Example embodiments may provide methods for determining a quality of a film in spin coating process. The methods may include capturing images of portions of the film using an imaging device while coating the film on a substrate using a spinner. The imaging device may include SPCs and lens and/or SLMs. The methods may also include determining whether a characteristic of the film matches to a standard based on the images of the portions of the film. The method may further include performing detecting that the quality of the film is optimal in response to determining that the characteristic of the film matches to the standard or detecting that the quality of the film is not optimal in response to determining that the characteristic of the film does not match to the standard.

Gate-all-around integrated circuit structures having embedded GeSnB source or drain structures, and methods of fabricating gate-all-around integrated circuit structures having embedded GeSnB source or drain structures, are described. For example, an integrated circuit structure includes a vertical arrangement of horizontal nanowires above a fin, the fin including a defect modification layer on a first semiconductor layer, and a second semiconductor layer on the defect modification layer. A gate stack is around the vertical arrangement of horizontal nanowires. A first epitaxial source or drain structure is at a first end of the vertical arrangement of horizontal nanowires, and a second epitaxial source or drain structure is at a second end of the vertical arrangement of horizontal nanowires.

A polishing method capable of improving a spatial resolution of a film-thickness measurement without changing a measuring cycle of a film-thickness sensor and without increasing an amount of measurement data is disclosed. The polishing method includes: rotating a first film-thickness sensor and a second film-thickness sensor together with a polishing table, the first film-thickness sensor and the second film-thickness sensor being located at the same distance from a center of the polishing table; causing the first film-thickness sensor and the second film-thickness sensor to generate signal values indicating film thicknesses at measurement points on a surface of a substrate, while a polishing head is pressing the substrate against a polishing pad on the rotating polishing table, the measurement points being located at different distances from a center of the substrate; and controlling polishing pressure applied from the polishing head to the substrate based on the signal values generated by the first film-thickness sensor and the second film-thickness sensor.

A method for plasma processing that includes: loading a dummy wafer between a focus ring positioned within a plasma process chamber; depositing a material layer over the focus ring by a plasma deposition process within the plasma process chamber; removing the dummy wafer from the plasma process chamber, and loading a substrate to be processed between the focus ring with the material layer within the plasma process chamber and performing a plasma process on the substrate.

A method of microfabrication includes depositing a photoresist film on a working surface of a semiconductor wafer, the photoresist film being sensitive to extreme ultraviolet radiation; exposing the photoresist film to a pattern of extreme ultraviolet radiation; performing a hybrid develop of the photoresist film. The hybrid develop includes executing a first development process to remove a first portion of the photoresist film; stopping the development of the photoresist film after the first development process, the photo resist film including a structure having a first critical dimension larger than a target critical dimension after the stopping; and after stopping the development, executing a second development process to remove a second portion of the photoresist film and shrinking the critical dimension of the structure from the first critical dimension to a second critical dimension that is less than the first critical dimension.

Implementations of methods of singulating a plurality of die included in a substrate may include forming a groove through a backside metal layer through laser ablating a backside metal layer at a die street of a substrate and singulating a plurality of die included in the substrate through removing substrate material of the substrate in the die street.

A substrate liquid processing apparatus includes a processing tub configured to store a processing liquid therein; a processing liquid supply configured to supply the processing liquid into the processing tub; a processing liquid drain device configured to drain the processing liquid from the processing tub; and a controller configured to control the processing liquid supply and the processing liquid drain device. The controller calculates, in response to an instruction to change a concentration of a preset component of the processing liquid stored in the processing tub, a drain amount and a feed amount of the processing liquid from/into the processing tub based on information upon a current concentration of the preset component, information upon a concentration increment thereof per unit time and information upon the changed concentration thereof, and controls the processing liquid supply and the processing liquid drain device based on the calculation result.

A substrate etching system includes a support to hold a wafer in a face-up orientation, a dispenser arm movable laterally across the wafer on the support, the dispenser arm supporting a delivery port to selectively dispense a liquid etchant onto a portion of a top face of the wafer, and a monitoring system comprising a probe movable laterally across the wafer on the support.

An apparatus for processing a substate includes: a chamber having a gas inlet and a gas outlet; a substrate support disposed in the chamber; a plasma generator; and a controller programmed to: (a) place a substrate on the substrate support, the substrate having a pattern, (b) supply a first reactive species into the chamber to adsorb the first reactive species onto the pattern of the substrate, (c) partially purge the first reactive species from the chamber to adjust an amount of a residual first reactive species in the chamber, (d) supply a second reactive species into the chamber, and (e) expose the substrate to a plasma generated from the residual first reactive species and the second reactive species by the plasma generator to form a film on the pattern of the substrate.

This invention provides a wafer processing method comprising a process of irradiating a wafer to be processed placed on the upper surface of a sample table arranged in a processing chamber with light or electromagnetic waves to heat and remove a compound layer of a film layer that is preliminarily formed on the upper surface of the film layer of the upper surface of the wafer, wherein in the process, by receiving the light or electromagnetic waves reflected by the upper surface of the wafer, a signal indicating a temporal change in intensity using the wavelength of the light or electromagnetic waves as a parameter is corrected using information of the intensity of the light or electromagnetic waves detected by receiving the light or electromagnetic waves at a position on the circumferential side of the upper surface of the sample table.