SBIR Phase II: Real-Time Sensor for Control of Deposits on Etch and Chemical Vapor Deposition Chamber Walls in IC Manufacture

这一小型企业创新研究第二阶段将为IC制造商提供实时传感器，以优化其等离子蚀刻和化学气相沉积(CVD)室的效率。蚀刻和化学气相沉积是半导体制造中的主要产品。在这两种情况下，沉积物都会在室壁上积累，最终会剥落并导致颗粒缺陷，从而降低产量。制造商通过周期性的腔室清洁来控制缺陷，从而减少了昂贵工具的可用性。清洁计划目前是以保守和统计的方式设定的。最先进的超声波Sensys传感器有三个竞争优势：(1)它精确地测量腔室内自然产生的沉积物；(2)外部安装消除了污染等离子体环境的可能性；(3)它测量壁温和侵蚀。该项目的目标是开发传感器，将其安装在腔室上，并证明该传感器允许制造商在需要时且仅当他们需要时才能清洁腔室，从而优化产量和利用率之间的权衡。根据售出的房间数量，墙体传感器的最终市场规模超过1亿美元/年。1999年的初始市场规模约为50万美元，到2003年将增长至9000万美元。

This Small Business Innovation Research Phase II will provide IC manufacturers with a real-time sensor to optimize the efficiency of their Plasma Etch and Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD) chambers. Etch and CVD are the staples of semiconductor manufacturing. In both, deposits accumulate on chamber walls, eventually flake off and cause particle defects that reduce yields. The manufactures control defects with periodic chamber cleans, and thereby decrease the availability of their expensive tools. Cleaning schedules are currently set conservatively and statistically. The state-of-the-art ultrasonic Sensys Sensor has three competitive advantages: (1) it measures precisely the naturally occurring deposits inside the chamber; (2) exterior mounting eliminates the possibility of contaminating the plasma environment; and (3) it measures the wall temperature and erosion. The objectives of this project are to develop the sensor, mount it on chambers and to demonstrate that the sensor allows the manufacturer to clean the chambers when and only they need it, thus optimizing the tradeoff between yield and utilization. The ultimate market size for the wall sensor, based on the number of chambers sold, exceeds $100M/year. The initial market is about $0.5M in 1999, and will grow to $90M by 2003.