Emissivity independent adjustment

Abstract

The embodiments disclosed herein include a method of calibrating a processing tool. In one embodiment, the method includes providing a first substrate having a first emissivity, a second substrate having a second emissivity, and a third substrate having a third emissivity. In one embodiment, the process can include implementing a recipe on each of the first substrate, the second substrate, and the third substrate, the recipe including a set of calibration attributes. In one embodiment, the method can further include measuring the layer thicknesses on each of the first substrate, the second substrate, and the third substrate. In one embodiment, the method further includes determining whether the layer thicknesses are uniform.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application claims priority to U.S. Patent Application No. 17 / 832,296, filed June 3, 2022, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

[0002] Embodiments relate to the field of semiconductor manufacturing, and in particular to a process and apparatus for performing emissivity independent conditioning for thermal oxidation processes. [Background technology]

[0003] Thermal oxidation processes are commonly used in semiconductor process flows. Thermal oxidation can be performed in a chamber that includes one or more lamps to heat a substrate disposed within the chamber. There can be one or more lamp zones to control the temperature across the surface of the substrate. One or more pyrometers can be used to provide feedback to a controller that controls the power of the lamps. The pyrometers can be on the opposite side of the substrate from the lamps or on the same side as the lamps.

[0004] The signal from the pyrometer is typically processed before being sent to the controller. For example, calibration attributes or masks may be applied to the signal before it is used by the controller. Calibration attributes may include offsets used to account for different emissivities of substrates. Ideally, the process is emissivity independent; that is, the control of the lamps is independent of the emissivity of the substrate.

[0005] To enable emissivity independence, a calibration process is implemented. The calibration process can be implemented after planned maintenance (PM) or hardware changes. The calibration process is typically performed through manual intervention and data entry into the tool, which introduces the possibility of errors in collecting measurement data by copying data from a computer screen to a keyboard and entering it. Therefore, the existing process is prone to errors and requires a person skilled in the art to implement the process. Summary of the Invention

[0006] Embodiments disclosed herein include a method of calibrating a processing tool. In one embodiment, the method includes providing a first substrate having a first emissivity, a second substrate having a second emissivity, and a third substrate having a third emissivity. In one embodiment, the process can include performing a recipe on each of the first substrate, the second substrate, and the third substrate, the recipe including a set of calibration attributes. In one embodiment, the method can further include measuring layer thicknesses on each of the first substrate, the second substrate, and the third substrate. In one embodiment, the method further includes determining whether the layer thicknesses are uniform.

[0007]

[0010] Embodiments disclosed herein may further include a processing environment. In one embodiment, the processing environment may further include a host computer and a processing tool communicatively coupled to the host computer. In one embodiment, the host computer interfaces with software stored in a memory of the processing tool, the software including a uniformity algorithm for setting an offset between signals measured by the pyrometers used by a controller as feedback to control a recipe.

[0008] Embodiments disclosed herein may further include a method for calibrating a processing tool to be emissivity independent. In one embodiment, the method includes providing a first substrate having a first emissivity film, a second substrate having a bare silicon surface, and a third substrate having a second emissivity film. In one embodiment, the method further includes processing the first substrate, the second substrate, and the third substrate in the processing tool using a recipe to form an oxide film on the first substrate, the second substrate, and the third substrate. In one embodiment, the recipe includes a calibration attribute for modifying a signal from the pyrometer sent to the controller as feedback information. In one embodiment, the method further includes measuring the oxide film on each of the first substrate, the second substrate, and the third substrate, and modifying the calibration attribute when the oxide film is non-uniform. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0009] [Figure 1A] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a processing environment including a host computer and a tool, according to one embodiment. [Figure 1B] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a processing tool including a FOUP, a central chamber, a processing chamber, and a metrology chamber, according to one embodiment. [Figure 2] 1 illustrates a cross-sectional view of a semiconductor processing chamber used to provide a thermal oxidation process, according to one embodiment. [Figure 3] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an algorithm for updating calibration attributes for pyrometer data, according to one embodiment. [Figure 4] FIG. 1 is a process flow diagram illustrating a process for calibrating a processing tool to be emissivity independent, according to one embodiment. [Figure 5A] 1 is a cross-sectional view of a front-opening unified pod (FOUP) containing three substrates with different emissivity, according to one embodiment. [Figure 5B] 1 is a cross-sectional view of a thermal oxidation tool having a substrate with an oxide film formed on a top surface of the substrate, according to one embodiment. [Figure 5C]FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a first substrate having an oxide film grown on a top surface of the first substrate, according to one embodiment. [Figure 5D] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a third substrate having an oxide film grown on a top surface of the third substrate, according to one embodiment. [Figure 5E] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a second substrate having an oxide film grown on a top surface of the second substrate, according to one embodiment. [Figure 6] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an exemplary computer system that may be used with a processing tool, according to one embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0010] The systems described herein include processes and apparatus for performing emissivity-independent tuning for thermal processes. One example of a thermal process is oxidation. Another example is implant annealing. In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth to provide a thorough understanding of the embodiments. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the embodiments may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known aspects are not described in detail so as not to unnecessarily obscure the embodiments. Furthermore, it should be understood that the various embodiments illustrated in the accompanying drawings are illustrative representations and are not necessarily drawn to scale.

