Pin Lifter Test Substrate

Abstract

Various embodiments include an apparatus that provides in-situ non-invasive verification of a substrate pin elevator when a substrate is in a substrate processing position on a processing tool. The disclosed subject matter may also verify an unexpected substrate movement when the substrate is removed from the processing tool. In one exemplary embodiment, the pin elevator test substrate includes a plurality of motion sensors and at least one force sensor. The plurality of motion sensors includes at least one type of sensor selected from a plurality of sensor types including inclinometers and accelerometers. A memory device on the pin elevator test substrate records data received from the motion sensors. Instead of or in addition to the memory device, a wireless communication device also transmits data received from the plurality of motion sensors to a remote receiver. Other apparatuses and systems are disclosed.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The subject matter disclosed herein relates to equipment used in the semiconductor and related industries. More specifically, the disclosed subject matter relates to in-situ non-invasive verification of a substrate pin lifter when a substrate is in a substrate processing position on a processing tool and the potential effects of a faulty substrate pin lifter, and also relates to the dynamic alignment of a substrate support device on the substrate. Thus, the disclosed subject matter can verify the operation of the substrate pin lifter and also verify unexpected substrate movement when removing the substrate from the processing tool. Background Art

[0002] Generally, various components of semiconductor processing equipment (deposition tools or etching tools) use three pressure-driven pin lifters to lift a semiconductor substrate (such as a silicon wafer) onto an electrostatic chuck (ESC) and lower the semiconductor substrate to remove it from the ESC. The ESC is well known to those skilled in the art and is commonly used, for example, in plasma-based and vacuum-based semiconductor processing. The ESC is used to mount and electrostatically "hold" the substrate during semiconductor processing, but is also used to cool or heat the substrate and flatten the substrate to increase the uniformity of processing.

[0003] A typical substrate pin lifter includes multiple pins (e.g., usually three pins, the pins comprising metal, sapphire, or metal with a sapphire tip), a pneumatic actuator to lift the substrate pin lifter, and one or more position sensors to measure the level of the substrate pin lifter.

[0004] Any out-of-specification components in or related to the substrate pin lifter (such as a damaged or inoperable lift pin, too high or too low air pressure, misaligned or uncalibrated pin position sensors, etc.) can interfere with substrate handling. If the substrate pin lifter does not operate correctly, the substrate may be damaged, resulting in financial losses due to downtime of the devices on the substrate and the processing tool.

[0005] Typically, a series of gripping and de-gripping operations include the following operations. The substrate is transferred to a processing module (PM) or processing chamber by an end effector of a robotic arm. Generally, three substrate lift pins are raised and the substrate is received from the robotic arm when the pins are in the raised or "up" position. After the robotic arm retracts from the processing chamber, the substrate lift pins move to the lowered or "down" position. The pins retract to a position just below the upper surface of the ESC (e.g., usually only tens of micrometers lower), thereby causing the substrate to rest on the upper ceramic surface of the ESC. The ESC begins to "hold" the substrate by applying a high voltage to electrodes embedded within the ceramic surface of the ESC (for a conductive Coulomb ESC, both positive and negative voltages are applied). Once processing is complete, the high voltage applied to the ESC electrodes is reset to zero to remove all charge. The pins are raised to the up position to lift the substrate, and then the robotic arm removes the substrate from the processing chamber.

[0006] In addition to substrate pin lifters that do not operate correctly, charge is also often trapped at or near the ESC surface, thereby creating a residual clamping force between the substrate and the ESC. When the pins are raised, during substrate unclamping operations, the residual clamping force can cause undesired substrate movement such as warping, tilting, jumping, lateral slipping, and other movements that can be potentially harmful to semiconductor processing operations. In the worst case, the substrate may break when separating from the ESC.

[0007] Currently, when the processing chamber (or processing module) is open, the lifters are manually inspected. After the processing chamber is closed and sealed, the substrate pin lifters are monitored only via pin sensors on one or more of the substrate pins. The pin sensors can only monitor whether a particular substrate pin lifter is raised (in the upper position) or lowered (in the lower position). The pin sensors cannot determine whether one or more substrate pin lifters are damaged, whether the air pressure is correct, or any number of other conditions that have occurred (or will occur) a fault. For example, if one of the substrate pin lifters is damaged, the pin sensor can sense that the damaged pin is in the correct position by sensing the position of the piston used to actuated the pin. However, the damaged pin can cause the substrate to be in an incorrect position (such as one side being lower). Thus, the substrate is exposed to the risk of being damaged (such as being damaged by the end effector of the manipulator or unable to be retrieved by the manipulator). Either situation can cause substantial financial losses, especially in the case of a substrate fully populated with devices that has nearly completed front-end-of-line (FEOL) processing.

[0008] When the air pressure is incorrect, especially when too high, the substrate may also be roughly handled (such as high acceleration forces, which may cause dynamic alignment (DA) problems of the substrate as discussed in reference Figures 1A to 1C ). Generally speaking, there is currently no in-situ automatic direct inspection of the substrate position.

