CONTENTS

1. Specificationofwafer.2 2. ImpuritiesTypes..2 3. Oxidation..4 4. Photolithography.8 5. Etching..12 6. Diffusion..12 7. Metallization.13

1.Specificationofwafer:
a)Basicallytwotypesofwafersareused: OnesidemirrorpolishedothersideisAsCut. BothsideAsCut BothsideAscutwafersareusedinmanufacturingofsolarcell.ForICfabrication onesidemirrorpolishedothersideisAsCutisused. b)ThicknessofwaferusedforICfabricationis0.3mto0.5m. c)SurfaceresistivityofwaferusedforICfabricationis0.5cm. d)Diameterofwaferdependonfurnacediametervariessomemmless. e)standardflatorientationforSiliconwafers

2.ImpuritiesTypes:
1.Dustparticle 2.Oilandgrease 3.Inorganiccompound 4.Organiccompoundacidic,alkaline 5.SiO2

CleaningprocessofSiliconwaferisoftwotypes:
Acidprocess(mostused) plasmadrycleaning(costly)

SomostofthetimesAcidprocessispreferredmore.Fordifferenttypesof unwantedimpuritiesdifferentcleaningtechniquesareadapted. 1.Dustparticle: Sample added with TCE (Tri Chloro Ethyl) boiled 5mins and then 3mins in Ultrasonic cleaner.TCE is a volatile material. Ultrasonic cleaner vibrate and remove dustparticle. 2.OilandGrease: SampleisaddedwithAcetoneandprevioussteprepeated.Acetoneproperty istoremoveoilandgrease. 3.InOrganiccompound: A mixture of H2SO4 and H2O2 taken at a 1:1 ratio to produce a exothermic reaction.Thenwaituptoreactionstopandthencleanbydeionizedwater. 4.Organiccompound: TakeH2O,H2O2andNH4OHataratioof5:1:1respectively.Thenheatat700C for10minutesandthenpassintocoldwater.SofastH2OandH2O2heatupto700C for5minutesthenNH4OHfor10minutes. ThentakeH2O,H2O2andHCLataratioof3:5:5respectivelyandheatat700Cfor10 minutesthencleanbydeionizedwater 5.Silicondioxide: Wafer is dipped in 10% HF for 3 to 4 minutes. After itching it kept in methanol.

3.SILICONOXIDATIONPROCESS:
Theabilitytoformachemicallystableprotectivelayerofsilicondioxide (Si02)atthesurfaceofsiliconisoneofthemainreasonsthatmakessiliconthemost widely used semiconductor material. This silicon oxide layer is a high quality electricallyinsulatinglayeronthesiliconsurface,servingasadielectricinnumerous devices that can also be a preferential masking layer in many steps during device fabrication. In this section, we will first review the experimental process of the formationofasiliconoxide.Thenwewilldevelopamathematicalmodelforitand determine the factors influencing the oxidation. We will then end this section by providingdetailsonhowtocharacterizethethicknessoftheformedoxide. Oxidationprocess: Asilicondioxidelayerisoftenthermallyformedinthepresenceofoxygen compoundsatatemperatureintherangeof900to1300"C.Thereexiststwobasic meansofsupplyingthenecessaryoxygenintothereactionchamber.Thefirstisin gaseouspureoxygenform(dryoxidation)throughthereaction:Si+O2+Si02.The secondisintheformofwatervapor(wetoxidation)throughthereaction:Si+2H20 +Si02+2H2.Forbothmeansofoxidation,thehightemperatureallowstheoxygen to diffuse easily through the silicon dioxide. The silicon is consumed as the oxide grows, and with a total oxide thickness of X, about 0.45Xlies below the original surface of the Si wafer and 0.55X lies above it, as shown in Fig. 15.1. A typical oxidationgrowthcycleconsistsofdrywetdryoxidations,wheremostoftheoxideis growninthewetoxidationphase.Dryoxidationisslowerandresultsinmoredense, higherqualityoxides.Thistypeofoxidationmethodisusedmostlyformetaloxide semiconductor(MOS)gateoxides.Wetoxidationresultsinmuchmorerapidgrowth andisusedmostlyforthickermaskinglayers.Beforethermaloxidation,thesiliconis usually preceded by a cleaning sequence designed to remove all contaminants. Special care must be taken during this step to guarantee that the wafers do not contactanysourceofcontamination,particularlyinadvertentcontactwithahuman person. Humans are a potential source of sodium, the element most often
4

responsibleforthefailureofdevicesduetosurfaceleakage.Sodiumcontamination can be reduced by incorporating a small percentage of chlorine into the oxidizing gas.Next,thecleanedwafersaredriedandloadedintoaquartzwaferholdercalled a boat. The thermal oxidation process is performed with the wafers sitting in the boatloadedintoafurnacewherethetemperatureiscarefullycontrolled.Thequartz tubeinsideeachfurnaceisenclosedaroundheatingcoilswhicharecontrolledbythe amountofelectricalcurrentrunningthrough.Acrosssectionofatypicaloxidation furnaceisshowninbelowFig

