Patent ID: 11939665
Assignee: TOKYO ELECTRON LIMITED
Field: Semiconductors (Electrical engineering)
Classification: CPC C  G  H | IPC C  G  H

Claim 10:
11. A film thickness measuring method comprising:
providing a film thickness measuring apparatus including:
a stage configured to place a substrate having a film formed thereon and measure a thickness of the film in-situ in a film forming apparatus, the film forming apparatus including a processing module that forms the film on the substrate and a transfer module that transfers the substrate to the processing module;
a film thickness meter including a light emitter that emits light toward the substrate disposed on the stage and a light receiving sensor that receives the light reflected by the substrate for measuring the thickness of the film in-situ;
a moving mechanism including a multi-joint arm configured to move an irradiation point of the light on the substrate;
a distance meter configured to measure a distance between the light receiving sensor and the irradiation point on the substrate; and
a distance adjustor configured to adjust the distance between the light receiving sensor and the irradiation point on the substrate,

measuring a distance between the light receiving sensor and a film thickness measurement position on the substrate where a film thickness is to be measured by irradiating light from the distance meter;
adjusting a distance between the light receiving sensor at the film thickness measurement position and the irradiation point on the substrate after moving the film thickness meter to the film thickness measurement position, based on a distance measured in the measuring the distance; and
measuring a film thickness by irradiating the film thickness measurement position with light from the light emitter and detecting a reflected light by the light receiving sensor.