Topography simulation for interconnect deposition
New process simulation programs can closely model the complex structures of ULSI interconnects. Level-set methods simulate and predict the structure of evolving surfaces in three dimensions, such as t ...
Serious trade-offs challenge process integration
This is the second installment of Solid State Technology`s review of the Semiconductor Industry Association`s (SIA) 1997 National Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors (NTRS). Senior Technical Editor ...
The Future of Interconnects
The 1994 NTRS identified materials as key to addressing the device performance bottleneck. However, materials solutions alone will be inadequate to address needs of future VLSI de-vices. The recent NT ...
Factory level issues and needs from NTRS
The Factory Integration Technical Working Group (FI TWG) of the NTRS has identified fundamental factory level challenge areas.
Next-generation metrology must meet challenges
The Metrology Roadmap section appears for the first time in the 1997 NTRS. It is one of the "crosscutting" technology areas, and thus the NTRS contains a separate metrology report and focused one-page ...
Reducing defects to manage yield
In the 1997 edition of the SIA National Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors (NTRS), the Defect Reduction program in the Cross-Cut Technology Working Group brought an overall yield management focus t ...
Advanced software technologies in semiconductor manufacturing
Manufacturing system technologies are having an increasing impact on complex semiconductor factories and the equipment that populates them. Understanding more about this domain will be essential for a ...
Fueling the productivity engine
Moore`s Law states that the number of transistors on a chip doubles every 18 months while the cost of the chip remains constant. This steady decrease in cost/function is directly responsible for the i ...
Defect review and inspection tool
The SEM-based XL850 defect review and inspection tool, a Class 1 cleanroom-compatible system with a robot cassette loader, is designed for evaluation, yield management, and failure analysis applicatio ...
Large-area wedge bonder
Model 8090 features a very large bondable area and the ability to integrate material handling systems (MHS) with other surface mount equipment. This allows efficient processing of the large panels and ...
Integrated polycide solution for advanced gate applications
The Polycide xZ Centura system combines polysilicon and tungsten silicide process steps for the fabrication of the high-quality polysilicon and tungsten silicide (polycide) films used in the productio ...
Advanced spectroscopic ellipsometry
ASET-F5 is a thin film tool that meets the requirements of 0.15 and 0.13-?m device generations, collecting measurement data across a continuous wavelength spectrum from 193 to 800 nm. It combines broa ...
Input parameter SPC for diffusion furnaces
Lack of access to important information in the diffusion area made improving the processes and systems very difficult. Hours were spent troubleshooting nonproblems, while the real instabilities often ...
Implantation damage and transient enhanced diffusion modeling
Implantation damage controls most of the dopant diffusion effects seen in modern silicon technologies. Despite more than 20 years of effort, understanding of defect-coupled dopant diffusion still fall ...
Improving wafer fab productivity with efficient floor layouts
As the cost of building a new fab approaches $2 billion, semiconductor manufacturers are analyzing all factors that influence profitability. Production floor layout design can significantly increase p ...
The blurring generations
Along time ago - way back in the early 1990s - device generations were clearly separated. For several decades, the industry moved in relative unison through successive generations. Technologists used ...
Wons softness affects South Koreas Samsung
In response to South Korea`s currency turmoil, Samsung Group, Seoul, has delayed the second phase of its Austin, TX, DRAM fab. The company has initiated a broad restructuring plan, under which it will ...
China to eliminate tarrifs
China may become the 40th country to join the Information Technology Agreement (ITA) and eliminate tariffs on information technology products, according to Chinese President Jiang Zemin during his rec ...
SEMI trade mission finds incentives from China
A group of equipment and materials executives visiting China on a SEMI-sponsored trade mission found continued evidence that the nation is eager to attract semiconductor manufacturing technology to it ...
Little impact seen from Asian market woes
Noting that the next round of buying in the wafer fab market will be driven by technology and not capacity, market research firm The Information Network, Williamsburg, VA, is forecasting that the rece ...
Tokyos VLSI center adds foundries
With several large firms already signed up as foundry partners, the University of Tokyo`s VLSI Design Education Research Center (VDEC), Hongo, Tokyo, is eyeing the addition of two additional foundries ...
Japans foreign market share up
Foreign share of the Japanese chip market rose 3.2 percentage points to a record high of 35.8%, according to the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA). American and other non-Japanese semiconductor ...
Koreas DRAM Inc. meets reality
At the beginning of July 1997, the South Korean won stood at the then low of 888 to the US dollar. By mid-December the won stood at 1710 won to the dollar: a spectacular fall of 52 percent in less tha ...