[0011] As mentioned above, the thermal oxidation process requires calibration to make it emissivity independent. In particular, the pyrometers in the thermal oxidation chamber need to be calibrated to provide accurate feedback to the controller of the thermal oxidation chamber. This calibration can include creating a calibration attribute. The calibration attribute can be an offset value that increases or decreases the value of the signal detected by the pyrometer to reflect differences in emissivity between substrates.

[0012] Currently, the calibration process is performed using manual intervention. Manual calibration is prone to errors due to data entry errors, metrology analysis errors, etc. Therefore, embodiments disclosed herein include an automated process to enable calibration of pyrometers. The calibration process may be performed by a host computer communicatively coupled to the thermal oxidation tool. The host computer may provide instructions for selecting substrates to be processed, processing the substrates with a given recipe, and performing metrology on the substrates. The tool may include software stored in memory that is capable of finding optimized calibration attributes. For example, physics-based models and other algorithms may be used to find the optimized calibration attributes.

[0013] The benefits of an automated process include the ability to run the process without expert input. Additionally, there are fewer errors associated with data entry. Green-to-green turnaround times may also be improved. Additionally, a record of past adjustments can be obtained for tool health data analysis. Additionally, better chamber matching within a fleet is possible, as all chambers follow the same procedures. Substrate waste is also improved.

[0014] 1A, a block diagram of a processing environment 150 is shown, according to one embodiment. In one embodiment, the processing environment 150 may include a host computer 105. The host computer 150 may be a manufacturing automation system. For example, the host computer 105 may be communicatively coupled to two or more tools 100 in the manufacturing environment. In the illustrated embodiment, the host computer 105 is shown as being coupled to a single tool 100 for simplicity. In one embodiment, the tool 100 may be any suitable tool for processing substrates in a manufacturing environment. For example, the tool 100 may include a chamber used to perform a thermal oxidation process.

[0015] The host computer 105 may include instructions stored in a memory for performing a chamber calibration process on the tool 100. The chamber calibration process is described in more detail below. In one embodiment, the host computer 105 may be communicatively coupled to software 101 stored in a memory on the tool 100. The software 101 may include instructions for operating the tool 100 according to a recipe provided (or selected) by the host computer 105.

[0016] The software 101 may also include an algorithm for determining calibration attributes after processing a set of substrates. The calibration attributes are offsets that are added to signals generated by one or more pyrometers in the tool before the signals are sent as feedback information to a controller to control processing within the tool. The algorithm may be based on a physics-based model for the heat source and a replica of the algorithm that converts pyrometer sensor data into temperatures that provide feedback control to the controller.

