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Front-end processes

1. Cleaning

Processes

1.1. RCA clean

1.1.1. Preliminary cleaning
  • Sulfuric acid (H2SO4)
  • Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2)
  • Hydrofluoric acid (HFA)
  • Deionized water (DI Water)
1.1.2. SC-1
  • Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2)
  • Ammonium hydroxide (NH4OH)
  • Deionized water (DI Water)
1.1.3. SC-2 (used for metallization cleaning)
  • Hydrochloric acid (HCl)
  • Deionized water (DI Water)
1.1.4. HF-last
  • HF

1.2. Piranha clean (used for photoresist removal)

  • Sulfuric acid (H2SO4)
  • Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2)
  • Deionized water (DI Water)

1.3. Ozone-based cleaning

  • Ozone (O3)
  • Deionized water (DI Water)

1.4. APM/BPM/HPM

  • Ammonium peroxide / buffered peroxide / hydrochloric peroxide mixtures

1.5. Plasma cleaning (used for photoresist removal)

  • O2 plasma / Ar plasma / H2 plasma

1.6. UV/Ozone cleaning

  • Ozone (O3)
  • UV light

1.7. Cryogenic cleaning

  • Carbon dioxide (CO2)
  • Argon (Ar)

1.8. Ultrasonic clean

  • Acoustic waves

1.9. Spin clean / Scrub

  • PVA brush
  • Deionized water (DI Water)

Other processes (not included)

  • Electrochemical clean

Manufacturers

Equipment

  • LAM DV-Prime & Da Vinci Product Families: wet clean, spin / Photoresist removal ; particle, polymer, and residue removal ; silicon substrate thinning/stress relief
  • LAM EOS Product Families: wet clean / FinFET ; Particle, polymer, and residue removal
  • TEL Expedius: pre-diffusion/oxidation clean, post-etch clean, resist stripping, wet etch of Oxide/Nitride for 3D NAND device / 300mm
  • TEL Cellesta: Pre/Post clean, Wet etch, dry process (New IPA dry /SMD/Spin dry) / 300mm
  • TEL NS Series: D.I. Water brush clean, N2, brush / 150 to 300mm
  • TEL Antares: dry clean with cryogenic aerosol / 300mm (works for metal and low-k films)
  • TEL ZETA: Post etch clean, RCA clean, DHF wet etch (for photoresist stripping)
  • Screen [FC-3100]https://www.screen.co.jp/spe/en/products/fc-3100): Wet clean / 300mm
  • Screen WS-620C/WS-820C/WS-820L: Wet clean / 150 to 200mm
  • Screen FC-821L: Wet clean / 200mm
  • Screen CW-2000: Wet clean (including RCA clean) / 50 to 200mm
  • Screen SU-3400: Spin processor / 300mm
  • Screen SU-3300S: Spin scrubber / 300mm

Misc

  • 30% of all front-end processing steps are cleaning steps on average
  • Advanced nodes need more cleaning (more layers for advanced memory for instance)

Supporting images

Legend: QDR: Quick Dump Rising bath ; FR: Final Rinsing bath ; SD: Spin dryer ; EDR: Dump Rinsing bath

Sources


2. Oxidation

Processes

2.1. Wet oxidation

  • Water (H2O) vapor
  • Oxygen (O2)

2.2. Dry oxidation

  • Oxygen (O2)
  • Nitrogen (N2)

Manufacturers

Equipment

Misc

Sources

  • Gronet, C. M., Knoot, P. A., Miner, G. E., Xing, G., Lopes, D. R., & Kuppurao, S. (2000, March 14). Method and apparatus for insitu vapor generation (U.S. Patent No. 6,037,273). U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. https://patents.google.com/patent/US6037273
  • Homma, K., & Yomiya, K. (1998, July 7). Processing furnace for oxidizing objects (U.S. Patent No. 5,777,300). U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. https://patents.google.com/patent/US5777300A/en
  • Yokota, Y., Ramamurthy, S., Achutharaman, V., Czarnik, C., Behdjat, M., & Olsen, C. (2006, October 5). Thermal oxidation of silicon using ozone (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. US 2006/0223315 A1). U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. https://patents.google.com/patent/US20060223315A1/en
  • Fukada, T., Yoo, W. S., Hiraga, Y., Kang, K., & Komatsubara, R. (2001, September). Wet oxidation using single wafer furnace. In 9th International Conference on Advanced Thermal Processing of Semiconductors, RTP 2001 (p. 120). IEEE.

