Measurement of inherent substrate distortion

1 . A method, comprising:

obtaining, with a displacement sensor of an electronics processing system, first data indicative of a measured profile of a substrate;

obtaining second data indicative of a profile of a reference substrate;

determining an out-of-plane distortion of the substrate by subtracting the second data from the first data; and

performing a corrective action based on the out-of-plane distortion, wherein the corrective action comprises:

determining, based on the out-of-plane distortion, a sector of the substrate to be flattened;

adjusting at least one parameter associated with a holding force of a sector of a holding device, the sector of the holding device corresponding to the sector of the substrate; and

applying, with the sector of the holding device in a subsequent processing step, the holding force to flatten the sector of the substrate.

2 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising determining an overlay error of the substrate based on the out-of-plane distortion.

3 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising performing a plurality of measurements of substrate displacement at a plurality of locations of the substrate, wherein the measured profile of the substrate is based on the plurality of measurements.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the measured profile is based on measurements of the substrate performed after a target processing operation, and wherein the profile of the reference substrate is based on measurements of the substrate performed before the target processing operation.

5 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising disposing the substrate on a measurement stage, the measurement stage comprising a stage for reduction of gravity-induced substrate deflection, and wherein the measured profile of the substrate is determined based on measurements taken while the substrate is on the measurement stage.

6 . The method of claim 5 , wherein the measurement stage comprises a three-point substrate support stage.

7 . The method of claim 5 , wherein the measurement stage comprises a plurality of support points radially disposed around a center of the measurement stage at a support radius.

8 . The method of claim 7 , wherein a substrate radius is greater than the support radius by factor of approximately √2 (square root of two).

9 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the holding device is an electrostatic chuck, and wherein the at least one parameter comprises a voltage to a sector of the electrostatic chuck.

10 . A non-transitory machine-readable storage medium storing instructions which, when executed, cause a processing device to perform operations comprising:

obtaining, with a displacement sensor of an electronics processing system, first data indicative of a measured profile of a substrate;

obtaining second data indicative of a profile of a reference substrate;

determining an out-of-plane distortion of the substrate by subtracting the second data from the first data; and

performing a corrective action based on the out-of-plane distortion, wherein the corrective action comprises:

determining, based on the out-of-plane distortion, a sector of the substrate to be flattened;

adjusting at least one parameter associated with a holding force of a sector of a holding device, the sector of the holding device corresponding to the sector of the substrate; and

applying, with the sector of the holding device in a subsequent processing step, the holding force to flatten the sector of the substrate.

11 . The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 10 wherein the operations further comprise determining an overlay error of the substrate based on the out-of-plane distortion.

12 . The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 10 , wherein the operations further comprise performing a plurality of measurements of substrate displacement at a plurality of locations of the substrate, wherein the measured profile of the substrate is based on the plurality of measurements.

13 . The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 10 , wherein the measured profile is based on measurements of the substrate performed after a target processing operation, and wherein the profile of the reference substrate is based on measurements of the substrate performed before the target processing operation.

14 . The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 10 , wherein the operations further comprise disposing the substrate on a measurement stage, the measurement stage comprising a stage for reduction of gravity-induced substrate deflection, and wherein the measured profile of the substrate is determined based on measurements taken while the substrate is on the measurement stage.

15 . A system, comprising memory and a processing device coupled to the memory, wherein the processing device is configured to:

obtain, with a displacement sensor of an electronics processing system, first data indicative of a measured profile of a substrate;

obtain second data indicative of a profile of a reference substrate;

determine an out-of-plane distortion of the substrate by subtracting the second data from the first data; and

perform a corrective action based on the out-of-plane distortion, wherein the corrective action comprises:

determining, based on the out-of-plane distortion, a sector of the substrate to be flattened;

adjusting at least one parameter associated with a holding force of a sector of a holding device, the sector of the holding device corresponding to the sector of the substrate; and

applying, with the sector of the holding device in a subsequent processing step, the holding force to flatten the sector of the substrate.

16 . The system of claim 15 , wherein the processing device is further configured to determine an overlay error of the substrate based on the out-of-plane distortion, wherein the corrective action is further based on the overlay error.

17 . The system of claim 15 , wherein the processing device is further configured to perform a plurality of measurements of substrate displacement at a plurality of locations of the substrate, wherein the measured profile of the substrate is based on the plurality of measurements.

18 . The system of claim 15 , wherein the measured profile is based on measurements of the substrate performed after a target processing operation, and wherein the profile of the reference substrate is based on measurements of the substrate performed before the target processing operation.

19 . The system of claim 15 , wherein the measured profile is based on measurements of the substrate performed while the substrate is disposed on a measurement stage, the measurement stage comprising a stage for reduction of gravity-induced substrate deflection.