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Manufacturing / Process Equipment. Multiple- Functions Laboratories – Planning, Establishment, Operations –

Table of Contents - Detailed Version 

All aspects of establishing a state-of-the-art semiconductor manufacturing facility

All aspects of measurement, testing, characterization and analysis for the provision of rapid and reliable response solutions

The building blocks to fulfil the highest requirements of a multipurpose use

The building blocks in detail

Key measurement activities

Multiple purposes / functions

Acting in an advisory, problem-solving support and training capacity

§       All aspects of establishing a state-of-the-art semiconductor manufacturing facility, including

×   Specifications, selection, procurement, installation and validation of equipment for: Device wafer growth. Front-end-of-line processing incl. photolithography, dry / wet etching, sputter / e-beam / ion-beam / thermal deposition, plasma-enhanced vapour phase deposition, furnace / rapid thermal annealing, surface profiling, ellipsometry. Back-end-of-line processing incl. lapping, scribing, dicing, bonding. Material and device characterization and testing.

×   Detailed assessments of impact of perturbations such as electromagnetic interference and mechanical vibrations on quality of manufacture and tests requiring high spatial resolution (e.g. e-beam lithography, focused ion beam, transmission electron microscopy), along with the development and implementation of appropriate corrective actions on the basis of standard cleanroom design considerations.

×   Identification of electrostatic discharge (ESD) sensitive areas and establishment of an effective ESD control program.

§       All aspects of measurement, testing, characterization and analysis for the provision of rapid and reliable response solutions

×   From one-off measurements to complex problem solving through to R&D programs and bespoke R&D projects, and across the entire technology / product development processes, and including

×   Quality assurance of maintainability (calibration, repair, preventive maintenance, etc.), and of accuracy and precision of test and measuring equipment / instrumentation.

§       The building blocks to fulfil the highest requirements of a multipurpose use, ranging from

×   Facilities / equipment / instrumentation selection, procurement, setup, operations and management.

×   Thoroughly professional use of established and, if required, innovative techniques, through to

×   Generation and interpretation of comprehensive data, the provision of critical analysis / issue resolution for most different – scientific, R&D and product / process engineering – purposes.

§       The building blocks in detail

×   State-of-the-art optical and electrical test, measurement, characterization and failure analysis laboratories for micro and nano-structured materials and devices, wafer substrates and ICs.

×   Reliability qualification test laboratory for electronic integrated circuits.

×   Wide range of instruments, components, techniques and systems, essential prerequisites for measurement executions, including

›      Laser systems (Ar-ion, dyes, He-Cd), arc-lamps, (double) spectrometers, detectors (LN2 PMT, Ge, OMA), photon counting, laser scanners, optical and mechanical components, a/o modulator, power meters, cameras / displays, fibre-optics, liquid helium cryostats, vacuum technology, electronics (dc, high-speed).

×   Wide range of state-of-the-art measurement, characterization, failure analysis techniques and instrumentation, used in tandem to provide complete and reliable solutions. 

›      Application of Established Techniques – optical, thermal, electrical, microscopy, chemical, environmental – include:

-      Low-temperature photoluminescence spectroscopy PL.

-      Photoluminescence scanning / topography.

-      Optical absorption spectroscopy.

-      Electroluminescence EL.

-      Cathodoluminescence CL.

-      Micro-Raman spectroscopy.

-      Optical microscopy.

-      Stress Measurement.

-      Thermoreflectance.

-      Thermal Imaging.

-      Deep-level-transient-spectroscopy (DLTS).

-      Optical and electron beam induced current (OBIC, EBIC).

-      Scanning electron microscopy (SEM).

-      Energy dispersive x-ray analysis (EDX).

-      Secondary ion mass spectrometry SIMS.

-      Transmission electron microscopy TEM.

-      IC-specific tests, including photon emission microscopy, liquid-crystal thermography, scanning acoustic microscopy, ESD and latch-up sensitivity testing.

-      Highly accelerated environmental life tests and stress screening incl. HAST, HTOL, TMCL and MSLA.

›      Application of Innovative Techniques pioneered for new applications, as required, for example,

-      Thermoreflectance and Raman spectroscopy:

ê       World-first pioneering application for investigating temperature-, stress-, and material disorder-activated reliability issues.

ê       For experimental details and results, see:

Page “Originalities” about “Issue Resolution through Innovative Experiments on Materials and Devices. Semiconductors”.  

§       Key measurement activities include

× Defect, trap, impurity identification, concentration and location.

× Contaminant mapping and characterization.

