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Physics and Semiconductors

New Spectroscopy Tool Probes Semiconductor Etching Processes

The NIST Physics Laboratory is developing a new analytic tool to aid the semiconductor industry in understanding and controlling one of its key process technologies.

Plasma etching has become one of the standard techniques in the building of complex integrated circuits. Chemical compounds in a low-pressure gas are ionized and an electric field is used to direct positively charged ions at the surface of the wafer. The electric field makes it possible to control the etching process with a precision that older wet chemical etching processes can not approach. Plasma etching can produce deep, cleanly etched trenches with straight walls and a flat bottom on a scale of one millionth of a meter or less.

Although conceptually simple, the process is quite complex chemically and only partially understood. To better control it, the industry has developed computer models of plasma etching. But the models are only as good as the data that feed them, and much of the data are lacking. A couple hundred different chemical reactions are involved in a typical plasma-etching process, interacting with each other, the wafer and the walls of the chamber. At present, the tools for getting quantitative data on these reactions—including infrared and ultraviolet spectroscopy—are limited in the number and types of molecules they can study.

Collaborating with researchers from the Applied Physics Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, NIST researchers have developed a submillimeter-wave spectroscopy system that significantly improves upon plasma diagnostics. The new instrument measures the absorption of terahertz frequency radiation to identify unambiguously a broad range of plasma components, such as radicals, ions and molecules. The data also can be used to determine absolute concentrations and temperatures. A prototype of the new instrument has demonstrated the detection of important fluorocarbon species in a triflouromethane plasma, such as might be used for etching silicon wafers. Planned modifications will improve sensitivity by nearly 100. It’s also portable—the instrumentation fits in two suitcases, making it convenient for setting up at a remote plasma reactor.

Reports about the new plasma diagnostics system are planned for several meetings this fall. For more information, go to http://physics.nist.gov/Divisions/Div844/facilities/thz/cwthz.html

Media Contact:
Michael Baum, (301) 975-2763

 

Industrial Liaison

NIST Tuning Up Technical Assistance to Automotive Sector

Almost since the automobile was invented, NIST has been supplying technologies, measurements and standards that underpin automotive manufacturing and operation. A newly organized NIST Industrial Liaison Office is now working to maximize the impact of NIST technical programs on industry. Currently, two pilot projects are ongoing, one looking at the health care industry and the other at the automotive industry.

Two NIST staff members, Clare Allocca and John Slotwinski, will support and advise the NIST laboratories by getting feedback from current and potential automotive industry customers. They welcome suggestions and questions from automotive industry executives, managers and engineers. They also are available to give presentations to auto industry groups on the NIST Automotive Project Portfolio, which currently contains more than 60 projects. Allocca can be reached at (301) 975-4359 or clare.allocca@nist.gov. Slotwinski is available at (301) 975-2171 or john.slotwinski@nist.gov.

Also, to help automotive industry personnel find appropriate technical assistance from NIST, the agency has posted a web page—www.nist.gov/automotive—providing convenient links to dozens of relevant research projects.

Media Contact:
Mark Bello, (301) 975-3776

 

Semiconductors

Working in the Trenches: NIST Models ‘Superfilling’

NIST researchers have learned how to deposit defect-free copper wires into the ever-thinner and ever-deeper trenches that will traverse the multi-tiered real estate of future integrated circuits. Further progress could reduce the looming predicament to a “model problem.”

A team of metallurgists and electrochemists has devised a copper-plating bath that can produce quality copper interconnects with the same trench-filling behavior as industry’s proprietary systems. This is enabling the team to unravel the details of the electrochemistry process known as superconformal deposition, or “superfilling.” In addition, the team has developed a simple catalyst-mediated deposition model that helps determine processing windows for superconformal deposition. Understanding the process is key to creating multi-level copper interconnects that are free of current-disrupting voids and seams. Such defect-free superfill is vital to creating reliable on-chip copper wiring.

However, as the width of interconnects narrows from today’s 150 nanometers to about 65 nanometers by 2010, and as height-to-width ratios double, the process becomes increasingly prone to problems. An industrial assault on the challenge, assisted by the NIST model and numerical simulation capability, could spur progress.

NIST researchers can predict how different combinations of electroplating additives influence the electrodeposition of copper into confined geometries, such as trenches and vias. Furthermore, they can further predict the extendibility of electrolytic copper for on-chip metallization.

An overview of this project and others in the Interconnect and Packaging Metrology Program can be found at www.eeel.nist.gov/omp/interconnect.html. For technical information, contact Gery Stafford, (301) 975-6412, gery.stafford@nist.gov.

