Introduction of BiCMOS into a production CMOS facility

A unique set of circumstances combined to require the rapid introduction of a 1 μm BiCMOS capability from R&D into a CMOS production facility. Not only was the lead time very short but the wafer size and equipment sets were not compatible and the main thrust/experience of the personnel was different. The authors review the proposed novel solution, technical approach, and accomplishments of this rather unusual process transfer. The focus is on the adaptation and extension of an existing CMOS process capability and equipment set to meet the requirements of BiCMOS technology. Because much of the process was already well-established CMOS technology and the module development experiments resolved key BiCMOS unknowns, the first full flow process integration lots resulted in good yields of 64 K CMOS and BiCMOS SRAMS. The majority of the device electrical parameters were on target, which allowed the team to concentrate on the few problem areas. These successes prepared the way for the product SRAM first silicon