[0017] 1B , a block diagram of the tool 100 is shown, according to one embodiment. In a particular embodiment, the tool 100 may include a central chamber 183. The central chamber 183 may include a robot 184 for handling the substrates 110 and moving the substrates 110 throughout the tool 100. In one embodiment, the central chamber 183 may be coupled to a front-opening unified pod (FOUP) 181 via a load port 182. The FOUP 181 may house multiple substrates 110 to be processed by the tool 100. In one embodiment, the substrate 110 may be any suitable substrate form factor. In a particular embodiment, the substrate 110 is a silicon substrate. The diameter of the substrate 110 may be 300 mm, although substrates 110 of smaller or larger form factors may be used. Additionally, materials other than silicon may be used for the substrate 110.

[0018] In one embodiment, processing chamber 185 may be coupled to central chamber 183. Processing chamber 185 may be a thermal oxidation chamber 185 in some embodiments. Details of thermal oxidation chamber 185 are provided below. In the particular embodiment shown in FIG. 1B, a pair of chambers 185 (e.g., chamber 1 and chamber 2) are coupled to central chamber 183. Both chamber 1 and chamber 2 may be thermal oxidation chambers. In other embodiments, chamber 1 and chamber 2 may be different types of chambers (e.g., to perform different processing operations).

[0019] In one embodiment, tool 100 may also include a metrology chamber 186. Metrology chamber 186 may be used to perform thickness measurements on films formed on substrate 110 in chamber 185. For example, metrology chamber 186 may include line scan capabilities to determine film thickness across the surface of substrate 110. In the illustrated embodiment, metrology chamber 186 is coupled to central chamber 183; however, it should be understood that metrology chamber 186 may be part of a separate tool in some embodiments. In one embodiment, metrology chamber 186 may measure the emissivity of the substrate and use the measured emissivity as an input to an emissivity-dependent algorithm.

[0020] In the illustrated embodiment, chambers 185 and 186 are coupled to one another by a central chamber 183. However, it should be understood that chambers 185 and 186 may be stand-alone chambers that are not coupled to one another by a central chamber 183.

[0021] 2, a cross-sectional view of a processing chamber 285 is shown in accordance with one embodiment. In one embodiment, the chamber 285 may comprise any type of semiconductor manufacturing chamber that may require precise substrate temperature control. In the illustrated embodiment, the chamber 285 is shown without plasma capabilities. However, it should be understood that the chamber 285 may also include the capability to use plasma to perform various processing regimes.

[0022] In one embodiment, the chamber 285 may comprise a chamber body 220. The chamber body 220 may comprise any suitable material, such as stainless steel. In one embodiment, a coating (not shown) may be provided to cover the interior surface of the chamber body 220. For example, the coating may be a seasoning or protective layer for the chamber. In one embodiment, a gas 221 may enter the chamber 285 through a first portion of the chamber body 220, and a gas 222 may exit the tool through a second portion of the chamber body 220. While the gases 221 and 222 are shown as entering and exiting through the chamber body 220, it should be understood that the gases may enter and exit the chamber through any portion of the chamber 285, depending on the type of chamber 285 being used.

[0023] In one embodiment, a substrate support 215 may be provided within the chamber 285. The substrate support 215 may include three pins that contact and directly support the backside of the substrate 210, or a susceptor 217 may be present that is transparent for pyrometry. The substrate support 215 and susceptor 217 are configured to hold and / or secure the substrate 210. For example, the substrate 210 may be a semiconductor substrate such as a silicon wafer. The substrate 210 may have any suitable form factor. For example, the diameter of the substrate 210 may be 300 mm, 450 mm, or any standard wafer form factor. Additionally, other substrates 210 may be used within the chamber 285. For example, glass substrates, ceramic substrates, or the like may be used in some embodiments. In one embodiment, the substrate support 215 and susceptor 217 may be configured to rotate. Rotation may improve temperature uniformity across the substrate 210.

[0024] The susceptor 217 can include any type of chucking architecture for securing the substrate 210. In some embodiments, the susceptor 217 can include an electrostatic chucking (ESC) architecture. In such embodiments, the substrate 210 is secured to the susceptor 217 by electrostatic forces. Other embodiments can include a vacuum chucking architecture for the susceptor 217. In one embodiment, the susceptor 217 and the substrate support 215 can include a quartz material or another material that is at least substantially transparent to infrared radiation. Thus, the temperature of the backside surface of the substrate 210 can be obtained by the pyrometer 216.

