Supervisory control of LPCVD silicon nitride

This paper presents a scheme for deposition time and temperature control of low pressure chemical vapor deposition silicon nitride off product wafers. A Kalman filter based estimation scheme is presented for deposition time control. Deposition temperature control is treated in additional detail, including the impact of sampling the furnace load. Furthermore, stability metrics are also derived capturing the allowable modeling error for ensuring closed-loop stability. This is important for enabling the same model to be used across multiple tools and processes. A two-step iterative scheme is presented for implementing a "batch as you go" controller. Finally, the controller is applied in high-volume production.     

Effect of hyperthermal annealing on LPCVD silicon nitride

The objective of this paper is to understand the effects of 1100 °C annealing on film thickness, refractive index and especially residual stress of low-pressure chemical vapor deposition (LPCVD) silicon nitride films. The annealing effect on Young's modulus of silicon nitride films is also discussed. For these purposes, a number of 1100 °C furnace annealing processes in N₂ atmosphere were carried out. With the increase of annealing time, film thickness decreases exponentially and correspondingly the refractive index increases. Both film thickness and refractive index reach a stable value after several times annealing. Due to the film densification and viscous flow, residual stress of $\mathrm{Si}–{\mathrm{Si}}_3{\mathrm{N}}_4$ system increases in the first 10 min annealing treatment and then decreases in the following annealing processes. Based on the Maxwell viscoelastic model, an improved model which considers film densification and viscous flow simultaneously is built to explain the effect of annealing process on residual stress.     

Inverse model-based real-time control for temperature uniformity ofRTCVD

A reduced-order model describing a rapid thermal chemical vapor deposition (RTCVD) process is utilized for real-time model based control for temperature uniformity across the wafer. Feedback is based on temperature measurements at selected points on the wafer surface. The feedback controller is designed using the internal model control (IMC) structure, especially modified to handle systems described by ordinary differential and algebraic equations. The IMC controller is obtained using optimal control theory on singular arcs extended for multi-input systems. Its performance is also compared with one based on the Hirschorn inverse of the model. The proposed scheme is tested with extensive simulations where the full-order model is used to emulate the process. Several cases of significant uncertainty, including model parameter errors, process disturbances, actuator errors, and measurement noise are used to test the robustness of the controller to real life situations. Both controllers succeed in achieving temperature uniformity well within the desirable bounds, even in cases where several sources of uncertainty are simultaneously present with measurement noise     

Optimization of low temperature silicon nitride processes for improvement of device performance

This paper gives some insights in the applications where PECVD nitrides can be introduced to replace the LPCVD layers and how the process parameters need to be varied to obtain the desired properties. Film properties like stress, hydrogen content, wet etch rate and deposition rate are reported. The nitrides are optimized for specific applications and examples on the influence of nitride properties on device performance are given. It is important to investigate that the advantage of the high film integrity of nitride layers used in the past is not lost due to the strong demand for developing new process schemes with low thermal budget layers. We show that PECVD films are a valid alternative for LPCVD and that the majority of the film properties satisfy the criteria to use PECVD films as contact-etch-stop layers, silicidation blocking films and spacer materials.     

Selective silicon epitaxial growth by LPCVD using silane

Chlorine chemistry can have adverse effects on LPCVD systems and components. Results demonstrating the growth of selective silicon epitaxial layers in excess of 0.7 mu m thickness showing excellent uniformity and selectivity without the use of HCl are presented.<>     

Analysis of LPCVD process conditions for the deposition of low stress silicon nitride. Part I: preliminary LPCVD experiments

