US 7702418 B2
A secure reader system (SRS) for containers housing material to be employed in an application. A container is provided having an information storing mechanism. A connector of the SRS having a reader is provided to physically couple to the container for periodically reading information there from. The connector is configured to physically couple to the container and may draw material from the container simultaneous with the reading.
1. A container assembly comprising:
a container body having an interior for containing a material;
an information storing element coupled to a portion of said container body and for storing information about the material, the portion configured to couple to a removable connector defining a material passage and adapted to receive said information; and
a verification tool adapted to receive said information from the information storing element prior to coupling of said connector to said portion of said container body, wherein said information is used to dictate whether the connector should be coupled to said portion of the container body.
2. The container assembly of
3. The container assembly of
4. The container assembly of
5. The container assembly of
6. A cap adapted (i) for removable coupling to a container having an interior for containing a material, (ii) following coupling of said cap to said container, for removable coupling to a connector having an information retrieval element for receiving an information-containing signal and a material conduit permitting access to the interior; and (iii) for receiving a verification tool, said cap comprising an information storing element for storing information about said material, wherein said verification tool is adapted to receive at least a portion of said information from the information storing element prior to coupling between the connector and the cap, and is adapted to use said received information in verifying whether the connector should be coupled to the cap.
7. The cap of
8. The cap of
9. A system comprising:
a container having an interior for containing a material;
an information storage element for storing information about the material;
a process assembly to employ the material in an application;
a control unit to direct the application based on said information about the material;
a verification tool coupled to the control unit and having a first information retrieval element adapted to communicate with the information storage element; and
a connector removably coupleable to said container, and coupleable to said process assembly and said control unit, said connector having a material conduit to provide said process assembly with access to the material and having a second information retrieval element adapted to communicate with the information storage element to provide said control unit with access to the information;
wherein said verification tool is adapted to communicate with the information storage element prior to coupling between said connector and said container, and further adapted to utilize a signal obtained by said communication to determine whether said connector should be coupled with said container.
10. The system of
11. The system of
12. The system of
13. A system comprising:
a control unit for coupling to a process assembly adapted to employ a material in an application, the material being disposed in a container having an electronic information storage element containing information about the material;
a verification tool comprising a first information retrieval element coupleable to the control unit and adapted to receive at least a first portion of said information from the electronic information storage element; and
a connector defining a material conduit for extracting material from the container and being removably coupleable to the container, the connector comprising a second information retrieval element coupleable to the control unit and adapted to receive at least a second portion of said information from the electronic information storage element, wherein said at least a second portion of said information is useable to dictate a manner in which the material should be utilized by the process assembly;
wherein said verification tool is adapted to receive said at least a first portion of said information prior to coupling between the container and the connector and to utilize said at least a first portion of said information to determine whether said connector should be coupled with said container; and
wherein said control unit directs the process assembly based on said information about the material.
14. A method utilizing a container containing a material, the method comprising:
reading, from an electronic storage element associated with the container, information about the material and utilizing said information, prior to coupling to the container a connector adapted for material extraction and information retrieval, to verify the propriety of coupling the connector to the container;
coupling said connector to the container after said verifying;
reading information about the material from the container via the connector; and
withdrawing the material from the container through the connector.
15. The method of
16. The method of
17. The method of
18. The method of
19. The method of
20. The method of
21. The method of
identifying inaccuracy of the information; and
adjusting at least one parameter of the application based on the inaccuracy.
22. The method of
23. The container assembly of
24. A system comprising the container assembly of
25. The system of
26. The system of
27. The system of
28. The method of
Embodiments described relate to reader or tracking systems. In particular, embodiments relate to reader systems employing features to ensure secure and proper readings. Embodiments may also relate to features that account for changes in characteristics from one item being read or tracked to another.
In the fabrication of semiconductor devices, materials of varying purposes are deposited on a semiconductor substrate. The semiconductor substrate is often a wafer of monocrystalline silicon materials such as silicon dioxide. Materials deposited thereon may include copper, aluminum and other metals to form metal lines or other circuit features within trenches of the semiconductor substrate. Additional circuit features and material layers may be formed on the semiconductor substrate throughout the fabrication process.
In order to form trenches as described above, a photoresist material is first deposited above the semiconductor substrate. The manner of transport and delivery of the photoresist material to the semiconductor substrate may be critical to the fabrication process. For example, the cost of application of the wrong type of photoresist may be quite extreme. Such an error may cost in terms of a destroyed expensive semiconductor substrate, such as a circuit device wafer, wasted photoresist, and the downtime necessary to correct the error.
