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.
Semiconductor Manufacturing Technology
by Michael Quirk and Julian Serda

2001by Prentice Hall

Microprocessor Chips

Photo courtesy of Advanced Micro Devices

Photo courtesy of Intel Corporation

Semiconductor Manufacturing Technology
by Michael Quirk and Julian Serda

Photo 1.1

2001by Prentice Hall

Development of an Industry Industry Roots

Vacuum Tubes Radio Communications Mechanical Tabulators Inventors Disadvantages

The Solid State

Solid State Physics The First Transistor Benefits
Semiconductor Manufacturing Technology
by Michael Quirk and Julian Serda

2001by Prentice Hall

Vacuum Tubes

Semiconductor Manufacturing Technology

by Michael Quirk and Julian Serda

Photo 1.2

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The Semiconductor Industry

INFRASTRUCTURE Industry Standards (SIA, SEMI, NIST, etc.) PRODUCT APPLICATIONS Consumers: Computers Automotive Aerospace Medical other industries Customer Service Original Equipment Manufacturers Printed Circuit Board Industry

Production Tools
Utilities Materials & Chemicals Metrology Tools

Chip Manufacturer

Analytical Laboratories
Technical Workforce Colleges & Universities

Semiconductor Manufacturing Technology

by Michael Quirk and Julian Serda

Figure 1.1

2001by Prentice Hall

The First Transistor from Bell Labs

Photo courtesy of Lucent Technologies Bell Labs Innovations Semiconductor Manufacturing Technology
by Michael Quirk and Julian Serda

Photo 1.3

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The First Planar Transistor

Semiconductor Manufacturing Technology

by Michael Quirk and Julian Serda

Figure 1.2

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Circuit Integration

Integrated Circuits (IC)

Microchips, chips Inventors Benefits of ICs

Integration Eras
From SSI to ULSI 1960 - 2000

Semiconductor Manufacturing Technology

by Michael Quirk and Julian Serda

2001by Prentice Hall

Jack Kilbys First Integrated Circuit

Photo courtesy of Texas Instruments, Inc.

Semiconductor Manufacturing Technology
by Michael Quirk and Julian Serda

Photo 1.4

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Top View of Wafer with Chips

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

Semiconductor Manufacturing Technology

by Michael Quirk and Julian Serda

Figure 1.3

2001by Prentice Hall

Circuit Integration of Semiconductors

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)

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

Semiconductor Manufacturing Technology

by Michael Quirk and Julian Serda

Table 1.1

2001by Prentice Hall

ULSI Chip

Photo courtesy of Intel Corporation, Pentium III

Semiconductor Manufacturing Technology
by Michael Quirk and Julian Serda

Photo 1.5

2001by Prentice Hall

IC Fabrication

Silicon
Wafer Wafer Sizes Devices and Layers

Wafer Fab Stages of IC Fabrication

Semiconductor Manufacturing Technology
by Michael Quirk and Julian Serda

Wafer preparation Wafer fabrication Wafer test/sort Assembly and packaging Final test
2001by Prentice Hall

Evolution of Wafer Size

2000

1992 1987
1981
1975

1965

50 mm

100 mm

125 mm

150 mm

200 mm

300 mm

Semiconductor Manufacturing Technology

by Michael Quirk and Julian Serda

Figure 1.4

2001by Prentice Hall

Devices and Layers from a Silicon Chip

Top protective layer

Conductive layer

Metal layer
Insulation layers

drain

Recessed conductive layer

Silicon substrate

Silicon substrate
Figure 1.5

Semiconductor Manufacturing Technology

by Michael Quirk and Julian Serda

2001by Prentice Hall

Stages of IC Fabrication

Single crystal silicon 1.

Wafer Preparation includes crystal growing, rounding, slicing and polishing.

4.

Assembly and Packaging: The wafer is cut along scribe lines to separate each die.
Scribe line A single die Assembly Packaging

Wafers sliced from ingot

2.

Wafer Fabrication includes cleaning, layering, patterning, etching and doping.

Metal connections are made and the chip is encapsulated.

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.

Semiconductor Manufacturing Technology

by Michael Quirk and Julian Serda

Figure 1.6

2001by Prentice Hall

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.)