Taiwans future linked to foundries
The balance of power in the semiconductor industry is set to shift as foundries become a key driver for wafer processing technology and the IC design community sees the emergence of "chipless" compani ...
Comprehensive risk management for IC fabs
Due to several major recent fires in Taiwan, a Semiconductor Facility Accident Prevention Conference was held in Hsinchu on Dec. 4-5, 1997. This conference was sponsored by the Industrial Technology ...
Worldwide highlights
Growth seen in front-end tool market. The world market for front-end wafer processing tools will grow 13.7% in 1998, compared to 8.2% growth in 1997, reports The Information Network, Williamsburg, VA. ...
USA
Ibis Technology, Danvers, MA, has produced what is believed to be the world`s first 300-mm SIMOX wafer, and will pursue several market development strategies under incoming president and CEO Martin Re ...
Japan
Japan`s Compound Semiconductor Industry association said sales of compound semiconductors reached a new record in the first half of this fiscal year, jumping 23% to 23.2 billion yen ($190 million) com ...
Asia/Pacific
Anam Semiconductor, Buchon, South Korea, has ordered more than $15 million worth of manufacturing equipment from Eaton Semiconductor Equipment Operations, Beverly, MA, for its fab in Buchon. The sale ...
Europe
ASM International, Bilthoven, The Netherlands, has agreed to an $80 million settlement to end all patent litigation between it and Applied Materials. Under the agreement, ASM will license all patents ...
Copper wire pilot production, low-k feasability studied
At the recent IEEE Electron Device Meeting (IEDM), held in Washington, DC, chipmakers began to disclose their integration schemes for Cu metallization.
Integrating ferroelectrics
One symposium at the recent MRS Fall Meeting in Boston, MA, was devoted to the properties and processing of ferroelectric thin films. The high dielectric constant of these materials makes them an attr ...
Efficient new VUV light source
The search for short wavelength radiation sources for lithography has recently concentrated on pulsed lasers and laser-produced plasmas. Now, researchers at Rutgers University and Munich Technical Uni ...
IBM plans 300-mm fab at East Fishkill site
IBM will build a new developmental 300-mm wafer fab in East Fishkill, NY, and plans to begin producing DRAMs with 0.18-?m design rules by the end of 1999. The computer giant also plans to upgrade its ...
Japanese IC makers reduce FY sales forecast
In financial reports for the first half of fiscal 1997, Japan`s top five chipmakers present a clouded picture, with four of the five firms revising downward their expected semiconductor production lev ...
Workshops address Taiwan fire issues
After a number of devastating fires ripped through its local fabs, Taiwan`s Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI), Hsinchu, along with the Taiwan Semiconductor Industry Association, is spons ...
The move to 300-mm wafers: A prime time to consider reclaim
The semiconductor industry`s acceptance and move to the use of 300-mm wafers provides an excellent opportunity to consider the virtues of using wafer reclamation services to decrease the overall cost ...
People Update
The Fluid Sealing Association, Wayne, PA, an international trade association, has elected F.A. Paino to its board of directors. He is president of Greene, Tweed & Co., Kulpsville, PA. Paino joined the ...
Automated ball attach systems
The VAi 6000 fully automated BGA ball attach work cell performs the entire ball cycle in 20 sec through a ball transfer process that accomplishes simultaneous ball placement on all substrates located ...
Low k dielectric material
FLARE 2.0, with k = 2.8, combines low k dielectric constant, thermal stability, low moisture absorption, and high glass transition temperature. When exposed to temperatures from 385-450?C, it exhibits ...
PBGA adhesive
Ablebond 8510 fast-cure, die-attach adhesive is designed for PBGA packaging. Cure times are reduced to 15 min at 150?C, and cycle times are further reduced since this material does not require drying ...
Motorized flux station
This motorized flux station option, for the Model 850 flip chip placement and Model 410 flip chip bonding systems, features a large rotating dish that accommodates flip chip devices up to 1 in.2 The d ...
Conductive polymer
Unlike solder, EPO-TEK E2101 silver-filled epoxy does not flow when subjected to heat. Designed for stencil printing, it exhibits a smooth, thixotropic consistency for reliable and reproducible fine ...
Flip chip underfill
Chipshield 2527 is a UV and/or heat cure, low-coefficient-of-expansion flip chip underfill that has very low viscosity and high flow for capillary chip underfills, while maintaining a very low coeffic ...