[0009] Accordingly, the disclosed subject matter provides in-situ non-invasive verification of substrate pin lifters when a substrate is in a substrate processing position on a processing tool (such as a substrate processing system). The disclosed subject matter can also verify any unexpected substrate movement when removing or prior to removing the substrate from the processing tool.

[0010] The information described in this section is used to provide background for the following subject matter to those skilled in the art and should not be considered admitted prior art. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0011] Figures 1A - 1CShows examples of the clamping and de-clamping operations of a reference electrostatic chuck (ESC) and the lateral movement of a substrate caused by at least one of the following factors: (1) charge remaining on at least one of the substrate or the ESC during the de-clamping operation; and (2) one or more faulty pin lifters for removing the substrate from the ESC;

[0012] Figure 2A Shows a plan view of a substrate - a silicon wafer;

[0013] Figure 2B Shows an example of a sensor disposed on the front side of a pin lifter test substrate (having dimensions the same as or similar to those of the Figure 2A silicon wafer) according to various embodiments disclosed herein;

[0014] Figure 2C Shows an example of a sensor disposed on the back side of a pin lifter test substrate (having dimensions the same as or similar to those of the Figure 2A silicon wafer) according to various embodiments disclosed herein; and

[0015] Figure 3 Shows an example of a method of receiving data from a Figure 2B and 2C pin lifter test substrate according to various embodiments disclosed herein. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0016] The disclosed subject matter will now be described in detail with reference to several general and specific embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings. In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth to provide a thorough understanding of the disclosed subject matter. However, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the disclosed subject matter may be practiced without some or all of these specific details. In other instances, well-known processing steps or structures are not described in detail so as not to obscure the disclosed subject matter.

[0017] In various embodiments, as will be described in detail below, a pin lifter test substrate is a substrate having a plurality of sensors to monitor various aspects of a substrate pin lifter and the movement of the substrate itself. The overall shape of the pin lifter test substrate is substantially similar to or the same as that of a conventional substrate used, for example, in the manufacture of semiconductor devices. Such conventional substrates can be semiconductor (such as silicon) wafers of 300 mm or 450 mm in certain embodiments. The pin lifter test substrate can have the same tracking (such as laser marking and barcodes) and positioning (such as a notch on a 300 mm wafer) features as the conventional substrate. The placement position of the pin lifter test substrate (above the substrate pin lifter) is the same as the position of a conventional substrate where the end effector of the robotic arm of a standard transfer robot places.

[0018] Accordingly, the disclosed subject matter provides for direct measurement and positioning of substrates as would occur during actual substrate processing operations. Accordingly, the disclosed subject matter provides for in-situ non-invasive automated health checks of substrate pin lifters to avoid substrate loss, or to reduce or minimize downtime of the processing tool. Accordingly, the disclosed subject matter provides for in-situ non-invasive verification of substrate pin lifters when the substrate is in a substrate processing position on the processing tool. The disclosed subject matter can also verify any unexpected substrate movement when removing the substrate from the processing tool.

[0019] In various embodiments, the pin lifter test substrate disclosed herein can include, for example, various types of motion sensors, force sensors, and data acquisition systems. As will be described in more detail below, each of these components is mounted on the pin lifter test substrate.

[0020] Figures 1A to 1C An example of possible substrate movement during a de-clamping operation is shown as an example of a function of a motion sensor on the pin lifter test substrate. Such substrate movement can be monitored and recorded in various embodiments of the disclosed pin lifter test substrate. For example, now referring to Figures 1A to 1C , which shows examples of electrostatic chuck (ESC) clamping and de-clamping operations and substrate lateral movement caused by at least one of the following factors: (1) charge remaining on at least one of the substrate or the ESC during the de-clamping operation; and (2) one or more faulty pin lifters used to remove the substrate from the ESC.

[0021] Referring to Figure 1A 's clamping operation, a silicon wafer 101 (or the pin lifter test substrate described below) is placed on an electrostatic chuck (ESC) 103. The ESC 103 has at least one electrode 105 to which a voltage is applied to the ESC 103 and a plurality of substrate pin lifters (pins) shown in a lowered position 111A. In the lowered position 111A, the pins are generally tens of micrometers lower than the uppermost surface of the ESC 103. However, if the silicon wafer 101 contacts or is in close proximity to the uppermost surface of the ESC 103 during the clamping operation, the exact distance below the uppermost surface does not affect the performance or operation of the disclosed subject matter. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that based on reading and understanding the content provided herein, the disclosed subject matter can be equally applied to any type of substrate used in the semiconductor and related industries. Accordingly, the substrate need not be limited to only silicon wafers. However, the term "silicon wafer" as used herein is only used to clearly illustrate the various aspects of the disclosed subject matter.

[0022] A high voltage is applied to electrode 105, thereby delivering the high voltage to ESC 103. The applied high voltage generates charges of opposite signs between silicon wafer 101 and ESC 103. In this example, negative charges 109 are formed on ESC 103, while positive charges 107 are formed on the surface of silicon wafer 101 near ESC 103 (the wafer charges are mainly redistributed on the lowermost part of silicon wafer 101 near ESC 103). As a result, the applied high voltage from electrode 105 generates an electrostatic force, thereby fixing silicon wafer 101 to ESC 103.

