Rapid Thermal Processing Strategies for Highly Uniform and Repeatable Process Results on Patterned Wafers

Advantages and disadvantages of various types of temperature measurement techniques are reviewed in terms of potential temperature measurement errors and their impact on process consistency. Direct wafer temperature control and indirect wafer temperature control through control of the wafer environment are compared from the viewpoints of process accuracy and repeatability. The origin of both intrinsic and extrinsic pattern effects is identified and its impact on thermal non-uniformities in various wafer heating environments is analyzed. Based on the analysis, effective RTP strategies for highly uniform and repeatable process results on patterned wafers are proposed and discussed