MICROELECTRONICS CLUSTER TOOL SENSOR DEVELOPMENT

THE U.S. SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICE FABRICATION INDUSTRY, WITH THE SUPPORT OF THE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE, IS RAPIDLY DEVELOPING THE CLUSTER TOOL CONCEPT AS THE BASIS FOR ADVANCED DEVICE MANUFACTURING. THIS CONCEPT PROVIDES THE CLEAN VACUUM PROCESSING ENVIRONMENT NECESSARY FOR HIGH-YIELD PRODUCTION OF SUBMICRON-SCALE INTEGRATED CIRCUITS, AND PROMOTES ENHANCED PROCESS FLEXIBILITY AND IMPROVED FABRICATION-LINE RELIABILITY. FOR DYNAMIC PROCESSES SUCH AS CHEMICAL VAPOR DEPOSITION (CVD), REAL-TIME PROCESS-CONTROL MONITORING OF AS-BUILT THIN-FILM PROPERTIES IS VITAL. THE PROPOSED PHASE I EFFORT WILL EVALUATE THE ABILITY OF AN INNOVATIVE SOFT X-RAY GAUGING TECHNOLOGY TO PROVIDE IN-SITU THIN-FILM THICKNESS MONITORING, AND OF ADVANCED DIFFRACTION TOPOGRAPHY TECHNIQUES TO MONITOR THIN-FILM SHEET RESISTIVITIES ON A NON-INTRUSIVE BASIS. THIS EFFORT WILL SET THE STAGE FOR INCORPORATION OF THE THIN-FILM GAUGING AND TOPGRAPHY MEASUREMENTS INTO AN INTEGRATED CLUSTER-TOOL SENSOR PACKAGE IN PHASE II OF THE PROJECT. ANTICIPATED BENEFITS/POTENTIAL COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS - A SUCCESSFUL PROJECT WILL PRODUCE IN-SITU PROCESS-CONTROL SENSORS THAT CONTRIBUTE TO THE DEVELOPMENT AND APPLICATION OF CLUSTER TOOL FABRICATION SYSTEMS WITHIN THE U.S. SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICE FABRICATION INDUSTRY.