× Thin film, quantum structures, coatings and wafer characterization.

× Interface characterization.

× Optical waveguide characterization.

× Laser facet characterization.

× Optical properties investigation.

× Material instabilities studies.

× Chemical and elemental analysis.

× Stress measurement with micrometer spatial resolution.

× Temperature measurement with micrometer spatial resolution.

× Optical and electrical tests.

× Stress and life testing.

× Electrical failure characterization.

× Root-cause analysis of failure.

§       Multiple purposes / functions, including

×   Data generation for R&D programs, bespoke R&D projects, and invention disclosures:

›      More than 15 R&D projects. 9 invention disclosures published in the IBM Technical Disclosure Bulletin.      

×   Publication of important results / dissemination of new knowledge to scientific community in journals, papers and through presentations at international conferences and workshops:

›      More than 70 journal and conference technical papers.

›      Many world’s-first achievements, for example, in laser facet characterization, active laser quantum well optimization, and two-dimensional imaging of current density in superconducting tunnel junctions.

-      For experimental details and results, see:

Page “Originalities” about “Issue Resolution through Innovative Experiments on Materials and Devices”.

›      Publications received international recognition (see e.g. Science Citation Index or Google, Advanced Search / Exact Phrase ‘PW Epperlein’).                          

×   Basis for product conformance decisions.

›      Failure analysis, test and reliability studies for gate / milestone passing verification.

-      Examples include CMOS IC reliability qualification investigations.

-      For details, see:

Page “Deliverables” about “Consulting Deliverables”. Extensive Reports.

×   Basis for process control decisions and connected quality assurance.

›      Routine analytical and control test / measurement activities.

›      Routine reliability and performance investigations of production devices, and for release of outgoing product.

›      Approval of tentative procedures, specifications and process changes. 

×   Ongoing problem solving support, issue resolution, optimization and improvement, comprising:  

›      Data generation and analysis to uncover and understand cause-and-effect relationships.

›      Root cause diagnosis and analysis.

-      To recommend effective corrective / preventive actions and

-      To derive opportunities for improvement.

›      Examples:

-      Performance and reliability improvement of product and process across the entire product life cycle through ongoing analysis / optimization of semiconductor materials quality and devices structures.

-      Detection of unknown effects that are key to further improvement of existing devices and the development of novel structures and devices.

-      Improvement of process productivity, reduction of costs, and improvement of device design through:

ê       Identifying and understanding of competing reactions causing reduced yield or substandard process quality (process variations, cycle times, equipment downtimes).

ê       Assessment included analytical test of how process variables affect equipment behaviour and operating procedures.

ê       Generation of correlations between fundamental material properties and device parameters:

Examples include:

(world-first) triple correlation between laser facet temperature, laser facet material instability and laser catastrophic optical mirror damage COMD power level. Corrective actions led to significantly higher COMD levels, i.e. laser reliability.

For experimental details and further results, see:

Page “Originalities” about “Issue Resolution through Innovative Experiments on Materials and Devices. Semiconductors”.

§       Acting in an advisory, problem-solving support and training capacity

×   Planning, specification, purchase, establishment and quality assurance of manufacturing and process equipment including optimal facilities for epitaxial crystal growth, front-and back-end-of-line along with quality information equipment for new product design and development, comprising equipment for metrology, inspection, test, and quality control of materials, product and process.

×   Other elements of equipment and work methods planning to be considered include:

›      Capability demonstration, validation / acceptance test for hardware and software of purchased equipment at customer’s facility, using customer’s personnel and customer’s operating conditions to approve final demonstration.

›      Providing for preventive maintenance of equipment with the relevant planning to determine how often the preventive maintenance is necessary, what form it should take and how processes should be audited to assure that preventive maintenance schedules are followed.

›      Planning for a controlled process environment through establishing clean-room specifications / certification procedures to be followed, to meet stringent regulations / standards stipulated by law.

×   Design, set-up and running of state-of-the-art metrology, test and failure analysis laboratories for characterizing, testing, analyzing and validating semiconductor and superconductor materials, discrete devices and complex integrated circuits.

›      From one-off measurements to complex problem solving through to R&D programs and bespoke R&D projects, and across the entire technology / product development processes.

×   Design and set-up of appropriate standard techniques and tools for the resolution of specific material and device issues.

×   Development of innovative techniques for the resolution of specific material and device issues.

×   Recommendation of experimental approaches to differentiate bad devices with inherent low reliability from good devices with high reliability without performing any life tests.

 

 

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