Rapid development, in a manufacturing environment, of a 1 μm triple-level metal CMOS process through the use of cross-functional teams

The development, in a manufacturing environment, of a 1 μm triple-level-metal, 5 V CMOS process in under 25 weeks is discussed. The manufacturing process engineering group developed cross-functional process integration teams that synthesized device engineering from R&D, manufacturing process engineering, production, yield engineering, product engineering, and reliability engineering. By developing the process completely within the manufacturing group and allocating key R&D expertise for device design only, these teams enabled the entire organization to come up the learning curve together, minimizing redundancy that leads to inefficient process development. Teamwork among R&D, process engineering, and production resulted in a relatively low cost, high-yield process