[0023] In a typical processing flow, after silicon wafer 101 is clamped to ESC 103 by the electrostatic force, before a controller in a processing tool, for example, starts to execute a desired processing recipe, helium gas (e.g., to increase the thermal conductivity for heating and cooling silicon wafer 101) is delivered to the back side of silicon wafer 101 (i.e., the wafer side near ESC 103). As understood by those skilled in the art and as will be described in more detail below, the pin lift test substrate can also be configured to identify the pressure and flow of helium gas. After the processing recipe is completed, the helium gas flow is stopped, and then the helium gas is pumped out (evacuated). The high voltage of electrode 105 is reset to zero to ideally remove all charges.

[0024] Now referring to Figure 1B , after evacuating the helium gas and resetting the high voltage on electrode 105 to zero volts, the pin moves from the lowered position 111A to the raised position 111B. In the raised position 111B, the pin lifts silicon wafer 101 to a fixed "up" position. In the up position, the robotic arm can move back into the processing chamber to lift and remove silicon wafer 101.

[0025] However, as shown in Figure 1B , if there are still residual charges on part of silicon wafer 101 or ESC 103, when the pin is in the raised position 111B, silicon wafer 101 may not be properly lifted above ESC 103 due to the residual attractive force (e.g., including charge trapping and charge migration). As a result, due to the adsorption force, silicon wafer 101 may move laterally and / or rotationally relative to ESC 103 as shown in Figure 1C . The lateral and / or rotational movement will cause a dynamic alignment (DA) offset 113. Overall, when silicon wafer 101 moves into or out of the processing chamber, the dynamic alignment measures the position of silicon wafer 101. The DA offset 113 is the difference between silicon wafer 101 before and after the processing starts (i.e., DA before processing - DA after processing). The DA offset 113 monitors the quality of wafer de-clamping.

[0026] As briefly discussed previously, at the ESC operating temperature (which may be several hundred degrees Celsius), charge may be trapped at the uppermost surface of the ESC 103 during the wafer unclamping operation. In addition, various emissions from the silicon wafer 101 may also be a factor in the residual forces occurring between the silicon wafer 101 and the ESC 103. These residual forces may cause undesired wafer movement, such as wafer bending, tilting, hopping, slipping, or even cracking.

[0027] Depending on the process, wafer type, ESC ceramic material, ceramic temperature, bias voltage, process chemicals, and other factors, a specific unclamping failure root cause analysis can be extremely complex. For example, as is known to those skilled in the art, two types of ESC - Coulombic chucks and Johnsen - Rahbek chucks are mainly used in the semiconductor and related industries. A significant difference between the two types of chucks involves the unclamping operation. In a Coulombic chuck, once the high voltage on the electrode 105 is reset to zero volts, a nearly instantaneous and large short - circuit current exponentially decays within a short time constant (on the order of milliseconds). However, in a Johnsen - Rahbek chuck, a small non - exponentially decaying current is maintained for an extremely long time (on the order of seconds), whereby the time required for the residual charge to dissipate may result in a much longer unclamping time.

[0028] Figure 2A A plan view of a substrate - silicon wafer 200 is shown. As described above as part of the ESC unclamping process, the silicon wafer 200 may be the same as or similar to the silicon wafer 101. In this particular case, the silicon wafer 200 can be considered a 300 - mm wafer. The shown silicon wafer 200 includes a notch 203. In a particular exemplary embodiment, both the silicon wafer 200 and the notch 203 are formed in accordance with the international wafer standard SEMI M1 - 1107, SPECIFICATIONS FOR POLISHED SINGLE CRYSTAL SILICON WAFERS (which can be found at Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International (SEMI TM ) at www.semi.org).

[0029] The silicon wafer 200 also shows an exemplary embodiment of the relative positions of three substrate pin lifters that contact the silicon wafer 200 on the bottom side of the wafer. In this exemplary embodiment, the three substrate pin lifters are located relative to each other at 120°, and each is at a distance of "r" from the most central part of the silicon wafer 200. However, those skilled in the art should understand that more than three substrate pin lifters can be used, and their positions can be different from Figure 2A that shown.

[0030] Figure 2B Shows examples of sensors disposed on the front side of the pin lift tester substrate 210 according to various embodiments disclosed herein. In this embodiment, the pin lift tester substrate 210 has dimensions that are the same as or similar to Figure 2A a silicon wafer. For example, according to the SEMI TM standard specifications, a 300 mm silicon wafer has a diameter of 300 mm ± 0.2 mm, a thickness of 775 ± 25 μm, and a wafer notch of a specific size (see SEMI M1-1107).

