公开(公告)号：US11088039B2

公开(公告)日：2021-08-10

申请号：US16151046

申请日：2018-10-03

Applicant: Applied Materials, Inc.

Inventor： Raman K. Nurani ,  Anantha R. Sethuraman ,  Koushik Ragavan ,  Karanpreet Aujla

IPC: G05B13/04 ,  H01L21/66 ,  H01L21/67 ,  G05B19/418

Abstract: Implementations described herein generally relate to improving silicon wafer manufacturing. In one implementation, a method includes receiving information describing a defect. The method further includes identifying a critical area of a silicon wafer and determining the probability of the defect occurring in the critical area. The method further includes determining, based on the probability, the likelihood of an open or a short occurring as a result of the defect occurring in the critical area. The method further includes providing, based on the likelihood, predictive information to a manufacturing system. In some embodiments, corrective action may be taken based on the predictive information in order to improve silicon wafer manufacturing.

公开(公告)号：US10579041B2

公开(公告)日：2020-03-03

申请号：US15829626

申请日：2017-12-01

Applicant: Applied Materials, Inc.

Inventor： Raman K. Nurani ,  Anantha R. Sethuraman ,  Koushik Ragavan

IPC: G05B19/406 ,  H01L21/67 ,  H01L21/66 ,  G06N20/00

Abstract: Implementations described herein generally relate method for detecting excursions in time-series traces received from sensors of manufacturing tools. A server extracts one or more time series traces and metrology data collected from one or more sensors associated with one or more manufacturing tools configured to produce a silicon substrate. The server identifies one or more candidate excursions of the one or more time series traces by comparing the one or more time series traces to one or more traces associated with a working reference sensor. The server verifies that a candidate excursion of the one or more candidate excursions is a true excursion based on correlating the one or more time series traces to the metrology data. The server instructs a manufacturing system to take corrective action to remove the selected true excursion.

公开(公告)号：US20220246481A1

公开(公告)日：2022-08-04

申请号：US17166288

申请日：2021-02-03

Applicant: Applied Materials, Inc.

Inventor： Bharath Ram Sundar ,  Raman K. Nurani ,  Utkarsha Avinash Dhanwate ,  Ramakrishnan S. Hariharan ,  Suresh Bharatharajan Kudallur ,  Vishwath Ram Amarnath

IPC: H01L21/66 ,  G06N20/00 ,  G06K9/62 ,  G01N23/04 ,  G01N23/2251

Abstract: A method includes obtaining sensor data associated with a deposition process performed in a process chamber to deposit a film stack on a surface of a substrate, wherein the film stack comprises a plurality of layers of a first material and a plurality of layers of a second material. The method further includes obtaining metrology data associated with the film stack. The method further includes training a first machine-learning model based on the sensor data and the metrology data, wherein the first machine-learning model is trained to generate predictive metrology data associated with layers of the first material. The method further includes training a second machine-learning model based on the sensor data and the metrology data, wherein the second machine-learning model is trained to generate predictive metrology data associated with layers of the second material.

公开(公告)号：US10579769B2

公开(公告)日：2020-03-03

申请号：US15829668

申请日：2017-12-01

Applicant: Applied Materials, Inc.

Inventor： Raman K. Nurani ,  Anantha R. Sethuraman ,  Koushik Ragavan

IPC: G06T7/00 ,  G06F17/50 ,  H01L21/66

Abstract: A method for detecting a design-impacting defect in an integrated circuit substrate is disclosed. In one implementation, a controller determines a distribution of intended geometric features in a design window of the integrated circuit substrate based on proximities of a plurality of points of interest in the design window to the intended geometric features. The controller obtains a set of intended contours from the distribution. The controller obtains a set of imaged contours from one or more images of the integrated circuit substrate. The controller compares the set of imaged contours to the set of intended contours to obtain a set of potential design-impacting defects in the intended geometric features. The controller determines a probability that a potential design-impacting defect from the set of potential design-impacting defects is a valid design-impacting defect. The controller takes a corrective action based on the determined probability.

