Technical Seminar // TOPICS AND DESCRIPTIONS

Challenges and Solutions in Surface Preparation
The rapid advance of device technology is creating new challenges for surface preparation. Logic, DRAM, and Flash technologies are all drivers for surface preparation requirements. Process solutions are being optimized and qualified to meet the needs of these new challenges.

Metal Stripping for Co, Ni, and Ni-Pt Salicide Formation
Self-aligned silicide formation for the transistor source/drain and polysilicon gate conductor is an established integration sequence for IC manufacturing. A critical step in this sequence is selective removal of the unreacted metal layer after silicide formation. High performance wet etching processes have been developed and qualified for the selective stripping of Co, Ni, and Ni-Pt metal films.

Ash-Free, Wet Stripping of Highly Implanted Photoresist
In order to reduce the amount of silicon loss and surface damage in the source and drain regions during IC manufacturing, many fabs are trying to eliminate photoresist ashing and implement all-wet photoresist stripping. Highly implanted photoresists present a difficult challenge for wet stripping. A new wet process able to remove highly implanted photoresist using batch spray technology has been developed.

Damage-Free Cryogenic Aerosol Clean Processes
Development and characterization of damage-free, zero-etch cryogenic aerosol particle removal processes were conducted in a production facility. Efficient, damage-free particle removal was demonstrated at post nitride spacer deposition and post salicide probing.

Cryogenic Aerosol for Zero-Damage Cleaning After Gate Electrode Formation
A damage free cryogenic aerosol cleaning process was developed and qualified for use on unsupported gate electrode structures before nitride spacer deposition. This process replaced an SC1-SC2 wet process and resulted in lower defectivity and higher yield.

Precision Etching With Chemical Inject
Precision etching results have been achieved with a single-tank rinse-etch-rinse process. Sources of variation in traditional 2-tank and initial single tank processes are first identified. Etch variations are then eliminated by careful design of process sequences and hardware.

Achieving Ultra-Low Defectivity in Immersion Processing
Performance of immersion processes is affected by many factors including tool design, process chemistry, process sequences and drying technology. Industry leading performance has been achieved by re-engineering and optimizing every aspect of batch immersion processing. This performance has been demonstrated in the production environment and includes an integrated dual-gate etch-strip-clean sequence.

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