Issue



Table of Contents

Solid State Technology

Year 2001
Issue 12

DEPARTMENTS

Editorial


Note to US media: Use your heads!

Recently there was a meeting held by Silicon Valley companies about steps being taken to protect facilities that might be vulnerable to attack by terrorists.


World News


World News

Some good news on the global front for September: Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International (SEMI) posted a book-to-bill ratio that was up slightly from August and the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) saw positive signs in its report of worldwide chip sales.


Tech News


Technology News

A new technology dubbed "resistive quartz" shows promise of providing advantages over conventional methods of heating fluids used in wafer processing without contaminating them. In addition, this technology is better able to handle changing process flow demands reliably.


Bacus Report


BACUS symposium goes strong, despite downturn

Meeting in Monterey, CA, more than 400 maskmakers discussed new technology, cost factors, and potential future problems at the 21st annual BACUS Symposium on Photomask Technology. A record number of papers were submitted, while the number of exhibitors stayed steady with last year.


Eurofocus


European technologists to combine Cu/low-k and packaging

Belgium's independent R&D center IMEC, located in Leuven, has begun research to develop technology that will give the industry integrated wafer level packaging on copper low-k IC interconnect, to be performed in wafer processing's back end of the line (BEOL).


Asiafocus


Japan's MIRAI project: An interview with leader Masataka Hirose*

Japan's MIRAI (Millennium Research for Advanced Information Technology) project, a joint venture of the government's Advanced Semiconductor Research Center and the industry organization Association of Super Advanced Electronics Technologies (ASET), aims to develop 70-50nm semiconductor production technology over the next seven years (see table).


Market Watch


The expanding market for microdisplays

Topping the list of characteristics in demand for electronic displays are portability, brightness, low power, high resolution, and wireless connectivity. To address these demands, the industry has increasingly focused R&D and production efforts on maximizing the capabilities of microdisplay technology.


New Products


New Products

Yield-acceleration technology; Electron-beam maskwriting system; Material control system; Dry and wet clean processes...


Calendar


Calendar

A listing of industry events, covering December 2001 through April 2002.


FEATURES

Wafer Cleaning Stripping


rf and microwave plasma for resist and post-etch polymer removal

An effective method for removing photoresist and post-etch polymers at the transistor gate level, while removing less oxide than more traditional HF wet cleans, has been developed.


Gases Gas Flow


High-purity tank systems for liquid helium supply

Tests have shown that a standard 5000-gallon liquid helium supply tank and system can deliver consistent <1 ppb impurity levels without additional purification. This is an effective means of switching from low-volume cylinder supply to larger bulk supply to support the growing application of helium in semiconductor and optical fiber processing.


Packaging Assembly


Modeling causes and effects of semiconductor backend cycle time

Modeling work has investigated controllable parameters — such as lot release, heuristic scheduling, machine uptime, etc. — that determine cycle time and throughput in a complex semiconductor manufacturing backend.


Industry Insights


Connectivity is driving toward smart front-end modules

Fab managers need to worry less about wafer automation or tool-to-factory integration, and concentrate more on manufacturing, scheduling, line balance, and order fulfillment.