Epitaxial silicon transition zone measurements by spreading resistance
profiling (SRP) and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) reflectometry
Abstract
Silicon epitaxy is an essential building block in the manufacturing of
complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) devices. Accurate
determination of epitaxial layer thickness is indispensable for a
uniform and reproducible process. In this paper, we compare thickness
values of the transition zone in silicon epitaxial wafers obtained by
two of Semilab’s production-compatible electrical and optical
characterization techniques: Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR)
reflectometry and spreading resistance profiling (SRP). We demonstrate a
high correlation between transition zone thicknesses obtained from the
optical modelling of FTIR reflectance spectra and SRP profiles. The
dependance of transition zone thickness change on the high-temperature
annealing steps is also examined. FTIR reflectometry thus offers a
quick, contactless alternative for obtaining structural parameters of an
epitaxial layer, and these values can be well matched to those given by
SRP.