[0025] In one embodiment, the chamber 285 can include a lid 225. The lid 225 is sometimes referred to as a chamber dome. While the lid 225 is shaped as a dome, it should be understood that the lid 225 can have any architecture (e.g., a flat surface, etc.). The lid 225 can be formed from a material that is at least substantially transparent to infrared radiation. For example, the lid 225 can include quartz, etc.

[0026] In one embodiment, the chamber 285 can also include a bottom lid 227. The bottom lid 227 can cover a bottom surface of the chamber 285. The bottom lid 227 can include a material that is at least substantially transparent to infrared radiation. Thus, a pyrometer on the bottom side of the chamber 285 can be used to measure the temperature of the bottom surface of the substrate 210. In one embodiment, the bottom lid 227 can be coupled to the substrate support 215. More specifically, the substrate support 215 can pass through the bottom lid 227. The bottom lid 227 is coupled to the substrate support 215 in a configuration that allows the substrate support 215 to rotate freely.

[0027] In one embodiment, multiple lamps 230 may be provided outside the internal volume of the chamber 285. The internal volume of the tool may refer to the volume defined by the lid 225, the chamber body 220, and the bottom lid 227. That is, the lamps 230 are not provided within the internal volume of the chamber 285 where substrate processing is performed. In the illustrated embodiment, three sets of lamps 230 are provided. A ~230 C is provided on the top surface of the lid 225. A ~230 C Each represents a different lamp region. A may be directed to the outer zone of the substrate 210, and the lamps 230 B may be aimed at the middle zone of the substrate 210, and the lamp 230 C may be aimed at the central zone of the substrate 210. A ~230 C The infrared light can be focused into different zones by reflectors (not shown) disposed around the lamps 230. While one or two lamps 230 are shown for each zone, it should be understood that any number of lamps can be used to heat each zone of the substrate 210. In the illustrated embodiment, the lines from the lamps 230 to the substrate 210 indicate perfect focusing of the infrared light onto a particular region of the substrate. However, it should be understood that the infrared light from the lamps 230 can overlap each other to some extent. In the illustrated embodiment, three front lamp zones are shown. However, it should be understood that four or more lamp zones can be included in other embodiments. For example, the reflector structure can include four or more zones to enable even greater control of the temperature across the surface of the substrate 210.

[0028] In one embodiment, a plurality of pyrometers 216 A ~216 Cmay be provided through the bottom cover 227. The pyrometers 216 may be focused on the backside surface of the substrate 210. In one embodiment, the number of pyrometers 216 may be equal to the number of heating zones on the substrate 210. For example, three heating zones are shown in FIG. 2, and three pyrometers 216 A ~216 C Pyrometer 216 A can measure the temperature at the outer region of the substrate 210, and the pyrometer 216 B can measure the temperature at the intermediate region of the substrate 210, and the pyrometer 216 C can measure the temperature at the central region of the substrate 210.

[0029] In one embodiment, a reflectometer 218 may be located on the same side as the pyrometer 216. The reflectometer 218 may be used to measure the emissivity of the substrate and provide that information to the algorithm.

[0030] Referring now to FIG. 3 , a block diagram of an algorithm for setting calibration attributes is shown, according to one embodiment. In one embodiment, the algorithm may be implemented by software 101 in tool 100. Generally, pyrometer 315 generates a signal that is processed by calibration attributes 316 before being passed to controller 317. Controller 317 can use the signal as a feedback input to control the power delivered to lamps 225 in chamber 285. In one embodiment, calibration attributes 316 are offset values ​​added to the signal to reflect various conditions, such as the emissivity of the substrate. That is, different emissivities will result in different readings by pyrometer 315. Thus, calibration attributes 316 act to neutralize the effect of emissivity on the sensor readings in order to provide a feedback signal to controller 317 that is emissivity-independent.

[0031] In one embodiment, the calibration attributes 316 may be generated by a uniformity algorithm 318. The uniformity algorithm 318 may be an algorithm stored in memory of the tool 100. In particular, metrology data 319 is used to inform the uniformity algorithm 318. The metrology data 319 may be generated by a metrology chamber 386, or the like. For example, metrology data (e.g., film thickness) from three or more substrates having different emissivity may be used to provide data to the uniformity algorithm 318.

