Patent · US Expired

Critical dimension variation compensation across a wafer by means of local wafer temperature control

US6770852B1 · kind B1 · utility

74Cited by
14References
17Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventor

Key dates

Filing dateFeb 27, 2003
Grant dateAug 3, 2004
Priority date
Expiry dateFeb 27, 2023

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
  • CPC primaryH01L21/67248
  • WIPO fieldThermal processes and apparatus
  • WIPO sectorMechanical engineering

Abstract

A wafer etching system has a measuring device, an etching chamber, and a controller. The measuring device measures the critical dimension test feature (CD) along the profile of the wafer at a number of preset locations. The etching chamber receives the wafer from the measuring device. The etching chamber includes a chuck supporting the wafer and a number of heating elements disposed within the chuck. Each heating element is positioned adjacent to one of the preset locations on the wafer. The controller is coupled to the measuring device to receive the actual measured CD's for a particular wafer. The controller is also coupled to control the heating elements. The controller adjusts the temperature of each heating elements during a process to reduce so as the variation of critical dimensions measured at the preset locations.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.