01 Introduction

Chapter 1
Introduction to the Semiconductor Industry
Semiconductor Manufacturing Technology

by Michael Quirk and Julian Serda
2001by Prentice Hall
Objectives
After studying the material in this chapter, you will be able to: 1. Describe the current economic state and the technical roots of the semiconductor industry. 2. Explain what is an integrated circuit (IC) and list the five circuit integration eras. 3. Describe a wafer, including how it is layered and describe the essential aspects of the five stages of wafer fabrication. 4. State and discuss the three major trends associated with improvement in wafer fabrication. 5. Explain what is a critical dimension (CD) and how Moores law predicts future wafer fabrication improvement. 6. Describe the different eras of electronics since the invention of the transistor up to modern wafer fabrication. 7. Discuss different career paths in the semiconductor industry.
Microprocessor Chips
Photo courtesy of Advanced Micro Devices
Photo courtesy of Intel Corporation

Photo 1.1
Development of an Industry Industry Roots

Vacuum Tubes Radio Communications Mechanical Tabulators Inventors Disadvantages
The Solid State

Solid State Physics The First Transistor Benefits
Vacuum Tubes

Photo 1.2
The Semiconductor Industry

INFRASTRUCTURE Industry Standards (SIA, SEMI, NIST, etc.) Production Tools Utilities Materials & Chemicals Metrology Tools Analytical Laboratories Technical Workforce Colleges & Universities PRODUCT APPLICATIONS Consumers: Computers Automotive Aerospace Medical other industries Customer Service Original Equipment Manufacturers Printed Circuit Board Industry
Chip Manufacturer

Figure 1.1
The First Transistor from Bell Labs
Photo courtesy of Lucent Technologies Bell Labs Innovations Semiconductor Manufacturing Technology
Photo 1.3
The First Planar Transistor

Figure 1.2
Circuit Integration Integrated Circuits (IC)

Microchips, chips Inventors Benefits of ICs
Integration Eras
From SSI to ULSI 1960 - 2000

Jack Kilbys First Integrated Circuit
Photo courtesy of Texas Instruments, Inc.

Photo 1.4
Top View of Wafer with Chips

A single integrated circuit, also known as a die, chip, and microchip

Figure 1.3
Circuit Integration of Semiconductors

Semiconductor Industry Time Period Prior to 1960 Early 1960s 1960s to Early 1970s Early 1970s to Late 1970s Late 1970s to Late 1980s 1990s to present Number of Components per Chip 1 2 to 50 50 to 5,000 5,000 to 100,000 100,000 to 1,000,000 > 1,000,000
Circuit Integration No integration (discrete components) Small scale integration (SSI) Medium scale integration (MSI) Large scale integration (LSI) Very large scale integration (VLSI) Ultra large scale integration (ULSI)

Table 1.1
ULSI Chip
Photo courtesy of Intel Corporation, Pentium III

Photo 1.5
IC Fabrication Silicon
Wafer Wafer Sizes Devices and Layers
Wafer Fab Stages of IC Fabrication

Wafer preparation Wafer fabrication Wafer test/sort Assembly and packaging Final test
Evolution of Wafer Size
2000
1992 1987
1981
1975
1965
50 mm 100 mm 125 mm
150 mm
200 mm
300 mm

Figure 1.4
Devices and Layers from a Silicon Chip

Top protective layer Metal layer Insulation layers Conductive layer
drain
Recessed conductive layer
Silicon substrate
Silicon substrate
Figure 1.5
Stages of IC Fabrication
1.
Wafer Preparation includes crystal growing, rounding, slicing and polishing. Wafer Fabrication includes cleaning, layering, patterning, etching and doping.
Single crystal silicon
4.
Assembly and Packaging: The wafer is cut along scribe lines to separate each die. Metal connections are made and the chip is encapsulated.
Scribe line A single die Assembly Packaging
Wafers sliced from ingot
2.
3.
Test/Sort includes probing, testing and sorting of each die on the wafer.
Defective die
5.
Final Test ensures IC passes electrical and environmental testing.

Figure 1.6
Preparation of Silicon Wafers

Polysilicon Seed crystal Crucible
6. Edge Rounding
1. Crystal Growth
Heater
7. Lapping 2. Single Crystal Ingot
8. Wafer Etching 3. Crystal Trimming and Diameter Grind

Slurry Polishing head
9. Polishong 4. Flat Grinding

Polishing table
5. Wafer Slicing
10. Wafer Inspection
(Note: Terms in Figure 1.7 are explained in Chapter 4.)

Figure 1.7
Wafer Fab
Photo courtesy of Advanced Micro Devices-Dresden, S. Doering

Photo 1.6
Sample of Microchip Packaging

Figure 1.8
Semiconductor Trends
Increase in Chip Performance

Critical Dimension (CD) Components per Chip Moores Law Power Consumption
Increase in Chip Reliability Reduction in Chip Price

Critical Dimension
Common IC Features
Line Width Contact Hole Space

Figure 1.9
Past and Future Technology Nodes for Device Critical Dimension (CD)
1988 CD ( m) 1.0
1992 0.5
1995 0.35
1997 0.25
1999 0.18
2001 0.15
2002 0.13
2005 0.10

Table 1.2
Increase in Total Transistors/Chip

1600 Microprocessor Total Transistors in Millions 1400 1200 1000 800 600 400 200
1997 1999
2001 2003 2006 2009 Year
2012
Redrawn from Semiconductor Industry Association, The National Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors, 1997. Semiconductor Manufacturing Technology
Figure 1.10
Moores Law for Microprocessors

