2, 2041

Classification

• Technology area (CPC H): Electricity
• CPC primary: H01L21/68707
• WIPO field: Semiconductors
• WIPO sector: Electrical engineering

Abstract

A calibration object is retrieved, by a first robot arm of a transfer chamber, from a processing chamber connected to the transfer chamber and placed in a load lock connected to the transfer chamber. The calibration object is retrieved from the load lock by a second robot arm of a factory interface connected to the load lock and placed at an aligner station housed in or connected to the factory interface. The calibration object has a first orientation at the aligner station. A difference is determined between the first orientation and an initial target orientation at the aligner station. A first characteristic error value associated with the processing chamber is determined based on the determined difference. The first characteristic error value is recorded in a storage medium. The aligner station is to use the first characteristic error value for alignment of objects to be placed in the processing chamber.