SBIR Phase I: An Ultra-High-Speed Cleaning Process for Electronic Device Manufacturing

本小企业创新研究一期项目拟开发用于电子器件制造的“绿色”超高速单晶片臭氧-水基抗蚀剂和重有机残留物去除新工艺。在下一代设备制造中，对更小特征尺寸和更大晶圆尺寸的驱动导致了单晶圆湿法加工代替批量加工的使用增长。初步测量表明，该工艺可以实现光刻胶蚀刻速率（去除率）超过20,000埃/分钟。非常高的蚀刻速率对于实现使用单晶圆加工的实际吞吐量至关重要。初始数据和分析模型表明，该工艺有可能将蚀刻率提高到更高的水平。该项目的五个目标是：1)测量耐蚀率作为温度的函数；2)测量抗蚀率随工艺化学流速的函数；3)评价工艺化学对抗蚀剂去除的影响；4)使用图案化测试晶圆演示工艺性能；5)为第二阶段的进一步评估准备工艺的初步设计。该项目的商业应用将在高密度半导体器件的制造上。这项研究计划的成功完成将使下一代高密度半导体器件的开发达到高潮，这不仅可以提高性能和降低成本，而且还可以通过使用环保化学品代替酸和溶剂来提供显着的环境效益。到2005年，仅晶圆湿处理设备的市场预计就将达到31亿美元。本研究开发的臭氧-水基工艺不仅可用于半导体晶圆制造，还可用于磁盘制造、光盘制造和平板制造。

This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project proposes to develop a new "green" ultra-high-speed single-wafer ozone-water-based resist and heavy organic residue removal process for electronic device manufacturing. The drive to smaller feature sizes and larger wafer sizes in next generation device manufacturing has led to the growth in the use of single-wafer wet processing in lieu of batch processing. Initial measurements show that this process can achieve photoresist etch rates (removal rates) in excess of 20,000 Angstroms/ minute. Very high etch rate is critical to the achievement of practical throughputs using single-wafer processing. Initial data and analytical modeling indicates the potential of this process to increase etch rates to even higher levels. Five goals of this project are: 1) measure resist etch rate as a function of temperature; 2) measure the resist etch rate as a function of process chemistry flow rate; 3) evaluate the influence of process chemistry on resist removal; 4) demonstrate process performance using patterned test wafers; and 5) prepare a preliminary design for a process for further evaluation in Phase II.The commercial application of this project will be in the manufacture of high density semiconductor devices. The successful completion of this research program will culminate in the development of the next generation of high density semiconductor devices which will not only increase performance and decrease costs, but will also provide significant environmental benefits through the use of environmentally benign chemicals in lieu of acids and solvents. The market for wafer wet processing equipment alone is projected to reach $3.1 billion by 2005. The ozone-water based process developed in the course of this research can not only be used in semiconductor wafer manufacturing, but also for magnetic disc manufacturing, optical disc manufacturing and flat panel manufacturing.