[0031] Although the maximum thickness of the SEMI standard for a 300 mm silicon wafer is 800 μm, many processing chambers can accept substrates with a thickness up to at least 2 mm, and some processing chambers allow substrates with a thickness up to 5 mm. Thus, in various embodiments disclosed herein, depending on the specific processing chamber for which the pin lift tester substrate is designed, the thickness of the pin lift tester substrate can be up to at least 2 mm or even 5 mm. Additionally, a standard 300 mm wafer has a mass of approximately 90 grams (depending on the exact diameter and thickness of the silicon wafer). If the pin lift tester substrate is substantially heavier than a standard silicon wafer (such as the 90 grams of a 300 mm wafer), the mass of the pin lift tester substrate substantially higher than 90 grams may interfere with or alter the behavior of the substrate pin lift. Thus, the mass of the pin lift tester substrate can be selected to be close to the mass of a standard substrate (such as the 90 grams of a 300 mm silicon wafer). However, mass differences are acceptable and can be calibrated for the increased mass, as is known to those skilled in the art, such that the mass of the pin lift tester substrate is corrected on a particular tool under test.

[0032] However, those skilled in the art will appreciate, upon reading and understanding the content provided herein, that the pin lift tester substrate 210 can be formed Figure 2B to conform to any form that is the same as or similar to the actual substrates used in a manufacturing facility. For example, Figure 2B the pin lift tester substrate 210 can take the form of a 200 mm wafer, a 450 mm wafer, a 150 mm 2 × 6.35 mm (about 6 square inches × 0.25 inches) photomask (with or without a thin film), a flat panel display (of various sizes), or any other type of substrate known to those skilled in the art.

[0033] Figure 2B The pin lift tester substrate 210 can be formed from a variety of materials, including, for example, stainless steel, aluminum or aluminum alloy, various types of ceramics (such as alumina Al 2 O 3) or any other type of material that can be formed substantially according to the physical properties described herein. In a particular exemplary embodiment, Figure 2B The pin lift test substrate can be a 300 mm silicon wafer that includes at least some of the various types of sensors described below. Such wafers that include at least some of these sensors can be considered instrumented wafers.

[0034] In one embodiment, the pin lift test substrate 210 includes a variety of different types of sensors formed on the top surface 201 of the pin lift test substrate 210. For example, the illustrated pin lift test substrate 210 includes various types of motion sensors 205A, 205B, 205C, a memory device 207, a wireless communication device 209, a power management device 211, and a power supply 213.

[0035] In one embodiment, the motion sensors 205A, 205B, 205C are placed at or near the locations of the substrate pin lifts. The motion sensors 205A, 205B, 205C can be placed on the top surface 201 and / or the bottom surface 221 of the pin lift test substrate 210. In this particular embodiment, since typically a semiconductor wafer uses three substrate pin lifts, there are three motion sensors 205A, 205B, 205C. However, when used with, for example, a flat panel display that uses more than three substrate pin lifts, more than three substrate pin lifts can be provided.

[0036] At least one of the motion sensors 205A, 205B, 205C can include one or more sensors, where the sensors include an inclinometer and an accelerometer. As is well known to those skilled in the art, an inclinometer can be used to determine whether the pin lift test substrate 210 is level, the slope or tilt of the pin lift test substrate 210, or local depressions (such as bowing or bending) of the pin lift test substrate 210. An accelerometer can be used to determine the acceleration (linear acceleration or angular acceleration) of the pin lift test substrate 210. For example, an accelerometer can be used to determine how quickly the pin lift test substrate 210 is applied to the substrate pin lift or how quickly the pin lift test substrate 210 is removed from the substrate pin lift (where the pin lift test substrate 210 cannot be removed as desired due to the attractive force from the ESC). For example, when the substrate pin lift moves to the up wafer position ("up" position) or the down position ("down" position), the maximum acceleration of the lift pin can be as large as 1 "G" (9.8 m / sec 2 ). This large acceleration can cause the DA offset described above with reference to Figures 1A to 1C the above.

[0037] An accelerometer can also be used to measure vibrations on the pin lifter test substrate 210. In a particular exemplary embodiment, at least one of the motion sensors 205A, 205B, 205C may include, for example, a piezoelectrically driven diaphragm to test the unclamping operation as described above with reference to Figures 1A to 1C and may include a MEMS-based force sensor (or other types of force sensors well known in the art such as strain gauges) to check the force applied by the electrostatic chuck.

[0038] In various embodiments, the memory device 207 may include a non-volatile memory device (such as flash memory, phase change memory, etc.). In other embodiments, the memory device 207 may be a volatile memory device and be powered by the power supply 213.

[0039] The wireless communication device 209 may include various types of wireless communication devices well known in the art, such as including a radio frequency transceiver, a transceiver, an infrared (IR) and other optical communication type sensors, etc. Those skilled in the art should understand when reading and understanding the content provided herein that the transceiver may only have a transmitting function. In this case, the wireless communication device 209 may be considered to be only a transmitter.

[0040] In some embodiments, the pin lifter test substrate 210 may have a wireless communication device 209 or a memory device 207, but not both. In other embodiments, the pin lifter test substrate 210 may include both a wireless communication device 209 and a memory device 207. As will be described in more detail below, in certain applications of the pin lifter test substrate 210, if the pin lifter test substrate 210 is removed from the manipulator after being placed in the processing chamber and the processing chamber access door is closed, the wireless communication device 209 may not function (due to the electromagnetic shielding effect of the fully closed processing chamber). In this case, the memory device 207 is used to record all data that may come from the pin lifter test substrate 210 for subsequent processing.

