Real time particle monitor inside of plasma chamber during resist strip processing

摘要

One aspect of the present invention relates to a system and method for controlling defect formation during a resist strip process. The system includes a reaction chamber comprising a patterned resist layer overlying a semiconductor structure wherein the resist layer is being exposed to a plasma material flowing into the chamber in order to facilitate removing the resist layer from the structure, a plasma-resist particle monitoring system connected to the reaction chamber and programmed to determine a particle count in the reaction chamber during the resist strip process, and a reaction controller coupled to the chamber and to the monitoring system, the reaction controller being programmed to receive particle data from the monitoring system to facilitate determining whether the counted particles in the chamber are within a tolerable limit. The method involves continuing to expose the structure and the chamber to the plasma until an acceptable particle count is obtained.