VLSI Technology

Lecture 1
Introduction
 Course Information

COURSE OBJECTIVES
• To familiarize with the various technologies used to fabricate VLSI devices.

• Emphasis on the processes that are useful for VLSI schemes.

COURSE OUTCOMES
Outcomes If you complete this course successfully, you should be able to
achieve the following:
• Understand the fabrication principles of BJT and MOSFET in detail
• Be able to understand the principles and considerations behind modern
device fabrication
• It will help you to know the instruments/machines involved in each and
every process steps
• Be able to understand the chemical/physical/thermal reactions in the
processes 2
 Course Information

COURSE CONTENT
• Semiconductor Device Fundamentals
• Crystal Structure of Si, Defects in Crystal, Crystal growth
• Epitaxy, Vapour phase Epitaxy, Molecular beam Epitaxy
• Oxidation – Kinetics, Rate constants, Dopant Redistribution
• Diffusion-Theory of Diffusion, Doping Profiles, Diffusion Systems
• Ion Implantation - Process, Annealing of Damages
• Lithography, immersion lithography, e-beam lithography
• Etching-Wet Chemical Etching, Dry Etching, Plasma Etching
• Deposition-Plasma Deposition, Metallization
• IC BJT - LOCOS, Trench isolation, Poly-emitter-poly-base BJT
• MOSFET - Metal gate vs. Self-aligned Poly-gate, Tailoring of Device
3
Parameters, Latch - up in CMOS, BiCMOS Technology
Background

• Chemical reactions
• Basic facts about semiconductors and p-n junctions
• Basics of crystal structures

What is expected of you?

To make the subject meaningful, you need to
• View the video lectures (NPTEL)
• Study the book
• Do the problem sets

S K Ghandhi, “VLSI Fabrication Principles- Silicon and Galium Arsenide”,

John Wiley and Sons, 2009.
4
Course Information
Evaluation
To make the subject meaningful, you need to appear and perform the
below evaluation methods.

• 25 % Mid term
• 50 % End term
• 25 % Teachers Assessment

Assignments Paper presentations

6
1961
 Introduction
• Depending on the complexity of the integrated circuit, we call it:
• SSI (10 to 100 transistors)
• MSI (hundreds to thousands)
• LSI (more than ten thousands)
• VLSI (…………………)
• So, depending on the complexity of the circuitry, we call it LSI
or MSI or VLSI as the case may be.

• This course will deal with the complex processes required to

make the VLSI circuits.

• 95% of the VLSI chips currently in the market is made of

silicon and that too, single crystal silicon.
8
9
Generations of microcomputers

10
 VLSI Technology
•VLSI is an implementation technology for electronic
circuitry – analog or digital
•It is concerned with forming a pattern of interconnected
switches and gates on the surface of a crystal of
semiconductor
•Microprocessors
personal computers
microcontrollers
•Memory - DRAM / SRAM
•Special Purpose Processors - ASICS (CD players, DSP
applications)
•Optical Switches
•Has made highly sophisticated control systems mass-
production and therefore economic
 Moore’s Law
•Predicted that the number of transistors per chip would grow exponentially
(double every 18 months)

•Gordon Moore: co-founder of Intel

•Predicted that the number of transistors per chip would grow exponentially (double
every 18 months)
•Exponential improvement in technology is a natural trend:
e.g. Steam Engines - Dynamo - Automobile
Technology Node evolution
Cont..
• The most important element in any IC is the active component like
BJT or MOSFET.
• Very High Speed  BJT
• Packing Density  MOSFETs

VLSI
Technology

BJT MOSFET BIMOS /

Technology Technology BICMOS SOI

1. We will try to realize a simple BJT and a MOSFET  get familiar

with all process steps.
2. Then we will discuss all the process steps individually in detail.
14
Realization of a silicon BJT

• npn BJT
• p-Si, n-Si
• Resistivity 10 Ω-cm
• Crystal orientation (1 1 1)

most common starting substrate specification to

fabricate an npn BJT.

Note: grow this single crystal substrate in a particular orientation, doping

must be carefully controlled to get the resistivity of 10 Ω-cm.

