Patent ID: 9443704
Filing Date: 2016-09-13
CPC Classification: G01J,H01J,H01L

Claim Text:
1. An etching apparatus comprising: a processing chamber; a plasma generating unit for generating plasma by introducing etching gas into the processing chamber exhausted in vacuum, in which a specimen is disposed; a plasma emission monitor unit for monitoring emission of the plasma generated by the plasma generating unit; an arithmetic unit for generating data concerning a condition of controlling the plasma generating unit; a storage unit for storing the data concerning a condition of controlling the plasma generating unit, which has been generated by the arithmetic unit; and a control unit for controlling the plasma generating unit based on a state of the plasma emission monitored by the plasma emission monitor unit and the control data stored in the storage unit, wherein the arithmetic unit generates a wavelength combination from wavelength band of the plasma emission to be generated upon etching of the specimen as a condition for etching the specimen by the plasma generating unit, sets a time interval for calculating an average value of emission intensity in a time period for etching the specimen with respect to the generated wavelength combination, calculates a prediction error for prediction of the etching processing result using the average value of the emission intensity in the time interval with respect to each of the generated wavelength combinations, specifies a combination of wavelength and time interval, which exhibits a minimum value of the calculated prediction error, and generates a condition for etching the specimen using a prediction value of the etching processing result with respect to the combination of wavelength and time interval, which exhibits the minimum value of the specified prediction error.