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Chapter 3
Basics Semiconductor
Devices and Processing
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Objectives
Identify at least two semiconductor materials from
the periodic table of elements
List n-type and p-type dopants
Describe a diode and a MOS transistor
List three kinds of chips made in the
semiconductor industry
List at least four basic processes required for a
chip manufacturing
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Topics
What is semiconductor
Basic semiconductor devices
Basics of IC processing
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What is Semiconductor
Conductivity between conductor and insulator
Conductivity can be controlled by dopant
Silicon and germanium
Compound semiconductors
SiGe, SiC
GaAs, InP, etc.
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Periodic Table
of the Elements
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Semiconductor Substrate and Dopants
Substrate
P-type
Dopant
N-type Dopants
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Orbital and Energy Band
Structure of an Atom
Valence band, E
v
Band gap, E
g
Valence shells
Nuclei
Conducting band, E
c
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Band Gap and Resistivity
E
g
= 1.1 eV E
g
= 8 eV
Aluminum
2.7 cm
Sodium
4.7 cm
Silicon
~10
10
cm
Silicon dioxide
> 10
20
cm
Conductors Semiconductor Insulator
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Crystal Structure of Single
Crystal Silicon
Si
Si
Si
Si
Si -
Si
Si
Si
Si
Si
Si
Si
Si
Si
Shared electrons
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Why Silicon
Abundant, inexpensive
Thermal stability
Silicon dioxide is a strong dielectric and
relatively easy to form
Silicon dioxide can be used as diffusion
doping mask
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N-type (Arsenic) Doped Silicon
and Its Donor Energy Band
Electron
-
Si
Si
Si
Si
Si
Si
Si
Si
As
Extra
Valence band, E
v
E
g
= 1.1 eV
Conducting band, E
c
E
d
~0.05 eV
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P-type (Boron) Doped Silicon
and Its Donor Energy Band
Valence band, E
v
E
g
= 1.1 eV
Conducting band,
E
c
E
a
~0.05 eV
Electron
-
Si
Si
Si
Si
Si Si
Si
Si
B
Hole
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Illustration of Hole Movement
Valence band, E
v
E
g
=1.1 eV
Conducting band, E
c
E
a
~0.05 eV
Electron
Hole
Electron
Hole
Valence band, E
v
E
g
=1.1 eV
Conducting band, E
c
Valence band, E
v
E
g
=1.1 eV
Conducting band, E
c
Electron
Hole
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Dopant Concentration and Resistivity
Dopant concentration
Resistivity
P-type, Boron
N-type,
Phosphorus
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Dopant Concentration and
Resistivity
Higher dopant concentration, more carriers
(electrons or holes)
Higher conductivity, lower resistivity
Electrons move faster than holes
N-type silicon has lower resistivity than p-
type silicon at the same dopant concentration
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Basic Devices
Resistor
Capacitor
Diode
Bipolar Transistor
MOS Transistor
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Resistor
l
h
w

wh
l
R =
: Resistivity
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Resistor
Resistors are made by doped silicon or
polysilicon on an IC chip
Resistance is determined by length, line
width, height, and dopant concentration
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Capacitors
d
hl
C = h

l
d
: Dielectric Constant
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Capacitors
Charge storage device
Memory Devices, esp. DRAM
Challenge: reduce capacitor size while
keeping the capacitance
High- dielectric materials
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Capacitors
Si
Poly Si
Oxide
Poly 1
Poly 2
Dielectric
Layer
Dielectric Layer
Heavily
Doped Si
Parallel plate Stacked Deep Trench
Poly
Si Si
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Metal Interconnectionand RC Delay
I
Metal,

Dielectric,

d
w
l
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Diode
P-N J unction
Allows electric current go through only
when it is positively biased.
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Diode
V1 V2
P2 P1
V
1
>V
2
,
P
1
>P
2
,
current
current
V
1
<V
2
, no current P
1
<P
2
, no current
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P N
++
++
++
++
++

