Materials Case Study
based product — ultimately resulting in both cost savings and yield increases for SSMC. The insight offered by applications
engineers from Avantor, who specialize in utilizing and refining the performance of semiconductor surface preparation processes, was crucial: SSMC process engineers are not necessarily experts in formulated chemistry development and the interactions of their process conditions to the chemistry’s performance. The specialized knowledge that Avantor’s personnel supplied enabled the SSMC/Avantor team to better analyze the interaction between the lab results and the chemistry parameters that drove those results. The team’s combined expertise also allowed them to theorize more effectively why a semi- aqueous product would reduce the etching and deliver better cleaning results compared to the HA-chemistry. With this knowledge and a more integrated approach in understanding these challenges, the team was able to further develop a wafer test plan including variations in process temperatures and post-residue removal SEM imaging, to validate assumptions about the improved yields being demonstrated. This insight, combined with the improved yields, gave SSMC the confidence to modify its POR, eliminate the HA-based chemistry (with its continually escalating costs) and implement a new chemistry with a better yield. Investing the time and effort, by both companies, to pursue a collaborative approach, generated a major benefit: SSMC initially anticipated incremental savings, just on unit cost basis, from replacing the HA chemistry with a less expensive solution from Avantor; instead, the in-depth interaction led to a significant yield gain for SSMC, which is potentially worth millions of dollars per year.
Eliminate Waste, Improve Process, Increase Yields Increased collaboration between tool builders, chemistry suppliers and manufacturers can improve FEOL and BEOL wafer cleaning and surface modification processes. It will enable the faster development of toolsets and processes for the next technology node, offering the potential to significantly reduce development costs, shorten the time to optimize processes and ultimately enable faster ramps to full production.
It could also lead to significant costs savings
in legacy processes due to yield improvements or dramatic decreases in chemistry usage or
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Increased collaboration between tool builders, chemistry suppliers and
manufacturers can improve FEOL and BEOL wafer cleaning and surface modification processes
process time. These are far more significant opportunities for improving profitability and return on investment compared to pitting chemistry suppliers against each other for cost reductions, but to achieve those benefits requires the in-depth collaboration that was highlighted in the SSMC example.
Collaboration Provides Success The key to the success of this model is the leadership provided by the fab operator: Earlier engagement and cooperation before final developments are locked down is essential. It will enable performance chemistry suppliers like Avantor to apply a full range of applications expertise and insight to refine engineered performance materials to work with today’s advanced substrate materials and sub-22nm structures. Even when this model is applied to older, legacy processes (as in the SSMC example), it resulted in significantly increased yields and enhanced total cost of ownership. Tool builders will also benefit: They will have
a more focused development process from the outset, benefitting from the technical synergies that will result from a working partnership with chemistry suppliers, which will enable them to build tools that work from the beginning with the chemistries that have been developed for that process step.
This success will also help improve their industry standing and differentiate their offerings by highlighting close working relationships with leading chemistry suppliers. Most importantly, this model offers fundamental competitive advantages for semiconductor manufacturers: Anything that can be done to reduce the cost and speed the ramp of the next node to full yield will deliver value that goes right to the bottom line.
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Notes:
1. S.I. Kim, H.P Lim, L. Liu, N. Mustapha, T.T. Seng, “Replacing Hydroxyl-Amine- based chemistries with semi-aqueous- based cleaning formulations generates improved yields in post-etch metal and oxide residue removal,” 2011.
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