15
1. Crystal Growth (with its orientation)

• This disc has a particular thickness,

usually about a few 100 μm thick.
• The exact thickness  diameter of
the crystal.
• The bigger the crystal  thicker to
give it mechanical stability.

3-D view Cross sectional

view
16
An integrated circuit (IC) is a small semiconductor-based electronic device
consisting of fabricated transistors, resistors and capacitors. Integrated circuits
are the building blocks of most electronic devices and equipment. An integrated
circuit is also known as a chip or microchip.

There are two main advantages of ICs over discrete circuits: cost and performance.

• Cost is low because the chips, with all their components, are printed as a unit by
photolithography rather than being constructed one transistor at a time.

• Furthermore, much less material is used to construct a packaged IC die than a

discrete circuit.

• Performance is high since the components switch quickly and consume little power
(compared to their discrete counterparts) because the components are small and
positioned close together.
 What is a Silicon Chip?
•A pattern of interconnected switches and gates on the surface of a crystal
of semiconductor (typically Si)

•These switches and gates are made of

-areas of n-type silicon
-areas of p-type silicon
-areas of insulator
-lines of conductor (interconnects) joining areas together
Aluminium, Copper, Titanium, Molybdenum, polysilicon, tungsten

• The geometry of these areas is known as the layout of the chip

•Connections from the chip to the outside world are made around the edge
of the chip to facilitate connections to other devices
 Fabrication Technology
•Silicon of extremely high purity
chemically purified then grown into large crystals
•Wafers
crystals are sliced into wafers
wafer diameter is currently 150 mm, 200 mm, 300 mm
wafer thickness <1 mm
surface is polished to optical smoothness
•Wafer is then ready for processing
•Each wafer will yield many chips
chip die size varies from about 5 mmx5 mm to 15 mmx15 mm
A whole wafer is processed at a time
 The starting material for modern integrated
circuits is very-high-purity, single-crystal silicon.

 The material is initially grown as a single crystal

ingot. It takes the shape of a steel-gray solid
cylinder 10 cm to 30 cm in diameter and can be
one to two meters in length.

 This crystal is then sawed (like a loaf of bread) to

produce circular wafers that are 400 μm to 600
μm thick (a micrometer, or micron, μm, is a
millionth of a meter).

 The surface of the wafer is then polished to a

mirror finish using chemical and mechanical
polishing (CMP) techniques.

 Semiconductor manufacturers usually purchase

ready-made silicon wafers from a supplier and
rarely start their fabrication process in ingot form.
2. Oxidation
• Silicon substrate  grow an oxide on the entire silicon surface
• Raise the temperature  silicon in an oxygen ambient. Silicon has a
great affinity for oxygen.
• Not only that, it has very good masking properties.

SiO2 Depending on the thickness, the color of

SiO2 will be different.
Si

22
3. Photolithography
a. Photoresist on the entire substrate.
PR
b. Photoresist coated substrate  contact with a SiO2
mask. (glass plates with dark & transparent
patterns) Si
c. Subject it to a particular radiation; most
commonly UV radiation.
d. The PR is a light sensitive material.
PR PR
e. So, through the transparent regions of the mask, SiO2
this PR is exposed to the UV light radiation and
then its properties change, it becomes soft/hard.
Si
f. It becomes easy to remove from those portions.

23
Cont..
Cont..
• Then etching  etching of oxide. hydrofluoric acid solution which
can etch silicon dioxide, while not attacking the silicon substrate.

PR PR
Mask SiO 2 SiO 2

Si
SiO 2 SiO 2
• We can remove the PR from
other places. Si

Opening of window in the oxide

photolithography  photoresist, masks and radiation.

25
4. Diffusion

SiO2 SiO2
n+
Si

Remove the oxide

n+
In the active region, it is doped n+

Si

This n+ layer diffusion  Antimony orArsenic

26
5. Epitaxy
collector of the npn transistor
n
Buried layer diffusion
n+
Mask
Si p

The n+ buried layer diffusion is done in order to reduce the collector

resistance
pn junction isolation
p+ n p+ p+ n p+ n p+
n+ n+ n+

Si p Si p

-ve
27
6. Metallization

n+ n+ p • Selective deposition of metal over the

base, emitter and collector region.
p+n p+
• Whenever term selective comes 
n+
photolithography

Si p

• Usually, the metal used for contacting in VLSI isAl.

