T4 - Advanced CMOS - Technology, materials, characterization

Prof. Dr. Ehrenfried Zschech, AMD Saxony LLC & Co. KG, Dresden, Germany

Prof. Dr. Ehrenfried Zschech, AMD Saxony LLC & Co. KG, Dresden, Germany

Information technology is driving the need for research, development and introduction of new materials and concepts for applications and systems requiring significantly increased functionality. In particular, CMOS technology and process control have to be improved continuously to meet performance demands while maintaining acceptable levels of product reliability. Micro- and nanoelectronic products of future technology generations rely on advanced materials for the wafer-level process as well as for assembly and packaging.

Transistor and interconnect scaling has brought microelectronics a long way. However, the traditional down-scaling of device and interconnect structures is currently leading to performance limitations that have to be overcome by new device architectures and advanced materials. Microprocessor applications are pushing material innovations in the gate stack of MOS transistors and in on-chip interconnect structures, which result in new and exciting challenges to physicists, chemists, materials scientists and process engineers.

This tutorial intends to provide solid knowledge about the CMOS process including the used materials and analysis/metrology techniques. Recent and potential future R&D activities in the field of silicon-based technology, materials and process control for the manufacturing of high-performance products like processors are summarized. Particularly, the role of advanced materials for functionality, performance and reliability of microelectronic products as well as their process integration is explained. Material transitions that are necessary to improve the product performance and to maintain the product reliability are highlighted.

The focus of this tutorial will be primarily on today’s and future processes and materials for device (MOSFET) and on-chip interconnect structures, and their characterization with analytical techniques. The challenges to integrate new processes and materials into the CMOS manufacturing process for high-performance microprocessors and the interdisciplinary character of this task is demonstrated based on typical examples. Analytical techniques that are applied for process control, physical failure analysis and materials characterization in mm and nm ranges are covered as well.

This course will benefit scientists and engineers from industry, research institutes and universities as well as students who are interested in an overview about the today’s CMOS process and future developments, including materials, process control and failure analysis.

• CMOS technology beyond traditional scaling ( Moore ?, ITRS, …)
• Substrates (Si, SOI, SiGe, strained Si, …)
• Transistor process and materials (including strained silicon, SiGe and SiC, high-k/metal gate stack, silicides, …)
• On-chip interconnect process and materials (including Cu, advanced barriers and etch stop layers, dense and porous low-k materials)
• BEoL materials and reliability (including electromigration, stress-induced migration, mechanical properties of Cu/low-k stacks, chip-package interaction)

Ehrenfried Zschech is manager of the Center of Complex Analysis at AMD in Dresden, which he joined in 1997. His responsibilities include the analytical support for process control and technology development, as well as physical failure analysis. He received his diploma degree in solid-state physics and his Dr. rer. nat. degree from Dresden University of Technology. After having spent four years as a project leader in the field of metal physics and reliability of microelectronics interconnects at Research Institute of Non-Ferrous Metals in Freiberg, he was appointed as a university teacher for ceramic materials at Freiberg University of Technology. In 1992, he joined the development department at Airbus GmbH in Bremen. There he managed the metal physics group and worked on laser joining metallurgy of light metals. His current research interests are in the areas of thin film materials compatibility, structure and materials characterization and physical failure analysis in integrated circuit applications. He has published three books and more than 100 papers in scientific journals in the areas of solid-state physics and materials science. He is honorary professor for nanomaterials at the Brandenburg University of Technology in Cottbus, Germany .