Unit Process in VLSI

Basic Planar Process

VLSI Design

Processing Overview (Basic Fabrication steps)

Silicon wafer preparation Epitaxial Growth Oxidation Photolithography Diffusion Ion implantation Isolation Metallization Packaging
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Polycrystalline and Monocrystalline Structures

Polycrystalline structure

Monocrystalline structure

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Silicon Wafer Preparation

Monocrystal Silicon Growth

CZ Method
CZ Crystal Puller Doping Impurity Control

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CZ Crystal Puller
Crystal puller and rotation mechanism

Crystal seed

Single crystal silicon Quartz crucible Carbon heating element

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Molten polysilicon
Heat shield Water jacket
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Silicon wafer
Silicon Ingot

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Wafer Diameter Trends

300 mm

200 mm 150 mm 125 mm

100 mm
75 mm

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Epitaxial growth
1. Epitaxy means growing a single crystal silicon structure upon a original silicon substrate, so that the resulting layer is an extension of the substrate crystal structure. 2. The basic chemical reaction in the epitaxial growth process of pure silicon is the hydrogen reduction of silicon tetrachloride. 1200oC SiCl4+ 2H2 <-----------> Si + 4 HCl
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Oxidation
SiO2 is an extremely hard protective coating & is unaffected by almost all reagents except by hydrochloric acid. Thus it stands against any contamination. 2. By selective etching of SiO2, diffusion of impurities through carefully defined through windows in the SiO2 can be accomplished to fabricate various components.
1.
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Oxidation
The silicon wafers are stacked up in a quartz boat & then inserted into quartz furnace tube. The Si wafers are raised to a high temperature in the range of 950 to 1150 oC & at the same time, exposed to a gas containing O2 or H2O or both. The chemical action is Si + 2H2O-----------> SiO2+ 2H2
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Oxidation
oxide thickness

t
time, t
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Oxidation furnace

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Lithography
A light sensitive photoresist is spun onto the wafer forming a thin layer on the surface. The resist is then selectively exposed by shining light through a mask which contains the pattern information for the particular being fabricated. The resist is then developed which completes the pattern transfer from the mask to the wafer.
Lithography comes from two Greek words, lithos which means stone and graphein which means write. writing a pattern on stone
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Introduction to the Lithography Process

Ten Basic Steps of Photolithography
1. Surface Preparation 2. Photoresist Application 3. Soft Bake 4. Align & Expose* 5. Develop 6. Hard Bake 7. Inspection 8. Etch 9. Resist Strip 10. Final Inspection
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* Some processes may include a Post-exposure Bake

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Negative & Positive Photo Resist

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 Photoresist Coating

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review

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Wafer Exposure Systems

Contact printing is capable of high resolution but has unacceptable defect densities. Inexpensive, diffraction effects are minimize. Proximity printing cannot easily print features below a few m (except for x-ray systems). Poor resolution due to diffraction effects, required 1 X mask. Projection printing provides high resolution and low defect densities and dominates today.
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Etching
Etching is used in micro fabrication to chemically remove layers from surface of a wafer Two main methods of etching: i) Dry Etching ii) Wet Etching Isotropic & Anisotropic Etching:
For isotropic etching etch rate is same in horizontal & vertical direction but for anisotropic etching it is different

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Purpose of Etching
In Lithography process to remove oxide & unnecessary resist In metallization process to remove unnecessary metal layers from surface

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Etchant & Etched Layer

Material to be Etched Silicon Sio2 Photoresist Wet Etchant HNO3 + HF HF H2SO4+H2O2 Dry/Plasma Etchant CF4, CCl2 CF4 O2

Aluminum

80% H3PO4+5%CH3COOH+5 %HNO3

SiCl4, BCl3

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Diffusion
It is the process to insert impurity in silicon Impurity are used in either liquid or gas form(P2O5,B2O3,POCl3) & some carrier gas(N2) are used Temperature of furnace is typically 1000C Depth of diffusion depends upon time of diffusion which normally extends to 2 hrs.
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Ion Implantation
It is the technique used to introduce impurity inside silicon wafer High energy dopant ions(boron for p-type & phosphorus for n-type) of energy 20kv to 250kv are used As the ions strike the Si wafers they penetrate some small distance into wafer depending on accelerating voltage Advantages: i) It performed in low temperature ii) Much more controllable compared to diffusion process
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Ion Implantation System

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Isolation
Electrical isolations are required to prevent short circuit. Commonly used techniques are: i) Reverse biased p-n junction isolation ii) Dielectric isolation (Sio2 or Si3N4)

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Metallization
Purpose of this process is to produce a metal film that will make interconnection between various components Aluminum is usually used for this purpose because: i) Good conductivity ii) Easy to deposit Al film iii) It make good mechanical bond with silicon iv) Al forms low resistance ohmic contact with p type & heavily doped n type silicon
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Testing & Packaging

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Thank You

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