11/02/1999  The economics of 300mm wafer processing will demand more effective process control of equipment and tools, according to William Rozich, IBM's director of equipment technology. Improved overall equipment efficiency (OEE) will be essential to cover the higher cost of wafers and the tools needed for 300mm production. Rozich points out that the area of a 300mm wafer is 2.25 times larger than that of a 200mm wafer, but the raw material is expected to cost three times as much.

11/02/1999  Ten of Japan's top chipmakers have signed on to participate in a proposed five-year, 200 billion yen (US$2 billion) consortium in Japan for development of 100nm and below process technologies.

11/01/1999  While a wafer backside and back edge can be hermetically sealed and protected from copper contamination during electroplating, the front-side exclusion zone and beveled edge are still vulnerable because clamping during electroplating is not a totally effective mask.

11/01/1999  Syringe Body Handling Device...Fume Hood Control System...Mobile Ion Contamination Cure...Cleanroom Ceiling Bracket and Fastener...Cleanroom Mask...Disk Storage Device...Garment Fabric

11/01/1999  The complexity of semiconductor manufacturing and its wealth of data provide an ideal environment for the application of data mining to discover patterns of behavior leading to knowledge.

11/01/1999  There are a number of reasonably well understood forces that cause particles to adhere to a surface. While not necessarily, or even usually, the dominant force, van der Waals forces are universal — they are always present.

10/01/1999  Cleanroom air filtration still has work to do in such areas as reducing outgassing, implementing new materials and lowering operating costs.

10/01/1999  BRAINTREE, MA - THE NUMEROUS partnerships recently announced among semiconductor and other vendors could in some cases be the first step toward a merger or acquisition.

10/01/1999  I continue to be mystified by the universal, resounding success of minienvironments in reducing wafer contamination. Everyone who has examined and reported the impact of minienvironments on product contamination agrees that wafer contamination is reduced and reduced significantly when compared to similar processing operations carried out in the traditional ballroom type of cleanroom [Refs 1 -3].

10/01/1999  This invention aims at maintaining gas purity by using two cleanrooms. One cleanroom is used to store the gas supply pipe that extends from a storage tank. The other cleanroom houses gas containers that are fed by gas filling pipes. When the gas-filling pipes are not in use, ultra-high purity nitrogen gas flows, maintaining an extremely clean state inside of the pipes.
Patent number: 5,937,918
Date granted: August 17, 1999
Inventors: Mitauhide Takeharada and Shigeyoshi Nozawa, Teisan

10/01/1999  A variety of technologies now exists to measure particle levels reliably in gas distribution systems with different optimal technologies for each combination of inert/reactive gas and bulk/cylinder distribution system. The proper selection of measurement hardware and sampling procedures allows for detection of particles as small as 0.003 micron.

09/01/1999  A plot published by Don Grant several years ago graphically illustrated an important filtration phenomenon. It is a plot of particle penetration through a filter vs. particle diameter, similar to the plot discussed in last month's column ("Fibrous filter performance: Particle control success; AMC failure," CleanRooms, August 1999, page 10).

08/27/1999  After several months of negotiations, Finnish wafer maker Okmetic has purchased Crysteco's epitaxial wafer plant in Allen, TX, for an undisclosed sum.

08/05/1999  With the bulk of lithography equipment users searching for effective methods to push the resolution limits of their steppers, a test reticle that implements patented phase-shift technology is making it possible to rapidly and accurately analyze focus-related anomalies, characterize system and lens performance, and extend system capabilities to enhance overall tool performance.

08/01/1999  As-electroplated copper undergoes a gradual recrystallization at room temperature related to the plating chemistry. The influence of damascene topography on the recrystallization as well as on the texture of Cu must be understood to optimize properties for superior interconnect performance. A low-temperature anneal before CMP stabilizes the Cu microstructure and eliminates the (111) sidewall growth component that is observed if the overlying Cu is removed before recrystallization.

07/01/1999  Cleanroom classifications in both Fed-Std-209E and the ISO 14644 standards are based strictly on aerosol particle concentration. Contamination not detected or counted by a particle counter makes no difference in the classification.

05/01/1999  I read your article on HEPA/ULPA filter advancements and airborne molecular contamination (AMC) ("Particle Trap," CleanRooms, January 1999, page 14) and thought that I would share some of my experiences over the past 15 years in this business.

05/01/1999  With clean manufacturing becoming a preferred business practice, industry sources say laminar flow workstations are needed now more than ever.

05/01/1999  FOUPs are allowing for a degradation of cleanrooms, because the cleanliness is where it will do the most good -- right next to the wafers

05/01/1999  FRANKLIN, MA -- A growing concern about airborne molecular contamination (AMC) in semiconductor processing has led to the development of a wafer storage environment specifically designed to filter molecular contaminates in photolithography processes.