Lecture 25: Lithography Contents 1 2 5 7 ® 15 15 18 18 1 Introduction Lithography (or patterning) refers to the series of steps that establish the shapes, dimensions, and location of the vatious components of the integrated circuit (IC). The eurrent progress in IC design, with the decreased dimensions niaturization) of the chip aud increased density of transistors, is possible only ifstaller areas on the wafer surface ean be patterned. This s primarily the function of lithography. Thus, the succes of moder IC design is due largely to lithography. This can be summarized in the pracess goals 1, Create a pattern with the dimensions established by’ the eireuit design 2, Place the pattern correctly with respect to the crystal orientation and other existing patterns.lectronic material devices, and fabrication 501 ‘After the pattern is created, either the defined part of the wafer surface is removed (trench ereation) of left behind (island creation) oF new material is doposited. Lithography is also used to expose certain parts of the wafer surface for doping (either with a hard mark for thermal diffusion or with a soft mask for jon implantation), ‘The correct placement of the circuit pattern involves alignment or registration of various masks. Au IC wafer fabrication process can require forty or more patterning steps. Alignment of these individual steps is eritical to forma a working IC. 2 Process overview For lithography processing, ard copy of the pattem has to be fst gen- crated, This sealed a reticle or mask, The dosign on the mask has to be transfered tothe wafer, as shown in figure) The transfer can be 1:1 (i svth no elution in size) but usally the size is reduc so thatthe patton is transferred toa smaller region onthe wafer. This is done by using suitable Jens to demagnify the pattem, Lithography ean be broadly dvd into tw stages, each of which consists of several steps 1. First, the pattern is transferred to. photoresist layer on the wafer. Photoresist is a light sensitive material whose properties change on exposure to light of specified wavelength. ‘This process is called de- trloping. ‘The pattern formed in this step is temporary and can be removed easily. This is especially important if the pattern is not prop- erly alignment with the wafer or with any existing patterns on the wafer, tmproper registry 2. The transfer of the pattern takes place from the photoresist to the wafer, Exposed wafer surfaces ean be etehed (removal of material) or layers deposited ou it. Dopant materials ean also be added to sect of the wafer through the pattern. ‘This stage is final and it is very hard to remove the formed patterns without causing damage to the underlying wafer ‘The overall lithography process is summarized in figure | After the pattern, is formed on the photoresist and the wafer surface is exposed (develaping process) the exposed wafer surface is etched. It is also possible to deposit, ‘material on the exposed surfaceMMS017: Electronic materials, devi Figure 1: Typical IC fabrication process showing the different features on ‘the dic with increasing magnification from (a) - (c). A mask can be made ‘of many chips, each chip will also have a variety of device features. These patterns will he transferred to the wafer during lithography. Adapted from Fundamentals of semiconductor manufacturing and process control - May and Spares