[0032] In one embodiment, the uniformity algorithm 318 can include a physics-based model for the heat source and a replica of the algorithm that converts pyrometer sensor data into temperature values ​​for the controller. The physics-based model can be a thermal model of the chamber 285. That is, the heat source and different components of the chamber 285 are modeled using physics-based equations (e.g., heat transfer equations) to provide an accurate thermal model of the chamber 285. The thermal model can then be used to calculate the backside temperature of the substrate at various times during the recipe. The calculated temperatures can then be compared to the pyrometer readings to determine offsets to be used for the calibration attributes.

[0033] 4, a process flow diagram of a process 490 for calibrating the chamber 285 to be emissivity independent is shown, according to one embodiment. The process 490 may be performed within the processing environment 150 using the host computer 105 and the software 101 of the tool 100. In other embodiments, the process 490 may be performed entirely by the software 101 of the tool 100 or by the host computer 105.

[0034] In one embodiment, process 490 may begin with operation 491, which includes loading three substrates having different emissivities into a FOUP. Note that in one embodiment, more than three substrates may be provided in the FOUP. For example, six substrates may be provided in the FOUP, and the six substrates may have three different emissivities (i.e., each emissivity level may be implemented on two substrates). In one embodiment, the substrates may be manufactured in a manufacturing environment. In other embodiments, the substrates may be obtained from an external source of substrates. It should be understood that the substrates may be reused or refurbished after process 490 such that substrate waste is minimized.

[0035] An example of such a FOUP 581 is shown in Figure 5A. As shown, the FOUP 581 includes three slots 571 for supporting the substrates 510. The first substrate 510 A may have a layer 541 having a first emissivity, and a second substrate 510 B may have a bottom surface 542 that is bare silicon having a second emissivity, and a third substrate 510 C The substrate 510 may have a layer 543 having a third emissivity. In one embodiment, the first emissivity may be greater than the second emissivity, and the second emissivity may be greater than the third emissivity. In certain embodiments, the layer 541 may include nitrogen (e.g., a nitride film) and the layer 543 may include oxygen (e.g., an oxide film). A ~510 C The top surface of the substrate 510 may be a bare silicon surface in some embodiments. A ~510 C Although shown in FIG. 5A, it should be understood that any number of substrates 510 may be included in FOUP 581.

[0036] Returning to process 490 of FIG. 4 , process 490 may continue with operation 492, which includes running the recipe on each of three substrates with a set of calibration attributes. The calibration attributes may be set before running the recipe. Calibration attributes previously used to run the recipe (e.g., before a planned maintenance event or after a hardware replacement) may also be used. The calibration attributes provide an offset to the pyrometer data to provide a more accurate feedback signal to the controller.

[0037] 5B, a cross-sectional view of a chamber 585 for executing a process recipe is shown, according to one embodiment. In one embodiment, the chamber 585 may comprise a chamber body 520. The chamber body 520 may comprise any suitable material, such as stainless steel. In one embodiment, a coating (not shown) may be provided to cover an inner surface of the chamber body 520. In one embodiment, a gas 521 may enter the chamber 585 through a first portion of the chamber body 520, and a gas 522 may exit the tool through a second portion of the chamber body 520.

[0038] In one embodiment, a substrate support 515 and a susceptor 517 may be provided within the chamber. The substrate support 515 and the susceptor 517 are configured to hold and / or secure the substrate 510. For example, the first substrate 510 A is shown within chamber 585. In one embodiment, the substrate support 515 and susceptor 517 may be configured to rotate. Rotation may improve temperature uniformity across the substrate 510. In one embodiment, the susceptor 517 and substrate support 515 may comprise a quartz material or another material that is at least substantially transparent to infrared radiation. Thus, the temperature of the backside surface of the substrate 510 may be obtained by the pyrometer 516.

