HOW TO AVOID CHARGING DAMAGE IN IC MANUFACTURING

Wafer charging damage during IC processing is the result of complex interactions between the wafer environment and the wafer. Understanding these interactions, and recognizing the relative importance of the different mechanisms capable of causing damage, are essential for successful diagnosis and control of charging damage during wafer manufacturing. This paper presents a unified perspective of charging damage in IC manufacturing, and from it derives a set of guidelines which can be used by equipment and IC manufacturers to avoid charging damage to ICs during wafer processing.