Semiconductor Processing, etching techniques, semiconductor manufacturing, chip making

Semiconductor processing is the set of techniques used to build integrated circuits and other devices on thin slices of crystalline silicon called wafers. A finished chip is created not by assembling parts but by building up and patterning many layers of material across the surface of the wafer. Hundreds of identical chips are produced together on one wafer in a sequence of carefully controlled steps carried out in extremely clean conditions, because even tiny particles of dust can ruin a device.

Several core processes are repeated in different combinations. Thermal oxidation grows a thin insulating layer of silicon dioxide on the wafer by heating it in an oxygen-containing atmosphere. Photolithography transfers a circuit pattern onto the wafer: the surface is coated with a light-sensitive resist, exposed through a mask, and developed so that the resist remains only where wanted. Etching then removes material from the exposed areas, either with liquid chemicals (wet etching) or with reactive gases and plasma (dry etching), reproducing the pattern in the underlying layer.

To give regions of the silicon the desired electrical properties, dopant atoms are introduced by diffusion or ion implantation, changing the local conductivity. New layers of conductors and insulators are added by thin-film deposition, including chemical vapour deposition (CVD), in which gases react at the wafer surface to leave a solid film. By repeating oxidation, lithography, etching, doping and deposition many times, the complex three-dimensional structure of a modern integrated circuit is built up layer by layer.

Frequently asked questions

What is photolithography?: It is the step that transfers a circuit pattern onto the wafer. A light-sensitive resist is exposed through a mask and developed so that it protects only the areas to be kept during etching.
What is the difference between wet and dry etching?: Wet etching removes material using liquid chemicals, while dry etching uses reactive gases or plasma. Dry etching generally gives finer, more precisely controlled features.
What is chemical vapour deposition?: CVD is a method of forming a thin solid film on the wafer by having gases react at its heated surface, depositing layers of conductors or insulators during chip fabrication.

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