• So, problem in giving contact to a lightly doped n-region.
• However, n+ has no problem because p+ n+ is going to be a very leaky
diode, which is a good enough ohmic contact.
• Copper is also a good option.

28
 Classification of Solids

SOLID MATERIALS

AMORPHOUS
CRYSTALLINE POLYCRYSTALLINE
(Non-crystalline)

Single Crystal

29
 Energy and Packing
• Non dense, random packing

• Dense, regular packing

Dense, regular-packed structures tend to have

lower energy.
2
 Crystalline Solids
• arrangement of units of matter is regular and
periodic.

• anisotropic substance.

• sharp melting point.

• possesses a regular shape

• Ex: Iron, Copper, Carbon, Germanium

31
 Non-Crystalline Solids

• amorphous solids

• particles are randomly distributed.

• `isotropic’ substances.

• have wide range of melting point

• Examples: Glass, Plastics,

Rubber etc.,
 Polycrystalline Solids
 aggregate of many small single crystals

 high degree of order over many atomic or

molecular dimensions.

 grain boundaries.

 grains are usually 100 nm - 100 microns in

diameter.

 Polycrystals with grains < 10 nm in diameter are

nanocrystalline

 Examples : Inorganic solids, Most of the metals and

Ceramics
33
Crystallographic Terms

 Space Lattice

 Lattice Points

 Lattice Lines

 Lattice Planes

 Basis

Crystal Structure

 Unit Cell

 Lattice Parameters
 Crystal Structure

Crystallinity: Repeating or periodic array over large atomic

distances. 3-D pattern in which each atom is bonded to its nearest
neighbors

Crystal structure: the manner in which atoms, ions, or

molecules are spatially arranged.
 Ideal Crystal

• An ideal crystal is a periodic array of structural units, such as

atoms or molecules.

• It can be constructed by the infinite repetition of these

identical structural units in space.

• Structure can be described in terms of a lattice, with a group

of atoms attached to each lattice point. The group of atoms
is the basis.

Unit cell:
• small repeating entity of the atomic structure.

• The basic building block of the crystal structure.

• It defines the entire crystal structure with the atom positions

within.
 Space Lattice

regular and periodic arrangement of points in three dimension.

identical surroundings to that of every other point in the array.

37
 Basis
a unit assembly of atoms or molecules identical in composition,
arrangement and orientation.

repetition of basis correct periodicity in all directions

The crystal structure is real, while the lattice is imaginary.

Examples No. of atoms in Basis

Aluminim 01
Barium 01
NaCl 02
KCl 02
CaF2 03 38
 Crystal Structure

=
+

Lattice + Basis = Crystal structure

39
 Unit Cell
• a fundamental building block

• repeating its own dimensions in various directions gives

crystal structure

40
 Lattice Parameters
x, y and z are crystallographic axes

Length of the unit cell along the x,

y, and z direction are a, b, and c

Interaxial angles:

α = the angle between a and

b

β = the angle between b and c

γ = the angle between c and a

a, b, c, α, β, γ are collectively known as the lattice parameters

 Primitive Cell
A unit cell consists of only one full
atom

A primitive cell got the points or

atoms only at the corners

If a unit cell consists more than one

atom, then it is not a primitive cell.

Example for primitive cell :

Simple Cubic (SC)

Examples for non-primitive cell :

BCC and FCC unit cell.
Seven crystal systems
Bravais Lattice
Bravais in 1948 showed that 14 types of unit cells under seven crystal systems are
possible.
14 Bravais Lattices divided into 7 Crystal Systems
Crystal System Shape of UC Bravais Lattices
P I F C
1 Cubic Cube   
2 Tetragonal Square Prism (general height)  
3 Orthorhombic Rectangular Prism (general height)    
4 Hexagonal 120 Rhombic Prism 
5 Trigonal Parallopiped (Equilateral, Equiangular) 
6 Monoclinic Parallogramic Prism  
7 Triclinic Parallopiped (general) 

P Primitive
I Body Centred
F Face Centred
C Base- Centred 45
 Characteristics of unit cell
•Number of atoms / unit cell