[0041] The power management device 211 may include, for example, various types of integrated circuit (IC) power management devices. The power management device 211 may include some functions such as DC-DC conversion circuits (for example, for supplying various bias voltages for various devices mounted on the pin lifter test substrate 210), a battery charging function for the power supply 213, a voltage scaling function (for example, including a charge pump for the memory device 207), and other functions well known in the art.

[0042] Power supply 213 may include various types of batteries or related energy storage technologies to deliver energy to various components (such as wireless communication device 209, memory device 207 for retaining data when necessary (such as for volatile memory devices), sense amplifiers for reading from and writing to memory device 207, etc.).

[0043] Now referring to Figure 2C , an example of a sensor formed on the bottom surface 221 of the pin lifter test substrate 220 according to various embodiments disclosed herein is shown. The illustrated pin lifter test substrate 220 includes force sensors 223A, 223B, 223C and first additional sensor 225A and second additional sensor 225B. As described below, in one embodiment, first additional sensor 225A and second additional sensor 225B may include the same type of sensor. In other embodiments, first additional sensor 225A and second additional sensor 225B may include different types of sensors.

[0044] In one embodiment, force sensors 223A, 223B, 223C are disposed at or near the positions of the substrate pin lifters. Force sensors 223A, 223B, 223C may be disposed on the top surface 201 and / or the bottom surface 221 of the pin lifter test substrates 210, 220. In this particular embodiment, since typically three substrate pin lifters are used for a semiconductor wafer, there are three motion sensors 205A, 205B, 205C. However, when used with, for example, a flat panel display, more than three substrate pin lifters may be provided. As a result, more than three force sensors may be used.

[0045] At least one of force sensors 223A, 223B, 223C may include a strain gauge, such as the MEMS-based strain gauge described above with reference to Figure 2B (or other types of strain gauges well known in the art).

[0046] First additional sensor 225A and second additional sensor 225B may include one or more sensors, including, for example, temperature sensors, pressure sensors, and flow sensors. The temperature sensor may be used to check the temperature uniformity at various positions of the pin lifter test substrate 220. The pressure sensor may include, for example, various types of digital pressure transducers, including pressure transducer arrays and manometers well known in the art, and may monitor, for example, the helium pressure applied to the back side of the substrate once the substrate is attached to the ESC. Similarly, the flow sensor may include, for example, a laminar flow meter or a hot wire anemometer, and may be used to monitor the air flow on the back side or the front side of the pin lifter test substrates 210, 220.

[0047] Although two additional sensors are shown, those skilled in the art will understand that any number of additional sensors may be included. For example, each temperature sensor may include a plurality of thermocouples or resistance temperature detectors (RTDs, including thin film RTDs) embedded in the bottom surface 221 of the pin lift tester substrate 220.

[0048] In various embodiments, although not explicitly shown, those skilled in the art will readily understand upon reading and understanding the content provided herein, Figure 2A and 2B the pin lift tester substrates 210, 220 may also include a microprocessor to provide various control functions to each sensor and other devices mounted on the pin lift tester substrates 210, 220. For example, the microprocessor may be used to provide encoding and decoding of memory, parity checking of memory, data management and communication management, conversion of volumetric flow rate to mass flow rate, and other functions well known to those skilled in the art.

[0049] Now referring to Figure 3 , an example of a method 300 for receiving data from a pin lift tester substrate of Figure 2B and 2C placed in a processing chamber of a processing tool according to various embodiments disclosed herein is shown. As those skilled in the art will understand, any or all of the method steps described herein may be performed by, for example, a controller of the processing tool.

[0050] At operation 301, the pin lift tester substrate is loaded into the processing chamber with the end effector of a robotic arm. The pin lift tester substrate may be loaded into the processing chamber (or processing module) before or after, for example, the actual pod or FOUP of a product substrate. The pin lift tester substrate may be used to periodically (e.g., once per shift, once per week, as part of a normal preventive maintenance program, etc.) check the conditions of the above-mentioned processing tool.

[0051] In this particular embodiment, once the end effector places the pin lift tester substrate on a substrate support device (such as an ESC) in the processing chamber, the robotic arm remains in the processing chamber. Thus, the robotic arm does not retract.

[0052] At operation 303, (via a user interface of the processing tool) the substrate pin lift is instructed to move up (to the raised, pin-up position) and down (to the lowered, pin-down position) a predetermined number of cycles according to a predetermined pattern. For example, the predetermined pattern may move each pin sequentially one by one and then in groups of two or three pins.

[0053] At operation 305, various sensors on the pin elevator test substrate, such as motion sensors and force sensors, record data to the memory device 207 and / or transmit the data to a remote receiver via the wireless communication device 209 (see Figure 2B ), where the data includes motion data (such as up / down acceleration, tilt angle, etc.) and force data. The remote receiver can be located, for example, on a robotic arm or at another location outside the processing chamber.

