US 11,868,689 B2
Systems and methods for setting up a physics-based model
Chad Huard, Austin, TX (US); Premkumar Panneerchelvam, Austin, TX (US); Guy Parsey, Ann Arbor, MI (US); and Ankur Agarwal, Union City, CA (US)
Assigned to KLA Corp., Milpitas, CA (US)
Filed by KLA Corporation, Milpitas, CA (US)
Filed on Oct. 4, 2022, as Appl. No. 17/959,712.
Claims priority of provisional application 63/254,178, filed on Oct. 11, 2021.
Prior Publication US 2023/0112164 A1, Apr. 13, 2023
Int. Cl. G06F 119/18 (2020.01); G06F 30/27 (2020.01)
CPC G06F 30/27 (2020.01) [G06F 2119/18 (2020.01)] 19 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A system configured to set up a physics-based model, comprising:
one or more computer subsystems; and
one or more components executed by the one or more computer subsystems, wherein the one or more components comprise a physics-based model describing a semiconductor fabrication-related process and a set up component, wherein the set up component comprises:
an objective function configured for comparing results generated by the physics-based model with different values of one or more parameters of the physics-based model to reference data and for generating output responsive to a difference between the results and the reference data;
a surrogate function configured as an approximation of the objective function and fit to the output generated by the objective function as a function of the different values of the one or more parameters; and
an acquisition function configured for selecting additional values of the one or more parameters for the physics-based model based on the surrogate function; and
wherein the set up component is configured for setting up the physics-based model in multiple phases in each of which only a subset of all of the one or more parameters of the physics-based model are set up;
wherein a configuration of the set up component is changed between at least two of the multiple phases based on the subset of all of the one or more parameters of the physics-based model set up in the at least two of the multiple phases;
wherein the objective function and the surrogate function used in at least one of the multiple phases are replaced with a different objective function and a different surrogate function, respectively, in a subsequent one of the multiple phases; and
wherein the acquisition function used in one or more of the at least one of the multiple phases is replaced with a different acquisition function in the subsequent one of the multiple phases, and wherein the different acquisition function samples the surrogate function and the different surrogate function for selecting the additional values.