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CMOS VLSI Design 128

Photolithography uses photomasks and light to pattern regions on semiconductor wafers. A photomask made of chrome-coated quartz glass is used with UV light to selectively expose photoresist coated on the wafer. The exposed photoresist is then developed, leaving patterned islands. This process defines areas for material deposition or removal and is key to fabricating transistors and integrated circuits on chips.

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Carlos Saavedra
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57 views1 page

CMOS VLSI Design 128

Photolithography uses photomasks and light to pattern regions on semiconductor wafers. A photomask made of chrome-coated quartz glass is used with UV light to selectively expose photoresist coated on the wafer. The exposed photoresist is then developed, leaving patterned islands. This process defines areas for material deposition or removal and is key to fabricating transistors and integrated circuits on chips.

Uploaded by

Carlos Saavedra
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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3.

2 CMOS Technologies 101

3.2.2 Photolithography
Recall that regions of dopants, polysilicon, metal, and contacts are defined using masks.
For instance, in places covered by the mask, ion implantation might not occur or the
dielectric or metal layer might be left intact. In areas where the mask is absent, the
implantation can occur, or dielectric or metal could be etched away. The patterning is
achieved by a process called photolithography, from the Greek photo (light), lithos (stone),
and graphe (picture), which literally means “carving pictures in stone using light.” The pri-
mary method for defining areas of interest (i.e., where we want material to be present or
absent) on a wafer is by the use of photoresists. The wafer is coated with the photoresist and
subjected to selective illumination through the photomask. After the initial patterning of
photoresist, other barrier layers such as polycrystalline silicon, silicon dioxide, or silicon
nitride can be used as physical masks on the chip. This distinction will become more
apparent as this chapter progresses.
A photomask is constructed with chromium (chrome) covered quartz glass. A UV
light source is used to expose the photoresist. Figure 3.3 illustrates the lithography process.
The photomask has chrome where light should be blocked. The UV light floods the mask
from the backside and passes through the clear sections of the mask to expose the organic
photoresist (PR) that has been coated on the wafer. A developer solvent is then used to dis-
solve the soluble unexposed photoresist, leaving islands of insoluble exposed photoresist.
This is termed a negative photoresist. A positive resist is initially insoluble, and when
exposed to UV becomes soluble. Positive resists provide for higher resolution than negative
resists, but are less sensitive to light. As feature sizes become smaller, the photoresist layers
have to be made thinner. In turn, this makes them less robust and more subject to failure
which can impact the overall yield of a process and the cost to produce the chip.
The photomask is commonly called a reticle and is usually smaller than the wafer, e.g.,
2 cm on a side. A stepper moves the reticle to successive locations to completely expose the
wafer. Projection printing is normally used, in which lenses between the reticle and wafer
focus the pattern on the wafer surface. Older techniques include contact printing, where
the mask and wafer are in contact, and proximity printing, where the mask and wafer are
close but not touching. The reticle can be the same size as the area to be patterned (1×) or
larger. For instance, 2.5× and 5× steppers with optical reduction have been used in the
industry.

UV light floods backside of mask.

Photomask Quartz Glass


Unexposed
Chrome Pattern photoresist is
Gaps in eventually
chrome allow removed by an
Photoresist is exposed
UV through. appropriate
where UV illuminates it.
solvent leaving
the islands of
Photoresist
exposed
Wafer photoresist.

FIGURE 3.3 Photomasking with a negative resist (lens system between mask and wafer
omitted to improve clarity and avoid diffracting the reader -)

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