The number of transistors on a chip double every 18 months.
100M 500
Pentium Pentium Pro
10M
Transistors
80486
1M
80386 80286 8086
25
100K
1.0
10K
8080 4004
.1
1975
1980
1985 Year
1990
1995
.01 2000
Used with permission from Proceedings of the IEEE, January, 1998, 1998 IEEE Semiconductor Manufacturing Technology
Figure 1.11
Size Comparison of Early and Modern Semiconductors
1990s Microchip (5~25 million transistors) 1960s Transistor
U.S. coin, 10 cents

Figure 1.12
Reduction in Chip Power Consumption per IC

10 Average Power in micro Watts (10-6 W) 8
0 1997 1999 2001 2003 Year Redrawn from Semiconductor Industry Association, National Technology Roadmap, 1997
2006
2009
2012
Figure 1.13
Reliability Improvement of Chips

700 600
Long-Term Failure Rate Goals in parts per million (PPM)
500 400 300
200 100 0 1972
1976
1980
1984
1988
1992
1996
2000
Year
Figure 1.14
Price Decrease of Semiconductor Chips

104 102 1 Relative value 10-2 10-4 10-6
ULSI Electron tubes Standard tube Miniature tube Bipolar transistor Integrated circuits MSI LSI VLSI Semiconductor devices Device size = Price =
10-8
1930 10-10
1940
1950
1960 Year
1970
1980
1990
2000
Redrawn from C. Chang & S. Sze, McGraw-Hill, ULSI Technology, (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1996), xxiii. Figure 1.15 Semiconductor Manufacturing Technology 2001by Prentice Hall
The Electronic Era
1950s: Transistor Technology 1960s: Process Technology 1970s: Competition 1980s: Automation 1990s: Volume Production

Start-Up Cost of Wafer Fabs

$100,000,000,000 Actual Costs Projected Costs $10,000,000,000
Cost
$1,000,000,000
$100,000,000
$10,000,000
1970
1980
1990
2000 Year
2010
2020
Used with permission from Proceedings of IEEE, January, 1998 1998 IEEE Semiconductor Manufacturing Technology
Figure 1.16
Career Paths in the Semiconductor Industry

Fab Manager Maintenance Manager Maintenance Supervisor Equipment Engineer Production Manager Engineering Manager Process Engineer Associate Engineer MS
Production Supervisor
BS BSET*
Equipment Technician Maintenance Technician Manufacturing Technician
Yield & Failure Analysis Technician Process Technician Lab Technician
AS+ AS HS +
Wafer Fab Technician Production Operator

* Bachelor of Science in Electronics Technology
HS Education

Figure 1.17
Productivity Measurements in a Wafer Fab

Misprocessing
Photo Production Bay
12
Ion Implant Production Bay Scrap
Diffusion Production Bay Production Equipment
Rework
9 6 3
Production Equipment
Inspection
Cycle Time per Operation

Time In Time Out
Inspection
Inspection
Wafer Starts
1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 26 27 28 29 30 31
Wafer Moves
Wafer Outs
1 1 2 3 4 5 2 3 4 5 6 6 7 7 8 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 30 31
Inspection
Inspection
Inspection
Etch Production Bay
Thin Films Production Bay
Metallization Production Bay
Production Cycle Time = (Date and Time of Wafer Start) - (Date and Time of Wafer Out) Wafer Outs = Wafer Starts - Wafers Scrapped Operator Efficiency = Theoretical Cycle Time / Actual Cycle Time

Figure 1.18
Equipment Technician in a Wafer Fab
Photograph courtesy of Advanced Micro Devices

Photo 1.7
Technician in Wafer Fab
Photo courtesy of Advanced Micro Devices

Photo 1.8
Review Chapter 1
Summary Key Terms Review Questions Selected Industry Web Sites References
19 19 20 20 20


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Chapter 1

Introduction to the Semiconductor Industry

Semiconductor Manufacturing Technology

2001by Prentice Hall

2001by Prentice Hall

Photo courtesy of Advanced Micro Devices

Photo courtesy of Intel Corporation

2001by Prentice Hall

Development of an Industry Industry Roots

The Solid State

2001by Prentice Hall

Semiconductor Manufacturing Technology

2001by Prentice Hall

The Semiconductor Industry

Semiconductor Manufacturing Technology

2001by Prentice Hall

The First Transistor from Bell Labs

2001by Prentice Hall

The First Planar Transistor

Semiconductor Manufacturing Technology

2001by Prentice Hall

Circuit Integration Integrated Circuits (IC)

Semiconductor Manufacturing Technology

2001by Prentice Hall

Jack Kilbys First Integrated Circuit

Photo courtesy of Texas Instruments, Inc.

2001by Prentice Hall

Top View of Wafer with Chips

Semiconductor Manufacturing Technology

2001by Prentice Hall

Circuit Integration of Semiconductors

Semiconductor Manufacturing Technology

2001by Prentice Hall

Photo courtesy of Intel Corporation, Pentium III

2001by Prentice Hall

Wafer Fab Stages of IC Fabrication

Evolution of Wafer Size

Semiconductor Manufacturing Technology

2001by Prentice Hall

Devices and Layers from a Silicon Chip

Recessed conductive layer

2001by Prentice Hall

Single crystal silicon

Wafers sliced from ingot

Final Test ensures IC passes electrical and environmental testing.

Semiconductor Manufacturing Technology

2001by Prentice Hall

Preparation of Silicon Wafers

7. Lapping 2. Single Crystal Ingot

8. Wafer Etching 3. Crystal Trimming and Diameter Grind

9. Polishong 4. Flat Grinding

10. Wafer Inspection

(Note: Terms in Figure 1.7 are explained in Chapter 4.)

2001by Prentice Hall

Photo courtesy of Advanced Micro Devices-Dresden, S. Doering

2001by Prentice Hall

Sample of Microchip Packaging

Semiconductor Manufacturing Technology

2001by Prentice Hall

Increase in Chip Performance