Patent Application
20240213003
The present invention relates to a diagnosis device and a diagnosis method of a plasma processing apparatus that processes a semiconductor wafer by plasma, the plasma processing apparatus, and a semiconductor device manufacturing system.
A plasma processing apparatus is an apparatus, which, in order to form a minute shape on a semiconductor wafer, performs a plasma process by which a substance is converted into plasma and by the action of the substance, a substance on the wafer is removed. Typically, the plasma processing apparatus periodically performs maintenance, such as cleaning in the apparatus and component replacement, by taking, as a guide, the number of wafers processed and the like. However, due to component deterioration with change with time, reaction by-product accumulation according to a using method, and the like, an unplanned maintenance operation can occur. To reduce non-operation time due to the unplanned maintenance, it is necessary to sequentially monitor the deterioration state of a component to take early measures, such as cleaning and replacement, according to the deterioration state.
To achieve such early measures, typically, a diagnosis device of the plasma processing apparatus uses sensor values that are time series signals including a plurality of sensor items sequentially acquired from a plurality of state sensors added to the plasma processing apparatus, thereby diagnosing a deterioration state on the basis of a difference degree from the normal state, and compares the deterioration state and a previously set threshold value to issue an alarm. For example, International Publication WO 2018/061842 (Patent Literature 1) describes that “An abnormality detection device estimates a noise-removed state from a summary value by applying statistical modeling to the summary value obtained by summarizing an observation value, and generates a prediction value obtained by predicting a summary value of one preceding period on the basis of the estimation. The abnormality detection device detects whether there is an abnormality in a device to be monitored on the basis of the prediction value.”.
In addition, as a method for computing a feature amount (hereinafter, a deterioration degree) effective for estimating a deterioration state from sensor values including a plurality of sensor items, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2020-31096 (Patent Literature 2) describes that “A state prediction device that predicts the state of a plasma processing apparatus calculates first feature amounts indicating the state of the plasma processing apparatus from the monitored data of the plasma processing apparatus in the normal state, calculates second feature amounts indicating the state of the plasma processing apparatus from the monitored data of the plasma processing apparatus, computes the calculated second feature amounts by using the first feature amounts, and the feature amounts selected in order from the largest computed second feature amount.”.
Patent Literature 1 describes the method for detecting an abnormality during the operation of the device by using the summary value of the sensor value, but does not describe a method for diagnosing a deterioration state for each component. For the aim to take early measures by diagnosing the deterioration states of components, since a deterioration sign, that is, a sensor value changing way, is different for each component, it is necessary to define a deterioration degree computation condition indicating the deterioration sign better for each component from the sensor values of a plurality of sensor items.
In addition, Patent Literature 2 does not assume that the defined deterioration degree computation condition is applied to a plurality of plasma processing apparatuses. For the above aim, it is necessary to have a characteristic (hereinafter, robustness) in which the deterioration degree computation condition defined for each component is applicable to the plurality of plasma processing apparatuses.
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a diagnosis device, a diagnosis method, a plasma processing apparatus, and a semiconductor device manufacturing system, which solve the above problems of the conventional art and make it possible to decide a deterioration degree computation condition having high robustness for each component.
To solve the above problems, the present invention provides a diagnosis device that diagnoses deterioration states of components of a plasma processing apparatus, the diagnosis device including an analysis unit that calculates a robustness degree with respect to each of the components under a plurality of computation conditions for computing deterioration degrees of the components, selects one computation condition from the plurality of computation conditions with respect to each of the components on the basis of the calculated robustness degree, and diagnoses the deterioration state of each of the components by using the selected computation condition.
In addition, to solve the above problems, the present invention provides a plasma processing apparatus including a processing chamber in which a specimen is plasma processed, a radio frequency power supply that supplies radio frequency power for generating plasma, and a specimen stage on which the specimen is placed, the plasma processing apparatus further including a diagnosis device that calculates a robustness degree with respect to each of the components under a plurality of computation conditions for computing deterioration degrees of the components, selects one computation condition from the plurality of computation conditions with respect to each of the components on the basis of the calculated robustness degree, and diagnoses the deterioration state of each of the components by using the selected computation condition.
Further, to solve the above problems, the present invention provides a plasma processing apparatus including a processing chamber in which a specimen is plasma processed, a radio frequency power supply that supplies radio frequency power for generating plasma, and a specimen stage on which the specimen is placed, in which the plasma processing apparatus is connected to a diagnosis device that calculates a robustness degree with respect to each of the components under a plurality of computation conditions for computing deterioration degrees of the components, selects one computation condition from the plurality of computation conditions with respect to each of the components on the basis of the calculated robustness degree, and diagnoses the deterioration state of each of the components by using the selected computation condition.
