US Patent Application 18352382. METHOD FOR NON-DESTRUCTIVE INSPECTION OF CELL ETCH REDEPOSITION simplified abstract

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METHOD FOR NON-DESTRUCTIVE INSPECTION OF CELL ETCH REDEPOSITION

Organization Name

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd.


Inventor(s)

I-Che Lee of Taipei City (TW)

Huai-Ying Huang of Jhonghe City (TW)

Yi Chien Lee of New Taipei City (TW)

METHOD FOR NON-DESTRUCTIVE INSPECTION OF CELL ETCH REDEPOSITION - A simplified explanation of the abstract

This abstract first appeared for US patent application 18352382 titled 'METHOD FOR NON-DESTRUCTIVE INSPECTION OF CELL ETCH REDEPOSITION

Simplified Explanation

The patent application is for a method of inspecting cell etch redeposition without causing damage. Here are the key points:

  • The method involves capturing a grayscale image of a group of cells on a wafer.
  • This image is taken after the etching process that forms the cells.
  • The cells are identified in the image to determine non-region of interest (non-ROI) pixels.
  • The non-ROI pixels, which correspond to the cells, are subtracted from the image.
  • This subtraction reveals the remaining pixels, known as ROI pixels, which represent material on the sidewalls of the cells and in the recesses between them.
  • The amount of etch redeposition on the sidewalls and in the recesses is then determined based on the gray levels of the ROI pixels.
  • The wafer is then processed based on this score, likely to address any issues with the etch redeposition.


Original Abstract Submitted

Various embodiments of the present disclosure are directed towards a method for nondestructive inspection of cell etch redeposition. In some embodiments of the method, a grayscale image of a plurality of cells on a wafer is captured. The grayscale image provides a top down view of the cells and, in some embodiments, is captured in situ after etching to form the cells. The cells are identified in the grayscale image to determine non-region of interest (non-ROI) pixels corresponding to the cells. The non-ROI pixels are subtracted from the grayscale image to determine ROI pixels. The ROI pixels are remaining pixels after the subtracting and correspond to material on sidewalls of, and in recesses between, the cells. An amount of etch redeposition on the sidewalls and in the recesses is then scored based on gray levels of the ROI pixels. Further, the wafer is processed based on the score.

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