Transition region
V0
V
p
V
n
Figure 3.14
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Intrinsic Potential
For silicon V
0
~0.7 V
2
0
ln
i
d a
n
N N
q
kT
V =
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I-V Curve of Diode
V
I
-I
0
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Bipolar Transistor
PNP or NPN
Switch
Amplifier
Analog circuit
Fast, high power device
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NPN and PNP Transistors
C
E
B
N N P
E
B
C
E
C
B
P P N
E
B
C
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NPN Bipolar Transistor
n-epi
p
n
+
P-substrate
Electron flow
n
+
n
+
buried layer
p
+
p
+
SiO
2
AlCuSi
Base Collector Emitter
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P-substrate
n
+
Buried Layer
n Epi
p p
Field
oxide
Field
oxide
CVD
oxide
CVD
oxide
n
+
CVD
oxide
Poly
Collector
Emitter
Base
Metal
Sidewall Base Contact NPN
Bipolar Transistor
n
+
Field
oxide
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MOS Transistor
Metal-oxide-semiconductor
Also called MOSFET (MOS Field Effect
Transistor)
Simple, symmetric structure
Switch, good for digital, logic circuit
Most commonly used devices in the
semiconductor industry
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NMOS Device
Basic Structure
V
G
V
D
Ground
n
+
Metal Gate
Source Drain
p-Si
n
+
V
D
V
G
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NMOS Device
+
Metal Gate
SiO
2
Source Drain
p-Si
n
+
V
D
> 0
V
G
> V
T
> 0
+++++++

Electron flow
Positive charges
Negative charges
No current
n
+
SiO
2
Source Drain
p-Si
n
+
V
D
V
G
= 0
n
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PMOS Device
+
Metal Gate
SiO
2
Source Drain
n-Si
p
+
V
D
> 0
V
G
< V
T
< 0
+++++++