A wide range of process conditions were investigated to optimize conditions for the deposition of low stress silicon nitride films by low-pressure chemical vapor deposition. Experiments carried out in a standard, multi-wafer batch system generated films with an index of refraction ranging from about 2.04 to 2.82 and residual stress ranging from about 700 MPa tensile to –90 MPa compressive. The relationship between residual stress and index of refraction was characterized and results compared to those presented in the technical literature. Increase in the index of refraction beyond about 2.3 by means of increasing the gas flow did not reduce the residual stress appreciably but had a significant detrimental impact on the thickness uniformity and deposition rate. In contrast to results reported by other researchers, uniformity was not observed to increase with increasing DCS/NH₃ ratio in this study. Efforts to minimize thickness non-uniformity by suppressing deposition rate at the gas inlet region of the deposition system while increasing deposition rate at the rear were not successful. While increasing the temperature at the exhaust end of the system was intended to improve thickness non-uniformity, significant thickness and index of refraction uniformity was not realized. The reduction in deposition rate and corresponding increase in index of refraction at the exhaust end of the system indicated a variation in gas species from inlet to exhaust of the system. These experimental results revealed that the index of refraction decreased while the deposition rate decreased with increasing partial pressure of DCS. This suggests that the inhomogeneity observed within the repeatability runs is due to ammonia depletion along the length of the load.     

Model-based uniformity control for epitaxial silicon deposition

Semiconductor fabrication requires tight specification limits on thickness and resistivity for epitaxially deposited silicon films. Our testbed system for integrated, model-based, run-to-run control of epi films incorporates a Centura tool with an epi deposition chamber, an in-line epi film thickness measurement tool, and off-line thickness and resistivity measurement systems. Automated single-input-single-output, run-to-run control of epi thickness has been successfully demonstrated. An advanced multi-objective controller is described, which seeks to provide simultaneous epi thickness control on a run-to-run basis using the in-line sensor, as well as combined thickness and resistivity uniformity control on a lot-to-lot basis using off-line thickness and resistivity sensors. Control strategies are introduced for performing combined run-to-run and lot-to-lot control, based on the availability of measurements. Techniques are proposed for dealing with multiple site measurements of multiple film characteristics taken at different sampling rates, as well as the use of time-based inputs and rate-based models. These concepts are widely applicable for semiconductor fabrication processes.     

Real-time multivariable control of PECVD silicon nitride filmproperties

This paper reports on the application of quadrupole mass spectrometry (QMS) sensing to real-time multivariable control of film properties in a plasma-enhanced CVD silicon nitride process. Process variables believed to be most important to film deposition are defined (i.e., disilane pressure, triaminosilane pressure, and dc bias voltage) and their responses to system inputs are modeled experimentally. Then, a real-time controller uses this information to manipulate the process variables and hence film performance in real time during film deposition. The relationships between gas concentrations and film performance are shown explicitly where the controller was used to drive the concentrations to constant setpoints. Also, an experiment investigating the effects of an out-of-calibration mass flow controller demonstrates the compensating ability of the real-time controller. The results indicate that in situ sensor-based control using quadrupole mass spectrometry can significantly assist in optimizing film properties, reducing drift during a run, reducing run-to-run drift, creating a better understanding of the process, and making the system tolerant to disturbances     

Silicon nitride for the improvement of silicon inversion layer solar cells

It is demonstrated that CVD Si-nitride films as transparent dielectric satisfy all requirements for achieving MIS/IL solar cells with high efficiency and long term stability. Deposited on silicon by the SiH₄/NH₃ reaction at temperatures lower than usual (between 600° and 650°C) fixed positive interface charge densities Q_N/q up to 7 × 10¹² cm^?2 with excellent stability have been obtained. Utilizing the Si-nitride charge storage effect, the highest known Q_N/q values (> 10¹³cm^?2) combined with low values of N_it have been achieved. The charge distribution is discussed and an energy band diagram modified according to new analytical results is presented. MIS/IL solar cells with AM1 efficiencies of 15% (active area) and high UV sensitivity have been obtained.     

一种自适应实时事务并发控制新方法

传统的基于锁的并发控制机制重点考虑数据的一致性和事务的并发度,不能很好地满足实时数据库系统对时态一致性的要求.结合锁,多版本和有效性确认等并发控制机制,提出了一种并发控制的新方法——自适应多版本实时事务并发控制方法:AMVCC.此并发控制方法可根据具体情况自适应地采用不同的并发控制机制,能够有效提高事务的并发度和截止时间内完成事务的数量.通过可行性分析知:此方法在性能上优于传统基于锁的并发控制方法.     

