Measuring the wafer temperature in HVM process tools using a new approach with automated wireless HighTemp-400 and EtchTemp-SE wafer systems

As the technology nodes become smaller it is becoming more important to control all aspects of influencing parameters for the deposition of thin films using CVD tools and for plasma etch tools. This is especially important in a high volume manufacturing (HVM) environment with new tool installations and the need to achieve production ramp timelines. Controlling tool parameters including chamber wafer temperature is critical for fast ramp to production. Production ramp up cycle time is very important. Chamber matching in process tools is becoming a critical path item for production ramp. Monitoring chamber temperature is one of the process control parameters for thin films, plasma etch, diffusion, and clean process tools. The current method of measuring wafer temperature is manual and time consuming. Table 1 shows the Manual versus Automation method comparison. KLA-Tencor's new Factory Automation System (Fig. 1) helps simplify and automate chamber temperature data collection, supporting chamber matching activities for high volume fab ramps. This automation system utilizes a host manufacturing execution system (MES) to send Process Job/Control Job commands to SensArray FOUPs and delivers wafers via overhead hoist transfer (OHT) to process tools to collect temperature data. Upon return of the Automation FOUP and wafer, temperature data are automatically uploaded to the MES system.