Resources for the Engineer

Peak Sensor Systems is dedicated to meeting the needs of the Semiconductor Industry today and beyond. Peak constantly endeavors to provide plasma monitoring tools in a timely fashion that will meet the special needs of the semiconductor environment. We understand the pressures of device manufacturing and have committed to provide solutions that answer specific needs.  Our tools are geared towards tighter process control and greater process understanding while increasing yield, throughput and quality.   Peak takes pride in being in front of the trends in industry and we’re not afraid to take on the tough challenges. 

Our new products provide e-Diagnostic capabilities, plasma recipe and step modeling, anomaly detection as well as empirical fault detection, and a whole new host of desk top tools to allow the user to visualize his plasma processes in ways never available anywhere before.  The engineers at Peak realize that the contributions of on tool sensors and other external sensors add depth of understanding to the plasma environment, that’s why Peak’s new PlasmaTrax modeling tool allows inputs from other sensor sources, metrology and yield data.

Peak Sensor Systems employees a staff of process engineers with a wide range of experiences. Peak’s application and process engineers are available for consultation and active problem solving.  Our engineers can support research, process development and the like at your facility or remotely via e-Diagnostic capability. 

For you special needs, please call Peak Sensor Systems today or submit your question via e-mail, and find out what we can do for you.

Peak Sensor Systems (505) 342-1170

Q: We run a process where we perform an oxide etch followed by an in situ photo resist strip. Occasionally, a boat of wafers will get processed a second time without any mask.  This destroys the boat, contaminates the plasma modules and further contaminates subsequent product.  Can ProPak stop this from happening?

A: ProPak has two types of fault detection that could stop this from happening.  The first technique involves empirical fault detection in which the ProPak monitors specifically for this type of fault based upon a library of known fault conditions.  When this fault type is detected, the ProPak has a host of corrective actions it can take such as page the responsible party, send out fault notification via e-mail to all appropriate parties, send premature endpoint to remove the wafer from the chamber, refuse to send endpoint to cause the chamber to execute a tool fault, stop the process, sound alarms, light visual alarms and notify the fab via a fault flag send to the fab control system.

Secondly, ProPak’s State of Health software, PlasmaTrax, monitors each recipe and step for consistent performance.  When performance changes (unknown fault occurrence), alarms and notifications begin. PlasmaTrax builds two models per recipe step, one that compares performance to an “ideal” plasma performance and one that compares chamber performance to its own history. The first model catches anomalies and is tolerant of chamber maintenance; the second shows degradation of the lifetime of the chamber indicating when maintenance is necessary and when maintenance has been successful.

Q: During recent downsizing, we lost a significant number of applications engineers.  Now we have big problems but I can’t get any support. Can Peak help?

A: Peak Sensor Systems has launched a new e-Diagnostic program where we can provide side-by-side support to your remaining engineers in the fab.  We host a 24-hour support center manned with process engineers and applications engineers. Via VPN, we virtually monitor your process, devise endpoint and fault recipes and monitor for tool, sensor and process alarms remotely.  If trouble arises, we notify the appropriate personnel or send a team of specialist to your location to solve the issue.  We also have process and application engineers available on contract to work in your facility to address your specific needs.

Q: I have multiple platforms with 2 to 3 process modules per platform.  I have set the modules to perform identically (power, pressure, gas flow, etc.). However, I have not been able to get them to perform alike!  We have one module that is clearly better then the rest and one that’s a real dog. I want all my modules to be golden.  Can your plasma monitoring system help me figure out why they are different and help me match them up?

A: Chamber matching issues are tough. The on-board sensors say that all tools are performing identically, but the resulting product quality says otherwise.  ProPak has been used many times to isolate process issues and match chambers.  Peak Sensor Systems will gladly construct a Design of Experiment (DOE) to help you track down which parameters need to be adjusted to bring all tools into alignment. Once the critical parametric changes have been discovered, ProPak can monitor for performance shifts over time by comparing process models with PlasmaTrax (for process excursions).