The photoresist material described above is transported and delivered to the surface of the semiconductor substrate in a liquid form. The photoresist material is applied and thinly spread across the semiconductor substrate surface generally by a spin-on process. Parameters of the spin-on process are selected to ensure a fairly uniform, thin distribution of the photoresist across the surface of the semiconductor substrate. This is often followed by application of heat to the semiconductor substrate resulting in the formation of a solid photoresist layer on the semiconductor substrate.
The solid photoresist layer described above may be patterned to allow for the formation of trenches therebelow by conventional etching techniques. However, proper trench formation and uniformity is dependent in part upon the degree of uniformity displayed by the thin photoresist layer defining the trenches. Indeed, proper transport and delivery of photoresist material to the semiconductor substrate is critical to the fabrication of a reliable semiconductor device. In fact, as device features, such as metal lines, become smaller and smaller, the adverse effect of photoresist non-uniformity on a device feature becomes magnified.
Achieving a uniformly thin photoresist layer may require application of a spin-on, or other process, which employs parameters based on the particular physical and functional characteristics of the photoresist material. Unfortunately, characteristics of a photoresist material type may vary from one batch to the next. For example, the viscosity of a photoresist type may vary from one batch or container to the next. Thus, establishing reliable predetermined parameters for forming an adequately uniform photoresist layer on a semiconductor substrate may be extremely difficult, if not impossible, to accomplish. Proper transport and application of photoresist material to the semiconductor substrate faces challenges related to both providing the proper type of photoresist material, and employment of the proper application parameters in light of precise characteristics of the photoresist material provided.
Embodiments are described below with reference to certain features of a secure reader system. In particular, features are described which help to ensure the reliability and security of a container assembly containing a photoresist material. Additionally, features are described which allow for seamless calibration of application parameters to ensure that any change in characteristics of a photoresist material type are accounted for when changing from one batch or container of photoresist material to the next.
Referring now to
The container assembly 110 includes an information storing mechanism for storing information about a material contained therein, such as an information tag 200 (see
The container assembly 110 is configured to accommodate a material that is to be delivered to the process assembly 103. In the embodiment shown, the connector 118 is coupled to a process assembly 103 by way of a material line 125. Similarly, the connector 118 is coupled to the control unit 102. The control unit 102 is configured to identify and monitor the container assembly 110 as described further herein. An information cable 122 is provided for communication between the container assembly 110 and the control unit 102.
In the embodiment shown in
Central processing capability is contained within the controller 150 and a controller cable 155 is provided to couple the process assembly 103 thereto. In this manner, applications employing material from a container assembly 110 may be directed by the control unit 102. For example, a user may direct such an application via the touch screen monitor 140. In certain embodiments, directing of such an application is based on information obtained from the information storing mechanism described above, and with reference to
Continuing with reference to
Referring now to
With additional reference to
As also described above, the cap 115 of the container assembly 110 also includes an information tag 200 as the information storing mechanism. The information tag 200 is configured to hold data regarding the material contained by the container assembly 110. For example, in one embodiment, data regarding the material's properties, date and conditions of manufacture, amount, and other characteristics are stored at the information tag 200 (see 710 of
The information tag 200 may be a bar code, magnetic strip, radio frequency identification (RFID) device employing electronically erasable programmable read only memory (EEPROM), or any other conventional mechanism suitable for storing information regarding material contained within the container assembly 110. In one embodiment, the information tag 200 includes EEPROM to increase the amount of data which may be stored at the information tag 200. In this embodiment, the data may be updated as indicated at 820 of
Continuing with reference to
The information cable 122 terminates at an antenna assembly 275 as noted. The connector 118 may be physically coupled to the cap 115, with the probe 215 in the container body 120 and antenna assembly 275 adjacent the information tag 200. Once positioned in this manner, the antenna assembly 275 may read information from the information tag 200 at the cap 115. In one embodiment, the antenna assembly 275 is prevented from reading information until the type of coupling described here, between the connector 118 and the cap 115, is employed. Information read by the antenna assembly 275 may be associated exclusively with the container assembly 110 due to the manner in which the connector 118 is physically secured and positioned at the container assembly 110. Thus, the connector 118 acts as a single pathway through which both material, in the container assembly 110, and information from the information tag 200, may pass.
