IC Fabrication Processes Quiz

Which type of etching is strongly isotropic and not suited for transferring patterns with sub-micron feature size?

In IC fabrication, which method involves sputtering particles from a sputter target in a low-pressure plasma chamber?

What is the main advantage of plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition over traditional chemical vapor deposition?

Which process is used to planarize the wafer surface by using a chemical slurry?

What is the main reason oxidation is important in IC fabrication?

What is the main purpose of lithography in semiconductor fabrication?

How does a MOS transistor gate area get defined in the IC fabrication process?

What happens to the photoresist after exposure to light in the lithography process?

How does etching contribute to semiconductor fabrication?

Why is lithography considered one of the most important process steps in semiconductor fabrication?

Semiconductor Fabrication Processes

Hundreds of sequential process steps are required to fabricate integrated circuits (ICs) starting with an uniformly doped silicon wafer.

Lithography

Transfers a pattern from a photomask to the surface of the wafer.
Uses a layer of photoresist that changes its physical properties when exposed to light or another source of illumination.
Can be developed by wet or dry etching or by conversion to volatile compounds through the exposure itself.
Can act as an etching mask for the underlying layers.

Etching

Removes material selectively to create patterns.
Pattern is defined by the etching mask, which protects the parts of the material that should remain.
Can be done using wet (chemical) or dry (physical) etching.
Wet etching is isotropic, limits its application, and has a difficultly controlled etching time.
Dry etching is highly anisotropic, less selective, but more capable for transferring small structures.

Deposition

Physical vapor deposition (PVD) and chemical vapor deposition (CVD) are the two most important deposition methods.
PVD involves accelerated gas ions sputtering particles from a sputter target in a low-pressure plasma chamber.
CVD is a chemical reaction of a gas mixture on the substrate surface at high temperatures.
Plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) avoids high temperatures using radio frequencies.
CVD has a better uniformity than PVD, especially in layer thickness.

Chemical Mechanical Planarization

Used to plane the wafer surface with the help of a chemical slurry.
Necessary for lithography due to correct pattern transfer.
Enables indirect pattering by removing material always starting on the highest areas of the wafer surface.

Oxidation

Converts silicon on the wafer into silicon dioxide.
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Test your knowledge on the fabrication process of Integrated Circuits (IC) including oxidation, diffusion, ion implantation, photolithography, etching, and more. This quiz covers topics such as semiconductor fabrication processes and the design of resistors in Electronics & Telecommunication.