Commercial RTP -- A SEMATECH perspective

This paper discusses various commercial aspects of Rapid Thermal Processing (RTP). It provides an overview of SEMATECH`s efforts to improve the manufacturing viability of RTP. Over the past several years SEMATECH, a US Government/Industry consortium, has identified thermal equipment and processing needs relating to semiconductor manufacturing. It has aggressively pursued solutions to these needs through specific equipment projects. These projects include: RTP Installed Base Productivity Improvement, 0.25um RTP Tool Development, and RTP Modeling and Component Technology. Also discussed are several thermal projects which focus on the performance of more traditional tools. A comparison between RTP and a vertical furnace with model based process control and a small batch fast ramp furnace is made. A brief discussion of an RTP gate stack cluster tool project is followed by a review of future thermal processing needs, including 300mm.