Transient thermal behavior in a new RTP chamber

The transient thermal behavior of 200 and 300 mm wafers in a new rapid thermal processing (RTP) chamber is investigated. The AST3000 is a new RTP tool to meet the process requirements for both wafer sizes in 0.18 μm technologies and beyond. In this paper, experimental results obtained on both 200 and 300 mm wafers for varying processing conditions are shown: spike anneal experiments with fast ramp rates up to 200°C/s were performed. For standard anneal recipes, the steady state time is varied in a broad range and also the inherent temperature uniformity is investigated.