To further ensure that the proper material and container assembly 110 are coupled to the connector 118 for a desired application, a verification tool 250 may be employed prior to coupling the connector 118 to the cap 115 of the container assembly 110. The verification tool 250 includes a verification cable 255 coupled to the controller 150 (see
With additional reference to
In the embodiment shown, verification, as described above, prevents rupturing of the rupturable membrane 210 and exposure of the photoresist material 300 in order to verify the container assembly 110 and photoresist material 300 for use in a desired application. Additionally, the verification indicator 260 may elicit a visible response from the antenna assembly 275 as directed by the controller 150. This may include visible responses from multiple antenna assemblies 275 simultaneously, such as at a material drawer 130 as shown in
With reference to
The connector 118 is simultaneously secured to the cap 115 in a manner that also allows information from the information tag 200 to be read by the antenna assembly 275. The connector 118 is secured in this manner ensuring that it is ready to draw photoresist material 300 from the container assembly 110 at the same time the information may be transferred from the information tag 200 to the antenna assembly 275. This physically eliminates the possibility of the antenna assembly 275 reading information from any source other than the information tag 200 of the very container assembly 110 that is simultaneously in communication with the connector 118. For example, this prevents users from obtaining information from the information tag 200 of one usable container assembly 110 and photoresist material 300 only to later mistakenly couple a different unusable container to the connector 118 for an application.
With reference to
The antenna portion 480 may serve to read information from the information tag 200. The antenna indicator 485 may include LED features configured to light up based on the information obtained from the information tag 200. For example, in one embodiment, the antenna indicator 485 may emit a green light when the information read from the information tag 200 indicates that an acceptable photoresist material 300 and container assembly 110 are present for a given application. Alternatively, the antenna indicator 485 may emit a red light when the information from the information tag 200 indicates otherwise. This may provide further assurance to the user that the proper container assembly 110 is being employed before an application is run making use of the photoresist material 300.
Continuing with reference to
In addition to directing the application based on readings obtained from the information tag 200, the controller 150 may also direct that readings take place on a continuous or ongoing basis as indicated at 830 of
Continuing with reference to
As shown in
With reference to
In one embodiment, the photoresist material 300 is an i-line photoresist, such as a novolak resin and a phenolic compound in a propylene glycol monomethyl ether acetate (PGMEA) solvent. The phenolic compound may be a diazonaphtha quinone derivative. The controller 150, by way of the microprocessor 160, directs spinning of the spin-on tool 600 at between about 4,000 rpm and about 5,000 rpm as the photoresist material 300 is delivered. The semiconductor substrate 675 is then exposed to a temperature of between about 90° C. and about 100° C. for between about 25 seconds and about 35 seconds. A film of photoresist material 300 is thus provided on the semiconductor substrate 675. The resulting film may have a thickness of between about 1.0 microns and about 1.4 microns.
In other embodiments, similar but alternative parameters may be employed to provide alternate films of photoresist material 300 having different thicknesses. For example, in one embodiment a deep ultraviolet (UV) photoresist film may be provided having a thickness of between about 0.6 microns and about 1.0 microns. In another embodiment, a 193 nm photoresist, similar in character to a deep UV photoresist, may be provided having a thickness of between about 0.6 microns and about 0.8 microns.
The above described applications proceed based in part on information stored at the container assembly 110. However, in certain situations the information may not be entirely accurate. In the embodiments described here this may lead to the film thickness deviating from a desired range or other distribution problems. For example, there may be a change in viscosity from one batch or container of photoresist to the next that is unaccounted for at the time information is originally stored at the container assembly 110. As shown in
In yet another embodiment, information obtained from an information storing mechanism may be used dynamically. For example, in situations where material properties, such as viscosity, change over time, information stored at the information storing mechanism may relate to the age of the material or its viscosity at a given point in time. When running an application such information may be accounted for in an automated manner. For example, where the controller 150 has known viscosity rate change information stored therein (see
Embodiments described above provide a secure manner of ensuring that a particular given material is exclusively made available for a given application. Embodiments are also described which provide a user-friendly and seamless manner of verifying and, if necessary, updating application parameters for which the material is to be employed.
While the above embodiments are described with reference to particular semiconductor photoresist applications other embodiments and features may be employed. For example, embodiments may be directed at spin on dielectric applications. Additionally, a system such as that described above may be configured for applications employing gas containers, blood bags, biopharmaceutical containers, drug delivery devices, and containers containing one of a variety of material types including returnable and reusable containers. A reusable container may even employ an information mechanism having new material information written thereon for each subsequent use of the container with new material therein. Embodiments described may be of particular benefit where material characteristics are prone to vary for example, from one container or batch to the next. Additionally, various other features and methods may be employed which are within the scope of the described embodiments.