Further, to solve the above problems, the present invention provides a diagnosis method for diagnosing deterioration states of components of a plasma processing apparatus, the diagnosis method having the steps of calculating a robustness degree with respect to each of the components under a plurality of computation conditions for computing deterioration degrees of the components, selecting one computation condition from the plurality of computation conditions with respect to each of the components on the basis of the calculated robustness degree, and diagnosing the deterioration state of each of the components by using the selected computation condition.
Further, to solve the above problems, the present invention provides a semiconductor device manufacturing system that is connected to a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus via a network and includes a platform executing a diagnosis process for diagnosing deterioration states of components of the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, in which the diagnosis process has the steps of calculating a robustness degree with respect to each of the components under a plurality of computation conditions for computing the deterioration degrees of the components, selecting one computation condition from the plurality of computation conditions with respect to each of the components on the basis of the calculated robustness degree, and diagnosing the deterioration state of each of the components by using the selected computation condition.
According to the present invention, for example, the user of the plasma processing apparatus and its diagnosis device can acquire the deterioration degree computation condition having high robustness for each of the components, and can diagnose the component deterioration states of the plasma processing apparatuses.
Objects, configurations, and effects other than the above will be apparent from the description of the following embodiment.
The present invention provides a diagnosis device and a diagnosis method of a plasma processing apparatus, which acquire the time series sensor value of a target component of the plasma processing apparatus and diagnose a deterioration state, the diagnosis device and the diagnosis method deciding, from among a plurality of deterioration degree computation conditions including combinations of a plurality of time sections and a plurality of deterioration degree computation equations, the deterioration degree computation condition applied to the target component on the basis of a deterioration degree robustness degree calculated by comparison computation between a plurality of maintenance cases of the deterioration degrees, and issuing a maintenance alarm on the basis of the deterioration degree of the target component sequentially computed under the deterioration degree computation condition in the plasma processing apparatuses.
In addition, the present invention provides a plasma processing apparatus that includes a diagnosis device that decides, from among a plurality of deterioration degree computation conditions including combinations of a plurality of time sections and a plurality of deterioration degree computation equations, the deterioration degree computation condition applied to a target component on the basis of a deterioration degree robustness degree calculated by comparison computation between a plurality of maintenance cases of the deterioration degrees, and issues a maintenance alarm on the basis of the deterioration degree of the target component sequentially computed under the deterioration degree computation condition in the plasma processing apparatuses.
The present invention provides a diagnosis device of a plasma processing apparatus that includes a deterioration degree robustness degree computation unit that acquires deterioration degrees equal in number to that of a plurality of maintenance cases, computed under a plurality of deterioration degree computation conditions of a target component, computes a deterioration degree robustness degree previously defined for each of the computation conditions, and outputs the computation condition ranked on the basis of the deterioration degree robustness degree, a unit for setting a section extraction condition for each component that sets a plurality of time section (step time section) extraction conditions with respect to the target component by the unit for setting the section extraction condition for each component, and a deterioration degree computation equation registration unit that registers a plurality of deterioration degree computation equations for capturing various deterioration signs.
Further, the present invention provides a diagnosis device that acquires the sensor values of a plurality of items from state sensors for pressure, electric current, and the like of a plasma processing apparatus and diagnoses the deterioration state of a component to be maintained configuring the plasma processing apparatus, the diagnosis device previously deciding, from among deterioration degree computation conditions including combinations of a plurality of time sections and a plurality of deterioration degree computation equations, the deterioration degree computation condition applied to the target component on the basis of a deterioration degree robustness degree calculated by performing comparison computation of deterioration degrees between a plurality of maintenance cases of the target component in the plasma processing apparatus, and issuing a maintenance alarm on the basis of the deterioration degree of the target component sequentially computed by applying the deterioration degree computation condition to the plasma processing apparatuses to be diagnosed, or presenting a maintenance recommendation period, so that the deterioration degree computation condition having high robustness and applicable to the plurality of plasma processing apparatuses can be decided for each of the components.
Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Note that in all the drawings for describing the embodiment, the same parts are indicated by the same reference numerals as a rule, and the repeated description thereof is omitted.
As illustrated in the block diagram in
As illustrated in the block diagram in
In addition, for example, the diagnosis device 2 is connected to a plasma processing apparatus user server 4 directly or via the network, can transmit an output result to display it on a display unit 42, and can receive the information of a maintenance history storage unit 41.
