IN SITU PARTICLE SENSOR FOR MICROELECTRONIC MANUFACTURING PROCESSES

REAL TIME, ON-LINE PARTICLE CONTAMINATION SENSORS FOR MICROELECTRONIC MANUFACTURING IN PROCESS EQUIPMENT ENVIRONMENTS HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO IMPROVE CHIP YIELDS THROUGH IMPROVED PROCESS CONTROL. CURRENT MICROELECTRONIC MANUFACTURING MONITORS ARE LIMITED TO LOW EFFICIENCY SAMPLING RATES AND GENERAL CLEAN-ROOM MONITORING DURING THE PRODUCTION PROCESS. PRESENTLY THERE IS NO ON-LINE SENSOR CAPABLE OF QUANTITATIVELY ASSESSING LOCAL PARTICLE CONTAMINATION DURING SHORT TIME CHANGES IN THE PROCESS ENVIRONMENT, E.G. GAS PURGING, CHEMICAL VAPOR DEPOSITION, ETC. WE PROPOSE TO DEVELOP AN IN-SITU PARTICLE MONITOR WHICH EXTENDS THE CAPABILITIES OF CURRENT CLEAN-ROOM PARTICLE COUNTER TECHNOLOGY TO RAPID MEASUREMENTS OF SUBMICRON PARTICLE SIZE AND LOW CONCENTRATION CONTAMINANTS IN MICROELECTRONIC PROCESSING EQUIPMENT.