Specific Process Knowledge/Thin film deposition/Furnace LPCVD Nitride

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6" LPCVD nitride furnace (E3) located in cleanroom E-6

From April 2016 the processes on the LPCVD nitride furnaces have been changed, so that only stoichiometric nitride is deposited in the 4" nitride furnace, and only low stress (silicon rich) nitride is deposited in the 6" nitride furnace

Deposition of Silicon Nitride using LPCVD

Danchip has two LPCVD (Low Pressure Chemical Vapour Deposition) furnaces that are dedicated for deposition of silicon nitride: A 6" furnace (installed in 2008) for deposition of stoichiometric nitride on 100 mm and 150 mm wafers, until April 2016 it's been decided to use for deposition of silicon rich (i.e. low stress) nitride. And it’s allowed to run the stoichiometric nitride process only for 150 mm wafers. And a 4" furnace (installed in 1995) that was mainly used for deposition of silicon rich nitride on 100 mm wafers, until April 2016 it's been decided to use only for stoichiometric nitride. In LabManager the two furnaces are named "Furnace: LPCVD nitride (6") (E3)" and "Furnace: LPCVD nitride (4") (B2)", respectively. Both furnaces are Tempress horizontal furnaces.

Please be aware of that it is not allowed to deposit silicon rich nitride in the 4" nitride furnace to avoid problems with particles. The 6" nitride furnace is mainly dedicated for deposition of silicon rich nitride. And please check the cross contamination information in LabManager before you use any of the two furnaces.

The LPCVD silicon nitride deposition is a batch process, where nitride can be deposited on a batch of up to 25 wafers (in the 6" nitride furnace) or 15 wafers (in the 4" nitride furnace) at a time. The deposition takes place under vacuum (120-200 mTorr, depending on the process) and at temperature (780-845 C, depending on the process). The reactive gases are ammonia (NH₃) and dichlorsilane (SiH₂Cl₂). The LPCVD nitride has a very good step coverage, and the film thickness is very uniform over the wafers.

The user manuals, quality control procedures and results, user APVs, technical information and contact information can be found in LabManager:

4" LPCVD nitride furnace (B2),

6" LPCVD nitride furnace (E3)

Process information

Equipment performance and process related parameters

Equipment		6" LPCVD nitride furnace (E3)	4" LPCVD nitride furnace (B2)
Purpose	Deposition of	Silicon rich (low stress) nitride (Stoichiometric nitride)	Stoichiometric nitride
Performance	Step coverage	Very good	Very good
Performance	Film quality	Deposition on both sides of the substrate Dense film Few defects	Deposition on both sides of the substrate Dense film Very few defects
Process parameter range	Temperature	830-845 ^oC The temperature vary over the furnace tube	780-790 ^oC The temperature vary over the furnace tube
	Pressure	120 mTorr	200 mTorr
	Gas flows	For Low stress nitride Dichlorsilane (SiH₂Cl₂): 200 sccm Ammonia (NH₃): 50 sccm For Stoichiometric nitride on 6" wafers Dichlorsilane (SiH₂Cl₂): 45 sccm Ammonia (NH₃): 180 sccm	Dichlorsilane (SiH₂Cl₂): 20 sccm Ammonia (NH₃): 80 sccm The gas flows depend on whether nitride is deposited on 4" or 6" wafers
Substrates	Batch size	1-25 100 mm wafers 1-25 150 mm wafers Including a test wafer	1-15 100 mm wafers Including a test wafer
	Allowed materials	Silicon wafers (new or RCA cleaned) with layers of silicon oxide or silicon (oxy)nitride from the A, B and E stack furnaces Quartz/fused silica wafers (RCA cleaned)	Silicon wafers (new or RCA cleaned) with layers of silicon oxide or silicon (oxy)nitride from the A, B and E stack furnaces Quartz/fused silica wafers (RCA cleaned)