A form is taken in which for example, the diagnosis device 2 is held by the user of the plasma processing apparatuses 1 and for example, the diagnosis device 3 is held by a plasma processing apparatus maker. By taking such form, the diagnosis device 2 can be installed adjacent to the plasma processing apparatuses 1, so that the acquiring of the sensor values acquired from the state sensors 102 and deterioration degree computation can be executed with low delay. In addition, the apparatus maker sets a deterioration degree computation condition, and the apparatus user can acquire the deterioration degree diagnosis result of a component to be diagnosed without setting the deterioration degree computation condition. In addition, this example can be embodied also by transmitting a deterioration degree computation result without transmitting all the sensor values from the diagnosis device 2 to the diagnosis device 3, and the apparatus user can inhibit the sensor values from to be disclosed to the apparatus maker side.
The execution unit 20 of the diagnosis device 2 has a storage unit 202 that includes a sensor value storage unit 203 and a deterioration degree storage unit 204, and further, has a section extraction unit 200 and a deterioration degree computation unit 201.
The analysis unit 30 of the diagnosis device 3 has a storage unit 305 that includes a section extraction condition storage unit 306, a deterioration degree computation equation storage unit 307, and a deterioration degree computation condition storage unit 308, and further, has a section extraction condition setting unit 301, a deterioration degree computation equation registration unit 302, a deterioration degree robustness degree computation unit 303, and a maintenance period computation unit 304.
The sensor value storage unit 203 of the storage unit 202 of the diagnosis device 2 stores the sensor values acquired from the state sensors 102.
Further, the section extraction unit 200 extracts the data of the time section set from the sensor value according to the deterioration degree computation condition (S404), and the deterioration degree computation unit 201 computes the deterioration degree of the component to be diagnosed by using the deterioration degree computation equation of the deterioration degree computation condition acquired in S403 (S405), and stores the computation result in the deterioration degree storage unit 204 (S406). In this case, the processing condition ID 312 that identifies the used deterioration degree computation condition and the wafer ID 311 during diagnosis having one-to-one correspondence with the deterioration degree are also stored in the deterioration degree storage unit 204.
Next, the flow diagram in
The detail of each step will be described below. The processing contents of will be described later in detail.
An example of a deterioration degree computation conditions setting process performed by the analysis unit 30 of the diagnosis device 3 will be described with reference to
First, the section extraction condition setting unit 301 sets a plurality of time section extraction conditions of the sensor values of the component to be diagnosed under a particular processing condition, and stores them in the section extraction condition storage unit 306 (S511). In order that the deterioration degrees can be compared between the plasma processing apparatuses 1, as the processing condition, for example, it is desirable to designate the processing condition that is performed in a shareable manner by the plasma processing apparatuses 1 for an aging process that adjusts the plasma state of the plasma processing apparatus, an apparatus diagnosing process, and the like.
Next, returning to the flow diagram in
Lastly, combinations of the plurality of time section extraction conditions (section IDs 501) set to the target component in S511 and the plurality of deterioration degree computation equations (equation IDs) stored in the deterioration degree computation equation storage unit 307 are stored, as the deterioration degree computation conditions, in the deterioration degree computation condition storage unit 308. For the respective deterioration degree computation conditions, the deterioration degree computation condition IDs that uniquely identify them are also stored (S513).
Like the waveform 711 of the graph 710 and the waveform 731 of the graph 730, the sensor item that exhibits the deterioration sign over the entire time section in the processing time is present, and like a peak waveform 722 of the waveform 721 of the graph 720 and a peak waveform 742 of the waveform 741 of the graph 740, the sensor item that exhibits the deterioration sign in only part of the time section in the processing time is also present. Therefore, unless the time section extraction is appropriately performed, the sensitivity of the deterioration diagnosis can be lowered.
In S512 of the flow diagram in
In addition, like the examples illustrated in
An example of a deterioration degree computation condition decision process performed by the analysis unit 30 of the diagnosis device 3 will be described with reference to the flow diagram illustrated in
First, acquired are the transitions of the deterioration degrees when by using the sensor values from the normal state immediately after the maintenance of the target component to maintenance, which are stored in the sensor value storage unit 203 (hereinafter, a maintenance case) and the deterioration degree computation conditions stored in the deterioration degree computation condition storage unit 308, the deterioration degrees are computed by the deterioration degree computation unit 201, and are stored in the deterioration degree storage unit 204, and each of the deterioration degree computation conditions is applied in the maintenance case (S521).