3. Thin film deposition

Processes

3.1. Chemical Vapor Deposition (PE-CVD) (Epitaxy)

  • Silane (SiH4) + Ammonium (NH4) = Silicon Nitride (SiN)
  • Silane (SiH4) + Nitrous oxide (N2O) = Silicon dioxide (SiO2)
  • Nitrogen (N2)
  • (NH3)
  • Argon (Ar)
  • Helium (He)

3.2. Atomic Layer Deposition (PE-ALD)

  • Aluminium oxide (Al2O3)
  • Oxygen (O2)

3.3. Cleaning

  • Tetrafluoromethane (CF4)
  • Oxygen (O2)
  • Sulfur hexafluoride (SF6)

Manufacturers

Equipment

  • Kokusai Tsuguri: Thin film deposition
  • Kokusai Tsuguri-C2: Thin film deposition
  • Kokusai Quixace-LV: Thin film deposition
  • Applied Materials Centura Prime EPI: epitaxial growth
  • Applied Materials Centura Xtera EPI: epitaxial growth / advanced logic (GAA, FinFET) and memory (3D)
  • See Deposition for more references

Sources


4. Photoresist coating

Processes

4.1. Photoresist for DUV or older (options)

  • Peroxo-polyacids of tungsten
  • Tungsten
  • Niobium
  • Titanium
  • Tantalum

4.2. Photoresist for EUV (options)

  • Tin-oxide (SnO2)
  • Hafnium oxide (HfO2)
  • Zirconium oxide (ZrO2)
  • Zinc oxide (ZnO)

Manufacturers

Equipments

Misc

  • Material used for negative photoresist: aromatic xylene
  • Material used for positive photoresist: ethyl ethoxyacetate
  • Look into resist process tools (“tracks”)

Sources


5. Photolithography

Processes

5.1. DUV KrF

  • Krypton (Kr)
  • Fluor (F2)
  • Neon (Ne)
  • Calcium fluoride (CaF2)
  • Silicon dioxide (SiO2)

5.2. DUV ArF

  • Argon (Ar)
  • Fluor (F2)
  • Neon (Ne)
  • Calcium fluoride (CaF2)
  • Silicon dioxide (SiO2)

5.3. DUV ArFi

  • Ultra-pure water (UPW)
  • Argon (Ar)
  • Fluor (F2)
  • Neon (Ne)
  • Calcium fluoride (CaF2)
  • Silicon dioxide (SiO2)

5.4. EUV

  • Tin (Sn)
  • Hydrogen (H2)
  • Carbon dioxide (CO2)

Manufacturers

Equipments

Misc

  • EUV uses Mo/Si mirrors (molybdenum, silicon), 100 layers
  • ASML's NXE energy use per wafer pass (NXE:3800E, measured in 2025): 5.5 kWh (2024: 5.9 kWh) Source: ASML Annual Report 2025, p.153

Sources


6. Etching

Processes

6.1. Reactive ion etching

  • Carbon tetrafluoride (CF4)
  • Xenon difluoride (XeF2)
  • Chlorine (Cl2)
  • Fluor (F2)
  • Sulfur hexafluoride (SF6)

6.2. Deep reactive ion etching

  • Sulfur hexafluoride (SF6)
  • Octafluorocyclobutane (C4F8)

6.3. Ion milling

  • Argon (Ar)

6.4. Atomic layer etching

  • Chlorine (Cl2)
  • Argon (Ar)

6.5. Wet etching

  • Hydrofluoric acid (HF)
  • Potassium hydroxide (KOH)
  • Tetramethylammonium hydroxide (TMAH)
  • Buffered oxide etchants (BOE)
  • Deionized water (DI Water)