[0054] At operation 307, after all the substrate pin elevators are in the lower or down position, the robotic arm retracts the pin elevator test substrate and removes the pin elevator test substrate from the processing chamber. It should be noted that in this embodiment, the robotic arm remains in the processing chamber during the test. Thus, the end effector of the robotic arm is always located above the pin elevator test substrate. As a result, even if, for example, one or more substrate pin elevators are damaged, there is no risk of being unable to remove the pin elevator test substrate from the processing chamber. The data from the pin elevator test substrate can be retrieved (e.g., from the memory device 207), and then processed to identify problems with the substrate pin elevators and related components (such as the ESC).

[0055] For example, method 300 can be used at least to identify the following problems:

[0056] · When the pin elevator test substrate is placed on or removed from the ESC, whether the pin elevator test substrate indicates any DA problems based on the lateral and / or rotational movement of the pin elevator test substrate;

[0057] · Whether one or more of the substrate pin elevators are damaged;

[0058] · Whether the air tube coupled to the pin elevator is damaged;

[0059] · Whether there is no contact force from the pin elevator test substrate to the substrate support (such as the ESC);

[0060] · Whether the air pressure feeding the substrate pin elevator is too high (thereby increasing the acceleration beyond the specification of the desired high-end range and also potentially increasing vibration);

[0061] · If the acceleration is outside the specification of the expected low-end range, whether the air pressure is too low;

[0062] · If the tilt angle is out of specification or the angle change at different positions exceeds the specification, whether the substrate pin elevators are not horizontal;

[0063] · Based on determining that the acceleration change at different positions is too large, whether the substrate pin elevators do not all accelerate in a similar manner (e.g., according to a predetermined tolerance or specification quantifier); and / or

[0064] · Based on determining that data from a position sensor does not match a predetermined pattern of a pin cycle, such as that applied at operation 303, compared to a motion sequence reconstructed from data obtained (and / or sent) from substrate pin lifter test substrate motion data, determine whether one or more position sensors mounted on the substrate pin lifters are operating properly.

[0065] Figure 3 An alternative implementation of the method includes, for example, instead of programming the manipulator to remain in the processing chamber during testing, a conventional wafer handling manipulator program can be used for the convenience of the user. Thus, in this implementation, during testing with a Figure 2A and 2B pin lifter test substrate, the manipulator can be retracted from the processing chamber. However, if one or more of the pin lifter test substrates, for example, are not operating properly, retracting the manipulator may result in a risk of being unable to remove the pin lifter test substrate from the processing chamber. Additionally, in this implementation, instead of relying on offline data acquisition and processing (from the Figure 2B memory device 207) or wirelessly transmitting data to a wireless receiver (such as a receiver mounted on the manipulator still in the processing chamber), a real-time wireless data stream can be used to overcome the Faraday cage effect (such as electromagnetic shielding) of the processing chamber if the access door of the processing chamber is closed while the pin lifter test substrate is located inside the processing chamber.

[0066] In various implementations, Figure 3 method 300 can further include programming the end effector of the manipulator to initially remain in the processing chamber to perform a "health test" of the substrate pin lifters, thereby verifying that the risk of being unable to remove the pin lifter test substrate is minimal to none. After confirming that the substrate pin lifters are in good health, this implementation of method 300 includes programming the manipulator to retract from the processing chamber, leaving the pin lifter test substrate in the processing chamber, applying a vacuum to the processing chamber, and performing additional tests. The additional tests can include, for example, a helium flow test, a helium pressure test, or other tests that require vacuum conditions or conditions where the manipulator is not allowed to remain in the processing chamber inside the processing chamber.

[0067] Generally speaking, the subject matter disclosed herein generally describes or relates to the operation of "tools" in a semiconductor manufacturing environment (fab). Such tools can include various types of deposition (including plasma-based tools such as ALD (Atomic Layer Deposition), CVD (Chemical Vapor Deposition), PECVD (Plasma-Enhanced CVD), etc.) and etching tools (such as reactive ion etching (RIE) tools), as well as various types of thermal furnace tubes (such as rapid thermal annealing and oxidation), ion implantation tools, and other processing and measurement tools known to those skilled in the art in various fabs. However, the disclosed subject matter is not limited to the semiconductor environment and can be used in multiple mechanical tool environments, such as mechanical assembly, manufacturing, and processing environments.

[0068] When reading and understanding the content provided herein, those skilled in the art should understand that, in addition to the ESC, various embodiments of the disclosed subject matter can also be used with other types of substrate support devices. For example, various types of cleaning, measurement, and processing tools used in the semiconductor and related industries use substrate support devices such as vacuum control. For example, various types of substrate support devices have problems of substrate adhesion or otherwise attaching to the substrate support device due to forces (such as molecular adhesion forces, van der Waals forces, electrostatic forces, and other near-field contact forces). Therefore, as described herein, various embodiments of the disclosed subject matter provide a pin lifter test substrate, which can be used to monitor various types of processing tools and other substrate handling tools described herein.

