Novellus' Peter Wolters Division Develops 22nm Double-Sided Silicon Wafer Polish Process
23 Giugno 2009 - 10:05PM
PR Newswire (US)
MicroLine(R) Technology Produces Extremely Flat Wafers to Meet Chip
Manufacturing Lithography Requirements at 22nm And Beyond SAN JOSE,
Calif., June 23 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- To address the challenges
of wafer polishing at future technology nodes, Peter Wolters GmbH,
a wholly-owned subsidiary of Novellus Systems (NASDAQ:NVLS), has
recently developed advanced polishing technology for its MicroLine
AC 1500-P3 and AC 2000-P3 double-sided silicon wafer polishing
(DSP) systems that will meet the lithography requirements for
semiconductor device manufacturing at 22nm and beyond. (Photo:
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20090623/AQ36601) With current
state-of-the-art semiconductor manufacturers beginning to enter
32nm high-volume manufacturing, leading manufacturers of wafer
polishing equipment are already considering the planarity
requirements for silicon wafers at the 22nm technology node. At
these next generation nodes, extremely tight requirements are being
placed on both the shape of the prime wafer and the flatness of its
surface. Since semiconductor device structures are patterned using
optical lithography, the achievable process window or depth of
focus becomes governed by the flatness of the area being exposed by
the optical beam. The "degree of silicon wafer local flatness" as
measured by the Site Frontside Least Squares Focal Plane Range
metric (or SFQR, see Figure 1) defines the acceptable level of
silicon wafer surface planarity for use in advanced IC
manufacturing. Lithography processes require the SFQR value to be
much smaller than the depth of focus. To meet the current needs of
32nm lithography, the SFQR-max value is typically less than 30nm
for a site size of 26 mm x 8 mm with an edge exclusion of 2 mm. A
double-sided silicon wafer polish is required to achieve low SFQR
values at these advanced nodes. Another significant challenge
during the polishing step is to control wafer planarity (parallel
front and back wafer surfaces) while preventing the pad from
rounding the edge of the wafer. Peter Wolters has engineered
advanced, patent-pending sensor and process control capabilities
into its latest polishing systems, allowing the AC-1500 P3 and the
AC-2000 P3 to achieve SFQR-max values of less than 20nm --a
requirement for 22nm lithography (see Figure 2). Excellent front to
backside parallelism is achieved using stress-free guidance of the
wafer throughout the polish step. The process control enabled by
this new technology delivers a more homogeneous polishing process
with no edge rounding out to 1 mm of edge exclusion. When used for
today's 4Xnm and 3Xnm production, the MicroLine's flatter wafers
widen the depth of focus process window, resulting in improved
critical dimension control. This larger process window increases
patterning yield and lithography productivity through better
scanner-to-scanner matching and reduced qualification and set-up
time. "The in-situ data obtained by the MicroLine's temperature and
eddy current sensors allow us to adjust the process parameters to
match the polishing consumables with the incoming wafer geometry,"
said Kay Petersen, executive vice president of Novellus' Industrial
Applications group. "Our silicon wafer polish systems are ready
today to enable 22nm lithography development." For more information
on Peter Wolters' double-sided prime wafer polishing technology, go
to http://www.novellustechnews.com/. About Peter Wolters: Peter
Wolters GmbH, a component of Novellus' Industrial Applications
group, is a leading manufacturer of high precision surface
polishing systems for substrates made of silicon, sapphire, gallium
arsenide, silicon carbide and other materials used in the
manufacturing of microelectronic, micro-optical, and
micromechanical devices. The company's AC-1500 P3 and AC-2000 P3
double sided polishing systems provide world class process results
in terms of local and global geometry control (SFQR, GBIR) and haze
removal. Peter Wolters is headquartered in Rendsburg, Germany.
About Novellus: Novellus Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:NVLS) is a leading
provider of advanced process equipment for the global semiconductor
industry. The company's products deliver value to customers by
providing innovative technology backed by trusted productivity. An
S&P 500 company, Novellus is headquartered in San Jose, Calif.
with subsidiary offices across the globe. For more information,
please visit http://www.novellus.com/
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20090623/AQ36601 DATASOURCE:
Novellus Systems, Inc. CONTACT: Bob Climo of Novellus Systems,
Inc., +1-408-943-9700, ; or Marla Kertzman of The Hoffman Agency,
+1-408-975-3032, , for Novellus Systems, Inc. Web Site:
http://www.novellus.com/
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