FromSandtoSilicon:ManufacturinganIntegratedCircuit

Saturday,October25,2014

2:37AM

FromSandtoSilicon:ManufacturinganIntegratedCircuit
ByCraigR.Barrett
Thefundamentaldeviceofthedigitalworldistheintegratedcircuit,asmallsquareofsiliconcontaining
millionsoftransistors.Itisprobablythemostcomplexofmanmadeproducts.Althoughitlooksflat,itis
infactathreedimensionalstructuremadebypainstakinglybuildinguponthesiliconbaseseveral
microscopicallythinlayersofmaterialsthatbothinsulateandconductelectricity.Assembledaccording
toapatterncarefullyworkedoutinadvance,theselayersformthetransistors,whichfunctionas
switchescontrollingtheflowofelectricitythroughthecircuit,whichisalsoknownasachip.'On'and
'off'switchesmanipulatethebinarycodethatisatthecoreofwhatacomputerdoes.
Buildingachiptypicallyrequiresseveralhundredmanufacturingstepsthattakeweekstocomplete.
Eachstepmustbeexecutedperfectlyifthechipistowork.Theconditionsaredemanding.Forexample,
becauseaspeckofdustcanruinachip,themanufacturinghastobedoneina'cleanroom'containing
lessthanonesubmicronparticleofdustpercubicfootofair(incontrast,theaveragelivingroomhas
between100,000andonemillionparticlespercubicfootofair).Muchoftheequipmentneededfor
makingchipsembodiesthehighestofhightechnology,withtheresultthatchipfactorieswhichcost
between$1billionand$2billionforastateoftheartfacilityareamongthecostliestofmanufacturing
plants.
Abasictechnologyofchipmakingisthe'planar'processdevisedin1957byJeanHoerniofFairchild
Semiconductor.Itprovidedameansofcreatingalayeredstructureonthesiliconbaseofachip.This
technologywaspivotalinRobertN.Noyce'sdevelopmentoftheintegratedcircuitin1958.(Noycelater
becamecofounderwithGordonE.MooreofIntelCorporation,thecompanythatinventedthe
microprocessorandhasbecometheworld'sleadingsupplierofsemiconductorchips.)Bridgingthegap
betweenthetransistorandtheintegratedcircuit,theplanartechnologyopenedthewaytothe
manufacturingprocessthatnowproduceschips.Thehundredsofindividualstepsinthatprocesscanbe
groupedintoafewbasicoperations.
ChipDesign
Thefirstoperationisthedesignofthechip.Whentensofmillionsoftransistorsaretobebuiltona
squareofsiliconaboutthesizeofachild'sfingernail,theplacingandinterconnectionsofthetransistors
mustbemeticulouslyworkedout.Eachtransistormustbedesignedforitsintendedfunction,and
groupsoftransistorsarecombinedtocreatecircuitelementssuchasinverters,addersanddecoders.
Thedesignermustalsotakeintoaccounttheintendedpurposeofthechip.Aprocessorchipcarriesout
instructionsinacomputer,andamemorychipstoresdata.Thetwotypesofchipsdiffersomewhatin
structure.Becauseofthecomplexityoftoday'schips,thedesignworkisdonebycomputer,although
engineersoftenprintoutanenlargeddiagramofachip'sstructuretoexamineitindetail.
TheSiliconCrystal
Thebasematerialforbuildinganintegratedcircuitisasiliconcrystal.Silicon,themostabundant
elementontheearthexceptforoxygen,istheprincipalingredientofbeachsand.Siliconisanatural
semiconductor,whichmeansthatitcanbealteredtobeeitheraninsulatororaconductor.Insulators,
suchasglass,blockthepassageofelectricity;conductors,suchascopper,letelectricitypassthrough.To
makeasiliconcrystal,rawsiliconobtainedfromquartzrockistreatedwithchemicalsthatremove
contaminantsuntilwhatremainsisalmost100percentsilicon.Thispurifiedsiliconismeltedandthen
formedintocylindricalsinglecrystalscalledingots.Theingotsareslicedintowafersabout0.725
millimeter(0.03inch)thick.Inastepcalledplanarizationtheyarepolishedwithaslurryuntiltheyhavea
flawless,mirrorsmoothsurface.Atpresent,mostofthewafersare200millimeters(eightinches)in
diameter,buttheindustryismovingtowardachievingastandarddiameterof300millimeters(12
inches)by1999.Becauseasinglewaferyieldshundredsofchips,biggerwafersmeanthatmorechips
canbemadeatonetime,holdingdownthecostperchip.
TheFirstLayers