Crosssectionofanoxidationfurnace:aquartztube,heatedbycoilssurroundingit, contains the silicon wafers in which either dry oxygen gas or water vapor can be introduced to provide the oxidizing gas. On the top left, the crosssection at the surfaceofasiliconwaferbeforeandafteroxidationisshown.Thefurnaceissuitable for either dry or wet oxidation film growth by turning a control valve. In the dry oxidationmethod,oxygengasissentintothequartztube.Highpuritygasisusedto ensure that no unwanted impurities are incorporated in the layer of oxide as it forms.Theoxygengascanalsobemixedwithpurenitrogengasinordertodecrease thetotalcostofrunningtheoxidationprocess,asnitrogengasislessexpensivethan oxygen.Inthewetoxidationmethod,thewatervaporintroducedintothefurnace
5

systemiscreatedbyflowingacarriergasintoacontainerorbubblerfilledwithultra pure water and maintained at a constant temperature below its boiling point (100
0

C).Thecarriergascanbeeithernitrogenoroxygen,andbothresultinequivalent

oxide thickness growth rates. As the gas bubbles through the water, it becomes saturatedwiththewatervapor.Thedistancetothequartzoxidationtubemustbe shortenoughtopreventcondensationofthewatervapor.Thebubblersusedinthe wetoxidation process are simple and quite reproducible, but they have two disadvantages associatedwiththefactthattheymustberefilledwhenthewaterlevelfallstoolow: animproperhandlingofthecontainercanresultinthecontaminationofthewater priororduringfilling,andthebubblercannotbefilledduringanoxidationcycle.

Factorsinfluencingoxidationrate:
Numerous factors can influence the oxidation rate by governing each of the mechanisms discussed in the previous model. This parameter generally follows a relationshipasgivenby:

where kb is the Boltzmann constant, EA is the activation energy, and T is the temperature.Thereexistfourotherfactorswhicharecommonlyknowntoaffectthe oxidationrateofsilicon:typeofoxidation,orientationofthesiliconwafer, pressureandimpurityeffects.Forthetypeofoxidation,wetoxidationhasahigher growth rate due to the higher solubility of the water vapor. The orientation dependence of the oxidation rate can be easily understood because the oxidation process depends on the total number of available Si atoms per unit area for
6

oxidationattheoxidesiliconinterface.Onlythelinearoxidationrateisexpectedto significantly change as a function of orientation, i.e. for short oxidation durations. For example, the oxidation rate for (1 11) oriented Si is faster than that for (100) orientedSiinitially,inthelinearregion.

Oxidethicknesscharacterization:
Varioustechniquesareavailableformeasuringthisoxidethickness,includingoptical interference, ellipsometry, capacitance, and the use of a color chart. The optical interferencemethodisasimpleandnondestructivetechnique,whichcanbeusedto routinely measure thermal oxide thickness from less than 100 to more than 1 pm. The method is based on characterizing the interference pattern created by light reflectedfromtheair/Si02interfaceandthatfromtheSi/Si02interface,Ellipsometry providesanondestructivetechniqueforaccuratelydeterminingtheoxidethickness, as well as the refractive index at the measuring wavelength. An ellipsometer operates by shining polarized monochromatic light onto the wafer surface at an angle.Thelightisthenreflectedfromboththeoxideandthesiliconsurface.Aphase modulationunit,numericaldataacquisitionandprocessingsystemworktogetherto measurethedifferenceinpolarization.Theresultisthenusedtocalculatetheoxide thickness.Thethirdoxidefilmthicknessmeasurementtechniqueisthecapacitance method, which requires the fabrication of a metaloxidesemiconductor (MOS) capacitor.Theoxidethicknessisgivenbythefollowingequation:

where Cox is the experimentally measured oxide capacitance, A, is the area of the capacitor, is the dielectric constant of the oxide film, and E, the permittivity in vacuum. Finally, the fourth and simplest method used to measure an oxide film thicknessisbycomparingthefilmcolorwithacalibratedchartforSiO2.Eachoxide thicknesshasaspecificcolorwhenitisviewedunderwhitelightperpendiculartoits surface.Thecolorsarecyclicallyrepeatedfordifferentordersofreflection.
7

