AVS 45th International Symposium
    Partial Pressure Measurements and Process Control Topical Conference Thursday Sessions
       Session PC-ThA

Invited Paper PC-ThA3
In Situ Monitoring of Semiconductor Reactive Gas Processes using Partial Pressure Analyzers

Thursday, November 5, 1998, 2:40 pm, Room 317

Session: RGA Characteristics and Calibration
Presenter: L.C. Frees, Leybold Inficon, Inc.
Correspondent: Click to Email
As semiconductor fabrication is pushed towards narrower linewidths utilizing new materials, processes such as chemical vapor deposition (CVD) and etch increasingly employ reactive gases. These gases, along with high temperatures and/or plasmas, and process pressures ranging over six orders of magnitude (1E-1 to 1E+5 Pa) present considerable challenges to the partial pressure analyzers (PPAs) and systems used to monitor them. Techniques used in the design and construction of the sample inlet system, the differential pumping system and the PPA itself which result in a viable in situ process monitor will be discussed. Emphasis will be given to the ion source itself. Choices concerning the place on the process tool to connect the PPA, and their effects on the data obtained, will also be covered. Applications examples will include CVD of the metals Cu, Ti (and TiN), and W and Al. Also included will be the CVD of dielectrics such as silicon nitride and phosphosilicate glass. Sampling methods for monitor etch processes for both metals and dielectrics will be presented, with a focus on the lifetime of the ion source.