Low temperature polycrystalline silicon thin film transistor withsilicon nitride ion stopper

The authors have fabricated a new low temperature polycrystalline silicon (poly-Si) thin film transistor (TFT) with silicon nitride (SiN _x) ion-stopper and laser annealed poly-Si. The fabricated poly-Si TFT using SiN_x as the ion-stopper as well as the gate insulator exhibited a field effect mobility of 110 cm²/Vs, subthreshold voltage of 5.5 V, subthreshold slope of 0.48 V/dec., and on/off current ratio of ~10⁶. Low off-state leakage current of 2.4×10^-2 A/μm at the drain voltage of 5 V and the gate voltage of -5 V was achieved     

Room temperature deposition of silicon nitride films using very low frequency (50Hz) plasma CVD

Silicon nitride films have been deposited by low frequency 50Hz plasma CVD using a nitrogen and silane mixture at room temperature. To deposit high quality silicon nitride, the silane fraction in the nitrogen and silane mixture has to be less than 5 %. The refractive index, breakdown field strength and resistivity of the obtained silicon nitride film were 2.0, 1.2x10⁷ V/cm and 6x10¹⁵ Ωcm, respectively. Mechanism of the deposition of high quality silicon nitride is discussed on the basis of the experimentally observed light emission spectrum from the plasma and of the electron energy distribution function in the plasma theoretically calculated by the Boltzmann equation method.     

Optimised antireflection coatings for planar silicon solar cells using remote PECVD silicon nitride and porous silicon dioxide

Silicon nitride (SiN) films fabricated by remote plasma‐enhanced chemical vapour deposition (RPECVD) have recently been shown to provide an excellent electronic passivation of silicon surfaces. This property, in combination with its large refractive index, makes RPECVD SiN an ideal candidate for a surface‐passivating antireflection coating on silicon solar cells. A major problem of these films, however, is the fact that the extinction coefficient increases with increasing refractive index. Hence, a careful optimisation of RPECVD SiN based antireflection coatings on silicon solar cells must consider the light absorption within the films. Optimal optical performance of silicon solar cells in air is obtained if the RPECVD SiN films are combined with a medium with a refractive index below 1·46, such as porous SiO₂. In this study, the dispersion of the refractive indices and the extinction coefficients of RPECVD SiN, porous SiO₂, and several other relevant materials (MgF₂, TiO_x, ZnS, B270 crown glass, soda lime glass, ethylene vinyl acetate and resin as used in commercial photovoltaic modules) are experimentally determined. Based on these data, the short‐circuit currents of planar silicon solar cells covered by RPECVD SiN and/or porous SiO₂ single‐ and multi‐layer antireflection coatings are numerically maximised for glass‐encapsulated as well as non‐encapsulated operating conditions. The porous SiO₂/RPECVD SiN‐based antireflection coatings optimised for these applications are shown to be universally suited for silicon solar cells, regardless of the internal blue or red response of the cells. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Dynamically adaptive real-time disparity estimation hardware using iterative refinement

The computational complexity of disparity estimation algorithms and the need of large size and bandwidth for the external and internal memory make the real-time processing of disparity estimation challenging, especially for High Resolution (HR) images. This paper proposes a hardware-oriented adaptive window size disparity estimation (AWDE) algorithm and its real-time reconfigurable hardware implementation that targets HR video with high quality disparity results. Moreover, an enhanced version of the AWDE implementation that uses iterative refinement (AWDE-IR) is presented. The AWDE and AWDE-IR algorithms dynamically adapt the window size considering the local texture of the image to increase the disparity estimation quality. The proposed reconfigurable hardware architectures of the AWDE and AWDE-IR algorithms enable handling 60 frames per second on a Virtex-5 FPGA at a 1024×768 XGA video resolution for a 128 pixel disparity range.     

