Optical emission represents the bulk property of plasma, which in turn can be correlated to the
chamber surface condition and can be exploited for monitoring and characterizing chamber
condition. This presentation demonstrates the approach of utilizing plasma optical emission spectra
(OES) for the application on Applied Materials' TetraTM etcher chamber condition monitor. Time-resolved
plasma optical emission spectra are collected with a spectrometry unit built in to the
TetraTM photomask etch module. Studies on OES analysis show that information related to chamber
surface condition can be correlated to the changes in emission spectrum of plasma. The effectiveness
of this methodology can be verified by Cr etch rates. Results can lead to procedure development for
chamber monitoring, chamber recovery and chamber seasoning applications.
A method is described to monitor etch selectivity real time in Applied Materials' advanced TetraTM mask etcher module.
With the built-in Transmission Endpoint (TEP) capability, the transmission information for a wide range of spectra is
collected. As resist thickness continues to be reduced during photomask etching process, interference fringes can be
observed at selected wavelengths on the TEP spectrum. Based on known value from n & k simulation, the peak/valley
positions of interference fringes can be defined. With the help from an algorithm developed to determine the
corresponding time for each peak/valley position, the average resist etch rate can be obtained. In addition, the starting
and ending resist thickness on the plate being etched can be calculated, so the incoming resist quality can be verified and
being monitored. Combined with Cr etch rate derived from the endpoint time with plasma emission spectra, the Cr to
photoresist etch selectivity can be monitored for each production plate automatically.
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