Introduction
Semiconductors are the core of modern electronic products and are used in smart phones, cars and other fields. With advances in the semiconductor industry, many devices have become smaller, faster, more reliable, and more powerful.
In order to solve the problem of high cost, product yield during semiconductor manufacturing has attracted the most attention from semiconductor manufacturers. There are many factors that affect product yield, of which contamination is undoubtedly one of the most important factors. Industry experts have estimated that contamination causes around 50% of production loss.
From the 1970s to today, chip manufacturing process has transitioned from the “micrometer” era to the “nanometer” era and node size that less than 10 nm have been developed (now 3nm in the latest chips made by TSMC & Samsung). With the shrinking of components to the nanoscale, control of contaminants and impurities has become more important as even ultra-trace contaminants will decrease yield and cause decrease of product reliability or product malfunction. Impurity analysis of semiconductors and electronic products must cover the various stages of the manufacturing process from testing wafer, raw materials, and process chemicals, to the quality assurance/quality control of the final product. Furthermore, vacuum control is also extremely crucial in device manufacturing, sensor manufacturing, controller manufacturing, and other advanced manufacturing steps in the entire semiconductor industry chain.
Since the late 1980s, Agilent has been collaborating closely with leading semiconductor manufacturers and chemical suppliers to develop analytical and monitoring technologies for the semiconductor industry chain, address the analytical challenges in the semiconductor industry, and continuously explore the forefront of innovation.
Agilent has accumulated many innovative technologies and outstanding service capabilities. Agilent can provide outstanding analysis device, software, services and support in various aspects of the semiconductor industry chain, such as process monitoring, quality control of raw materials, detection of inorganic impurities, nanoparticles and organic impurities, compliance with environmental health and safety regulations, and vacuum leak detection to help you achieve success.
1. Chip Manufacturing Industrial Chain
Silicon ingot sliced
Polished
SiO2 deposited
Photoresist spun
Mask pattern projected
Exposed resist
SiO2 etched
Metal deposition/doping
Multi-layer 3D
Chip die
Finished wafer
2. Processing Monitor (Instruments)
Mapping specific analytical instruments to precise monitoring tasks during the semiconductor manufacturing process.
GC
GC-MS
VOCs contamination analysis in cleaning room in semiconductor.
LC-MS/MS
LC-TOF / LC-Q/TOF
GC-Q/TOF
Organic impurities analysis in wafer, photoresist, and filtration which used in manufacturing process.
ICP-MS
ICP-MS/MS
Processing monitor: Metal impurities analysis from chemicals and equipment during processing.
ICP-OES
Metal & Nanoparticles analysis: Metal impurities analysis in wafer substrates, related layers & coatings, and Nanoparticles analysis on wafer.
UV-Vis
Optical tests: Film-coated wafer transmission / scattering / reflection optical performance tests.
Detector
Vacuum Pump
Vacuum control: High purity gas path vacuum monitoring and safety assurance.
3. Supporting Industry
Semiconductor Materials
Requires analysis of organic/metal impurities and nanoparticles to ensure supply chain quality.
Semiconductor Equipment
Requires testing for heavy metals for EHS compliance and metallic leaching analysis.