Abstract
A novel nondestructive measurement technique is proposed to electrically monitor the depth of a trench etched in silicon for the purpose of process control in a manufacturing environment. A simple bipolar npn transistor can be constructed, the gain of which is shown to relate to the trench depth. The ratio of the injected emitter current to the captured collector current has demonstrated the ability to resolve variations in trench depth of less than 0.2 /spl mu/m. The proposed structure is studied using two-dimensional simulations and experiments. A case study of two different silicon reactive ion etch tools is offered to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed technique.
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.