 4.Photolithography:
Lithography consists of preparing the surface of a semiconductor wafer in ordertoallowthesubsequenttransferofaspecificpattern.Todoso,thesurfaceof thesemiconductormustbecarefullypreparedandafilmcalledresistisconformally applied onto it. Parts of this resist film will be selectively "activated" through a number of processes, while others will be left untouched in order to transfer the desired pattern. This is generally achieved through what is called mask alignment and exposure. A mask is a template which contains the desired pattern to be transferred. Finally, the resist is developed to reveal the desired pattern before proceeding to the subsequent processing steps. There are several types of lithography techniques depending on the method used to activate the resist film. The most common form of lithography uses ultraviolet light and is called photolithography. This is currently the most widely used technique in microelectronicsindustryandisroutinelyemployedtoachievefeaturesassmallas 0.18pm.Inthissection,wewilldescribeindetailthephotolithographymethod.

Cleanroom:
AnICfabricationfacilityrequiresacleanprocessingroom,especiallyin theareausedforphotolithography.Theneedforsuchacleanroomarisesbecause dustparticlesintheaircansettleonsemiconductorwaferandlithographicmaskand cancausedefectsonthedeviceswhichresultscircuitfailure.Twosystemsareused todefinetheclassesofcleanroom.IntheEnglishsystemthenumericaldesignation oftheclassistakenfromthemaximumallowablenoofparticlethatare0.5mand larger per cubic foot of air. In the metric system, the class is taken from the logarithm( base 10) of the maximum allowable particle that are 0.5 m and larger percubicmeter.

Waferpreparation:

The thin film epitaxy and mechanisms of wafer generation were discussedingreatdetail;aswastheprocessofgrowingLithographyconsistsof preparing the surface of a semiconductor wafer in order to allow the subsequent transfer of a specific pattern. To do so, the surface of the semiconductor must be carefully prepared and a film called resist is conformally applied onto it. Parts of this resist film will be selectively
8

"activated"throughanumberofprocesses,whileotherswillbe leftuntouched
in order to transfer the desired pattern. This is generally achieved through what is called mask alignment and exposure. A mask is a template which contains the desired pattern to be transferred. Finally, the resist is developed to reveal the desiredpatternbeforeproceedingtothesubsequentprocessingsteps. Thereareseveraltypesoflithographytechniquesdependingonthe methodusedtoactivatetheresistfilm.Themostcommonformoflithographyuses ultravioletlightandiscalledphotolithography.Thisiscurrentlythemostwidelyused techniqueinmicroelectronicsindustryandisroutinelyemployedtoachievefeatures assmallas0.18pm.Inthissection,wewilldescribeindetailthephotolithography method.

Thethinfilmepitaxyandmechanismsofwafergenerationwerediscussed
ingreatdetail;aswastheprocessofgrowingaCleanroomshavingdustisonlyhalf the problem, the other major cause of contamination are the workers themselves. The workers in the cleanroom must wear special uniforms to minimize the introduction of additional contaminants, such as hair, skin flakes, or worse outside worlddirt.Thisprotectiveclothingismadefromanonlinting,antistaticfabricand iswornoverstreetclothes.Thefinalstepinminimizingparticulatebasedfabrication problems, wafers are chemically cleaned to remove any particles that may have adhered to the surface. This is to promote adhesion of the photoresist to the surface.

Positiveandnegativephotoresists:
Inphotolithography,theresistiscalledphotoresistanditcanbeofeither Ofthetwotypes:positiveornegativephotoresist,dependingonitschemistrywhich determines its property when exposed to light. The photoresist is a photosensitive materialusedtotransfertheimagefromthemasktothewafersurface.Thequality oftheresistplaysanimportantroleintheimagetransfertoasemiconductorwafer. Resists are generally required to maintain a usable adhesion, uniformity, etch resistance,thermalstability,andlongshelflife.Bothpositiveandnegativeresistsare made of complex organic molecules containing carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, and hydrogen. They can be more or less easily dissolved using a developing solution, depending on the amount of light they have been exposed to. Let us illustrate the differencebetweenpositiveandnegativephotoresistsbyconsideringtheexampleof asiliconwaferwithathinsiliconoxidelayerandcoatedwithalayerofphotoresist.