•Coordination number
No. of equidistant nearest neighboring atoms to a
particular atom

•Atomic Radius (r)

half the distance between the nearest neighbouring atoms

•Atomic Packing factor or Packing Density

ratio of the volume occupied by the atoms in an unit cell (v)
to the volume of the unit cell (V)

46
 Simple Cubic Structure (SC)

No. of atoms/unit
a cell
1

Atomic Radius a/2

R=0.5a
Coordination No. 6
APF 0.5247
 Body Centered Cubic Structure (BCC)
B

A D

No. of atoms/unit cell 2

Atomic Radius √3 a/4

Coordination No. 8
√3π/8 or
APF
0.68
48
Face Centered Cubic Structure (FCC)

B
C
No. of atoms/unit
a 4r 4
cell
Atomic Radius √2a/4
A
Coordination No. 12
a D APF π /( 3√2 ) or 0.74
49
Hexagonal Closed Packed Structure

50
 Atomic Packing Factor (APF) of HCP

3a 2
Area of 1 triangle 
O 4
A

B Volume of HCP unit cell

 6  Area of 1 le  Height

3 3a 2C

2

No. of atoms/unit cell 6

Atomic Radius a/2
Coordination No. 12
APF π /( 3√2 ) or 0.74
51
Diamond Lattice Structure

• Formed by the combination of two

interpenetrating FCC lattices.

• The two sub-lattices , X and Y are at

(0,0,0) and (a/4, a/4, a/4).

Ex: Germanium, Silicon, Diamond

52
 c
c
c F
c
4
3
F F
F F

c 2
1

c c
F
No. of atoms/unit
c 8
cell
Atomic Radius √3a/8
Coordination No. 4
APF π√3 /16 or 0.34
 Graphite Structure
• Carbon atoms are arranged in layer or
sheet structure

• covalently bonded with other carbons

• sheets are held together by vander waals

forces

• weak bonding between sheets give

softness

• Delocalized electrons

54
 Miller Indices

 set of three possible integers represented as (h k l)

 reciprocals of the intercepts made by the plane on the three

crystallographic axes

 designate plane in the crystal.

55
 Procedure for finding Miller Indices

 Step 1 : Determine the intercepts of the plane along the axes

 Step 2 : Determine the reciprocals of these numbers.

 Step 3 : Find the LCD and multiply each by this LCD

 Step 4 : Write it in paranthesis in the form (h k l).

56
 Illustration

Step 1 : intercepts - 2a,3b and 2c

Step 2 : reciprocals - 1/2, 1/3 and 1/2.

Step 3 : LCD is ‘6’.

Multiply each reciprocal by lcd,
we get, 3,2 and 3.

Step 4 : Miller indices for the plane

ABC is (3 2 3)
57
 Example

 intercepts are 1,  and .

 reciprocals of the intercepts are

1/1, 1/ and 1/.

 Miller indices for the plane is (1 0 0).

58
Directions
Directions Continued
Directions Continued
Crystal Planes
Indexing Planes
 IMPORTANT FEATURES OF MILLER INDICES

 a plane parallel to the axes has an intercept of infinity ().

 a plane cuts an axis on the negative side of the origin, is

represented by a bar, as ( ͞1 0 0).

 a plane passing through the origin have non zero intercepts

 All equally spaced parallel planes have same Miller indices

65
 IMPORTANT FEATURES OF MILLER INDICES

There are also several related notations:

the notation {hkℓ} denotes the set of all planes that are
equivalent to (hkℓ) by the symmetry of the lattice.