Manufacturers

Equipments

  • LAM Kiyo Family: Reactive ion etch / Shallow trench isolation, Source/drain engineering, High-k/metal gate, FinFET and tri-gate, Multi-patterning, 3D NAND
  • LAM Akara: Plasma-etch / 3D NAND, CFET, 3D RAM
  • LAM Coronus: Post-etch for shallow trench isolation, Pre and post deposition, Pre-lithography, Metal film removal, Wet and dry etch bevel protection / 3D NAND
  • LAM Flex Product Family: Atomic Layer Etch (ALE), Cryogenic etching, Reactive ion etch (RIE) / Low-k and ultra low-k dual damascene ; Self-aligned contacts ; Capacitor cell ; Mask open ; 3D NAND high aspect ratio hole, trench, contact
  • LAM Gamma Product Family: dry strip (photoresist removal) / Advanced memory and logic ; High-dose implant strip (HDIS) ; Bulk strip ; Descum
  • LAM Selective Etch Product Family: dry strip (photoresist removal) / Advanced memory (3D NAND, DRAM) and logic (GAA) ; Dummy poly removal ; SiGe removal (GAA) ; Si trimming ; Source/drain deposition preclean ; Low-k material removal ; Surface decontamination and modification
  • LAM Sense.i Product Family: Reactive ion etch / Advanced memory (3D NAND, DRAM) and logic ; Conductor etch ; Dielectric etch
  • LAM Syndion Product Family: Deep Reactive Ion Etch (DRIE) / Through-silicon vias (TSVs) for high bandwidth memory and advanced packaging
  • LAM Vantex Product Family: Cryogenic Etching Reactive Ion Etch (RIE) / 3D NAND high aspect ratio hole, trench, contact ;

Capacitor cell

Sources


7. Doping

Processes

7.1. Ion implantation

  • Boron trifluoride (BF3)
  • Phosphine (PH3)
  • Arsine (AsH3)

7.2. Thermal diffusion

  • Boron nitride
  • Doped oxide glass
  • Boron tribromide (BBr3)
  • Phosphorus oxychloride (POCl3)
  • Phosphine (PH3)
  • Diborane (B2H6)

7.3. Annealing (RTA / spike / laser)

  • Heat (900-1100°C)
  • Laser source

7.4. Doped epitaxy

  • Phosphine (PH3)
  • Diborane (B2H6)

7.5. Plasma doping (PLAD)

  • Diborane (B2H6)

Manufacturers

Equipement

Misc

  • A CMOS integrated circuit with embedded memory may require more than 60 implant steps (Applied Materials).
  • A large wafer fabricator may process up to 50,000 wafers/month, with each wafer requiring 20 to 30 implants. This output requires the use of about 20 implanters, each with the capacity to implant more than 200 wafers/h (Axcelis).Link

Supporting images

Sources

  • Schroder, D. K. (2015). Semiconductor material and device characterization. John Wiley & Sons.
  • Sadeghfar, F., & Ghaedi, M. (2021). Photocatalytic treatment of pollutants in aqueous media. In M. Ghaedi (Ed.), *Photocatalysis: Fundamental processes and applications * (Vol. 32, pp. 725–759). Elsevier. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-818806-4.00011-5
  • May, G. S., & Spanos, C. J. (2006). Fundamentals of semiconductor manufacturing and process control. John Wiley & Sons.
  • Francis, T. A., Hasaka, S., Brabant, P. D., Torres, R. Jr., He, H., Reznicek, A., Adam, T. N., & Sadana, D. K. (2014). *Methods and apparatus for selective epitaxy of Si-containing materials and substitutionally doped crystalline Si-containing material * (U.S. Patent No. US8759200B2). U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. https://patents.google.com/patent/US8759200B2/en ([patents.google.com][1])
  • Huet, K., Mazzamuto, F., Tabata, T., Toque-Tresonne, I., & Mori, Y. (2017). Doping of semiconductor devices by Laser Thermal Annealing. Materials Science in Semiconductor Processing, 62, 92-102.
  • Qin, S., Hu, Y. J., & McTeer, A. (2012, May). PLAD (plasma doping) on 22nm technology node and beyond-evolutionary and/or revolutionary. In 2012 12th International Workshop on Junction Technology (pp. 1-11). IEEE.
  • Raj, D. M., Godet, L., Chamberlain, N., Hadidi, K., Singh, V., & Papasouliotis, G. D. (2011, January). Optimization and Control of Plasma Doping Processes. In AIP Conference Proceedings (Vol. 1321, No. 1, pp. 142-145). American Institute of Physics.
  • Gupta, A., Ray, A., Ameen, M., & Rzeszut, R. (2022). Introducing the Purion H200™ single wafer high current implanter: A. Gupta et al. MRS Advances, 7(36), 1295-1300. Link