Next, S521 is performed with respect to a plurality of maintenance cases of the target component, thereby acquiring (the transitions of) the deterioration degrees computed with respect to the sensor values of the plurality of maintenance cases and stored in the deterioration degree storage unit 204 (S522). For the sensor values of the plurality of maintenance cases, a plurality of maintenance cases may be collected from a plurality of plasma processing apparatuses 10, 11, . . . , or a plurality of maintenance cases may be collected from the single plasma processing apparatus 10 or 11. In addition, to each of the maintenance cases, a case ID that can uniquely identify it is given.
Next, by using the deterioration degrees of the plurality of maintenance cases acquired in S522, a deterioration degree robustness degree is computed for each of the deterioration degree computation conditions by the deterioration degree robustness degree computation unit 303 (S523). The deterioration degree robustness degree is computed by using the deterioration degrees under the same deterioration degree computation condition of the plurality of maintenance cases, and is an index indicating the height of the shareability of the tendency over the cases of the deterioration degrees computed under the deterioration degree computation condition.
The method for computing the deterioration degree robustness degree of the deterioration degree robustness degree computation unit 303 is not uniquely limited, but, for example, the deterioration degree desirably monotonically increases in between one maintenance case due to its characteristic, and the correlation coefficient between the wafer ID (the number of processed wafers) and the deterioration degree is desirably high, so that an average value over a plurality of maintenance cases of the correlation coefficients computed with respect to the respective maintenance cases is computed as the deterioration degree robustness degree.
In addition, for example, as the height of the shareability of the values of the deterioration degrees during maintenance, the reciprocal number of the standard deviation over the plurality of maintenance cases of the deterioration degrees during maintenance may be computed as the deterioration degree robustness degree, or the above deterioration degree robustness degree computation methods may be combined.
The computed deterioration degree robustness degree is stored in the deterioration degree computation condition storage unit 308 so as to be associated with the deterioration degree computation condition ID and the case ID of the sensor value used in computation.
Lastly, the deterioration degree computation conditions are ranked in the descending order of the deterioration degree robustness degrees computed for the respective deterioration degree computation conditions by the deterioration degree computation equation registration unit 302 (S524).
In the region 910 of comparison of deterioration degrees of respective deterioration degree computation conditions, the transitions of the deterioration degrees obtained by acquiring the information corresponding to a component ID: 911 stored in the deterioration degree computation condition storage unit 308 and the deterioration degree storage unit 204 and by being computed with respect to sensor values (case IDs) 914, 917 of the respective maintenance cases with the use of the respective deterioration degree computation conditions (deterioration degree computation condition IDs) are displayed in graphs 915, 916, 918, 919, and values 912 of the deterioration degree robustness degrees are also displayed (D1). A deterioration degree computation condition ID: 50 3131 on the left side is a deterioration degree computation condition having a higher deterioration degree robustness degree than a deterioration degree computation condition ID: 2 3132 on the right side, and the deterioration degree computation condition having high robustness and the transition state of the deterioration degree with respect to the condition can be confirmed in the graphs 915, 916, 918, 919, and by observing these, the user can decide the deterioration degree computation condition having a high robustness degree.
In addition, each deterioration degree computed for each wafer ID is selected like 9181, so that in the region 920 of comparison of sensor values during normality and diagnosis, a sensor value 924 during normality 923 and a sensor value 928 during diagnosis 927 in an extraction section 926 corresponding to a selected component ID 921 and a case ID 922 can be compared. By observing these, for example, the user can determine the reason why the deterioration degree becomes high, from the change in peak waveforms 925 and 929 of the sensor values.
From the above process, the deterioration degree computation condition having a high deterioration degree robustness degree can be acquired as the deterioration degree computation condition having high robustness in the deterioration diagnosis of the target component, and this is stored in the deterioration degree computation condition storage unit 308.
An example of a maintenance period computation process of the diagnosis device 3 will be described with reference to the flow diagram in
First, the deterioration degree computation condition used for diagnosis is decided on the basis of the deterioration degree robustness degree for each component (S531). A deterioration degree computation condition having the largest deterioration degree robustness degree may be decided, or a deterioration degree computation condition having a higher satisfaction feeling may be decided by the comparison with the component knowledge, from among the deterioration degree computation conditions having the high deterioration degree robustness degrees after the confirmation of the sensor value 924 during normality 923 and the sensor value 928 during diagnosis 927 displayed in the region 920 of comparison of sensor values during diagnosis on the display screen 900 in
Next, the threshold value of the deterioration degree that issues an alarm is previously set for each component (S532). For example, the values of the deterioration degrees during maintenance of the plurality of maintenance cases or at the point in time just before the fixed period with respect to during maintenance are collected, and the 95% percentile value thereof is used. The use of the percentile value and the value of “95” are only examples, and the present invention is not limited to these.