In the context of crystal directions (not planes), the

corresponding notations are:

 [hkℓ], with square instead of round brackets, denotes a

direction in the basis of the direct lattice vectors instead of
the reciprocal lattice; and
 Similarly, the notation <hkℓ> denotes the set of all
directions that are equivalent to [hkℓ] by symmetry.
66
Crystal structure and orientation effects
For BJT  normally (1 1 1) orientation
For MOSFET  normally (1 0 0) orientation

(1,0,0) (1,1,0) (1,1/2,1/2)

(1/2,1/2,0)
(1,0,1) (1,1,1)
(1/2,0,1/2)
(1/2,1,1/2)

(0,0,0) (0,1,0) (1/2,1/2,1)

(0,1/2,1/2)
(0,0,1) (0,1,1)
(Simple Cubic Lattice) (f.c.c Lattice)

67
 Zincblende structure
Two interpenetrating f.c.c sublattice

(1/4, 1/4, 1/4) (1/4, 3/4, 3/4)

(3/4, 1/4, 3/4) (3/4, 3/4, 1/4)

Eg: GaAs

Si is a degenerated form of Zincblende

structure

Diamond crystal structure: same Si f.c.c sublattices

68
 Zincblende structure
Minimum distance between two atoms:

1  1  1 
2 2 2
3
 0    0    0  
4  4  4  4
3
If the lattice constant is ‘a’, minimum distance = 4
a

Four neighbours, making a tetrahedral

The minimum distance between two atoms is

when they touching each other.
3
Radius= a
3 8
a
4
Tetrahedral Radius
69
Cont..
For Si  a=5.43 A0
r0=1.18 A0

calculation of packing density

Check the number atoms there in a

particular unit cell
Eg:
1
Contribution of corner atoms = 8 x8 1
1
Contribution of f.c atoms = x6 3
2
Contribution of the second Total atoms=8 (full sphere)
sublattice atoms = 1x4 4

70
Cont..
4 3
Total volume occupied by these atoms => r For one sphere
3
4  3 
3

=8x 3   8 a 
 
 3  3
 a
16

Volume occupied by the atoms inside the unit cell.

Volume of unit cell is a3.

So, the volume occupied by the atoms inside the crystal w.r.t the total
crystal volume  3 ≈ 34%
16
Note: zinc blende structure, the packing density is 34% i.e., 34% of the total
unit cell volume is occupied by the atoms.
71
 Packing density for f.c.c
1  1 
2 2
1
Distance between neighbors =  0 
  0   02

2  2  2
a
If the lattice constant is ‘a’, minimum distance = 2

No interpenetrating second sub lattice (1,1/2,1/2)

atoms  total number of atoms (1/2,1/2,0)
present inside is only 4. (1/2,0,1/2)
(1/2,1,1/2)
Total volume occupied by these atoms => (1/2,1/2,1)
4  a 
3
(0,1/2,1/2)
=4x 3   
 2 2


 a3
3 2

The percentage of volume occupied ≈ 74%

72
In case of Doping in Si
• The impurity atoms should replace the silicon atoms.
• Many of these positions should be taken off by the impurity atoms.
• One impurity atom it goes and substitutes one silicon atom.
• r0 of Si = 1.18.
• The impurity atom may or may not have the same tetrahedral radius
 Strain  dictate the electronic activity.
• The impurity atoms will be electronically active only when they have
occupied the proper positions in the lattice by substituting a Si atom.

Material Si P As Sb B
r0 (A0) 1.18 1.1 1.18 1.36 0.88

73
Cont..
• ε = misfit factor
• The tetrahedral radius of the impurity atom as rimpurity = r0 (1+ ε)

Tetrahedral radius of Si

Material Si P As Sb B
r0 (A0) 1.18 1.1 1.18 1.36 0.88
ε 0.068 0 0.15 0.25

Note 1: The larger the ε, the more difficult it is going to be to make the dopant
electronically active.
Note 2: It is more difficult to have a heavily doped p-type region in silicon
compared to an n+ region in silicon  it is easier to fabricate an npn transistor
than a pnp transistor
74
Crystal Planes
x (1 0 0)
{1 1 1} Definition of a plane

x y z
  1
a b c
(0 1 0)
hx  ky  lz  1
y
Miller Indices
z {1 1 0}
(0 0 1)
The entire family = {1 0 0}  intercept to only one axis and parallel to
other two
• Depending on the particular plane, the properties of the material will differ
75
Cont..

