Patent · US Expired

System, method, and apparatus for ion beam etching process stability using a reference for time scaling subsequent steps

US7075094B2 · kind B2 · utility

4Cited by
2References
13Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateAug 30, 2004
Grant dateJul 11, 2006
Priority date
Expiry dateDec 10, 2024

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
  • CPC primaryH01L21/32136
  • WIPO fieldSemiconductors
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

A system for improving drift compensation for ion mill applications defines a reference step for purposes of time duration. The reference step is controlled by an end point detector and monitored for use with subsequent process steps. The time duration for a subsequent step is adjusted as a percentage of the reference step. A time scaling factor determines the actual duration of the subsequent step. Rather than directly using times of step duration, the system uses a percentage of the reference step for the latter step. The duration of the reference step varies depending on the tool drift. The overall duration is changed in the same proportion as the duration of the reference step, and thereby compensates for the influence of drift on the end product.

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