Basic Clean Room Practice

Anil Kottantharayil, Ph. D.

Assistant Professor
Department of Electrical Engineering
IIT Bombay
anilkg@ee.iitb.ac.in
@
 Aim

Appreciation of micro/nanoelectronic clean

room practice so that

You keep it clean

and
Do reproducible
p research

Anil Kottantharayil, IIT-B 2

 Outline

• Why do you want to use the

nanoelectronics clean room?
• Contaminants,
Contaminants impact and sources
• Contamination control
• Lab access policy

Anil Kottantharayil, IIT-B 3

 Why do you want to use….

• Fabrication of semiconductor devices like

MOS capacitors, junctions, transistors, …..
• Use the R & D infrastructure to make
nanoscale structures
– Not really interested in semiconducting properties
of Si,
Si Ge,
Ge ….
– Si, Ge,…., SiO2, Si3N4, …. used as structural
materials
• Use various sensitive characterization
equipment available in the lab

Anil Kottantharayil, IIT-B 4

 Why do you want to use….(2)

• Contamination levels of interest are

different for different users
• But you should know the
contamination issues
– So that you do not spoil someone else
else’s
s
experiment
– So that someone else do not spoil your
experiment

Anil Kottantharayil, IIT-B 5

 Contaminants, impact & sources
• Alkali ions: Na+, K+
– Highly mobile in dielectrics and semiconductors
– Causes threshold voltage instability in MOS devices
– Reduces breakdown field of dielectrics
– Critical levels
• Less than 1010 ions cm-3
– Sources
S
• Materials used for fabrication: water, liquid and solid
chemicals (eg:- slurry used for CMP)
• Equipment used for fabrication
• Wafer and equipment handling
• Human beings

Anil Kottantharayil, IIT-B 6

 Contaminants, impact & sources
• Alkali ions: Na+, K+
Gate

Oxide

Si

K. G. Anil, M. Tech thesis, IIT Bombay

Anil Kottantharayil, IIT-B 7
 Contaminants, impact & sources
(2)
• Other metallic contaminants: Au, Ag, Cu, ….
– Highly mobile in dielectrics and semiconductors
– Some of them diffuses even at room temperature
– Introduces deep level traps in the energy gap of
semiconductors => high leakage in diodes
– Reduces breakdown field of dielectrics
– Alter growth characteristics in thin film deposition
• Thermal oxidation, various CVD
– Sources
• Materials used for fabrication: water, liquid and solid
chemicals
• Equipment used for fabrication
• Wafer
W f and d equipment
i t handling
h dli
• Paints and cosmetics
Anil Kottantharayil, IIT-B 8
 Contaminants, impact & sources
(3)
• Organic contamination
– Burns
B att high
hi h ttemperatures
t and
d oxidizing
idi i
ambient
• Releases metallic contamination
• CO2: trapped as bubbles
• Carbon when incorporated in growing films act as
nucleation
l ti sites
it ffor defects
d f t
– Sources
• We are organic: fat
fat, hair
hair,…..
• Photo resist
• Wafer carriers: degassing
• Bacterial and fungi growth in water
Anil Kottantharayil, IIT-B 9
Contaminants, impact & sources
(4)
140
SPM
120
ss (nm)
APM
100 No clean
hicknes

80
60
Oxide th

40
20
0
0 50 100 150 200
Oxidation time (min)
Silicon VLSI Technology, J. D. Plummer, M. D. Deal, P. B. Griffin
Anil Kottantharayil, IIT-B 10
 Contaminants, impact & sources
(5)
• Particle contamination
– Size of typical air borne particles can be of the
order of magnitude of the structural dimensions
of your devices and structures you make
– Sources
• Air
• Human beings: 5000000 to 10000000
p
particles/minute
• Clean room walls
• Gases and chemicals
• Processes and equipment
Anil Kottantharayil, IIT-B 11
 Contaminants, impact & sources
(6)
• Particle contamination (cont.)
– Example

H
Human h
hair
i

80μm

With permission
i i ffrom www.semguy.com

Anil Kottantharayil, IIT-B 12

 Contaminants, impact & sources
(7)
• Particle contamination
– Implications (example): Cantilever
1. Change in resonance frequency

2. Non linear response for Frequency Vs. Mass characteristics

Courtesy: Seena

Anil Kottantharayil, IIT-B 13

 Contaminants, impact & sources
(8)
• Particle contamination
– Implications (example): Patterning yield
Metal contact pads

Particle/fiber

mask

Anil Kottantharayil, IIT-B 14

 Contaminants, impact & sources
(8)
• Particle contamination
– Implications (example): Patterning yield

What you wanted. What you got.

