ENSC495/851: Introduction to Microelectronic Fabrication
SFU Eng. Science Course Outline 98-1 (Spring)
(ENSC 495, 4 credits, split as 2-0-4: ENSC 851, 3 credits, 2-
0-1)
Description
This course gives students a hands-on introduction to Integrated Circuit
Fabrication. The lectures introduce the theoretical background and
application of each major IC fabrication processes: eg. oxidation, doping,
depositions, photolithography and etching. Process simulation tools will be
used throughout the course help understand each process. In parallel the
laboratory gives practical experience of each process as part of an IC the
students build from the bare silicon to final working device.
Professor:
Glenn Chapman, Rm ASB 8831, Phone: 291-3814,
email: glennc@cs.sfu.ca
Laboratory Engineer
Bill Woods, Rm ASB 8832
Primary text:
"Microelectronic Processing", W.S. Ruska, McGraw-Hill.
Other references:
"The Science and Engineering of Microelectronic Fabrication", Stephen
Campbell, Oxford Univ. Press.
"Silicon Processing, vol. 1", S. Wolf and R.N. Tauber, (Lattice Press).
Prerequisite:
The only prerequisites the students need are an understanding of basic
transistor and diode operation.
ENSC 222/ENSC 225 (Electronic Design I) or equivalent.
Lecture Schedule
Lecture Monday, Wednesday 17:30 - 18:50 pm, SCB8666
Week 1: Clean Room Technology and Silicon Wafer
Production
- Basic outline of fabrication process: with to real structures.
- Theory behind clean room operations:
- History of semiconductor devices: diodes, transistors, Germanium/Silicon
transition, monolithic integrated circuits
- Basic operation of Transistors, diodes
- Projected trends in Fabrication
- Theory and operations for contamination elimination, and safety
issues.
- Silicon wafers; Crystallography, Production and Defects:
- Basic silicon wafer parameters, solid solubility of dopants
in silicon, defects, and basic economics of operations.
Week 2: Thermal Oxidation
- Basic theory of the silicon oxidation, practical operations
and measurement of films (thickness and quality).
- Tsupreme 4 simulation package introduction
Week 3: Lithography
- Basic operation of photolithography, chemical basis of photoresist,
exposure equipment, exposure/development theory, and problems.
Week 4: Advanced Lithography
- Dealing with defects and exposure effects
- Advanced Lithography, Deep UV, Extreme UV, X-ray
Week 5: Etching
- Theory and operations of etching in general;
- wet (chemical) etching of oxides
Week 6: Etching II
- Wet etching of silicon and metals
Week 7: Diffusion Processes & Ion Implantation
- Diffusion theory (constant, limited source, multisource).
- Theory and operation of Ion implantation doping techniques.
Week 8: Thin Film Deposition: Evaporation and Sputtering
- Theoretical and experimental operation of vacuum systems.
- Theory and operation of evaporation and sputtering systems
Week 9: Thin Film Deposition: Chemical Vapor Deposition
- Theory and operation of Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD), Plasma
Enhanced CVD
- Film thickness measurement and film problems
Week 10: Expitaxy CVD and Dry Etching Processes
- Expitaxy (deposition with same crystal structure) & laser CVD
- dry etching processes (Plasma, Sputtering and Reactive Ion)
Week 11: Packaging, Yields, Processing Facility Setup and
Silicon Foundries
- Testing, dicing of wafers, packaging, bonding, yield theory
and measurements.
- Measurement techniques: Optical microscope, Scanning Electron
Microscope, energy dispersive analysis of X-rays, Augue analysis,
Secondary Ion Mass Spectroscopy (SIMS), Laser Ion Mass Spectroscopy
(LIMS), Rutherford Backscatter Spectroscopy (RBS), X-ray diffraction.
- Silicon Foundries
Week 12: CMOS and Bipolar Process Integration in
practice
- Layer by layer process of sample CMOS and Bipolar structures
showing all the processes discussed taking place.
- Yield Analysis
- Using mask design tools
Week 13: Future of the processing & Project
Presentations
- Problems in submicron technology and Micromachining/sensors
as a new fabrication area.
- Presentations of student projects (Graduate Students)
- Summary of main course points.
Laboratory Section
Projects in Microfacation Lab (ASB 8823)
Students will work in 3-4 people teams which start with a bare silicon
wafer and create finished IC's which include diodes, solar cells, transistors
and some characterization test devices. All the process steps will be done by
the students, who will also characterize the parameters for each step.
Electrical characterization of the devices (diodes etc) will also be
accomplished. Students get to keep samples of their own IC's.
Week 2: Tour of Microfabrication facilities (ASB 8823)
- Tour of the microfabrication facilities, inspection of chips
under microscopes. Learning how to don clean room suits, gloves,
handling wafers, use of tweezers,
Week 3: Demonstration of laboratory processes
- Demonstration of oxide growth: learning how to preoxidation
clean wafers, run oxidation furnaces, control of flow values, insertion/withdrawal
of wafers, and measure the oxides.
Week 3-5: Growth and patterning of oxide film on
silicon.
- Set up furnace and grow oxide to stated thickness.
Identify thickness of several sample wafers from their colour.
- Characterize grown film: measure thickness.
- Pattern the first oxide layer
- First Lab report done on this work
Week 6-13: Build simple 3 level structures:
- Build simple diffused diode, solar cells and test structures.
- Clean wafers, grow oxide, define oxide layers with photolithography.
- Do source/drain diffusion and measure results.
- Oxide regrowth, define gate area and grow gate oxide, measure
thicknesses.
- Define contact cuts, etch oxide, inspect and measure contact
size.
- Learn operation of simple sputter coater (thin film deposition).
- Deposit metal and measure thickness via profilometry.
- Deposit metal (contacts and gate), define/etch, measure thickness
and line widths.
- Measure simple diode and transistor characteristics.
- Measure test devices: metal and diffusion sheet resistance,
contact chains, plus C-V of gate oxide.
Course Assignments and Tests
- Two Laboratory reports must be submitted.
- Students will be assigned a weekly problem set, including simulations
of process steps.
- One mid term test (about week 6) and final examination after
week 13
Graduate Students
Graduate students have two options. They can take the lab up to end
of Week 5 and do the first report, and then do a Major processing
project in the laboratory during the rest of the course. Alternatively
they may do the entire laboratory like the undergraduate, with two
Lab reports and a minor project (report on a processing area).
Mark Distribution
Student receive the highest of the following distributions:
ENSC 495
- 30% laboratory reports, 20% problem assignments, 10% mid term,
40% final exam.
- 30% laboratory reports, 15% problem assignments, 55% final exam.
ENSC 851
- 30% lab reports, 15% Minor Project, 20% problem assignments,
10% mid term, 35% final exam.
- 15% lab reports, 45% Major Project, 20% problem assignments,
20% mid term.
Last updated Dec. 10, 1997