Integrated Circuits

Technology
Course No.: EEL7190 Prof. AJAY AGARWAL
L-T-P [C]: 3–0–0 [3] DR. SWATI RAJPUT
ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING
IIT JODHPUR

Lecture 07 dated 16th Aug. 2023

Prof Ajay Agarwal
IC Fabrication Process
Thin film growth, deposition
and/ or CMP

Photolithography

Etching Ion Implantation

PR Stripping PR Stripping

RTA or Diffusion

Prof Ajay Agarwal

 Oxidation of Silicon - Introduction
• SiO2 growth is a key process step in manufacturing all Si devices
• Thick (~1 µm) oxides are used for field oxides (isolate devices from one
another)
• Thin gate oxides (~100 Å) control MOS devices
• Sacrificial layers are grown and removed to clean up surfaces
• Silicon is consumed as the silicon dioxide is grown
• Growth occurs in O2 and/or steam at 800 - 1200C
• ~2 m films are maximum practical
O2 55%
SiO2
45%

Silicon Silicon
Prof Ajay Agarwal
The simplest method of producing a silicon oxide layer
consists of heating a silicon wafer in an oxidizing atmosphere

Prof Ajay Agarwal

Equipment/ techniques of oxidation
Horizontal Furnace
Wafers
Heating Coils

Quartz
Tube
Gas flow

Temperature Center Zone

Flat Zone

Prof Ajay Agarwal Distance

Equipment/ techniques of oxidation
Horizontal Furnace

Prof Ajay Agarwal

 Equipment/ techniques of oxidation
Vertical Furnace
Process
Chamber
Heaters

Wafers

Tower
Questions/ Discussion

Prof Ajay Agarwal

Types of oxidation processes:
• Thermal Oxidation
• Low Pressure Oxidation,
• High Pressure Oxidation
• Plasma Oxidation
• RTO, Rapid Thermal Oxidation
• Anodic Oxidation
• Oxide Deposition, LPCVD, Sputter, etc.

Prof Ajay Agarwal

Types of Oxidation Processes:
Dry Oxide
• Pure Dry Oxygen is Employed for Oxidation
Si + O2 = SiO2
• Advantages
• Oxide layers are very uniform.
• Relatively few defects exist at the oxide-silicon interface (these defects
interfere with the proper operation of semiconductor devices)
• It has especially low surface state charges and thus make ideal
dielectrics for MOS transistors.
• Disadvantage
• Dry oxide grows very slowly.

Prof Ajay Agarwal

Dry Oxidation

Oxide thickness versus

oxidation time for dry
(O2) oxidation of a (100)
oriented silicon wafer

Prof Ajay Agarwal

 Types of Oxidation Processes:
Wet Oxide:
• In the same way as dry oxides, but steam is injected
Si + 2H2O = SiO2 + 2H2 ↑
• Advantages
• Wet oxide grows fast.
• Useful to grow a thick layer of field oxide
• Disadvantage
• Hydrogen atoms liberated by the decomposition of the
water molecules produce imperfections that may degrade
the oxide quality

Prof Ajay Agarwal

Wet Oxidation

Oxide thickness versus

oxidation time for wet
(H2O) oxidation of a
(100) oriented silicon
wafer

Prof Ajay Agarwal

 Integrated Circuits
Technology
Course No.: EEL7190 Prof. AJAY AGARWAL
L-T-P [C]: 3–0–0 [3] DR. SWATI RAJPUT
ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING
IIT JODHPUR

Lecture 08 dated 18th Aug. 2023

Prof Ajay Agarwal
 Types of Oxidation Processes:
Deposited Oxides:
• Frequently employed as an insulator between two layers of
metallization
• In such cases, some form of deposited oxide must be used rather
than the grown oxides
• Advantages
• Deposited oxides can be produced by various reactions between
gaseous silicon compounds & gaseous oxidizers
• Mainly used as insulating layers between multiple conductor layers,
or as protective overcoats
• Disadvantage
• Possess low densities & large numbers of defect sites.
• Not suitable for use as gate dielectrics for MOS transistors.
Prof Ajay Agarwal
 Key Variables in Oxidation
• Temperature
• reaction rate
• solid state diffusion
• Oxidizing species
• wet oxidation is much faster than dry oxidation
• Surface cleanliness
• metallic contamination can catalyze reaction
• quality of oxide grown (interface states)

Prof Ajay Agarwal

Applications of oxidation in semiconductor
fabrication

• Gate oxide
• Diffusion/ implantation mask
• Local oxidation of silicon (LOCOS)
• Insulation
• Surface passivation
• Film with low thermal conductivity
• Sacrificial / Structural layer

Prof Ajay Agarwal

Gate Oxide
G
S D

Silicon

• Very high quality thermal SiO2 required

• High breakdown strength
• Extreme uniformity
• No electrical charges

Prof Ajay Agarwal

Diffusion/ Implantation mask
Dopants

SiO2
p
n- Silicon

• SiO2 is photo-lithographically patterned on Si

• Dopant’s diffusivity is low in SiO2 compared to Si
• Ions stops in SiO2

Prof Ajay Agarwal

 Local Oxidation of Silicon (LOCOS)
• LOCOS: localized oxidation of silicon using silicon nitride as a mask against
thermal oxidation
• CMOS and BICMOS processes employ LOCOS to grow a thick field oxide
over electrically inactive regions of the wafer

Silicon nitride
SiO2

Silicon

Prof Ajay Agarwal

Insulation

SiO2
metal
SiO2 p
Si n

• SiO2 Film should be pinhole free

• Low breakdown,
• Low leakage
• Thermal or deposited

Prof Ajay Agarwal

 Surface Passivation
• SiO2 is used for device surface passivation
mainly:
• To make Si surface electrically neutral and insensitive
to atmosphere
• To protect device surface from scratches

Prof Ajay Agarwal

Film with Low Thermal Conductivity
Structural
SiO2

Si n

• For Sensors applications

• Si3N4 is also used

Prof Ajay Agarwal

Sacrificial / Structural layer
Cantilever

SiO2
Si

• SiO2 Film should be pinhole free

• Low breakdown
• Low leakage
• Thermal or deposited

Prof Ajay Agarwal

Questions/ Discussion

Prof Ajay Agarwal