A class of impedance tomography based sensors for semiconductor manufacturing

This paper explores the feasibility of a class of sensors for semiconductor manufacturing based on electrical impedance tomography. We briefly summarize the role of sensors in semiconductor manufacturing and the essential principles of electrical impedance tomography. In this paper we discuss the design and operation of a prototype etch rate sensor based on these ideas. We also propose a novel sensor to measure the wafer potential during semiconductor manufacturing. We discuss simulation results from this novel sensor.