Issue

For the most part, the Nobel Prizes in physics have been awarded to contributors to our understanding of fundamental laws of nature (sometimes theorists, sometimes experimentalists) rather than inventors.

Feels like '95: DQ, SIA see 37% semi growth this year; 2001 capex plans roll in; Spending worth noting; Go, fabless firms, go! ...

As chipmakers collectively contemplate building another two dozen fabs over the coming three years, Portugal says it wants to be the next hot chipmaking hub, and has three prequalified fab sites ready to go.

Rethinking the production process should reduce the cost of a minifab by about 50%, raising the return on investment from a mini-100-lot/month line enough to match that of a high-volume fab running 1000 lots/month.

HDP-CVD
The Ultima system, the gapfill solution for intermetal dielectric, shallow trench isolation, and low-k film applications, now provides users with greater value for both 200mm and 300mm applications.

Piping handbook
This 1100-page piping system handbook offers engineers a single source for piping components that convey, measure, and control liquids. Product information is offered on the PVC, CPVC, polypropylene, natural polypropylene ...

Ion Systems, Berkeley, CA, has promoted Gregory Park to chief information officer. Park, a four-year veteran of the company, was previously director of information technology ...

A view into Selete's 300mm program
The on-going evaluation, since July 1999, of FSI International's ZETA 300mm surface conditioning system gives a good view into Japan's Selete 300mm tool selection program and the rigors of 300mm processing specifications in general.

The CMP slurry market will triple in size by 2005, even as engineers struggle with today's gritty demands: new formulations for lowering defectivity, dual damascene structures, low-k insulators, and next-generation problems, such as premetal dielectric polish for inlaid gates.

Metal etch and low pressure chemical vapor deposition processes are placing additional demands on established vacuum pressure control and construction techniques. These difficult processes often generate significant quantities of solid and condensable byproducts that can deposit inside the entire vacuum system, requiring frequent service of pressure control components.

The detailed mechanisms of a plasma etch process explain its ability to improve the taper profile for shallow trench isolation. A two-gas etch chemistry is used, and the controlled redeposition of etch products along the sidewall of the etched feature is a key part of the process.

Reduction of perfluorocompound emissions is a committed goal of the semiconductor industry. The majority of PFC usage is for cleaning of CVD chambers. Three strategies for reducing the emissions are presented here: 1) optimization of traditional C₂F₆-based in situ cleans, 2) substitution of NF₃ for C₂F₆ in in situ cleans, and 3) remote NF₃ cleaning.

The capabilities of three applications of scanning probe microscopes are discussed, with examples of their use. Tunneling AFM measures 2-D current profiles, which can be used to find defects in gate oxides, for example. Scanning capacitance microscopy can show the carrier concentration in a semiconductor in two dimensions. The scanning spreading resistance technique can also measure 2-D carrier profiles in semiconductors, as well as the conductivity or resistivity of nonsemiconductor materials.

A new high-productivity scrubber system provides precise control of chemical mixing and delivery. It enables using a single cleaning solution for the removal of all types of chemical mechanical polishing defects, Philips Semiconductor has successfully applied this system in production for post-STI CMP cleaning.

HEMTs are not a new invention, but they are now coming to the forefront of the semiconductor industry because of their use in communication applications. Improved electronic transport characterization techniques are needed to continue the development of HEMTs and to improve production processes.

There is an irony about the semiconductor industry that should give senior executives some pause. On the one hand, it is becoming more highly automated than most, with microscopically precise machinery. On the other, in this world of robots and automated processes, the human worker is the critical element.

More test must be designed into chips
As features shrink at an accelerated pace, allowing multimillions of devices on a chip, and speeds move into the GHz range, testing problems are proliferating ...