[0069] In this specification, multiple instances can implement components, operations, and structures described herein as a single instance. Although the separate operations in one or more methods are shown and described as separate operations, one or more of the separate operations can be implemented simultaneously, and the separate operations do not have to be implemented in the order shown. The structure and function presented as separate components in an exemplary configuration can be implemented as a combined structure or component. Similarly, multiple structures and functions presented as a single component can be implemented as separate components. These and other variations, modifications, additions, and improvements fall within the scope of the subject matter herein.

[0070] The term "or" used herein should be interpreted as inclusive or exclusive. In addition, those skilled in the art should be able to understand other embodiments when reading and understanding the content provided herein. In addition, those skilled in the art should be able to understand when reading and understanding the content provided herein that various combinations of the technologies and examples provided herein can be applied in various combinations.

[0071] Although the various embodiments are discussed separately, these separate embodiments should not be considered as independent technologies or designs. As described above, each of the various parts is related and each can be used separately or in combination with other embodiments discussed herein. For example, although various embodiments of methods, operations, and processes have been described, these methods, operations, and processes can be used separately or in various combinations.

[0072] As a result, those skilled in the art should understand that many modifications and variations can be made when reading and understanding the content provided herein. For example, in various embodiments, and with reference to Figure 2A and 2B , each of the various motion sensors, force sensors, memory devices, and communication devices can be directly assembled onto the pin lifter test substrate. In other embodiments, each of the various motion sensors, force sensors, memory devices, and communication devices can be assembled onto or otherwise formed on a printed circuit board, and then the printed circuit board can be mounted onto the pin lifter test substrate. In other embodiments, some of the various motion sensors, force sensors, memory devices, and communication devices can be directly assembled onto the pin lifter test substrate, while other components are directly assembled onto a printed circuit board, and then the printed circuit board is mounted onto the pin lifter test substrate.

[0073] In addition, in addition to those listed herein, those skilled in the art should understand methods and devices that are functionally equivalent within the scope of the present disclosure based on the foregoing description. Parts and features of some embodiments can be included in or replaced by parts and features of other embodiments. Such modifications and variations should fall within the scope of the appended claims. Therefore, the present disclosure will be limited only by the terms of the appended claims and the full scope of the equivalents to which those claims are entitled. It should also be understood that the words used herein are only for the purpose of describing specific embodiments and are not intended to be limiting.

[0074] The abstract of the present disclosure is intended to allow the reader to quickly understand the essence of the technical disclosure. It should be understood that the submission of the abstract is intended such that it is not used to interpret or limit the claims. In addition, in the foregoing embodiments, various features are combined in a single embodiment to reasonably simplify the disclosure. This method of disclosure should not be interpreted as limiting the claims. Therefore, the following claims are incorporated into the embodiments herein, and each claim can be a separate embodiment in itself.

Claims

1. A pin lifter test substrate system, comprising: A plurality of motion sensors mounted on a pin lifter test substrate, the plurality of motion sensors including at least one type of sensor selected from the group of sensor types including inclinometers and accelerometers; One or more force sensors located near corresponding positions of a plurality of substrate pin lifters when the pin lifter test substrate is placed on a substrate support device, wherein the one or more force sensors are configured to determine whether there is a contact force from the pin lifter test substrate to the substrate support device; A communication device configured to transmit data received from the plurality of motion sensors and the one or more force sensors; And A memory device communicatively coupled to the communication device and configured to record the data received from the plurality of motion sensors and the one or more force sensors.

2. The pin lifter test substrate system according to claim 1, wherein the pin lifter test substrate has the same or similar dimensions as a silicon wafer.

3. The pin lifter test substrate system according to claim 1, wherein the pin lifter test substrate system is formed of at least one material selected from the group of materials including stainless steel, aluminum and its alloys, and various types of ceramics.

4. The pin lifter test substrate system according to claim 1, wherein the inclinometer is configured to determine the slope or tilt of the pin lifter test substrate.

5. The pin lifter test substrate system according to claim 1, wherein the inclinometer is configured to determine local depressions of the pin lifter test substrate.

6. The pin lifter test substrate system according to claim 1, wherein the inclinometer is configured to determine whether one or more of a plurality of substrate pin lifters on a substrate support device are damaged.

7. The pin lifter test substrate system according to claim 1, wherein the accelerometer is configured to determine whether the air pressure fed to the plurality of substrate pin lifters is too high.

8. The pin lifter test substrate system according to claim 1, wherein the accelerometer is configured to determine whether the air pressure fed to the plurality of substrate pin lifters is too low.

9. The pin lifter test substrate system according to claim 1, wherein the accelerometer is configured to measure vibrations on the pin lifter test substrate.

10. The pin lifter test substrate system according to claim 1, wherein the communication device is a wireless communication device configured to transmit data received from the plurality of motion sensors and the one or more force sensors to a remote receiver.

11. The pin lifter test substrate system according to claim 10, wherein the wireless communication device is selected from at least one type of wireless communication device including a radio frequency transmitter, a Bluetooth transmitter, an infrared (IR) transmitter, and an optical communication transmitter.

