The control of processes in thin-film circuit manufacture

The in-house facilities of the CSIR manufacturing thin-film integrated circu’ts are described. Resistive NiCr layers are deposited from separate Ni and Cr electron gun sources, which allow the production of resistive layers with small temperature coefficients and high stability. Each source is incorporated in a closed feedback loop to achieve a constant deposition rate. The quartz crystal and a novel ultrasonic monitor are briefly described, as well as the manufacturing steps of mask-making, deposition, component adjustment, bonding incorporating active devices, testing and encapsulation of a circuit. The layout of a small plant is presented. The maximum and minimum values of components which can be made in thin-film technique, and the relative merits of the thin-film and other techniques for manufacturing integrated circuits, are discussed.