[0039] In one embodiment, the chamber 585 can include a lid 525. The lid 525 is sometimes referred to as a chamber dome. The lid 525 can be formed from a material that is at least substantially transparent to infrared radiation. For example, the lid 225 can include quartz, or the like. In one embodiment, the chamber 285 can also include a bottom lid 227. The bottom lid 227 can cover a bottom surface of the chamber 285. The bottom lid 227 can include a material that is at least substantially transparent to infrared radiation. Thus, the pyrometer 516 on the bottom side of the chamber 585 can be positioned relative to the substrate 510. A It can be used to measure the temperature of the bottom surface of the

[0040] In one embodiment, multiple lamps 530 may be provided outside the interior volume of the chamber 585. In the illustrated embodiment, three sets of lamps 530 A ~530 C is provided on the top surface of the lid 525. A ~530 C Each represents a different lamp area. A ~530 C The light can be focused into different zones by reflectors (not shown) disposed around the lamps 530. While one or two lamps 530 are shown for each zone, it should be understood that any number of lamps can be used to heat each zone of the substrate 510. In the illustrated embodiment, three front lamp zones are shown. However, it should be understood that four or more lamp zones can be included in other embodiments. For example, a reflector structure can be provided around the substrate 510. A Four or more zones may be included to allow for even greater control of temperature across the surface of the heater.

[0041] In one embodiment, multiple pyrometers 516 A ~516 C The pyrometer 516 can be provided through the bottom cover 527. A In one embodiment, the number of pyrometers 516 may be adjusted to match the backside surface of the substrate 510. AFor example, three heating zones are shown in FIG. 5B, and three pyrometers 516 are provided. A ~516 C will be established.

[0042] In one embodiment, a reflectometer 518 may be located on the same side as the pyrometer 516. The reflectometer 518 may be used to measure the emissivity of the substrate and provide that information to the algorithm.

[0043] In one embodiment, the recipe may be a thermal oxidation recipe, i.e., an oxygen source may be flowed into chamber 585 as gas 521, and lamps 530 may be used to heat substrate 510. A In one embodiment, a thermal oxidation process can be used to rapidly heat the surface of the substrate 510. A The recipe can then be continued on the remaining substrate 510 to result in the growth of an oxide film 545 over the entire top surface of the substrate. B and 510 C can be repeated for

[0044] Referring back to process 490, the process may continue with operation 493, which includes checking thickness uniformity among the three substrates. In one embodiment, the thickness uniformity is checked by checking the thickness uniformity of the substrate 510. A ~510 C The oxide film 545 can be measured with a line scan tool to determine the thickness of the oxide film 545 across the diameter of the first substrate 510. For example, in FIGS. 5C-5E, the line scan (shown by the dashed line) A (FIG. 5C), a third substrate 510 C (FIG. 5D), and a second substrate 510 B (FIG. 5E). The line scan can be performed in metrology chamber 186, which is coupled to chamber 585 via central chamber 183. In other embodiments, the metrology chamber can be a separate tool from chamber 585.

[0045] Referring back to process 490, the process continues with decision block 494, which determines whether the oxide layer thickness on the three substrates is uniform. If the thickness is uniform, the process is determined to be emissivity independent, and the process proceeds to block 496. In such an embodiment, the calibration attributes are correct and the tool is considered properly calibrated.

[0046] However, if the thickness is not uniform, this path is bypassed and operation 495 is performed. Operation 495 can include updating a set of calibration attributes. In one embodiment, the calibration attributes can be updated using a uniformity algorithm. The uniformity algorithm can include a physics-based model for the heat source and a replica of the algorithm that converts the pyrometer sensor data and reflectometer data into temperature values ​​for the controller. The physics-based model can be a thermal model of the chamber 585. That is, the heat source and different components of the chamber 585 are modeled using physics-based equations (e.g., heat transfer equations) to provide an accurate thermal model of the chamber 585. The thermal model can then be used to calculate the backside temperature of the substrate at various times during the recipe. The calculated temperatures can then be compared to the pyrometer readings to determine offsets to use in the updated calibration attributes. In one embodiment, process 490 then returns to the beginning of process 490, and operations 491-495 can be repeated until the thicknesses of the different substrates are uniform.

[0047] In one embodiment, processing operations 491-494 may be performed at the direction of host computer 105, and the updating of calibration attributes may be performed in software 101 of tool 100. In other embodiments, the entire process 490 may be performed by host computer 105, or the entire process 490 may be performed by tool 100.

