R.A. Levy - Böcker

The European Materials Society decided to hold a Symposium entitled Materials and Processes for Submicron Technologies in June 16-19, 1998, within the yearly E-MRS Spring Meeting in Strasbourg, France. The purpose of this meeting was to discuss the results of the advances in microelectronic devices directly relating to the reduction in size of features of the devices down to submicron size. When electronic materials are patterned to these small sizes, their physico-chemical properties show many aspects (interdiffusion, electromigration, etc.), many of these not well known yet. The articles presented in this volume, 28 in number, are representative of the 40 papers accepted for this particular E-MRS Meeting (Symposium N).

The primary thrust of very large scale integration (VLS!) is the miniaturization of devices to increase packing density, achieve higher speed, and consume lower power. The fabrication of integrated circuits containing in excess of four million components per chip with design rules in the submicron range has now been made possible by the introduction of innovative circuit designs and the development of new microelectronic materials and processes. This book addresses the latter challenge by assessing the current status of the science and technology associated with the production of VLSI silicon circuits. It represents the cumulative effort of experts from academia and industry who have come together to blend their expertise into a tutorial overview and cohesive update of this rapidly expanding field. A balance of fundamental and applied contributions cover the basics of microelectronics materials and process engineering. Subjects in materials science include silicon, silicides, resists, dielectrics, and interconnect metallization. Subjects in process engineering include crystal growth, epitaxy, oxidation, thin film deposition, fine-line lithography, dry etching, ion implantation, and diffusion. Other related topics such as process simulation, defects phenomena, and diagnostic techniques are also included. This book is the result of a NATO-sponsored Advanced Study Institute (AS!) held in Castelvecchio Pascoli, Italy. Invited speakers at this institute provided manuscripts which were edited, updated, and integrated with other contributions solicited from non-participants to this AS!.

The primary thrust of very large scale integration (VLS!) is the miniaturization of devices to increase packing density, achieve higher speed, and consume lower power. The fabrication of integrated circuits containing in excess of four million components per chip with design rules in the submicron range has now been made possible by the introduction of innovative circuit designs and the development of new microelectronic materials and processes. This book addresses the latter challenge by assessing the current status of the science and technology associated with the production of VLSI silicon circuits. It represents the cumulative effort of experts from academia and industry who have come together to blend their expertise into a tutorial overview and cohesive update of this rapidly expanding field. A balance of fundamental and applied contributions cover the basics of microelectronics materials and process engineering. Subjects in materials science include silicon, silicides, resists, dielectrics, and interconnect metallization. Subjects in process engineering include crystal growth, epitaxy, oxidation, thin film deposition, fine-line lithography, dry etching, ion implantation, and diffusion. Other related topics such as process simulation, defects phenomena, and diagnostic techniques are also included. This book is the result of a NATO-sponsored Advanced Study Institute (AS!) held in Castelvecchio Pascoli, Italy. Invited speakers at this institute provided manuscripts which were edited, updated, and integrated with other contributions solicited from non-participants to this AS!.

As feature dimensions of integrated circuits shrink, the associated geometrical constraints on junction depth impose severe restrictions on the thermal budget for processing such devices. Furthermore, due to the relatively low melting point of the first aluminum metallization level, such restrictions extend to the fabrication of multilevel structures that are now essential in increasing packing density of interconnect lines. The fabrication of ultra large scale integrated (ULSI) devices under thermal budget restrictions requires the reassessment of existing and the development of new microelectronic materials and processes. This book addresses three broad but interrelated areas. The first area focuses on the subject of rapid thermal processing (RTP), a technology that allows minimization of processing time while relaxing the constraints on high temperature. Initially developed to limit dopant redistribution, current applications of RTP are shown here to encompass annealing, oxidation, nitridation, silicidation, glass reflow, and contact sintering. In a second but complementary area, advances in equipment design and performance of rapid thermal processing equipment are presented in conjunction with associated issues of temperature measurement and control. Defect mechanisms are assessed together with the resulting properties of rapidly deposited and processed films. The concept of RTP integration for a full CMOS device process is also examined together with its impact on device characteristics.