DEMONSTRATION OF CAPABILITY ACCURACY AND VERSATILITY OF A TECHNIQUE FOR HIGH RESOLUTION DOPANT ...

RECOGNITION TECHNOLOGY, UNDER THE DIRECTION OF THOMAS BUSHMAN - PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR, WITH MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY CONSULTANTS, DR. AUGUST WITT AND DR. DOUGLAS CARLSON, PROPOSE THE ESTABLISHMENT OF NIR ABSORPTION AND COMPLEMENTARY PHOTOLUMINESCENCE IMAGING CAPABILITY FOR THE NEAR REAL TIME, NONDESTRUCTIVE DOPANT CHARACTERIZATION OF ELEMENTARY AND COMPOUND SEMICONDUCTOR WAFERS IN A FABLINE ENVIRONMENT. USING MICRO-SCALE AND COMPLEMENTARY MACRO-SCALE IMAGING ANALYSES BASED ON QUANTIFIABLE NIR ABSORPTION AND PL, IN COMBINATION WITH ADVANCED CONTRAST ENHANCEMENT, IT IS ANTICIPATED THAT DOPANT CONCENTRATION LEVELS RANGING FROM 10 X20 TO THE MID 10 X15/CM X3 CAN BE QUANTITATIVELY ANALYZED WITH THE REQUIRED PRECISION WITH AT LEAST 10 NANOMETER DEPTH RESOLUTION. THE NIR IMAGING AND ANALYSIS APPROACH TO BE DEVELOPED WILL PERMIT IN ADDITION THE DETECTION OF DISLOCATION NETWORKS, PRECIPITATES, AND LATTICE STRAIN; IT IS TO BE APPLIED TO DOUBLE SIDED POLISHED WAFERS, TO EPITAXIAL LAYERS AND TO ION-IMPLANT SYSTEM. THE "NEAR REAL TIME NATURE" OF THE ANALYSIS MAKES IT SUITABLE FOR QUALITY CONTROL AND THE RELATED IMAGING PROCESS WILL PROVIDE FOR A READILY RETRIEVABLE DEFECT RECORD FOR EACH WAFER ANALYZED. THE COSTS FOR THE REQUIRED HARDWARE ARE EXPECTED TO BE A FRACTION ONLY OF THE COSTS ASSOCIATED WITH THE ACQUISITION OF INSTRUMENTATION FOR CONVENTIONAL ELECTRICAL CHARACTERIZATION. THE OUTSTANDING FEATURES OF THE PROPOSED OPTICAL CHARACTERIZATION TECHNIQUE IS ITS EXTREME SPEED, ITS SUITABILITY FOR PROCESS AUTOMATION AND ITS DIVERSE APPLICABILITY. ANTICIPATED BENEFITS/POTENTIAL COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS - THE SYSTEM, AFTER DEVELOPMENT BY RTI, WILL HAVE COMMERCIAL APPLICATION FOR: PROCESS DEVELOPMENT, QUALITY CONTROL OF WAFERS, ESTABLISHMENT OF GROWTH CONTROL OBJECTIVESL; AND ACHIEVEMENT OF WAFERS WITH SUPERIOR QUALITY RELATED TO FABLINE CHARACTERISTICS. POTENTIAL COMMERCIAL