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Withthewaferprepared,theprocessofbuildingthechip'scircuitrybegins.Makingthetransistorsand
theirinterconnectionsentailsseveraldifferentbasicstepsthatarerepeatedmanytimes.Themost
complexchipsmadetodayconsistof20ormorelayersandmayrequireseveralhundredseparate
processingstepstobuildthemuponebyone.
Thefirstlayerissilicondioxide,whichdoesnotconductelectricityandthereforeservesasaninsulator.
Itiscreatedbyputtingthewafersintoadiffusionfurnaceessentiallyanovenathightemperature
whereathinlayerofoxideisgrownonthewafersurface.
Removedfromthefurnace,thewaferisnowreadyforitsfirstpatterning,orphotolithographic,step.A
coatingofafairlyviscouspolymericliquidcalledphotoresist,whichbecomessolublewhenitisexposed
toultravioletlight,isappliedtothesurface.Aspigotdepositsapreciseamountofphotoresistonthe
wafersurface.Thenthewaferisspunsothatcentrifugalforcespreadstheliquidoverthesurfaceatan
eventhickness.Thisoperationtakesplaceoneverylayerthatismodifiedbyaphotolithographic
procedurecalledmasking,describedinthenextstep.
Masking
Amaskisthedevicethroughwhichultravioletlightshinestodefinethecircuitpatternoneachlayerofa
chip.Becausethepatternisintricateandmustbepositionedpreciselyonthechip,thearrangementof
opaqueandtransparentspacesonamaskmustbedonecarefullyduringachip'sdesignstage.
Themaskimageistransferredtothewaferusingacomputercontrolledmachineknownasastepper.It
hasasophisticatedlenssystemtoreducethepatternonthemasktothemicroscopicdimensionsofthe
chip'scircuitry,requiringresolutionassmallas0.25micron.Thewaferisheldinplaceonapositioning
tablebelowthelenssystem.Ultravioletlightfromanarclamporalasershinesthroughtheclearspaces
ofthemask'sintricatepatternontothephotoresistlayerofasinglechip.Thesteppertablethenmoves
thewafertheprecisedistancerequiredtopositionanotherchipunderthelight.Oneachchip,theparts
ofthephotoresistlayerthatwerestruckbythelightbecomesolubleandcanbedeveloped,muchlike
photographicfilm,usingorganicsolvents.Oncethephotoresistispatterned,thewaferisreadyfor
etching.
Etching
Duringthisstep,photoresistremainingonthesurfaceprotectspartsoftheunderlyinglayerfrombeing
removedbytheacidsorreactivegasesusedtoetchthepatternonthesurfaceofthewafer.After
etchingiscomplete,theprotectivelayerofphotoresistisremovedtorevealelectricallyconductingor
electricallyinsulatingsegmentsinthepatterndeterminedbythemask.Eachadditionallayerputonthe
chiphasadistinctivepatternofthiskind.
AddingLayers
Furthermaskingandetchingstepsdepositpatternsofadditionalmaterialsonthechip.Thesematerials
includepolysiliconaswellasvariousoxidesandmetalconductorssuchasaluminumandtungsten.To
preventtheformationofundesiredcompoundsduringsubsequentsteps,othermaterialsknownas
diffusionbarrierscanalsobeadded.Oneachlayerofmaterial,maskingandetchingcreateaunique
patternofconductingandnonconductingareas.Togetherthesepatternsalignedontopofoneanother
formthechip'scircuitryinathreedimensionalstructure.Butthecircuitryneedsfinetuningtowork
properly.Thetuningisprovidedbydoping.
Doping
Dopingdeliberatelyaddschemicalimpurities,suchasboronorarsenic,topartsofthesiliconwaferto
alterthewaythesiliconineachdopedareaconductselectricity.Machinescalledionimplantersare
oftenusedtoinjecttheseimpuritiesintothechip.
Inelectricalterms,siliconcanbeeitherntypeorptype,dependingontheimpurityadded.Theatomsin
thedopingmaterialinntypesiliconhaveanextraelectronthatisfreetomove.Someofthedoping
atomsinptypesiliconareshortanelectronandsoconstitutewhatiscalledahole.Wherethetwo
typesadjoin,theextraelectronscanflowfromthentypetotheptypetofilltheholes.
Thisflowofelectronsdoesnotcontinueindefinitely.Eventuallythepositivelychargedionsleftbehind
onthentypesideandthenegativelychargedionsontheptypesidetogethercreateanelectricalforce
thatpreventsanyfurthernetflowofelectronsfromthentypetotheptyperegion.
Thematerialatthebaseofthechipisptypesilicon.Oneoftheetchingstepsinthemanufactureofa
chipremovespartsofthepolysiliconandsilicondioxidelayersputonthepuresiliconbaseearlier,thus