E F
{1 0 0}

A B

H {1 1 0}
C D
Different Planes in
a unit cell

{1 1 1}

76
{1 0 0} family

Contribution of corner atom = 4*1/4 = 1

Contribution of f.c atom = 1*1 = 1
Density of atoms = 2/a2

77
{1 1 0} family

√2a

(1/4, 3/4, 3/4)

(3/4, 1/4, 3/4)
a

Contribution of corner atom = 4*1/4 = 1 4

Density of atoms =
Contribution of f.c atom = 2*1/2 = 1 2a2
Contribution other sublattice atom = 2*1 = 2 2 2

a2
78
{1 1 1} family

x
h

x/2 3
h x
2
x  2a

Contribution of corner atom = 3*1/6 = 1/2 Area of equilateral

 3 x2
Contribution of f.c atom = 3*1/2 = 3/2 triangle 4
4 3
Density of atoms =  a2
3a2 2
79
 Summary

Plane Package Density

{1 0 0} 2 a2
{1 1 0} 2 2 a2
{1 1 1} 4 3a2

Note: the packing density in {1 0 0} plane is the lowest

80
Few other properties
Angle θ between two planes (u1 v1 w1) and (u2 v2 w2) is

u1u2  v1v2 w1w2

cos 
u2
1 
 v12  w12 u22  v22  w22 
Line of intersection of three planes [u v w]

u = v1w2 – v2w1
v = w1u2 – w2u1
w = u1v2 – u2v1

a
Separation between two adjacent parallel planes: d 
h2  k 2 l2

• Note: the relation of the angle between two planes and the separation between two
planes are going to be quite important along with the atomic density of each plane
• that will tell us for any particular application what should be the crystal orientation.
81
Cont..
Eg: (1 0 0), the separation is simply ‘a’
a
d a
1  0 0
2 2 2

a a
Eg: (1 1 0), the separation is: d  
1212 02 2
a a
Eg: (1 1 1), the separation is: d  
1212 12 3

• The (1 1 1) planes are the least spacing between two adjacent parallel
planes/closely spaced together.
• it is easiest to grow it in the [1 1 1] direction because, the (1 1 1)
planes are most closely spaced together.  cheaper  All BJT
• Difficult to etch

82
Cont..
• Suppose you have an (1 0 0) wafer. You have exposed it to a selective etchant,
which is going to expose the (1 1 1) planes

1x1 0x1 0x1 1

cos   54.740
3x1 3

54.740

• V-group etching

• Eg. U-MOS, V-MOS (can achieve very small L without crucial

photolithography)  can also be used to separate two devices

83
Cont..
• (1 1 1) plane has the highest tensile strength and modulus of elasticity
i.e. very hard to break.
• How to cut pieces?

• Scribe using diamond tipped tool

• The natural cleavage plane is (1 1 1)

If (1 0 0) wafer  cleaving  expose (111) planes here.

Direction  (1 1 0)

Advantage of (1 0 0) plane

84
Cont..
Suppose you have (1 1 1) wafer  natural cleavage plane is (1 1 1)
• The surface (1 1 1) plane must meet the bulk (1 1 1) plane

If (1 1 1) wafer  (1 1 1) & (1 1 1)  θ = 70.530 & Direction = (1 1 0)

• If the surface is (1 0 0), this angle is going to be 54.740, if the surface is (1 1

1), it is going to make an angle of 70.530. But, the important point is even
these two planes they are going to meet in (1 1 0) direction.

• Difficult to cleave (1 1 1) plane.

• Home work: if (1 1 0) wafer

85
Cont..
• Si  degenerated zincblende  diamond
• Properties & Orientations

• But in all the discussions, the crystal is perfect/ideal

Regular arrangements of atoms

• Inside the Diamond structure  tetrahedral structure

• Problem: in the surface

Dangling bonds  defects

86
Defects
Defect Types

Point One dimensional Area Dislocation Volume

Schottky /Dislocations Twin Dislocation
Screw
Interstitial Grain
Frenkel Edge Boundary

87
1. Point Defects

Ideal Crystal Schottky Defect

Interstitial Frankel Defect

88
1.1 Schottky Defects
Notes:
• Regular crystal lattice is missing  vacancy
• Break four bonds  activation energy  the energy order is 1-2 eV

Cause

vapour pressure effects thermal fluctuation effects

Eg. GaAs (As atoms will Eg. Si

tend to escape due to
higher vapour pressure)

• More than one vacancy  di-vacancy  break 6 bonds

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