Semiconductor Manufacturing Technology
by Michael Quirk and Julian Serda

Figure 1.7

2001by Prentice Hall

Wafer Fab

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

Semiconductor Manufacturing Technology
by Michael Quirk and Julian Serda

Photo 1.6

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Sample of Microchip Packaging

Semiconductor Manufacturing Technology

by Michael Quirk and Julian Serda

Figure 1.8

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Semiconductor Trends

Increase in Chip Performance

Critical Dimension (CD) Components per Chip Moores Law Power Consumption

Increase in Chip Reliability Reduction in Chip Price

Semiconductor Manufacturing Technology

by Michael Quirk and Julian Serda

2001by Prentice Hall

Critical Dimension
Common IC Features
Line Width Contact Hole Space

Semiconductor Manufacturing Technology

by Michael Quirk and Julian Serda

Figure 1.9

2001by Prentice Hall

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

Semiconductor Manufacturing Technology

by Michael Quirk and Julian Serda

Table 1.2

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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
by Michael Quirk and Julian Serda

Figure 1.10

2001by Prentice Hall

Moores Law for Microprocessors

The number of transistors on a chip double every 18 months.
100M

10M
Pentium

500
Pentium Pro

1M
80386

80486

25

100K
8086

80286

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
by Michael Quirk and Julian Serda

Figure 1.11

2001by Prentice Hall

Size Comparison of Early and Modern Semiconductors

1990s Microchip (5~25 million transistors) 1960s Transistor

U.S. coin, 10 cents

Semiconductor Manufacturing Technology

by Michael Quirk and Julian Serda

Figure 1.12

2001by Prentice Hall

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
Semiconductor Manufacturing Technology
by Michael Quirk and Julian Serda

2006

2009

2012

Figure 1.13

2001by Prentice Hall

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
Semiconductor Manufacturing Technology
by Michael Quirk and Julian Serda

Figure 1.14

2001by Prentice Hall

Price Decrease of Semiconductor Chips

104 102
Electron tubes Standard tube Miniature tube Bipolar transistor Integrated circuits MSI LSI VLSI Semiconductor devices

Device size = Price =

1 Relative value 10-2 10-4 10-6

ULSI

10-8

10-10 1930

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
by Michael Quirk and Julian Serda

The Electronic Era

1950s: Transistor Technology 1960s: Process Technology 1970s: Competition 1980s: Automation 1990s: Volume Production

Semiconductor Manufacturing Technology

by Michael Quirk and Julian Serda

2001by Prentice Hall

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
Figure 1.16

Semiconductor Manufacturing Technology

by Michael Quirk and Julian Serda

2001by Prentice Hall

Career Paths in the Semiconductor Industry

Fab Manager

Maintenance Manager

Production Manager

Engineering Manager

MS

Maintenance Supervisor

Production Supervisor

Process Engineer

BS

Equipment Engineer

Associate Engineer

BSET*

Equipment Technician

Yield & Failure Analysis Technician

AS+

Maintenance Technician

Manufacturing Technician

Process Technician

Lab Technician

AS HS +

Wafer Fab Technician

* Bachelor of Science in Electronics Technology

Production Operator

HS Education

Semiconductor Manufacturing Technology

by Michael Quirk and Julian Serda

Figure 1.17

2001by Prentice Hall

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

Production Equipment

Inspection

Inspection

Wafer Starts
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31

Wafer Moves

Wafer Outs
1
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29

Production Equipment

Inspection

Production Equipment

Inspection

Production Equipment

Inspection

30 31

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

Semiconductor Manufacturing Technology

by Michael Quirk and Julian Serda

Figure 1.18

2001by Prentice Hall

Equipment Technician in a Wafer Fab

Photograph courtesy of Advanced Micro Devices

Semiconductor Manufacturing Technology
by Michael Quirk and Julian Serda

Photo 1.7

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Technician in Wafer Fab

Photo courtesy of Advanced Micro Devices

Semiconductor Manufacturing Technology
by Michael Quirk and Julian Serda

Photo 1.8

2001by Prentice Hall

Review Chapter 1

Summary Key Terms Review Questions Selected Industry Web Sites References

19 19 20 20 20

Semiconductor Manufacturing Technology

by Michael Quirk and Julian Serda

2001by Prentice Hall