Anil Kottantharayil, IIT-B 15

 Contaminants, impact & sources
(9)
• Classification of clean rooms
– Class X => in one cubic foot, less than X particles of
size 0.5 μm
10
6 Particle counter
cubic foot

5
10
4
10 class 100000
Particles per c

3
10 10000
2
10 1000
1 100
10 10
0 1
10
0.1 1 10 100
Particle size (m)
Silicon VLSI Technology, J. D. Plummer, M. D. Deal, P. B. Griffin
Anil Kottantharayil, IIT-B 16
 Contaminants, impact & sources
(10)
• Summary of sources of contamination
– Air
Ai
– Gases
– Liquid chemicals
– Solid chemicals
– Processingg equipment
q p
– Inspection equipment
– Processes
– Tools
• Equipment maintenance
• Handling of wafers

Anil Kottantharayil, IIT-B 17

 Contaminants, impact & sources
(11)
• Summary of sources of contamination
(
(cont.)
t)
– Human beings

Anil Kottantharayil, IIT-B 18

 Contamination Control
• How to control contamination
– Remove contamination from sources
– Minimize transfer of contamination
– Clean wafers of contaminants

Anil Kottantharayil, IIT-B 19

 Contamination control: Air
• Major source of particle contamination
• Controlled ambient is req
required
ired for reliable
processing
– Humidity
H idit ~ 30%
• Relative humidity: the ratio of the partial pressure of water
vapor
p in the mixture to the saturated vaporp p pressure of water
at a prescribed temperature
– Temperature ~ 22 degree C
• Human comfort
• Process perspective
– Control is more important than the nominal value

Anil Kottantharayil, IIT-B 20

 Contamination control: Air (2)
• Contamination control: air

Fresh
HEPA Clean
Filters Cooling
air Filters room

Anil Kottantharayil, IIT-B 21

 Contamination control: Air (3)
• Contamination control: clean room design
From
AHU

Filters

Pressure

Perforated
floor
To
AHU

Anil Kottantharayil, IIT-B 22

 Contamination control: Air (4)
• Contamination control: clean room design
From
AHU

Filters

Pressure

To To
AHU AHU

Anil Kottantharayil, IIT-B 23

 Contamination control: Water
• Water is a good solvent
• Can dissolve many contaminants
• Water is the elixir of life (Dr. C. V. Raman)
• Also for bacteria and fungi !!!
• Use
U iin clean
l rooms
– Cleaning floor, gowns etc: corporation water is ok
– Cooling of process equipment
• Preferably RO water. Clogging of small orifices of heat
exchangers.
• Wafer
W f cleaning
l i
• Cleaning of equipment DI water
• Dilution of liquid chemicals or as solvent

Anil Kottantharayil, IIT-B 24

 Contamination control: Water (2)
• RO water
• Deionized (DI) water
Contaminant Parameter and unit Type III Type II Type I
Ions Resistivity (MΩ
(MΩ.cm)
cm) >0 05
>0.05 >1 0
>1.0 >18 0
>18.0
Organics TOC (ppb) <200 <50 <10
Pyrogens (Eu/ML) NA NA <0.03
Particulates
a t cu ates Particulates
a t cu ates > 0
0.2 µ
µm (u
(units/mL)
ts/ ) NA NA <1
Colloids Silica (ppb) <1000 <100 <10
Bacteria Bacteria (cfu/mL) <1000 <100 <1
RO DI

http://www.millipore.com/labwater/lw3/watertypes

Anil Kottantharayil, IIT-B 25

 Contamination control: Water (3)
• Deionized (DI) water
– Exposure to air causes dissolution of ions
and gas molecules from air
• Cannot be stored and hence should be used
fresh

D. K. Chung et al., J. Micromech. Microeng., 17(2007), 867-874

Anil Kottantharayil, IIT-B 26
 Contamination control: Chemicals
• Depending on the process, the purity specs
can vary
– Example
E l
• O2 for gate oxide growth should not have CO2
• An etch gas can have higher levels of CO2 traces as the
resist
i t which
hi h is
i usedd as the
th mask
k is
i an organici
compound
• Gases
– In general, gases that goes in process should
have 5N purity
• Load lock
• Process chamber
• Transport chamber,…. etc
• Wafer drying after wet cleans
• 5N purity = 99.999% pure
Anil Kottantharayil, IIT-B 27
Contamination control: Chemicals (2)
SiH4 (ULSI 6N) CF4 (ULSI 5N)
purity 99.9999 99.999
O2 + Ar ≤ 0.06 ppmv
N2 ≤ 0.5
0 5 ppmv
CO2 ≤ 0.05 ppmv (+CO) ≤ ppmv
CO2 ≤ 0.08 ppmv
H2 ≤ 20 ppmv
pp
H2O ≤ 0.5 ppmv ≤ 2ppmv
He ≤ 1.0 ppmv
CH4 ≤ 0.04 ppmv
THC ≤ 0.1
0 1 ppmv ≤ 2ppmv
2
Total Cholosilanes ≤ 0.1 ppmv
Si2H6 ≤ 0.5 ppmv
Disiloxane ≤ 0.05 ppmv
Air ≤ 5ppmv
SF6 ≤ 1ppmv
HF ≤ 1ppmv
Resistivity, N-type (ohm-cm) >10000
http://www.mathesontrigas.com
Anil Kottantharayil, IIT-B 28
Contamination control: Chemicals (3)
• Depending on the process, the purity
specs can vary
– Back to etch gases
• CF4 is used in RIE tools
– Resist is present => full of organic material
– So CF4 used for RIE tools could be of inferior purity.
99.5% would be ok => AMAT specs
– A RIE process is typically followed by a wet clean to
remove contaminants
• CF4 used in PE-CVD system or NF3 used in
AMAT polygen
– 5N purity is required
• Care should be exercised while exchanging
gas cylinders
li d

