The application of rapid thermal processing technology to the manufacture of integrated circuits—An overview

Like many of the technologies used to process integrated circuits, the road to manufacturing for rapid thermal processing (RTP) has been twisted. What began as a speculative laboratory apparatus has evolved into a cornerstone of IC technology. Qualities that make RTP desirable for IC manufacture include the ability to process wafers individually, the ability to minimize the time wafers spend at elevated temperature, the convenience of clustering RTP to other systems, and the possibility of maintaining cold reactor walls. This paper will review how these properties make RTP desirable. The paper also will present an overview of the difficulties surrounding the use of RTP and describe how many serious hurdles have been overcome. It will summarize the evolution of RTP from a curiosity to a mainstay technology in building integrated circuits. It then will describe SEMATECH’s role in working with RTP, ending with a direction for future application of RTP based on the National Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors (NTRS).