 Positive resist photolithography process sequence When using positive resist, the exposed regions are dissolved in the developing solution, while the unexposed areasremainintact.(a)Thepositivephotoresistisexposedusingasourceofintense ultraviolet light. (b) The wafer is removed from the alignment station and areas exposed are dissolved in a solution. In the steps illustrated in (c) through (d), the etchresistant property of the resist is used in the etching of silicon dioxide in the regions which are not protected by the remaining photoresist. The positive photoresistisexposedusingasourceofintenseultravioletlightsuchasamercury arclampwhichaltersitschemicalbondingtomakeitmoresolublewhereithasbeen exposed. The wafer is removed from the alignment station and developed (Fig. 16.3(b)). The exposed regions of the positive photoresist layer are dissolved in the developing solution, leaving the unexposed areas intact. In other words, for a positivephotoresist,thelightfromtheexposurestepincreasesthesolubilityofthe resistinthedevelopingsolutionbydepolymerizingtheresistmaterial. Following this imagetransfer step to the photoresist, the image needs to be transferredtotheunderlyinglayers.InthestepsillustratedinFig,theetchresistant propertyoftheresistisusedintheetchingofsilicondioxideinregionswhicharenot protectedbytheremainingphotoresist.Ifproperlyselected,theetchantwillremove the layer of silicon dioxide but will not etch the underlying silicon or the layer of photoresist, as shown in the figure. The result of the photolithographic process is showninFig.whereafterthelayerofresisthasbeenremoved,onlythepatterned layerofsilicondioxideisleft.Bycontrast,whenusinganegativephotoresist,itisthe unexposed regions which are dissolved in the developing solution, leaving the exposedareasintact.Inotherwords,inthiscase,thelightfromtheexposurestep causespolymerizationtooccurintheresist,reducingitssolubilityinthedeveloping solution.Theremainingsequenceofstepsissimilartothepreviousone.
10

Maskalignmentandfabrication

Flowdiagramillustratingtherealizationofamaskwhichwouldbelaterusedfor photolithography.

11

Exposure:

5.Etching:
Thisisthesimplestetchingtechnology.Allitrequiresisacontainerwithaliquid solution that will dissolve the material in question. Unfortunately, there are complications since usually a mask is desired to selectively etch the material. One must find a mask that will not dissolve or at least etches much slower than the material to be patterned. Secondly, some single crystal materials, such as silicon, exhibit anisotropic etching in certain chemicals. Anisotropic etching in contrast to isotropic etching means different etch rates in different directions in the material. The classic example of this is the <111> crystal plane sidewalls that appear when etching a hole in a <100> silicon wafer in a chemical such as potassium hydroxide (KOH).Theresultisapyramidshapedholeinsteadofaholewithroundedsidewalls withaisotropicetchant.

6.Diffusion:
Diffusionprocessisusedtoformaptypeareainanntypesubstrateandvice versa.Ingeneralphosphorousisusedasaptypeimpurityandboronisusedforn type impurity. Diffusion as well as ion implantation are the two ways of forming regionsinthesubstratedependinguponthethicknessoftheregion.

12

 7.Metallization:
In addition to lithography and etching, a third important step in the fabricationprocessofasemiconductordeviceisthedepositionofmetalsincertain areasofthewafer,throughaprocesscalledmetallization. Thetypesofvacuumevaporationtechniquesare: Thermalevaporation Electronbeam r.f.diffusion plasmadiffusion

Vacuumevaporation:
Thedepositionofmetalthinfilmsonasemiconductorwaferiscommonly accomplished through vacuum deposition. Fig. 16.33(a) shows a typical vacuum deposition system. It consists of a vacuum chamber, maintained at a reduced pressurebyapumpingsystem.Theshapeofthechamberisgenerallyabelljarthat is made of quartz or stainless steel, inside which many components are located, including: the metal sources, a wafer holder, a shutter, a thickness rate monitor, heaters,andaniongaugetomonitorthechamberpressure. It is important to operate at a reduced pressure for a number of reasons. Firstisachemicalconsideration.Ifanyairoroxygenmoleculeisfoundinthevacuum chamberduringtheevaporationofaluminum,themetalwouldreadilyoxidizeand aluminum oxide would form in the depositing film. Reducing the pressure ensures thattheconcentrationofresidualoxygenmoleculesissmallenoughtominimizethe oxidationreaction.Secondly,thecoatinguniformityisenhancedatahighervacuum. Indeed, at low pressures, the mean free path of the evaporated metal atoms is increased, that is the distance traveled by the atoms before collision with another atom. When the mean free path exceeds the dimensions of the chamber, this ensures that the metal atoms will strike the wafers before hitting another atom whichwouldhavecausednonuniformdepositions.
13

Conclusion:
Above IC fabrication steps have been studied and observed. These stepsaremandatoryforanyICdesign.Specialcaremustbetakentoavoiddust andimpurities.

14