Anil Kottantharayil, IIT-B 29

 Contamination control: Chemicals
(4)
• Gases (cont.)
– Service gases can be of commercial grade (99
(99.5%)
5%)
• Purging pumps
• Pneumatic values
• Liquid chemicals
– CMOS grade
• 10-200 ppb
• Detailed specs: example NH4OH
• Solids
– Targets in PVD systems, charges in evaporation
systems
– 5N purity
Anil Kottantharayil, IIT-B 30
 Contamination control: Process
Equipment
• Critical contamination & noncritical
– Process
P chambers
h b (furnace
(f tubes,
t b MOCVD
chamber,…): low Na+, K+ contamination
– Paint on the external
e ternal bod
body of the tool may
ma
contain various metallic contamination
– Clean room activities should not transfer
contamination

Anil Kottantharayil, IIT-B 31

 Contamination control: Process
Equipment (2)
• Cross contamination
– Wafer transfer from a contaminated chamber to a
clean chamber
• Intentional depositions are not required for
contamination
• Placing a wafer on a contaminated wafer chuck
• Handling by a contaminated tweezer,
tweezer robot hand etc
• Storing contaminated and clean wafers in same box
– Absolute no in manufacturing
– Research: yes. But only if you know how to clean
up.
• Example: Gold contamination

Anil Kottantharayil, IIT-B 32

 Contamination control: Process
Equipment (3)
• Cross contamination (cont.)
– Example
E l 1:
1
• litho tools are contaminated by resist (organic)
residues. Wafers should be thoroughly
g y cleaned
prior to transfer.
– Example 2:
• Ga is
G i a fast
f t diffusant
diff t in
i Si & SiO2
• Si is an n-type dopant in GaAs
• Unintentional Ga in Si is a contaminant
• Unintentional Si in GaAs is a contaminant
– Decontamination procedures depends on
contamination
Anil Kottantharayil, IIT-B 33
 Contamination control: Process
Equipment (4)
• Particle contamination
– Dust gathered on the external body of the
process equipment
• Due to prolonged shutdown
• Enters the process chamber while loading
wafer maintenance
wafer,
– Scales formed in process equipment
• Deposition tools in particular
– CVD, sputter, evaporation etc.
• Not uncommon in etch tools
– Wafer breakages
Anil Kottantharayil, IIT-B 34
 Contamination control: Process
Equipment (5)
• Particle contamination (cont.)
– Periodic cleaning of the tool
• Clean top to bottom in that sequence
• First clean to external body using DI water
– Do not use organic solvents to clean the external
body as this may damage the coatings (e. g.: paint)
• Then clean the process chambers
– Clean with lint free cloth wetted with DI water
– If not getting cleaned, organic solvents may help
» Use Isopropyl
p py alcohol
» Use of Acetone is recommended only as a last
resort
– Plasma assisted deposition tools may be cleaned by
an appropriate plasma
• Wear clean chemical resistant gloves
Anil Kottantharayil, IIT-B 35
 Contamination control: Tools
• Tools
– Wafer handling
– Equipment maintenance
• They should be kept clean and stored
in clean boxes
• Should be cleaned periodically
– Same procedure (DI water – IPA – acetone)

Anil Kottantharayil, IIT-B 36

 Contamination control: People
• All exposed parts of our body and
cloths carry contaminants
– Skin
F t salts,
Fats, lt bacteria
b t i & fungi
f i
– Exhalation

– Hair

– Apparel Hair, particles & fibers

– Costumes

Anil Kottantharayil, IIT-B 37

 Contamination control: People (2)
• Contamination control
– Carry-in
Carry in less
– Cover yourself up with apparel that does
not generate particles
• Hair
• Skin
• Nose