Next, the deterioration degree computation conditions of the respective components stored in the deterioration degree computation condition storage unit 308 are applied to the plasma processing apparatuses 1, and the sequentially acquired sensor values and deterioration degree computation conditions are used to sequentially compute the deterioration degrees of the respective components by the deterioration degree computation unit 201 (S533).
When the value exceeds the set threshold value at the time of computing the deterioration degree, an alarm is issued like a region 1120 on a display screen 1100 illustrated in
By observing the display screen 1100, the user can centrally manage the deterioration states of the respective components to be maintained of the plasma processing apparatuses 1, and it is possible to lead to the reduction in the non-operation time of the plasma processing apparatuses 1 due to unplanned maintenance by performing early maintenance with respect to the component to be maintained on the basis of the issued alarm.
In addition, the method for issuing the alarm to the region 1120 on the basis of the threshold value 1107 has been described, but for example, the maintenance occurrence period can also be predicted by predicting, on the basis of the transition of the deterioration degree of up to the point in time of diagnosis, the transition of the deterioration degree after the point in time of diagnosis, and may be displayed. By observing it, for example, the user can perform the advance preparation of the maintenance component, thereby enabling to lead to the lead time reduction in component replacement.
As described above, the diagnosis device that diagnoses the deterioration state of the target component of the plasma processing apparatus that performs the process for processing the specimen, which has been described in this example acquires the time series sensor values from the state sensors of the target component of the plasma processing apparatus, computes the deterioration degree by the deterioration degree computation equation using the sensor values during normality and diagnosis, acquires the plurality of cases of the sensor values between maintenances from the plasma processing apparatus, decides, from among the deterioration degree computation conditions including combinations of the plurality of time sections of the sensor values and the plurality of deterioration degree computation equations, the deterioration degree computation condition on the basis of the deterioration degree robustness degree calculated by comparison computation between the plurality of cases of the deterioration degrees, and on the basis of the deterioration degrees of the target component sequentially computed by using the deterioration degree computation conditions decided in the plasma processing apparatuses, issues the maintenance alarm or presents the maintenance recommendation period.
In addition, the diagnosis device according to this example includes the plasma processing apparatus maker side diagnosis device and the user side diagnosis device, and the plasma processing apparatus maker side diagnosis device receives the deterioration degree computed by the plasma processing apparatus user side diagnosis device associated with the plasma processing apparatuses, and transmits the decided deterioration degree computation condition to the user side diagnosis device, and the user side diagnosis device transmits the deterioration degree computed by using the deterioration degree computation condition to the server of the plasma processing apparatus user.
Further, in the diagnosis device according to this example, for the time section set to the time series sensor value, any section width is automatically acquired, starting from the determination of the sensor value threshold value set to each target component, or is automatically acquired by the window movement of the fixed section width previously set from the entire time section.
Further, in the diagnosis device according to this example, the deterioration degree robustness degree is an index indicating the height of the shareability of the tendency between the plurality of maintenance cases of the deterioration degrees, and the correlation coefficients between the numbers of processed wafers and the deterioration degrees are taken by the plasma processing apparatus, the average value of the correlation coefficients over the plurality of maintenance cases is computed as the deterioration degree robustness degree, or the statistical amount of the deterioration degree at the point in time of maintenance in the plurality of maintenance cases is computed as the deterioration degree robustness degree.
Further, in the diagnosis device according to this example, when the deterioration degree computed by using the deterioration degree computation condition is designated, the sensor value during normality and the sensor value during diagnosis are comparison displayed together with the time section set to the time series sensor value.
According to this example, the deterioration degree computation condition for calculating the deterioration degree of the component configuring the plasma processing apparatus can be selected from among the plurality of computation equations stored in the deterioration degree computation equation storage unit on the basis of the information of the robustness degree calculated by the deterioration degree robustness degree computation unit, so that the maintenance period can be calculated with a higher reliability degree.
In addition, as the embodiment of the described example, a semiconductor device manufacturing system that executes an application operating and managing a line including a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus on a platform can be considered. In this case, by executing the process in such a manner that at least the function of the plasma processing apparatus maker side diagnosis device 3 is used as the application on the platform, so that the semiconductor device manufacturing system can embody this example. Further, the application may be an application having, other than the function of the plasma processing apparatus maker side diagnosis device 3, the function of the plasma processing apparatus user side diagnosis device 2 and the function of the plasma processing apparatus user server 4.
The example has been described above, but the present invention is not limited to the example, and can be variously changed within the scope not departing from its purport.
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/JP2021/026208 | 7/13/2021 | WO |