Hole flow
Positive charges
Negative charges
No current
p
+
SiO
2
Source Drain
n-Si
p
+
V
D
V
G
= 0
p
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MOSFET
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MOSFET and Drinking Fountain
MOSFET
Source, drain, gate
Source/drain biased
Voltage on gate to
turn-on
Current flow between
source and drain
Drinking Fountain
Source, drain, gate valve
Pressurized source
Pressure on gate (button)
to turn-on
Current flow between
source and drain
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Basic Circuits
Bipolar
PMOS
NMOS
CMOS
BiCMOS
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Devices with Different Substrates
Bipolar
MOSFET
BiCMOS
Silicon
GaAs: up to 20 GHz device
Light emission diode (LED)
Compound
Bipolar: high speed devices
Germanium
Dominate
IC industry
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Market of Semiconductor Products
MOSFET
100%
50%
1980 1990 2000
Compound
Bipolar
88%
8%
}
}
4%
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Bipolar IC
Earliest IC chip
1961, four bipolar transistors, $150.00
Market share reducing rapidly
Still used for analog systems and power
devices
TV, VCR, Cellar phone, etc.
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PMOS
First MOS field effect transistor, 1960
Used for digital logic devices in the 1960s
Replaced by NMOS after the mid-1970s
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NMOS
Faster than PMOS
Used for digital logic devices in 1970s and
1980s
Electronic watches and hand-hold calculators
Replaced by CMOS after the 1980s
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CMOS
Most commonly used circuit in IC chip
since 1980s
Low power consumption
High temperature stability
High noise immunity
Symmetric design
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CMOS Inverter
V
in V
out
V
dd
V
ss
PMOS
NMOS
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CMOS IC
p-Si
USG
n-Si
Balk Si
Polysilicon
STI
n
+
Source/Drain p
+
Source/Drain
Gate Oxide
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BiCMOS
Combination of CMOS and bipolar circuits
Mainly in 1990s
CMOS as logic circuit
Bipolar for input/output
Faster than CMOS
Higher power consumption
Likely will have problem when power
supply voltage dropping below one volt
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IC Chips
Memory
Microprocessor
Application specific IC (ASIC)
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Memory Chips
Devices store data in the form of electric charge
Volatile memory
Dynamic random access memory (DRAM)
S random access memory (SRAM)
Non-volatile memory
Erasable programmable read only memory (EPROM)
FLASH
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DRAM
Major component of computer and other
electronic instruments for data storage
Main driving force of IC processing development
One transistor, one capacitor
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Basic DRAM Memory Cell
Word line
Bit line
V
dd
NMOS
Capacitor
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SRAM
Fast memory application such as computer cache
memory to store commonly used instructions
Unit memory cell consists of six transistors
Much faster than DRAM
More complicated processing, more expensive
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EPROM
Non-volatile memory
Keeping data ever without power supply
Computer bios memory which keeps boot
up instructions
Floating gate
UV light memory erase
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EPROM
n
+
Gate
Oxide
Source
Drain
p-Si
n
+
V
D
V
G
Poly 1
Poly 2
Inter-poly
Dielectric
Passivation
Dielectric
Floating Gate
Control Gate
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EPROM Programming
n
+
Gate
Oxide
Source
Drain
p-Si
n
+
Poly 2
Inter-poly
Dielectric
Passivation
Dielectric
V
D
> 0
V
G
>V
T
>0
e
-
e
-
e
-
e
-
e
-
e
-
e
-
Electron
Tunneling
Floating Gate
Control Gate
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EPROM Programming
n
+
Gate
Oxide
Source
Drain
p-Si
n
+
Floating Gate
Poly 2 Control Gate
Inter-poly
Dielectric
Passivation
Dielectric
V
D
> 0
V
G
>V
T
>0
e
-
e
-
UV light
Electron
Tunneling
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IC Fabrication Processes
IC
Fab.
Adding
Removing
Heating
Patterning
Ion implantation,
Diffusion
Grown thin film, SiO
2
Deposited thin film
Wafer Clean
Etch
CMP
Annealing
Reflow
Alloying
Photolithography
CV
PVD
Electrical
Patterned etch
Blanket
Strip
Dielectri
Meta
Epi, Poly
Dielectri
Meta
PR coating (adding)
Baking (heating,
Developing
Meta
Oxid
Implantati
Exposure (heating)
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Basic Bipolar Process Steps
Buried layer doping
Epitaxial silicon growth
Isolation and transistor doping
Interconnection
Passivation
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Buried Layer Implantation
P-silicon
SiO
2
n
+
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Epitaxy Grow
P-silicon
n
+
buried layer
n-epi
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Isolation Implantation
p
+
n-epi
p
+
P-silicon
n
+
buried layer
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Emitter/Collector and Base
Implantation
p
+
n-epi
p
+
P-silicon
n
+
buried layer
p
n
+
n
+
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Metal Etch
p
+
p
+
P-silicon
n
+
buried layer
n-epi
Emitter Base Collector
SiO
2
AlCuSi
p
+
n
+
n
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Passivation Oxide Deposition
Emitter Base Collector
AlCuSi
CVD
oxide
SiO
2
p
+
p
+
P-silicon
n
+
buried layer
n-epi
p
+
n
+
n
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MOSFET
Good for digital electronics
Major driving forces:
Watches
Calculators
PC
Internet
Telecommunication
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1960s: PMOS Process
Bipolar dominated
First MOSFET made in Bell Labs
Silicon substrate
Diffusion for doping
Boron diffuses faster in silicon
PMOS
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PMOS Process Sequence (1960s)
Wafer clean (R) Etch oxide (R)
Field oxidation (A) Strip photo resist (R)
Mask 1. (Source/Drain) (P) Al deposition (A)
Etch oxide (R) Mask 4. (Metal) (P)
Strip photo resist/Clean (R) Etch Aluminum (R)
S/D diffusion (B)/Oxidation (A) Strip photo resist (R)
Mask 2. (Gate) (P) Metal Anneal (H)
Etch oxide (R) CVD oxide (A)
Strip photo resist/Clean (R) Mask 5. (Bonding pad) (P)
Gate oxidation (A) Etch oxide (R)
Mask 3. (Contact) (P) Test and packaging
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Wafer clean, field oxidation, and
photoresist coating
N-Silicon
Native Oxide
N-Silicon
N-Silicon
Field Oxide
N-Silicon
Primer
Photoresist
Field Oxide
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Photolithography and etch
N-Silicon
Source/Drain Mask
Photoresist
Field Oxide
N-Silicon
Source/Drain Mask
PR
UV Light
N-Silicon
PR
Field Oxide
N-Silicon
PR
Field Oxide
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Source/drain doping and gate
oxidation
N-Silicon
Field Oxide
N-Silicon
p
+
p
+
Field Oxide
N-Silicon
p
+
p
+
Field Oxide
N-Silicon
p
+
p
+
Gate Oxide Field Oxide
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Contact, Metallization, and
Passivation
N-Silicon
p
+
p
+
Gate Oxide Field Oxide
N-Silicon
p
+
p
+
Gate Oxide Field Oxide AlSi
N-Silicon
p
+
Gate Oxide
Field Oxide
p
+
N-Silicon
p
+
Gate Oxide
CVD Cap Oxide
p
+
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Illustration of a PMOS
N-Silicon
Gate Oxide
CVD Cap Oxide
p
+
p
+
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NMOS Process after mid-1970s
Doping: ion implantation replaced diffusion
NMOS replaced PMOS
NMOS is faster than PMOS
Self-aligned source/drain
Main driving force: watches and calculators
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p-silicon
F
i
e
l
d