New applications of low temperature PECVD silicon nitride films for microelectronic device fabrication

Silicon nitride has been widely used in microelectronic device fabrication processes for encapsulation, surface passivation and isolation. In this paper we report new applications of plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) silicon nitride films that can be deposited at a temperature lower than the soft bake temperature of normal photoresists. Lift-off of the silicon nitride film was carried out using standard positive photoresist. GaAs MESFETs and InP MISFETs with self-aligned gates were successfully fabricated using this lift-off process of low temperature PECVD silicon nitride.     

Stable InP MIS device using silicon nitride/anodic oxidedouble-layer dielectric

MIS devices are fabricated on InP using a double-layer dielectric consisting of anodic oxide and PECVD silicon nitride. Two different sets of experiments are conducted using tartaric acid and oxalic acid based AGW electrolyte solutions respectively for growing the anodic oxide layer. Devices having the oxalic acid grown anodic oxide layer exhibit capacitance-voltage (C-V) characteristics close to the ideal and are stable for 7200 s under applied bias conditions. The stability of MIS devices is evaluated by determining the accumulation layer charge density versus time     

Effects of deposition temperature on the oxidation resistance andelectrical characteristics of silicon nitride

A study was made of the effects of deposition temperature on the oxidation resistance and electrical characteristics of silicon nitride. It was found that silicon nitride below a certain limit thickness has no oxidation resistance. This threshold falls as the deposition temperature is lowered. 3-nm-thick silicon nitride deposited at 600°C has sufficient oxidation resistance For wet oxidation at 850°C, while 5 nm film deposited at 750°C has no oxidation resistance. The electrical characteristics also improve as the deposition temperature is lowered. 6-nm-thick silicon nitride deposited at 600°C shows a TDDB lifetime that is about two orders longer than that of 6-nm-thick silicon nitride deposited at 700°C. It was also found that the silicon nitride transition layer which is deposited at the initial stage of deposition influences the oxidation resistance and electrical characteristics of thin silicon nitride. It was concluded that lowering the deposition temperature reduces the influence of the transition layer and improves the oxidation resistance and electrical characteristics of thin silicon nitride     

无线网络中的快速自适应实时流媒体控制算法

在流媒体网络传输中,如何降低媒体流的误码率和提供更好的媒体质量一直是流媒体研究所关注的焦点问题.本文在分析比较各类算法后,提出了一种适用于无线网络中的快速自适应实时流媒体控制算法,该算法能快速获取当前网络情况,并在保证媒体流质量稳定的前提下,非常快速、准确地调整发送端的媒体流速率.实验表明,该算法能够在不稳定的网络环境...     

An efficient real-time target tracking algorithm using adaptive feature fusion

Visual-based target tracking is easily influenced by multiple factors, such as background clutter, targets’ fast-moving, illumination variation, object shape change, occlusion, etc. These factors influence the tracking accuracy of a target tracking task. To address this issue, an efficient real-time target tracking method based on a low-dimension adaptive feature fusion is proposed to allow us the simultaneous implementation of the high-accuracy and real-time target tracking. First, the adaptive fusion of a histogram of oriented gradient (HOG) feature and color feature is utilized to improve the tracking accuracy. Second, a convolution dimension reduction method applies to the fusion between the HOG feature and color feature to reduce the over-fitting caused by their high-dimension fusions. Third, an average correlation energy estimation method is used to extract the relative confidence adaptive coefficients to ensure tracking accuracy. We experimentally confirm the proposed method on an OTB100 data set. Compared with nine popular target tracking algorithms, the proposed algorithm gains the highest tracking accuracy and success tracking rate. Compared with the traditional Sum of Template and Pixel-wise LEarners (STAPLE) algorithm, the proposed algorithm can obtain a higher success rate and accuracy, improving by 2.3% and 1.9%, respectively. The experimental results also demonstrate that the proposed algorithm can reach the real-time target tracking with 50+fps. The proposed method paves a more promising way for real-time target tracking tasks under a complex environment, such as appearance deformation, illumination change, motion blur, background, similarity, scale change, and occlusion.