Media Contact:
Mark Bello, (301) 975-3776

 

 

Quality

Help Wanted: Experts to Review Baldrige Award Applications for 2002

It’s a tough, demanding job—and without pay. Yet, every year, thousands of people apply to be one of approximately 400 examiners who review applications for the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. So why is a position on this board of examiners so desirable?

According to Kathy Yeu, vice president, quality and measurement, Charles Schwab & Co, Inc., and a member of the board for more than five years, “My experience as a Baldrige Examiner has been a tremendous asset to my professional development, has exposed me to an infinite and broad set of networking opportunities, and has enabled me to contribute to a program dedicated to improving organizational performance across the country.”

Examiners evaluate applications for the award and prepare feedback reports to applicants citing strengths and opportunities for improvement. In the process, examiners learn how leading organizations achieve performance excellence, network with some of the nation’s foremost quality professionals, and help improve America's competitive position.

Qualifications include expertise in business, education or health care management processes and results, as well as knowledge of practices and improvement strategies that lead to organizational excellence. The board consists of about 400 members, including nine judges and about 60 senior examiners.

Applications for the 2002 board will be available in November 2001 by calling (301) 975-2036 or on the Web at www.quality.nist.gov/exampage.htm.

Media Contact:
Jan Kosko, (301) 975-2767

 

 

Information Technology

October Workshop to ‘Bring Home the Network’

The subject of home networking encompasses both small business offices and the home environment. As more and more appliances in homes and offices—lights, toasters, refrigerators, televisions, printers and the like—become digital and intelligent, networking them together offers intriguing possibilities. In the future, it may be possible not only to control and exchange information between devices but also to enhance their capabilities through interactive synergy resulting in new application areas.

For those interested in exploring the world of home networking, the Fourth IEEE International Workshop on Network Appliances (known as IWNA4) will be held on Oct. 18-19, 2001, at NIST’s Gaithersburg, Md., headquarters. Presentations at the IWNA4 will cover various appliance interconnection approaches,mechanisms and technologies, as well as the challenges of networking the devices to achieve interoperability. While the home network environment is the focus of the program, presentations also are expected on appliance devices and applications, as well as the business case for them.

The workshop is co-sponsored by the MultiMedia Communications Technical Committee of the IEEE Communications Society and the Convergent Information Systems Division of NIST’s Information Technology Laboratory.


For more information, and a link to a downloadable (in Adobe Acrobat format) registration form, visit the workshop web site at www.cmr.nist.gov/iwna4. Technical information is available from Alan Mink, NIST; (301) 975-5681; amink@nist.gov. For corporate sponsorship information or registration assistance, please contact Heather Yu at heathery@research.panasonic.com.

Media Contact:
Philip Bulman, (301) 975-5661

 

 

Trade

New Standards Experts in South America, Middle East

The Commerce Department has appointed two new standards experts to help U.S. exporters resolve regulatory, testing, and other standards-related issues in South American and Middle Eastern markets.

Selected by NIST and the Foreign Commercial Service, Avertano Braganca, a mechanical engineer with management experience in government and industry, began serving as the U.S. standards representative in South America on Aug. 27, 2001. Posted at the U.S. embassy in Brasilia, Braganca had been executive staff officer for the U.S. Army’s Materiel Command, where he oversaw the development and production of ammunition for artillery programs. Before taking his position with the army, he had been a senior manager of strategic planning and business development at the Bulova Systems and Instruments Corp.

In early October, Khaled Masri will begin his standards-related responsibilities, focusing on the six nations that make up the Gulf Cooperation Council. He also will serve as a technical advisor to the Saudi Arabian Standards Organization, as spelled out in an agreement between NIST and SASO. Previously a program manager at the National Electrical Manufacturers Association, Masri will be located at SASO’s headquarters in Riyadh, where he received his elementary and high school education. In addition to electrical standards, he has extensive experience in the area of building codes and standards.

Like their counterparts in Brussels, Mexico City and New Delhi, Masri and Braganca will monitor their regions for standards-related developments that might affect market access for U.S. goods and services. Standards experts also assist U.S. businesses in understanding the requirements of national and regional markets and in overcoming technical obstacles that firms may encounter. In addition, these representatives identify opportunities for training and exchanging information that can help to prevent—or eliminate—differences between U.S. standards and procedures and those of other nations.

For more information on the Commerce Department Standards Experts and on how they help U.S. companies overcome standards-related barriers in foreign markets, contact Elisabeth Parker, (301) 975-4715, elisabeth.parker@nist.gov.

 

Media Contact:
Mark Bello, (301) 975-3776