A study of airborne molecular contamination to Cr etching process

Hsu, Yuan; Satou, Yutaka; Lee, Heng-Jen; Huang, Zack

doi:10.1117/12.2530983

Cited by 2 publications

(2 citation statements)

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“…Acidic AMCs not only compromised the quality of the chemical processing of wafers but also to the equipment end. For example, Hsu et al 23 investigated the defect formation on the Cr etching process in the photomask front-end handling system, stemming from the detection of small (10-30 nm), localized hard (non-removable) defects on masks, which were identified by EDX to have high chlorine content. This phenomenon was experimentally verified by inspecting the wafers treated with chlorine-containing (Cl 2 + O 2 , Cl 2 + O 2 + He, Cl 2 ) and non-chlorine (O 2 , N 2 ) plasma etching of Cr masks, resulting invariably in high failure rate when chlorine was present.…”

Section: Current Knowledge About Amcsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Review—Airborne Molecular Contamination: Recent Developments in the Understanding and Minimization for Advanced Semiconductor Device Manufacturing

Den

Garza

et al. 2020

ECS J. Solid State Sci. Technol.

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This review paper focuses on the recent knowledge about airborne molecular contamination (AMC) and its impacts on 300-mm wafer fabrication processes. The adverse impacts on process materials by both organic and inorganic micro-contaminants, and evidence of cross-contamination between processed wafers and the mainstream wafer handling tools, are two areas of discussion for the study. The review also aims to re-frame the industrial guideline for AMC from chemical-based to risk-based approach, which substantiates the potential impacts of individual families of AMCs that have been well-documented. This approach resonates well with the new AMC classification method recently proposed by the International Roadmap of Devices and Systems (IRDS), building on new knowledge of AMC emerged over time with the advances of analytical and testing capability. The review also brings forth the impact of moisture, the mere presence of which can compromise the integrity of device structures. However, moisture is especially detrimental in the presence of other inorganic ions to trigger unwanted reactions with surface materials. Methods developed to minimize the micro-contaminants and moisture during wafer handling and storage are also reviewed.

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Section: Current Knowledge About Amcsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Review—Airborne Molecular Contamination: Recent Developments in the Understanding and Minimization for Advanced Semiconductor Device Manufacturing

Den

Garza

et al. 2020

ECS J. Solid State Sci. Technol.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…4,5 The chemical analyzing methods require complex and time-consuming sample pre-treatment, which may cause damage to the fine patterns of the photomasks. Other methods, such as Auger electron spectroscopy (AES), 6 Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), 7 time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (TOF-SIMS), 8–10 X-ray photoemission spectroscopy (XPS), 11 and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) 12 have been reported to analyze particle contaminants of photomasks. The studies have found that the particulate contamination components are mainly ammonium sulphate salts 13 from cleaning chemicals and hydrocarbons 10 formed by pollutant exhaust.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%