Online information source for semiconductor professionals
Front End surface preparation comes of age
Popular articles
New Product: Applied Materials new EUV reticle etch system provides nanometer-level accuracy - 19 September 2011
Oberai discusses Magma’s move into solar PV yield management space - 29 August 2008
â??Velocityâ?? the new buzzword in Intelâ??s PQS annual awards - 12 April 2012
Applied Materials adds Jim Rogers to Board of Directors - 29 April 2008
TSMC honors suppliers at annual Supply Chain Management Forum - 03 December 2008
ABSTRACT
Front End Of Line (FEOL) surface preparation is about to grow up, and an entire industry is uncomfortable. The RCA clean is universally recognized as the reference standard in surface preparation. It has been the core methodology for critical cleaning applications since it was introduced shortly after humanity first oxidized silicon and made planar MOS transistors. Historically, the surface preparation unit process has demonstrated extraordinary power to disrupt factory operations and degrade product quality, risking incapacitation of the entire factory. Subsequently, integrated device manufacturers have developed a virtually instinctive fear surrounding surface preparation, resulting in a daunting barrier to change. We have all been grateful for the intrinsic elegance and functionality of the deceptively simple RCA chemical sequence that has served the industry for decades. However, the twin forces of change at the heart of Moore’s Law, technology and productivity, are now revealing the limitations of the RCA sequence that has been an essential part of wafer fab operations. As has been pointed out many times by many people of great accomplishment, we find ourselves facing the necessity of changing the very essence of the batch RCA cleaning sequence from an equipment perspective as processes push into the deep sub-50nm technology realm.
The question is: What does that mean?