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layingbaretwostripsofptypesilicon.Separatingthemisastripthatstillbearsitslayerofconducting
polysilicon;itisthetransistor's'gate.'Thedopingmaterialnowappliedtothetwostripsofptypesilicon
transformsthemintontypesilicon.Apositivechargeappliedtothegateattractselectronsbelowthe
gateinthetransistor'ssiliconbase.Theseelectronscreateachannelbetweenonentypestrip(the
source)andtheother(thedrain).Ifapositivevoltageisappliedtothedrain,currentwillflowfrom
sourcetodrain.Inthismode,thetransistoris'on.'Anegativechargeatthegatedepletesthechannelof
electrons,therebypreventingtheflowofcurrentbetweensourceanddrain.Nowthetransistoris'off.'
Itisbymeansofswitchingonandoffthatatransistorrepresentsthearraysof1and0thatconstitute
thebinarycode,thelanguageofcomputers.
Donemanytimesinmanylayers,theseoperationsprovidethechipwithitsmultitudeoftransistors.But
justasprovisionmustbemadetorunelectricalwiresandplumbingpipesbetweenfloorsofabuilding,
provisionmustbemadeinchipsforinterconnectingthetransistorssotheyformanintegratedcircuit.
Interconnections
Thisfinalstepbeginswithfurthermaskingandetchingoperationsthatopenathinlayerofelectrical
contactsbetweenlayersofthechip.Thenaluminumisdepositedandpatternedusingphotolithography
tocreateaformofwiringthatlinksallthechip'stransistors.Aluminumischosenforthisapplication
becauseitmakesgoodelectricalcontactwithsiliconandalsobondswelltosilicondioxide.
Thisstepcompletestheprocessingofthewafer.Nowtheindividualchipsaretestedtoensurethatall
theirelectricalconnectionsworkusingtinyelectricalprobes.Next,amachinecalledadicercutsupthe
waferintoindividualchips,andthegoodchipsareseparatedfromthebad.Thegoodchipsusually
mostofthewafer'scroparemountedontopackagingunitswithmetalleads.Wirebondersthen
attachthesemetalleadstothechips.Theelectricalcontactsbetweenthechip'ssurfaceandtheleads
aremadewithtinygoldoraluminumwiresabout0.025millimeter(0.001inch)indiameter.Oncethe
packagingprocessiscomplete,thefinishedchipsaresenttodotheirdigitalwork.
Source:Reprintedwithpermission.Copyright1997byScientificAmerican,Inc.AllRightsReserved.
MicrosoftEncarta2008.19932007MicrosoftCorporation.Allrightsreserved.

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