Oxidation Process

Overview
Oxidation Silicon dioxide Uses of SiO2 layer Thermal Oxidation Mechanism Thermal Oxidation Methods:

Horizontal Tube Furnace Vertical Tube Furnace Rapid Thermal Method

What is oxidation?
The word oxidation originally implied reaction with oxygen to

form an oxide. N2 (g) + O2(g) 2NO(g)

What is silicon dioxide?

Whenever a silicon surface is exposed to oxygen, it is

converted to silicon dioxide Silicon dioxide is composed of one silicon atom and two oxygen atoms (SiO2)
Silicon dioxide layers are formed on bare silicon surfaces at

elevated temperatures in the presence of an oxidant. The process is called thermal oxidation.

Uses of SiO2 layer

Surface passivation
It protects the in two ways a)- Physical protection of the surface Silicon dioxide layers formed on the surface are very dense (nonporous) and very hard. b)- Chemical

protection of the surface

ionic
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Regardless of the cleanliness of the processing environment

some electrically active contaminants (mobile contaminants) end up in or on the wafer surface.

Contd..
Doping barrier
The silicon dioxide left on the wafer acts to block the dopant

from reaching the silicon surface

Surface dielectric
Silicon dioxide is classified as a dielectric.

Contd
Device dielectric
grown oxides are also used as the dielectric layer in capacitors

formed between the silicon wafer and a surface conduction layer.

SiO2 layer

Silicon

Thermal Oxidation Mechanisms

Thermal oxide growth is a simple chemical reaction. This

reaction takes place even at room temperature. However, an elevated temperature is required to achieve quality oxides in reasonable process times for practical use in circuits and devices. Oxidation temperatures are between 900 and 1200C.
Si(solid)+ O2(gas) (heat) SiO2 (solid)

Si(solid) + 2H2O(gas) (heat)

SiO2(solid)+2H2(gas)
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Thermal Oxidation Methods

There are three methods for thermal oxidation 1- Horizontal Tube Method 2- Vertical Tube Method 3- Rapid Thermal Processing

Horizontal tube furnace

1.Outer surface 2.Oxidation tube 3.Columns of movable modular 4.Muffle 5.Movable modular's head 6.Source zone, centre zone and load zone 7.Proportional band controller

Fig. horizontal tube furnace

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Section of Horizontal Tube Furnace

1-Reaction chamber 2- Temperature control system 3- Furnace section 4- Source cabinet 5- Wafer cleaning station 6- Wafer load station

7- Process automation

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Drawback of Horizontal Tube Furnace

Difficult to produce larger wafer diameter Less contamination control Less production Gravity tends to separate mixed gases as they flow down the

tube So a new technology came to avoid drawbacks of horizontal Tube Furnace i.e. the vertical furnace tube

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Vertical Tube Furnace

In vertical tube configuration, the tube is held in a vertical

position with loading taking place from the top or bottom. Ease of rotating the wafers in the tube, which produces a more uniform temperature across source. Tube materials and heating systems are the same as for horizontal systems.

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Contd
The gas moves parallel to

gravity minimizing the gas separation problem and the boat rotation minimizes gas turbulence. More packaging density means we placed more wafers in tube for oxidation process.

Fig. Vertical tube furnace

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Rapid Thermal Process(RTP)

RTP technology is based on the principle of radiation heating.
RTP technology is a natural choice for the growth of thin

oxides used in MOS gates

Advantages of RTP
Reduces the thermal budget required for a process. Minimizing the total wafer process time.

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Conclusion
1- Uses of SiO2 layer 2- Mechanism of SiO2 formation 3- Methods

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References
Peter van Zant , Microchip Fabrication,, Tata McGraw Hill ,

2nd edition, 2012.

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Query

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THANK YOU
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