Anil Kottantharayil, IIT-B 38

 Contamination control: People (3)
• Carry-in less
– If you are sick or drunk or under the influence of
strong
t medication
di ti do d nott come to
t the
th lab
l b
– Do not smoke during the hour before entering the
lab
– Wear clean dress. No shorts, skirts etc.
– Avoid the use of cosmetics, deodorants and
dangling jewelry
– Your feet should be protected from gathering dust
and mud
• Wear shoes and clean socks
• Do not wear socks and open-footwear
• Monsoon – wet & muddy, summer – hot
– You may wear open-footwear upto the lab
– Carry a pair of clean socks
Anil Kottantharayil, IIT-B 39
 Contamination control: People (4)
• Carry-in less (cont.)
– No food or drinks are allowed beyond the access
point
– Remove your socks before you enter the lab
• If you are wearing socks => enter
• If you are carrying socks => time to put them on
• Identify
yyyourselves on the biometric identifier
• The door will open automatically
• Do not keep or hold the door open for others (authorized
or unauthorized) to enter
• Wear the lab sandals
• You are ready to work in the semi clean areas of the lab

Anil Kottantharayil, IIT-B 40

 Contamination control: People (5)
• Cover up
– Entry to clean rooms
• You should put on proper clean room cloths
before entry
• Gowning procedure
– Gown from top to bottom
– First wear the face mask
– Then the head cap
– Then the overalls
– Then the boots – on top p of the overalls
– It is important to follow the sequence
– Suppose you wear the overalls first and then the
head cap, dust from your hair would fall on the
overalls

Anil Kottantharayil, IIT-B 41

 Contamination control: People (6)
• Cover up
– Inside the semi-clean/clean rooms
• Do not touch with bare hands
– Processing equipment, especially the chamber door
hoists and inside of the chamber
– Wafers
– Tools for wafer handling
– Tools for equipment maintenance
• Keep the lab tidy
• Whenever you use any equipment, make
appropriate
i t entries
t i in
i the
th log
l books
b k
• Clean room garments are for use in clean
rooms only.y Do not wear them outside of the
clean room.
Anil Kottantharayil, IIT-B 42
 Contamination control: People (7)
• Exit procedure
– Tidy up the equipment and premises you
were working on
– Do not leave your samples near the
equipment
– Gowning
• Remove in reverse order
– Boots
– Overalls
– Headcap
– Face mask

Anil Kottantharayil, IIT-B 43

 Contamination control: People (8)
• Exit procedure
– Gowning
• Face mask should be put in bins for washing
• Attach head cap to the overalls and hang them
inside the wardrobe
– Check the white board
• A/C plant ON
– Has to be kept ON? – write on the white board
– Has
H tto bbe OFF? – do
d nott write
it on the
th white
hit board
b d

Anil Kottantharayil, IIT-B 44

 Contamination control: People (9)
• Bottom line
– Understand the spirit of the course and act
accordingly
– Common sense and a sense of courtesy to
fellow users
– When in doubt
doubt, ASK => this is an
opportunity to learn

Anil Kottantharayil, IIT-B 45

 Case study
• Is anything wrong in this picture?

Anil Kottantharayil, IIT-B 46

 Case study
• Is anything wrong in this picture?

Anil Kottantharayil, IIT-B 47

 Lab Access Policy
• Access to the lab is restricted
• Do you
o reall
really need to enter the lab?
• You are an infrequent user
• It is mandatory to successfully complete the
course on “basic clean room practices” to get
anything done in the lab
• You want to get standard processes done that
can be done by well trained staff
– Samples can be handed over to staff outside of the
lab
– Samples can be handed over at a mutually agreed
time

Anil Kottantharayil, IIT-B 48

 Lab Access Policy (2)
• Requirements for access
– You want to do process/measurement atleast
once a week
• An appropriate form stating the purpose, duly endorsed
by your advisor should be submitted
• You are ready to help in cleaning the lab (once in two
weeks)
– Want to develop processes for your project that
are not available as a standard process
• An appropriate form stating the purpose, duly endorsed
by your advisor
• You are ready to help in the maintenance of the system
and service other peoples requests
• You are ready to help in cleaning the lab (once in two
ee s)
weeks)

Anil Kottantharayil, IIT-B 49

 Lab Access Policy (3)
• Requirements for access (cont.)
– Have successfully completed training on
• Basic clean room practice
• General safety
• Fire safety
• Guided tour of the clean rooms
• Area and pprocess specific
p training
g as and when
announced
– Chemical room
– Yellow room
– Instrument handling etc
– Contact lab admin for recording of your
fi
finger print
i t
Anil Kottantharayil, IIT-B 50
 Lab Access Policy (4)
• To retain access
– Strictly adhere to the clean room practices
andd safety
f t guidelines
id li
– Do not miss more than 3 consecutive fab
lab meetings
– Do not miss 2 consecutive lab cleaning
sessions
– (Genuine) Special cases
• Exams
• Holidays, conference travel etc
• Sent a mail to the lab in-charges notifying your
absence

Anil Kottantharayil, IIT-B 51