[0048] Referring now to FIG. 6 , an exemplary computer system 600 of a processing tool is shown, according to one embodiment. In one embodiment, the computer system 600 is coupled to the processing tool and controls processing within the processing tool. The computer system 600 may be connected (e.g., networked) to other machines in a local area network (LAN), an intranet, an extranet, or the Internet. The computer system 600 may operate in the capacity of a server or a client machine in a client-server network environment, or as a peer machine in a peer-to-peer (or distributed) network environment. The computer system 600 may be a personal computer (PC), a tablet PC, a set-top box (STB), a personal digital assistant (PDA), a mobile phone, a web appliance, a server, a network router, a switch, or a bridge, or any machine capable of executing an instruction set (a series of instructions or other forms of instructions) that specifies actions to be taken by the machine. Furthermore, although only a single machine is shown for computer system 600, the term "machine" should also be taken to include any collection of machines (e.g., computers) that individually or collectively execute a set (or sets) of instructions that perform any one or more of the methodologies described herein.

[0049] Computer system 600 may include a computer program product, i.e., software 622, having a non-transitory machine-readable medium having instructions stored thereon, which may be used to program computer system 600 (or other electronic devices) to perform processes according to embodiments. A machine-readable medium includes any mechanism for storing or transmitting information in a form readable by a machine (e.g., a computer). For example, machine-readable (e.g., computer-readable) media includes machine- (e.g., computer) readable storage media (e.g., read-only memory (“ROM”), random-access memory (“RAM”), magnetic disk storage media, optical storage media, flash memory devices, etc.), machine- (e.g., computer) readable transmission media (electrical, optical, acoustic, or other forms of propagated signals (e.g., infrared, digital, etc.)), etc.

[0050] In one embodiment, computer system 600 includes a system processor 602, a main memory 604 (e.g., read-only memory (ROM), flash memory, dynamic random access memory (DRAM) such as synchronous DRAM (SDRAM) or Rambus DRAM (RDRAM)), a static memory 606 (e.g., flash memory, static random access memory (SRAM)), and a secondary memory 618 (e.g., a data storage device), which communicate with each other via a bus 630.

[0051] The system processor 602 represents one or more general-purpose processing devices, such as a microsystem processor or a central processing unit. More specifically, the system processor may be a complex instruction set computing (CISC) microsystem processor, a reduced instruction set computing (RISC) microsystem processor, a very long instruction word (VLIW) microsystem processor, a system processor implementing other instruction sets, or a system processor implementing a combination of instruction sets. The system processor 602 may also be one or more special-purpose processing devices, such as an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), a digital signal system processor (DSP), a network system processor, or the like. The system processor 602 is configured to execute processing logic 626 to perform the tasks described herein.

[0052] The computer system 600 may further include a system network interface device 608 for communicating with other devices or machines. The computer system 600 may further include a video display unit 610 (e.g., a liquid crystal display (LCD), a light emitting diode display (LED), or a cathode ray tube (CRT)), an alphanumeric input device 612 (e.g., a keyboard), a cursor control device 614 (e.g., a mouse), and a signal generating device 616 (e.g., a speaker).

[0053] The secondary memory 618 may include a machine-accessible storage medium 632 (or more specifically, a computer-readable storage medium) having stored thereon one or more sets of instructions (e.g., software 622) embodying any one or more of the methodologies or functions described herein. The software 622 may also reside, completely or at least partially, within the main memory 604 or within the system processor 602 while the computer system 600 executes the software, with the main memory 604 and the system processor 602 also constituting machine-readable storage media. The software 622 may further be transmitted or received over the network 620 via the system network interface device 608. In one embodiment, the network interface device 608 may operate using RF, optical, acoustic, or inductive coupling.

[0054] While machine-accessible storage medium 632 is shown to be a single medium in the exemplary embodiment, the term "machine-readable storage medium" should be taken to include a single medium or multiple media (e.g., a centralized or distributed database, and / or associated caches and servers) that store one or more sets of instructions. The term "machine-readable storage medium" should also be taken to include any medium that can store or encode a set of instructions for execution by a machine and cause the machine to perform any one or more of the methodologies. Thus, the term "machine-readable storage medium" should be taken to include, but is not limited to, solid-state memory, optical media, and magnetic media.

