An empirical approach to accurate single wafer wet etch simulation

Optimizing wet etch recipe for meeting a target (e.g. Uniformity) typically involves the tuning of multiple parameters; a process that is time consuming and expensive (in terms of tool time, engineering time and material used). In addition, because the process is ultimately constrained by the handful of nozzle test positions available due to hardware limitations, very often the final settings are suboptimal. Here, we propose a model that aims to remove such inefficiencies by providing the engineer an approach (tool/program) to simulate the operation for a wider range of parameter in a short time before committing any changes. Our experiments show that sufficient accuracy can be achieved through this method.