METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR THE CONTROL OF DEVELOPING OR ETCHING PROCESSES

• Main Author: MORITZ, HOLGER
• Format: Patent
• Language: English; German
• Published: 20.01.1982
• Subjects: APPARATUS SPECIALLY ADAPTED THEREFOR; BASIC ELECTRIC ELEMENTS; CASINGS OR CONSTRUCTIONAL DETAILS OF ELECTRIC APPARATUS; CHEMICAL SURFACE TREATMENT; CHEMISTRY; CINEMATOGRAPHY; COATING BY VACUUM EVAPORATION, BY SPUTTERING, BY ION IMPLANTATIONOR BY CHEMICAL VAPOUR DEPOSITION, IN GENERAL; COATING MATERIAL WITH METALLIC MATERIAL; COATING METALLIC MATERIAL; DIFFUSION TREATMENT OF METALLIC MATERIAL; ELECTRIC SOLID STATE DEVICES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; ELECTRIC TECHNIQUES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; ELECTRICITY; ELECTROGRAPHY; HOLOGRAPHY; INHIBITING CORROSION OF METALLIC MATERIAL OR INCRUSTATION INGENERAL; MANUFACTURE OF ASSEMBLAGES OF ELECTRICAL COMPONENTS; MATERIALS THEREFOR; MEASURING; MEASURING ANGLES; MEASURING AREAS; MEASURING IRREGULARITIES OF SURFACES OR CONTOURS; MEASURING LENGTH, THICKNESS OR SIMILAR LINEARDIMENSIONS; METALLURGY; MULTI-STEP PROCESSES FOR SURFACE TREATMENT OF METALLICMATERIAL INVOLVING AT LEAST ONE PROCESS PROVIDED FOR IN CLASSC23 AND AT LEAST ONEPROCESS COVERED BY SUBCLASS C21D OR C22F OR CLASS C25; NON-MECHANICAL REMOVAL OF METALLIC MATERIAL FROM SURFACE; ORIGINALS THEREFOR; PHOTOGRAPHY; PHOTOMECHANICAL PRODUCTION OF TEXTURED OR PATTERNED SURFACES,e.g. FOR PRINTING, FOR PROCESSING OF SEMICONDUCTORDEVICES; PHYSICS; PRINTED CIRCUITS; SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES; TESTING

In practice, the development time for a photoresist covered semiconductor wafer exposed by a given mask configuration is established experimentally. It is obvious that this time is only adequate if the other parameters do not change. According to the subject invention the mask is provided with an optical grid. The grid pattern, together with the pattern of the integrated circuit, is transferred by exposure to the photoresist layer covering the semiconductor wafer. During the development process, a light ray is directed onto the area of the wafer which was exposed to the grid pattern and the intensity of the light diffracted in the direction of the 2nd diffraction order is monitored by a light sensor. The slits of the grid may have the same width as the smallest lines of the exposed pattern. In this case, the intensity minimum of the 2nd diffraction order indicates the end of the development process.