REAL-TIME IN-SITU EPITAXIAL FILM THICKNESS MONITORING AND CONTROL USING AN EMISSION FOURIER-TRANSFORM INFRARED SPECTROMETER

An emission Fourier transform infrared (E/FT-IR) technique for epifilm thickness measurement will be reported. The E/FT-IR technique takes a dvantage of the heated wafer as the source of IR radiation. It is a no ncontact, nondestructive, real-time, and in situ epifilm thickness mon itoring tool that we demonstrated to be useful for observing real-time growth rates and incubation times. In addition, this method is especi ally applicable to precise end point control when critical film thickn esses are required. Moreover, we have identified some limitations to t his method, and found the operable temperature ranges. Furthermore, we have demonstrated, for the first time, a closed-loop feedback control of epitaxial silicon film thickness in a multichamber single-wafer ch emical vapor deposition reactor.