Data analytics and computational analytics for semiconductor process control
Implementations described herein generally relate to detecting excursions in intended geometric features in an integrated circuit substrate. In one implementation, a method includes determining a set of suspect contours in a design window of the integrated circuit substrate based on proximities of a plurality of points of interest in the design window to intended geometric features. The method further includes obtaining a set of imaged contours from one or more images of a defect-free integrated circuit substrate. The method further includes comparing the set of imaged contours to the set of suspect contours to obtain a set of potential excursions from the imaged contours. The method further includes determining a probability that a potential excursion from the set of potential excursions is a valid excursion. The method further includes taking a corrective action based on the determined probability.
1. A method for detecting excursions comprising deviations from expected geometric features in an integrated circuit substrate, comprising:
determining a set of contours suspected of having at least one excursion in a design window of the integrated circuit substrate based on a geometric distribution of proximities of a plurality of points of interest in the design window to a plurality of expected geometric features, wherein determining the geometric distribution comprises determining a design proximity index for each of the plurality of points of interest in the design window, wherein the design proximity index is a measure of how close a point of interest of the plurality of points of interest is to an adjacent expected geometric feature of the plurality of expected geometric features;
obtaining a set of imaged contours from one or more images of a defect-free integrated circuit substrate;
comparing the set of imaged contours to the set of suspected contours to obtain a set of potential excursions from the imaged contours;
determining a probability that a potential excursion from the set of potential excursions is a confirmed excursion, wherein the confirmed excursion is operable to cause a yield impacting defect within at least one of the expected geometric features of the design window of the substrate; and
taking a corrective action to eliminate a re-occurrence of the confirmed excursion based on the determined probability.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the set of potential excursions represent a set of deviations from an intended geometric feature.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the set of suspected contours comprises determining a Euclidian distance between a point of a plurality of points in an expected geometric feature of the plurality of geometric features.
4. The method of claim 3 , further comprising determining a location of the confirmed excursion from the determined Euclidian distance.
5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising, before determining the set of suspected contours, dividing the substrate into a plurality of geometric areas comprising a corresponding plurality of design windows.
6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising determining from the confirmed excursion a measure of compliance to a design process of the integrated circuit substrate.
7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the compliance is at least one of lithography compliance, deposition compliance, or planarization compliance.
8. The method of claim 6 , further comprising, providing instructions to at least one of altering a processing step in the manufacture of the integrated circuit substrate, changing a design parameter for the integrated circuit substrate, or replacing a defective sensor in response to the measure of compliance exceeding a predefined criteria.
9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising transmitting a notification of the confirmed excursion to a display that displays a dashboard of confirmed excursions and their associated probabilities.
10. The method of claim 9 , further comprising:
rank ordering confirmed excursions and
presenting the rank ordering on the display.
11. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
identifying one or more steps in a recipe, a particular chamber, and a tool associated with a yield impacting defect that caused the confirmed excursion.
12. A computing system, comprising:
a memory; and
a processor configured to perform a method for detecting comprising deviations from expected geometric features in an integrated circuit substrate, the method comprising:
determining a set of contours suspected of having at least one excursion in a design window of the integrated circuit substrate based on a geometric distribution of proximities of a plurality of points of interest in the design window to a plurality of expected geometric features, wherein determining the geometric distribution comprises determining a design proximity index for each of the plurality of points of interest in the design window, wherein the design proximity index is a measure of how close a point of interest of the plurality of points of interest is to an adjacent expected geometric feature of the plurality of expected geometric features;
obtaining a set of imaged contours from one or more images of a defect-free integrated circuit substrate;
comparing the set of imaged contours to the set of suspected contours to obtain a set of potential excursions from the imaged contours;
determining a probability that a potential excursion from the set of potential excursions is a confirmed excursion, wherein the confirmed excursion is operable to cause a yield impacting defect within at least one of the expected geometric features of the design window of the substrate; and
taking a corrective action to eliminate a re-occurrence of the confirmed excursion based on the determined probability.
13. The computing system of claim 12 , wherein the set of potential excursions represent a set of deviations from an intended geometric feature.
14. The computing system of claim 13 , wherein determining the set of suspected contours comprises determining a Euclidian distance between a point of a plurality of points in an expected geometric feature of the plurality of geometric features.
15. The computing system of claim 14 , further comprising determining a location of the confirmed excursion from the determined Euclidian distance.
16. The computing system of claim 12 , further comprising, before determining the set of suspected contours, dividing the substrate into a plurality of geometric areas comprising a corresponding plurality of design windows.
17. A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising instructions that when executed by a computing device cause the computing device to perform a method for detecting excursions comprising deviations from expected geometric features in an integrated circuit substrate, the method comprising:
determining a set of contours suspected of having at least one excursion in a design window of the integrated circuit substrate based on a geometric distribution of proximities of a plurality of points of interest in the design window to a plurality of expected geometric features, wherein determining the geometric distribution comprises determining a design proximity index for each of the plurality of points of interest in the design window, wherein the design proximity index is a measure of how close a point of interest of the plurality of points of interest is to an adjacent expected geometric feature of the plurality of expected geometric features;
obtaining a set of imaged contours from one or more images of a defect-free integrated circuit substrate;
comparing the set of imaged contours to the set of suspected contours to obtain a set of potential excursions from the imaged contours;
determining a probability that a potential excursion from the set of potential excursions is a confirmed excursion, wherein the confirmed excursion is operable to cause a yield impacting defect within at least one of the expected geometric features of the design window of the substrate; and
taking a corrective action to eliminate a re-occurrence of the confirmed excursion based on the determined probability.
18. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 17 , wherein the set of potential excursions represent a set of deviations from an intended geometric feature.
19. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 17 , wherein determining the set of suspected contours comprises determining a Euclidian distance between a point of a plurality of points in an expected geometric feature of the plurality of geometric features.
20. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 19 , further comprising determining a location of the confirmed excursion from the determined Euclidian distance.
21. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 17 , further comprising, before determining the set of suspected contours, dividing the substrate into a plurality of geometric areas comprising a corresponding plurality of design windows.