Imaging in Silicon: Tomography based Sensors for Semiconductor Manufacturing

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This proposal deals with investigating the feasibility of developing a new class of sensors.Thetarget application of these sensors is semiconductor manufacturing.The common theme shared bythis class of sensors is that they are based on Electrical Impedance Tomography (EIT).EIT is anin vivo imaging technology that has found widespread use in biomedical applications, but its usein semiconductor manufacturing applications as suggested in this proposal is novel.Broader ImpactSemiconductor manufacturing is a vital industrial engine that continues to drive worldwide eco-nomic growth.The next generation of integrated electronics calls for the reliable and cost-effectivemanufacture of 0 .13 micron linewidth circuits across large 300 mm substrates.It is widely recog-nized that sensors will play a vital role in realizing this objective,by providing the means to optimizeprocess parameters,engineer more complex equipment,and by enabling integrated process control.The proposed research offers the possibility of in situ sensors for monitoring processing conditions atthe wafer surface during semiconductor processing.The EIT based sensors that will be developedin this work can offer unprecedented spatial resolution with modest cost-of-ownership.Thesesensors would enable rapid equipmen diagnostics,recipe optimization,and eventually closed-loopequipmen control.Effectively,this would lead to improved yield,time-to-yield,and throughput.The proposed research is the seed componen in this overall vision.Finally,and most importantly,is the immediate and direct impact of the proposed work in bring-ing students uniquely versatile in both hardware and system aspects to the semiconductor industry.Intellectual MeritThe intellectual merit of this proposal is its novelty.The proposed work is interdisciplinary innature,bringing techniques and ideas from biomedical applications to the semiconductor industry.This will require the imaginative blend of analytical ideas with hardware design.Sensors are traditionally viewed as stand alone hardware components.The proposed work takesa more nuanced approach where the systems aspect of sensors is vital to their function.Theparticular tomography problems that arise in the context of this proposal are novel and will requireinnovative analytical approaches.In contrast with biomedical tomography,the objects being imaged(the proposed sensors)have the luxury of being optimized.The medical analogue is that of beingable to arrange bones,organs,and tissue in positions that are favorable to the imaging technique.First principles analysis will permit the design of the proposed sensors for optimal sensitivity.