8. Deposition

Processes

8.1. Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD)

8.1.1. Thermal CVD / Plasma CVD
  • Silicon dioxide (SiO2)
  • Silicon nitride (Si3N4)
  • Polysilicon
  • Tungsten (W)
  • Nitrogen (N2)
  • Hydrogen (H2)
  • Hydrochloric acid (HCl)
  • Silicon tetrachloride (SiCl4)
8.1.2. Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD)
  • Hafnium oxide (HfO2)
  • Aluminium oxide (Al2O3)
  • Zinc oxide (ZnO)
  • Zircon oxide (ZrO2)
  • Silicon oxide (SiO2)
  • Yttrium oxide (Y2O3)
  • Titanium tetrachloride (TiCl4)
  • Zirconium (Zr)
  • Titanium nitride (TiN)
  • Tantalum nitride (TaN)
  • Tungsten nitride (WN)
  • Ruthenium (Ru)
  • Oxygen (O2)
  • Ammonia (NH3)

8.2. Physical Vapor Deposition (PVD)

8.2.1. Sputtering
  • Titanium (Ti)
  • Tungsten (W)
  • Tungsten-titanium (W-Ti)
  • Aluminium (Al), including alloys
  • Tantalum (Ta)
  • Copper (Cu), including alloys
  • Nickel-vanadium (Ni-V)
  • Silicides

8.3. Electrochemical Deposition (ECD) / Plating

  • To be defined

### Manufacturers

### Equipments

Supporting images

Sources

  • Sarkar, J. (2010). Sputtering materials for VLSI and thin film devices. William Andrew.
  • Schepis, D., & Seshan, K. (Eds.). (2024). Handbook of Thin Film Deposition: Theory, Technology and Semiconductor Applications. Elsevier.

9. Chemical Mechanical Planarization (CMP)

Processes

9.1. Planarization

  • Silicon dioxide (SiO2)
  • Aluminium oxide (Al2O3)
  • Cerium oxide (CeO2)
  • Deionized water (DI Water)
  • Hydrofluoric acid (HF)
  • Sulfuric acid (H2SO4)
  • Sodium hydroxide (NaOH)
  • Potassium hydroxide (KOH)
  • Ammonium hydroxide(NH4OH)

Manufacturers

Equipment

  • Applied Materials Opta CMP: metal and non-metal CMP; single-step batch and balanced/unbalanced multi-step sequential polishing; thick and thin film removal / advanced logic and memory (3D) <5nm
  • Applied Materials Reflexion LK CMP: 300mm
  • Applied Materials Reflexion LK Prime CMP: advanced logic and memory
  • Ebara F-REX300XA: 300mm
  • Ebara F-REX200M2: 200mm

Misc

Sources

  • Zantye, P. B., Kumar, A., & Sikder, A. K. (2004). Chemical mechanical planarization for microelectronics applications. Materials Science and Engineering: R: Reports, 45(3-6), 89-220.
  • Seo, J. (2021). A review on chemical and mechanical phenomena at the wafer interface during chemical mechanical planarization. Journal of Materials Research, 36(1), 235-257.
  • Seo, J., & Paik, U. (2016). Preparation and characterization of slurry for chemical mechanical planarization (CMP). In Advances in chemical mechanical planarization (CMP) (pp. 273-298). Woodhead Publishing.
  • Kim, H. J. (2018). Abrasive for chemical mechanical polishing (pp. 183-201). Rijeka: InTech
  • Lee, J., He, S., Song, G., & Hogan Jr, C. J. (2022). Size distribution monitoring for chemical mechanical polishing slurries: An intercomparison of electron microscopy, dynamic light scattering, and differential mobility analysis. Powder Technology, 396, 395-405.

Discussion

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