Single-wafer optical processing of semiconductors thin insulator growth for integrated electronic device applications

This paper presents an overview of the single-wafer optical processing techniques for integrated circuit fabrication with an emphasis on their applications to insulator growth. Rapid thermal growth of various thin homogeneous and heterogeneous dielectrics on silicon substrates including silicon dioxide, silicon nitride, nitrided oxides, and composition-tailored insulators will be described and some electronic device applications of the rapidly grown dielectrics will be examined. Multicycle rapid growth processes have been used for dielectric structural engineering and in-situ formation of thin layered insulators. The compositional depth profiles and the electrical characteristics of devices are controlled through the synthesis of an appropriate sequence of the wafer temperature-vs-time profiles and process gas cycles. The ongoing developments and future prospects of single-wafer rapid processing for advanced microelectronics manufacturing will also be discussed.