o
x
i
d
e
Gate
Source/Drain Gate oxide
Phosphorus Ions, P
+
n
+
n
+
P
o
l
y
s
i
l
i
c
o
n
Self-aligned S/D Implantation
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NMOS Process Sequence (1970s)
Wafer clean PSG reflow
Grow field oxide Mask 3. Contact
Mask 1. Active Area Etch PSG/USG
Etch oxide Strip photo resist/Clean
Strip photo resist/Clean Al deposition
Grow gate oxide Mask 4. Metal
Deposit polysilicon Etch Aluminum
Mask 2. Gate Strip photo resist
Etch polysilicon Metal anneal
Strip photo resist/Clean CVD oxide
S/D and poly dope implant Mask 5. Bonding pad
Anneal and poly reoxidation Etch oxide
CVD USG/PSG Test and packaging
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NMOS Process Sequence
Clean
Oxide
Etch
Poly Dep.
P
+
Ion
Implant
Field
Oxidation
Gate
Oxidation
Poly Etch
Annealing
p-Si
n
+
n
+
p-Si
p-Si
p-Si
poly poly
poly poly
p-Si p-Si
p-Si p-Si
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NMOS Process Sequence
PSG
Etch
Metal
Etch
Metal
Dep.
Nitride
Dep.
PSG Dep.
PSG
Reflow
n
+
n
+
poly
poly
poly
poly
poly
poly
PSG
PSG
PSG PSG
PSG
PSG
AlSi
AlSi
AlSi
SiN
p-Si
p-Si
p-Si
p-Si
p-Si
p-Si
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CMOS
In the 1980s MOSFET IC surpassed bipolar
LCD replaced LED
Power consumption of circuit
CMOS replaced NMOS
Still dominates the IC market
Backbone of information revolution
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Advantages of CMOS
Low power consumption
High temperature stability
High noise immunity
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CMOS Inverter, Its Logic
Symbol and Logic Table
V
in
V
out
V
ss
V
dd
V
in
V
out
PMOS
NMOS
In Out
0 1
1 0
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CMOS Chip with 2 Metal Layers
P-type substrate
p
+
p
+
N-well
SiO
2
LOCOS
BPSG
AlCuSi
Metal 2, AlCuSi
Nitride
Oxide
USG dep/etch/dep
Poly Si Gate
IMD
PMD
PD2
PD1
p
+
p
+
n
+
n
+
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FSG
Metal 4 Copper
Passivation 1, USG
Passivation 2, nitride
Lead-tin
alloy bump
FSG
Copper Metal 2
FSG
FSG
Copper Metal 3
FSG
P-epi
P-wafer
N-well
P-well
n
+
STI
p
+
p
+
USG
n
+
PSG
Tungsten
FSG
Cu Cu
Tantalum
barrier layer
Nitride etch
stop layer
Nitride
seal layer
M 1
Tungsten local
Interconnection
Tungsten plug
PMD nitride
barrier layer
T/TiN barrier &
adhesion layer
Tantalum
barrier layer
CMOS Chip
with 4 Metal
Layers
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Summary
Semiconductors are the materials with
conductivity between conductor and
insulator
Its conductivity can be controlled by dopant
concentration and applied voltage
Silicon, germanium, and gallium arsenate
Silicon most popular: abundant and stable
oxide
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Summary
Boron doped semiconductor is p-type,
majority carriers are holes
P, As, or Sb doped semiconductor is p-type,
the majority carriers are electrons
Higher dopant concentration, lower resistivity
At the same dopant concentration, n-type has
lower resistivity than p-type
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Summary
R= l/A
C= A/d
Capacitors are mainly used in DRAM
Bipolar transistors can amplify electric signal,
mainly used for analog systems
MOSFET electric controlled switch, mainly
used for digital systems
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Summary
MOSFETs dominated IC industry since 1980s
Three kinds IC chips microprocessor,
memory, and ASIC
Advantages of CMOS: low power, high
temperature stability, high noise immunity,
and clocking simplicity
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Summary
The basic CMOS process steps are transistor
making (front-end) and
interconnection/passivation (back-end)
The most basic semiconductor processes are
adding, removing, heating, and patterning
processes.