Equipment and processes of the Thermal Processes Area

• Thermal silicon oxidation
• Diffusion and annealing processes
• Rapid thermal processing (RTP)
• Low pressure chemical vapor deposition (LPCVD)
• Plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD)
• Atomic layer deposition (ALD, PEALD)

Thermal silicon oxidation

• Temperature range from 900ºC to 1100ºC
• H₂ & O₂ or H₂O with C₂H₂Cl₂ environment
• Thickness range from 5 nm up to 3000 nm
• In-wafer and wafer to wafer uniformity below 1%
• Batch capacity 50 wafers

Diffusion and annealing processes

• Annealing in N₂, O₂, N₂O or Ar environment from 600ºC to 1300ºC
• Aluminum annealing in N_2/H₂ environment from 250ºC to 450ºC
• MNC thermal annealing from 600ºC to 1100ºC
• Phosphorus pre-deposition (Liquid source, POCl₃)
• Boron pre-deposition (Liquid source, BBr₃)
• Batch capacity 50 wafers

Rapid thermal processing (RTP)

• Rapid thermal annealing (RTA) available under O₂, N₂, N₂O and Ar environment from 400ºC to 1200ºC
• Rapid thermal oxidation (RTO) available under O₂ environment from 400ºC to 1200ºC
• Single wafer system

Low pressure chemical vapor deposition (LPCVD)

• Silicon nitride (Si₃N₄) deposition at 800ºC for thicknesses from 10 nm to 500 nm
• Low stress silicon nitride (Si₃N₄) deposition at 850ºC for thicknesses from 10 nm to 500 nm
• Polysilicon (PolySi) deposition at 630ºC for thicknesses from 30 nm to 3 μm
• Amorphous silicon (a-Si) at 565ºC for thicknesses from 30 nm to 3 μm
• Silicon oxide (SiO₂) at 700ºC for thicknesses from 50 nm to 300 nm
• In-wafer and wafer to wafer uniformity below 3%
• High quality films and good step coverage
• Batch capacity 25 wafers

Plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD)

Applied Materials – Precision 5000 mark II

• Automatic single wafer multi-chamber system with cassette
• Silicon oxide (SiO₂) deposition at 400ºC for thicknesses from 50 nm to 5 μm
• Two silicon precursors available: Tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) and Silane (SiH4)
• Silicon nitride (Si₃N₄) deposition at 400ºC for thicknesses from to 50 nm to 1 μm
• Passivation layer: Silicon oxide (SiO₂) combined with Silicon nitride (Si₃N₄) at 375ºC as diffusion barrier and against-moisture layer
• In-wafer and wafer to wafer uniformity below 10%
• Batch capacity 15 wafers

Corial – D350L

• Silicon oxide (SiO₂) deposition up to 320ºC for thicknesses from 50 nm to 5 μm
• Two silicon precursors available: Tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) and Silane (SiH4)
• Silicon nitride (Si₃N₄) deposition up to 320ºC for thicknesses from to 50 nm to 1 μm
• Amorphous silicon deposition (a-Si:H) at 200ºC for thicknesses from 50 nm to 500 nm
• Deposition of doped silicon oxide (with Boron and/or Phosphorous) at 320ºC to form BSG (borosilicate glass), PSG (phosphosilicate glass) or BPSG (borophosphosilicate glass) for planarization capabilities, and thicknesses between 1 μm – 2 μm
• In-wafer and wafer to wafer uniformity below 10%
• Batch capacity of 7 wafers of 100 mm or 1 wafer of 150 mm

Oxford IPT - Plasmalab 800 Plus

• Silicon oxide (SiO₂) deposition (SiH₄) at temperatures up to 380ºC for thicknesses from 50 nm to 5 μm
• Silicon nitride (Si₃N₄) deposition at temperatures up to 380ºC for thicknesses from 50 nm to 1 μm
• Amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) deposition up to 300ºC for thicknesses from 50 nm to 1 μm
• Dual frequency plasma available (13.56 MHz/350 kHz) for low stress silicon oxide and silicon nitride layers
• In-wafer and wafer to wafer uniformity between 10%
• Batch capacity of 8 wafers of 100 mm, 4 wafers of 150 mm or 1 wafer of 200 mm

Atomic layer deposition (ALD)

Cambridge Nanotech - Savannah 200

• Temperature range: from 150ºC to 350ºC
• Thicknesses from 0.5 nm to 50 nm
• Aluminum oxide (Al₂O₃)
• Hafnium oxide (HfO₂)
• Titanium oxide (TiO₂)
• Nanolaminates
• 2 types of oxidant precursors: D. I. H₂O and O₃
• In-wafer thickness uniformity around 1-2%
• Batch capacity of 2 wafers of 100 mm, 1 wafer of 150 mm or 1 wafer of 200 mm

Picosun - R200 Advanced

• Temperature range: from 60ºC to 300ºC
• Thicknesses from 0.5 nm to 50 nm
• Aluminum oxide (Al₂O₃), thermal and plasma enhanced
• Hafnium oxide (HfO₂), thermal and plasma enhanced
• Titanium oxide (TiO₂), thermal
• Silicon oxide (SiO₂), plasma enhanced
• Nanolaminates
• 2 types of oxidant precursors: D. I. H₂O and P. E. O₂
• In-wafer thickness uniformity around 1-2%
• Single wafer system