Applications of total reflection X-ray fluorescence to analysis of VLSI micro contamination

Author

Liou, Bor Wen ; Lee, Chung Len

Author_Institution

Vanguard Int. Semicond. Corp., Hsinchu, Taiwan

Volume

12

Issue

2

fYear

1999

fDate

5/1/1999 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

266

Lastpage

268

Abstract

This paper demonstrates the microcontamination analysis on wafers after they have been through the conventional ULSI processing steps, by using the vapor phase decomposition/total reflection X-ray fluorescence (VPD/TXRF) technique. It was found that the wafer location in the holding cassette during the chemical cleaning step affected the cleanness of the wafer, and the class 1 environment was not enough to keep the wafer to a contamination level below 5×10⁹ atoms/cm² for three days storing. The breakdown characteristic of a gate oxide was shown to be closely related with the cleanness of the surface of the oxide

Keywords

ULSI; VLSI; X-ray fluorescence analysis; dielectric thin films; integrated circuit manufacture; integrated circuit measurement; semiconductor device breakdown; surface cleaning; surface contamination; ULSI processing steps; VLSI microcontamination; VPD/TXRF) technique; breakdown characteristic; chemical cleaning step; class 1 environment; gate oxide breakdown; holding cassette; microcontamination analysis; oxide surface cleanness; semiconductor wafers; total reflection X-ray fluorescence; vapor phase decomposition; wafer location; Atomic measurements; Chemicals; Cleaning; Fluorescence; Monitoring; Reflection; Spectroscopy; Surface contamination; Ultra large scale integration; Very large scale integration;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Semiconductor Manufacturing, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0894-6507

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/66.762886

Filename

762886