Extremely Rapid Thermal Processing Demonstrations for Advanced Microelectronics

"The ITRS 2000 defined Rapid Thermal Processing (RTP) with very low thermal budget as a barrier with no known solutions below the 70nm node. Solutions must be found to enable very shallow, very high conductivity single crystal structures in silicon andnon-silicon materials. In a Phase I contract, JETEK assessed the feasibility of a revolutionary concept for achieving significant RTP performance gains. We developed system parametric analytical design models showing this technology can provide: waferheating and cooling rates>104 oK/sec; uniformity>0.1%, in a process independent of surface layers, patterns and wafer size; and system throughput exceeding 100wafers/hr (200mm diameter). Initial experimental data and prior experience with atmosphericplasma applications served to validate the models. This is the only known technology that can provide extremely Rapid Thermal Processing with a corresponding extremely low thermal budget and uniformity independent of patterning. The Phase II objective isto build a Test Bed and demonstrate the advantages of this technology in fabricating advanced silicon and non-silicon devices. Yale University Center for Microelectronics and a large semiconductor device manufacturer will support this effort withdemonstration samples and analyses. The Test Bed then will serve DARPA and industry for device development and commercialization."