SEMATECH Surface Preparation and Cleaning Conference

Surface Prep and Cleaning Training Course:

"Surface Preparation and Cleaning Fundamentals"

22 March 2010
7:00 AM - 5:00 PM

Course Description

The course is intended to provide fundamentals of surface preparation and cleaning and address the current challenges and the technical advances for processes used in the manufacture of integrated circuits, including:

Fundamentals of wet cleaning and etching – FEOL and BEOL
- Theory and practice of wet cleaning and etching, particle removal, and resist stripping
Advances in critical cleaning
- Single wafer cleaning, new techniques and formulations, dilute chemicals
Advances in high dose implant stripping
- Plasma and wet and all wet cleaning, new techniques for crust removal
Advances in minimal damage-free particle removal
- Megasonic, mixed fluid jet and other techniques
Passivated surfaces – with focus on Si, Ge, and Cu
- Surface properties and chemical termination
High-k/metal gate cleaning
- Pre-high-k cleaning and post-conductor delination, plus high-k removal
Fundamentals and advances in wet chemical residue removal
- Evolution and chemistry of semi-aqueous and solvent cleaning for BEOL
Advances in Cu/low-k post-etch and post-CMP cleaning
- Various methods of cleaning; plasma and wet, plus pore sealing
An introduction to photovoltaic processing
- Overview of silicon wafer solar cell manufacturing texturing and PSG removal

Course Objectives

Provide a basic knowledge of various surface conditioning and cleaning technologies used in the manufacture of integrated circuits.
Provides background on the theory and practice plus some fundamentals of wet cleaning and etching, including passivation of surfaces and particle removal.
Provides information on specific surface conditioning techniques including critical cleaning, photoresist stripping, and post-CMP cleaning. Also discusses techniques such as megasonics, single wafer cleaning, and discusses chemical formulations; dilute chemistries, solvents and semi-aqueous solvents.
Provides in depth information on high-k metal gate cleaning, understanding of how the cleans affects low-k dielectrics and copper, plus cleaning challenges for new materials.

Upon completing this course, participants will have a understanding of all types of cleaning processes used in IC manufacturing; surface conditioning for pre-diffusion clean, in particular pre-gate oxide clean, post-etch and post-implant photoresist removal, particle removal, post-CMP clean, FEOL and BEOL cleaning.

Who Should Attend

The intended audience is any engineer or manager associated with using or supplying cleaning, surface conditioning, and contamination free technologies for IC manufacturing. In particular semiconductor manufacturing process engineers, process development engineers, and integration engineers, IC equipment application and process engineers, and IC cleaning chemical process engineers are the target audience.

Organizers, Instructors, and Contributors

Karen A. Reinhardt is a Principle Consultant at Cameo Consulting in San Jose, California. She works with start-up and established companies investigating and assessing new and unique cleaning technologies. Most recently she is working on solar texturing surface conditioning processes. Karen has published over 30 technical papers and has seven patents.

Robert J. Small is Technology Consultant for RS Associates. He previously held the positions of CMP Technical Director and R&D Technical Director at DuPont/EKC Technology. He holds more than forty patents and authored over 120 articles and presentations including BEOL, post clean and post CMP and CMP processes.

Jeffery W. Butterbaugh is Director of Surface Conditioning Division and Chief Technologist at FSI International. Since joining FSI International in 1993 he has led process development for photochemical, anhydrous HF, and cryokinetic aerosol wafer cleaning. He holds seven patents and has authored or co-authored over 20 papers.

Course Materials

Course notes and handouts of presentation.

2nd Edition of the Handbook of Silicon Wafer Cleaning Technology, eds., Karen Reinhardt and Werner Kern, William Andrew Publications, New York. 2007. The book will be available for purchase at the conference.