Specific Process Knowledge/Thermal Process/Annealing

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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 N₂ atmosphere. PECVD PBSG is annealed in an wet atmosphere which will also oxidize the silicon substrate.

Anneal with N₂ can be done in furnaces:A1,A3,C1,C2,C3,C4, noble furnace and RTP
Wet anneal with H₂O in a bubbler can be done in furnaces:C1 and C3.

Comparison of the seven annealing equipments

	A1 Boron drive-in	A3 Phosphorous drive-in	C1 Anneal 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.	Annealing and oxidation of wafers from NIL.	Annealing of wafers with aluminium.	Annealing and oxidation of any material.	Rapid thermal annealing.
Annealing with N₂	x	x	x	x	x	x	x
Wet annealing with bubler (water steam + N₂)	.	.	x	x	.	.	.
Process temperature [ ^oC ]	800-1150	800-1150	800-1150	800-1150	800-1150	22-1000^oC	22-1000^oC
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	30x4" or small pieces	1x4" or small pieces
Which wafers are allowed to enter the furnace:	A1 Boron drive-in	A3 Phosphorous drive-in	C1 Anneal oxide	C3 Anneal bond	C4 Anneal aluminium	Nobel	RTP
New clean* Si wafers 4" (6" in C1)	.	.	.	x	x	x	x
RCA clean** Si wafers with no history of Metals on	x	x	x	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.

Comparison of the seven oxidation furnaces

	A1: Boron Drive-in	A2: Gate Oxide	A3: Phosphorous Drive-in	C1: Anneal Oxide	C3: Anneal Bond	D1: APOX	Noble furnace
Generel description	Drive-in of boron deposited in the boron pre-dep furnace(A1) or drive-in of ion implanted boron. Can also be used for dry and wet oxidation.	Oxidation of gate-oxide and other especially clean oxides.	Drive-in of phosphorous deposited in the phosphorous pre-dep furnace(A4) or drive-in of ion implanted phosphorous. Can also be used for dry and wet oxidation.	Oxidation and annealing of 6" wafers. Oxidation of new wafer with out RCA cleaning. Annealing of wafers from the LPCVD furnaces and PECVD1.	Oxidation and annealing of wafers from EVG-NIL, PECVD3 and wafers with aluminum.	Oxidation of very thick oxides, thickness higher than 4 µm.	Oxidation and annealing of almost materials on silicon wafer.
Oxidation method	Dry: 5 SLM O₂ Wet: Torch	Dry: 5 SLM O₂	Dry: 5 SLM O₂ Wet: Torch	Dry: 5 SLM O₂ Wet: Steamer	Dry: 5 SLM O₂ Wet: Bobbler	Dry: 5 SLM O₂ Wet: Bubbler	Dry: 5 SLM O₂ Wet: Bubbler
Annealing gas	N₂ Ar	N₂	N₂	N₂	N₂	N₂	N₂ Ar
Process temperatur	900 ^oC - 1150 ^oC	900 ^oC - 1150 ^oC	900 ^oC - 1150 ^oC	700 ^oC - 1100 ^oC	900 ^oC - 1150 ^oC	1075 ^oC	20 ^oC - 1000 ^oC
Substrate and Batch size	1-30 50 mm wafers 1-30 100 mm wafers Including one test wafer	1-30 50 mm wafers 1-30 100 mm wafers Including one test wafer	1-30 50 mm wafers 1-30 100 mm wafers Including one test wafer	1-30 50 mm wafers 1-30 100 mm wafers 1-30 150 mm wafers Including one test wafer	Small samples on carrier wafer, horizontal 1-30 50 mm wafers 1-30 100 mm wafers Including one test wafer	1-150 100 mm wafers	Small samples on carrier wafer, horizontal 1-25 50 mm wafers 1-25 100 mm wafers, vertical and horizontal
Allowed materials	All wafers have to be RCA cleaned. Except for Boron pre-dep wafer from furnace A1.	All wafers have to be RCA cleaned.	All wafers have to be RCA cleaned. Except for Phosphorous pre-dep wafers from furnace A4.	All processed wafers have to be RCA cleaned. Except for wafers from LPCVD furnace and PECVD1.	All wafers have to be RCA cleaned. Except for wafers from EVG-NIL, PECVD3 and wafer for annealing of aluminum.	Only new wafers	Almost all meterials