Specific Process Knowledge/Thermal Process/Annealing

Annealing

At Danchip we have seven furnaces and an RTP for annealing: A1,A3,C1,C2,C3,C4, noble furnace and RTP. Annealing normally takes place in an N$_{2}$ atmosphere. PECVD PBSG is annealed in an wet atmosphere which will also oxidize the silicon substrate.

• Anneal with N$_{2}$ can be done in furnaces:A1,A3,C1,C2,C3,C4, noble furnace and RTP
• Wet anneal with H$_{2}$O in a bubbler can be done in furnaces:C2 and C3.

Comparison of the seven annealing equipments

	A1 Boron drive-in	A3 Phosphorous drive-in	C1 Anneal oxide	C2 Gate oxide	C3 Anneal bond	C4 Anneal aluminium	Nobel furnace	RTP
General description	Drive-in of boron deposited in the boron pre-dep furnace(A2) or drive-in of ion implanted boron. Can also be used for oxidation.	Drive-in of phosphorous deposited in the phosphorous pre-dep furnace(A2) or drive-in of ion implanted phosphorous. Can also be used for oxidation.	Annealing and oxidation of wafers from the B-stack and PECVD1. At the moment also used for general annealing and oxidation of 6" wafers.	Oxidation of gate-oxide and other especially clean oxides.	Annealing and oxidation of wafers from NIL.	Annealing of wafers with aluminium.	Annealing and oxidation of any material.	Rapid thermal annealing.
Annealing with N$_{2}$	x	x	x	x (with special permission)	x	x	x	x
Wet annealing with bubler (water steam + N$_{2}$)	.	.	x	.	x	.	.	.
Process temperature [ oC ]	800-1150	800-1150	800-1150	800-1150	800-1150	800-1150	22-1000oC	?
Batch size	max. 30 wafers of 4" or 2"	max. 30 4" wafers or 2" wafers	max. 30 wafers of 6",4" or 2"	max. 30 4" wafers or 2" wafers	max. 30 4" wafers or 2" wafers	max. 30 4" wafers or 2" wafers	30x4" or small pieces	?
Which wafers are allowed to enter the furnace:	A1 Boron drive-in	A3 Phosphorous drive-in	C1 Anneal oxide	C2 Gate oxide	C3 Anneal bond	C4 Anneal aluminium	Nobel	RTP
New clean* Si wafers 4" (6" in C1)	x	x	x	x (with special permission)	x	x	x	x
RCA clean** Si wafers with no history of Metals on	x	x	x	x (with special permission)	x	x	x	x
From Predep furnace directly (e.g. incl. Predep HF**)	From A2	From A4	x	.	x	x	x	x
Wafers directly from PECVD1	.	.	x	.	x	x	x	x
Wafers directly from NIL bonding	.	.	.	.	x	x	x	x
Wafers with aluminium	.	.	.	.	.	x	x	.
wafers with other metals	.	.	.	.	.	.	x	.
wafers with III-V materials								x

*New clean: only right from the new clean box. It is not allowed to put them in another box first.

**These wafers must be placed in a "transport box from RCA to furnace" using the RCA carrier when doing RCA or the pre-dep carrier after pre-dep.