12. The pin lift tester substrate system according to claim 1, further comprising at least one additional sensor, the additional sensor including at least one sensor type selected from a temperature sensor, a pressure sensor, and a flow sensor.

13. The pin lift tester substrate system according to claim 12, wherein the temperature sensor includes a plurality of temperature sensors configured to determine temperatures from various positions of the pin lift tester substrate.

14. The pin lift tester substrate system according to claim 12, wherein the pressure sensor is configured to determine a gas pressure applied to a back side of the pin lift tester substrate.

15. The pin lift tester substrate system according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of motion sensors, the one or more force sensors, the memory device, and the communication device are directly assembled onto the pin lift tester substrate.

16. The pin lift tester substrate system according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of motion sensors, the one or more force sensors, the memory device, and the communication device are assembled onto a printed circuit board, and then the printed circuit board is mounted onto the pin lift tester substrate.

17. A substrate processing system, comprising: a substrate support device having a plurality of substrate pin lifters; a controller communicatively coupled to the substrate support device and having executable instructions configured to: load a pin lift tester substrate onto the substrate support device in at least one processing chamber of the substrate processing system using an end effector of a robotic arm; receive data from a plurality of motion sensors and a plurality of force sensors mounted on the pin lift tester substrate, the motion sensors including at least one type of sensor selected from sensor types including an inclinometer and an accelerometer; and perform an operation including at least one type of operation selected from operations including: transmitting the received data to a receiver located at a distal end of the pin lift tester substrate, and storing the received data in a memory device mounted on the pin lift tester substrate, wherein the plurality of force sensors are configured to determine whether there is a contact force from the pin lift tester substrate to the substrate support device.

18. The substrate processing system according to claim 17, wherein the operation of transmitting the received data is configured to be performed wirelessly.

19. The substrate processing system according to claim 17, wherein the controller further includes executable instructions configured to: keep the end effector of the robotic arm in the processing chamber when the pin lift tester substrate receives the data; instruct the plurality of substrate pin lifters to move to a raised, pin-up position and move to a lowered, pin-down position according to a predetermined pattern for a cycle of a predetermined number of times; and Perform an operation including at least one operation selected from the operations including the following: wirelessly transmit the data received by the motion sensor from the plurality of substrate pin lifters to the receiver located at the distal end of the pin lifter test substrate, and store the received data in the memory device mounted on the pin lifter test substrate.

20. The substrate processing system according to claim 19, wherein the controller further includes executable instructions configured to: based on the data received from the raised, pin-up position and the lowered, pin-down position, determine whether one or more of the substrate pin lifters are faulty.

21. The substrate processing system according to claim 19, wherein the controller further includes executable instructions configured to: based on the data received from the raised, pin-up position and the lowered, pin-down position, determine whether the air pipe coupled to the substrate pin lifter is faulty.

22. The substrate processing system according to claim 17, wherein the controller further includes executable instructions configured to: after placing the pin lifter test substrate on the substrate support device, retract the end effector of the robot from the processing chamber during the test using the pin lifter test substrate.

23. The substrate processing system according to claim 22, wherein the controller further includes executable instructions configured to: Keep the access door of the processing chamber in the open position; and Wirelessly transmit the data received from the pin lifter test substrate to the receiver mounted on the robot.

24. The substrate processing system according to claim 17, wherein the controller further includes executable instructions configured to: after removing the pin lifter test substrate from the processing chamber, monitor the dynamic alignment of the pin lifter test substrate based on the data received from the plurality of motion sensors.

25. The substrate processing system according to claim 17, wherein the controller further includes executable instructions configured to: based on the data received from the plurality of motion sensors, determine whether the tilt angle of the substrate support device falls within the specification according to a predetermined value of the tilt angle.

26. The substrate processing system according to claim 17, wherein the controller further includes executable instructions configured to: based on the data received from the plurality of motion sensors, determine whether the substrate pin lifters all accelerate similarly according to a predetermined tolerance of acceleration.

27. A substrate processing system, comprising: A processing chamber; A substrate support device having a plurality of substrate pin lifters and located in the processing chamber; A robot having an end effector configured to place a substrate on the substrate support device; A pin lifter test substrate configured to be placed on the substrate support device by the end effector of the manipulator, the pin lifter test substrate comprising: A plurality of motion sensors mounted on the pin lifter test substrate, the plurality of motion sensors comprising at least one type of sensor selected from the group of sensor types including inclinometers and accelerometers; One or more force sensors located near corresponding positions of the plurality of substrate pin lifters when the pin lifter test substrate is placed on the substrate support device, wherein the one or more force sensors are configured to determine whether there is a contact force from the pin lifter test substrate to the substrate support device; And A communication device configured to transmit data received from the plurality of motion sensors and the one or more force sensors; A memory device configured to record the data received from the plurality of motion sensors and the one or more force sensors; And A controller communicatively coupled to the substrate support device and the manipulator having the end effector, the controller having executable instructions configured to control the operation of the substrate processing system at least related to the pin lifter test substrate.

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