In the past few years, Rapid Thermal Processes (RTP) have gained acceptance as mainstream technology for semi-conductors manufacturing. These processes are characterized by a single wafer processing with a very fast ramp heating of the silicon wafer (up to 200o C/sec). The single wafer approach allows for faster wafer processing and better control of process parameters on the wafer. As feature sizes become smaller, and wafer uniformity demands become more stringent, there is an increased demand from rapid thermal (RT) equipment manufacturers to improve control, uniformity and repeatability of processes on wafers. In RT processes, the main control problem is that of temperature, which is complicated due to the high non-linearity of the heating process (radiation), process parameters that change significantly during a single wafer process and between processes, and difficulties in measuring temperature and edge effects. In work carried out in cooperation with Steag CVD Systems, we devel...
Eyal Dassau, Benyamin Grosman, Daniel R. Lewin