Recirculating etch bath filler
The Ulti-Etch filter provides high flow rates and rapid bath turnover in new-generation etch baths, while ensuring high-efficiency particulate removal and low extractable levels. It uses the crescent ...
Microfiltration technology
Exxflow is a microfiltration technology that builds a dynamic filtration layer from the natural precipitate of solids present in the process solution on a fabric membrane. The system is well suited to ...
CMP slurry filtration
Due to their tangential flow, Spiraltek filters meet the special requirements of CMP slurries. Unlike conventional filters, they retain gelatinous material and prevent premature plugging. Agglomeratio ...
Clean bench
The Heraguard workbench ensures a particulate-free environment for the testing and packaging of electronic components. A horizontally conducted flow of extremely pure, multifiltered air prevents par ...
Etch bath filler
The STyLUX polyethersulfone membrane filter is designed to control contamination in etch baths. Without changing housings, the filter`s exceptional flow rate allows for upgraded filtration to 0.1 or 0 ...
Ultrapure water systems
Clear Series ultrapure water systems (for IC manufacturing) use a single multifunctional cartridge containing an active carbon stage, a high-performance mixed-bed ion exchanger, and a scavenger stage ...
Ultrapure water systems
Clear Series ultrapure water systems (for IC manufacturing) use a single multifunctional cartridge containing an active carbon stage, a high-performance mixed-bed ion exchanger, and a scavenger stage ...
Liquid particle counters
The PLCA-700 series liquid particle counters provide 0.1-?m sensitivity in all types of liquid with 100% counting efficiency. Operating on-line, the counters give high-sensitivity measurements from 0. ...
Shallow trench isolation
This new shallow trench isolation (STI) application set for the TCP 9400SE polysilicon and polycide etch tool offers the choice between a two-chamber, ex situ process with less complex chemistries, an ...
PVD sputtering system
The Eclipse Mark IV is an ultrahigh-vacuum (UHV), serial indexing, vertical PVD sputtering system with an advanced digital control system, user-friendly software, and chamber geometries for 200-mm waf ...
Integrated CMP technology
AVANTGAARD 776-T combines the AVANTGAARD 776 integrated CMP process capsule with the Synergy Integra wafer-cleaning system, providing a complete dry-wafer-in, dry-wafer-out solution for CMP. The syste ...
Gas monitoring transmitters
Explosion-proof Tox-Array transmitters use chemically selective Toxic, LEL, and O2 sensors that do not react with air, are not sensitive to changes in temperature, humidity or pressure, and stay awake ...
SIF4 for ion implanters
With the release of a product for ion implantation using silicon tetrafluoride (SiF4), all four ion implantation gases (including arsine, phosphine, and boron trifluoride) are available as Safe Delive ...
Vapor dryer for 300-mm wafers
The 300mm Vapor Dryer, for wafers up to 300 mm in dia., employs a process in which hydrophilic and hydrophobic wafers are particle neutral at >0.16 ?m. Metallic ion and organic residue is neutral, me ...
Mask alignment microscopes
Three models of modular mask alignment microscopes differ by the objective separations: 24-110 mm, 5-30 mm, and 5-80 mm. The microscopes are offered in various modular configurations, such as vertical ...
Wafer processing and transfer system
This self-contained wafer-processing and transfer system features highly reliable motion control and high-performance robotic automation. The system performs three processes in a continuous loop -a ...
Modeling tool for imaging system
ASAP 5.1 is a general optical analysis software program that models semiconductor imaging systems. It facilitates the modeling of a partially coherent imaging system, including the effects from wavefr ...
Vacuumpreloaded air bearings
Because these vacuum preloaded air bearings hold themselves down while gliding at a predetermined height above the guide surface, they allow even lightly loaded stages to operate with high stiffness w ...
Vacuum gate valves
Throttlemaster vacuum gate valves position the gate full open, full closed, or anywhere between, to an accuracy of ?0.002 in. (0.05 mm). The 1/4 DIN control module provides front panel manual control ...
Metrology tool for 300 mm
The MetaPULSE 300 nondestructive, metal-film metrology system uses picosecond ultrasonic laser sonar technology to measure on product wafers. Capable of measuring film thickness in multilayer stacks, ...
Backside thinning system
Chip UnZip, the system that thins backside silicon in flip chips and other face-down designs to permit emission imaging of defects, has been enhanced so that the speed with which the die is thinned ha ...
Pulsed power generation
PowerMOD solid-state, high-voltage pulse modulators are designed for semiconductor and materials processing, offering very high reliability. They are composed of standardized solid-state switch module ...
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