公开(公告)号：US11862520B2

公开(公告)日：2024-01-02

申请号：US17166288

申请日：2021-02-03

Applicant: Applied Materials, Inc.

Inventor： Bharath Ram Sundar ,  Raman K. Nurani ,  Utkarsha Avinash Dhanwate ,  Ramakrishnan S. Hariharan ,  Suresh Bharatharajan Kudallur ,  Vishwath Ram Amarnath

IPC: H01L21/66 ,  G01N23/2251 ,  G01N23/04 ,  G06N20/00 ,  G06F18/214

CPC classification number: H01L22/12 ,  G01N23/04 ,  G01N23/2251 ,  G06F18/214 ,  G06N20/00 ,  H01L22/26

Abstract: A method includes obtaining sensor data associated with a deposition process performed in a process chamber to deposit a film stack on a surface of a substrate, wherein the film stack comprises a plurality of layers of a first material and a plurality of layers of a second material. The method further includes obtaining metrology data associated with the film stack. The method further includes training a first machine-learning model based on the sensor data and the metrology data, wherein the first machine-learning model is trained to generate predictive metrology data associated with layers of the first material. The method further includes training a second machine-learning model based on the sensor data and the metrology data, wherein the second machine-learning model is trained to generate predictive metrology data associated with layers of the second material.

公开(公告)号：US10481199B2

公开(公告)日：2019-11-19

申请号：US15829632

申请日：2017-12-01

Applicant: Applied Materials, Inc.

Inventor： Raman K. Nurani ,  Anantha R. Sethuraman ,  Koushik Ragavan

IPC: G06F17/50 ,  G01R31/28 ,  G06T7/60 ,  G01R31/3185 ,  G06F16/583

Abstract: Implementations described herein generally relate to detecting excursions in intended geometric features in an integrated circuit substrate. In one implementation, a method includes determining a set of suspect contours in a design window of the integrated circuit substrate based on proximities of a plurality of points of interest in the design window to intended geometric features. The method further includes obtaining a set of imaged contours from one or more images of a defect-free integrated circuit substrate. The method further includes comparing the set of imaged contours to the set of suspect contours to obtain a set of potential excursions from the imaged contours. The method further includes determining a probability that a potential excursion from the set of potential excursions is a valid excursion. The method further includes taking a corrective action based on the determined probability.

公开(公告)号：US20240249052A1

公开(公告)日：2024-07-25

申请号：US18624471

申请日：2024-04-02

Applicant: Applied Materials, Inc.

Inventor： Debkalpo Das ,  Raman K. Nurani ,  Ramachandran Subramanian ,  Bibhavendra Singh ,  Bharath Sundar

IPC: G06F30/33 ,  G06F18/213 ,  G06F18/214 ,  H01L21/70

CPC classification number: G06F30/33 ,  G06F18/213 ,  G06F18/214 ,  H01L21/702

Abstract: A method includes obtaining sensor data associated with a deposition process performed in a process chamber to deposit film on a surface of a substrate. A plurality of physics-based outputs are generated using a transformation function and the sensor data. The transformation function is used to at least one of estimate site availability for growth at an equilibrium condition for the process chamber or estimate boundary layer thickness in an equilibrium condition for the process chamber. The physics-based outputs are mapped to a training set and a virtual model is trained based on the training set and the sensor data. The virtual model is trained to generate predictive metrology data associated with the film.

公开(公告)号：US11187992B2

公开(公告)日：2021-11-30

申请号：US16151035

申请日：2018-10-03

Applicant: Applied Materials, Inc.

Inventor： Raman K. Nurani ,  Anantha R. Sethuraman ,  Koushik Ragavan

IPC: G03F7/20 ,  G06N7/08 ,  H01L21/66

Abstract: Implementations described herein generally relate to improving silicon wafer manufacturing. In one implementation, a method includes receiving data from one or more manufacturing tools about a manufacturing process of a silicon wafer. The method further includes determining, based on the data, predictive information about a quality of the silicon wafer. The method further includes providing the predictive information to a manufacturing system, wherein the predictive information is used to determine whether to take corrective action.