SBIR Phase I: Inductive Thermal Plasmas for Ultrahigh Throughput Soft Etch in Integrated Circuit (IC) Manufacturing

SBIR 第一阶段：用于集成电路 (IC) 制造中超高吞吐量软蚀刻的感应热等离子体

• 批准号: 9960809
• 负责人: Simon Selitser
• 金额: $ 9.94万
• 依托单位: TimeDomain CVD Incorporated
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2000
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2000-01-01 至 2000-06-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=9960809&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: SBIR; Phase; Inductive; Thermal; Plasmas

This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project proposes to demonstrate a novel method of very-high-throughput isotropic etching for semiconductor manufacturing. Many steps in semiconductor manufacturing, especially the removal of photoresist, employ isotropic etching, often implemented with low-pressure plasma. We have demonstrated that inductive thermal plasmas can be used for isotropic etching at atmospheric pressure, achieving very high local etch rates while simplifying equipment requirements. We propose to develop a novel extended 'linear' plasma source, which will enable tool throughputs of 200-500 wafers/hour, much higher than conventional methods can achieve. Commercialization of the technology will be pursued through licensing arrangements with existing manufacturers of semiconductor capital equipment, who will in their turn be able to achieve compelling cost-of-ownership advantages in resist strip, backside etch, wafer thinning, and other isotropic etch steps.

这个小企业创新研究第一阶段项目提议展示一种用于半导体制造的高通量各向同性蚀刻的新方法。半导体制造的许多步骤，特别是去除光刻胶，采用各向同性蚀刻，通常采用低压等离子体。我们已经证明，感应热等离子体可以用于大气压下的各向同性蚀刻，在简化设备要求的同时实现非常高的局部蚀刻速率。我们建议开发一种新型的扩展“线性”等离子体源，这将使工具吞吐量达到200-500片/小时，远远高于传统方法所能达到的水平。该技术的商业化将通过与现有半导体资本设备制造商的许可安排来实现，这些制造商将能够在抗蚀带、背面蚀刻、晶圆减薄和其他各向同性蚀刻步骤中实现令人信服的拥有成本优势。