[0055] In the foregoing specification, certain exemplary embodiments have been described. It will be apparent that various modifications to these embodiments may be made without departing from the scope of the following claims. The specification and drawings are, therefore, to be regarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense.

Claims

1. 1. A method of calibrating a processing tool, comprising: providing a first substrate having a first emissivity, a second substrate having a second emissivity, and a third substrate having a third emissivity; executing a recipe on each of the first substrate, the second substrate, and the third substrate, the recipe including a set of calibration attributes; measuring layer thicknesses on each of the first substrate, the second substrate, and the third substrate; and determining whether the layer thickness is uniform; A method comprising:

2. adjusting the set of calibration attributes when the layer thickness is non-uniform; The method of claim 1 further comprising:

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the set of calibration attributes is adjusted using a uniformity algorithm.

4. The uniformity algorithm comprises: a physics-based model for the heat source and a replica of the algorithm that converts pyrometer sensor data into temperature data that is used to provide feedback control of the recipe; The method of claim 3, comprising:

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the calibration attribute is used to modify a signal detected by a pyrometer and sent to a controller of the process tool.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first emissivity is greater than the second emissivity, and the second emissivity is greater than the third emissivity.

7. 7. The method of claim 6, wherein the first substrate comprises a film containing nitrogen, the second substrate comprises bare silicon, and the third substrate comprises a film containing oxygen.

8. 7. The method of claim 6, wherein the first emissivity and the third emissivity are provided by a film on a surface of the substrate opposite a lamp used in the recipe.

9. 9. The method of claim 8, wherein a pyrometer detects signals from the film of the first substrate and the film of the third substrate, and a pyrometer detects signals from bare silicon of the second substrate.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the recipe is a thermal oxidation recipe.

11. The recipe is: controlling a plurality of lamp zones above the substrate; The method of claim 10, comprising:

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein measuring the layer thickness is performed by line scanning.

13. 1. A processing environment comprising: A host computer; a processing tool communicatively coupled to the host computer; wherein the host computer interfaces with software stored in a memory of the processing tool, the software including a uniformity algorithm for setting an offset between signals measured by pyrometers used by a controller as feedback to control a recipe.

14. The uniformity algorithm comprises: a physics-based model for the heat source and a replica of the algorithm that converts pyrometer sensor data into temperature data that is used to provide feedback control of the recipe; The processing environment of claim 13, comprising:

15. 14. The processing environment of claim 13, wherein the host computer comprises instructions stored in memory for processing three substrates having different emissivities and comparing film thicknesses formed on the three substrates.

16. 16. The processing environment of claim 15, wherein the three substrates comprise a first substrate having a first emissivity, a second substrate having a second emissivity, and a third substrate having a third emissivity, wherein the first emissivity is greater than the second emissivity and the second emissivity is greater than the third emissivity.

17. 14. The processing environment of claim 13, wherein the processing tool comprises a load port, a central chamber, a processing chamber, and a metrology chamber.

18. 1. A method for calibrating a processing tool to be emissivity independent, comprising: providing a first substrate having a first emissivity film, a second substrate having a bare silicon surface, and a third substrate having a second emissivity film; processing the first substrate, the second substrate, and the third substrate in the processing tool with a recipe to form an oxide film on the first substrate, the second substrate, and the third substrate, the recipe including calibration attributes for modifying a signal from a pyrometer sent to a controller as feedback information; measuring an oxide film on each of the first substrate, the second substrate, and the third substrate; and Modifying the calibration attributes when the oxide film is non-uniform. A method comprising:

19. 20. The method of claim 18, wherein the first emissivity film comprises nitrogen and the second emissivity film comprises oxygen.

20. 20. The method of claim 18, wherein the calibration attributes are modified by a uniformity algorithm that includes a physics-based model for a heat source and a replica of an algorithm that converts pyrometer sensor data into temperature data used to provide the feedback information.

Images