This is an intensive one-day course that is targeted at the Design and Process community which presents a thorough and technically accurate treatment of advanced technology process flows and the key technologies used in their fabrication.

Modern semiconductor fabrication is the most complex manufacturing process in history. It involves a vast array of sophisticated and esoteric technologies that evolve at a very rapid pace, with new technology nodes being developed every 12 to 18 months.

In the face of such complexity, most semiconductor professionals enter into and participate in the industry without ever being exposed to the totality of the silicon fabrication process. They develop expertise in one, or a few, of the many specialty areas of semiconductor manufacturing, and their knowledge of the overall fabrication process and key underlying technologies remains limited. In particular, the driving forces and key engineering considerations behind the shift to each successive generation of microchips remain a mystery. This course is designed to provide semiconductor industry professionals with the information that addresses the need for a more global perspective of silicon processing.

The course begins by laying a foundation in basic silicon fabrication methodology. This is followed by the detailed presentation of a series of modern silicon processes (0.18 µm, 0.13µm, and 90 nm), which emphasizes the central technical issues that acted as the driving force behind the shift to each new silicon processing methodology. Special attention is paid to the changes introduced at the 65 nm technology node.

Further insight into the fabrication process is provided by an overview presentation of the underlying principles of key processing technologies used in modern microchip manufacturing, such as CVD, PVD, CMP, ion implant, etch, and photolithography. Essential concepts of these key-enabling technologies are presented, as well as examples of state-of-the-art commercial equipment for each technology.

The material is presented using intuitive visual models linked to Physics equations, dramatically illustrated with unique 2D and 3D graphics, color photographs of processing equipment, and SEMs and TEMs of real-world devices. Typical mainstream process sequences are covered in detail, and leading edge process integration strategies are identified and discussed.

COST: $595/Student

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