Strategies for reducing particle defects in ALD TiN and RFPVD Ti processes CFM: Contamination free manufacturing

Generation of particle defects in semiconductor manufacturing is inevitable, but it has to be minimized for high IC yield. There are various causes for the generation of particle defects, depending upon semiconductor manufacturing processes. This work discusses various strategies, such as clean on go, idle paste, kit hardware selection that help to reduce the generation of defects in metal thin films processes, such as ALD TiN and RFPVD Ti. Using optimized periodic paste, ALD TiN particle failure rate was reduced from 20% to less than 5%. The median defect count was also reduced by half. It was also found that by implementing idle pasting, defect failure rate of RFPVD Ti processes can be reduced significantly. This work will also discuss hardware induced particle defect and solutions to reduce them.