Overlay error compensation using advanced process control with dynamically adjusted proportional-integral R2R controller

As semiconductor manufacturing reaching nanotechnology, to obtain high resolution and alignment accuracy via minimizing overlay errors within the tolerance is crucial. To address the needs of changing production and process conditions, this study aims to propose a novel dynamically adjusted proportional-integral (DAPI) run-to-run (R2R) controller to adapt equipment parameters to enhance the overlay control performance. This study evaluates the performance of controllers via the variation of each overlay factor and the variation of maximum overlay errors in real settings. To validate the effectiveness of the proposed approach, an empirical study was conducted in a leading semiconductor company in Taiwan and the results showed practical viability of the proposed DAPI controller to reduce overlay errors effectively than conventional exponentially weighted moving average controller used in this company.