Integrated circuit annealing methods and apparatus
AssigneeIntel Corporation
InventorMark Y. Liu
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Improved methods for performing thermal annealing of objects, such as wafers of integrated circuits (ICs), employ a scanning continuous wave laser beam. The annealing time is dependent upon the beam intensity, the beam spot size, the beam shape, and the beam dwell time, which can be effectively controlled by varying the scanning speed. A variety of different scan patterns can be used. Because the entire wafer is thermally processed by a continuously moving laser beam, annealing throughput is significantly improved over methods utilizing a stepping laser beam.
Claims30
A method of thermally annealing an object comprising a plurality of regions, the method comprising:
- directing a continuous wave laser beam at the object;
- and
- scanning the laser beam over the object to expose each of the plurality of regions to the laser beam.
A method of thermally annealing a plurality of integrated circuits (ICs) forming part of a wafer, the method comprising:
- directing a continuous wave laser beam at the wafer;
- and
- scanning the laser beam over the wafer to expose each of the plurality of ICs to the laser beam.
An annealing system comprising:
- a platform to support an object, the object comprising a plurality of regions;
- a laser to generate a laser beam;
- and
- an optics controller coupled to the laser to move the laser beam in the X-Y plane in a continuous manner to expose the plurality of regions.
A method adapted to be used in an annealing system comprising a platform to support an object comprising a plurality of regions, a laser to generate a continuous wave laser beam, an optics controller to control movement of the laser beam, and a data processing system coupled to the optics controller, the method operating to anneal each of the plurality of regions and comprising:
- directing the continuous wave laser beam at the object;
- and
- moving the continuous wave laser beam over the object to expose each of the plurality of regions.
A method adapted to be used in an annealing system comprising a platform to support an object comprising a plurality of regions, a laser to generate a continuous wave laser beam, a controller to control exposure of the object to the laser beam, and a data processing system coupled to the controller, the method operating to anneal each of the plurality of regions and comprising:
- directing the continuous wave laser beam at the object;
- and
- controlling relative movement of the continuous wave laser beam with respect to the object to expose each of the plurality of regions.
An annealing system comprising a platform to support an object comprising a plurality of regions, a laser to generate a laser beam, a controller to control exposure of the object to the laser beam, and a data processing system coupled to the controller, the data processing system executing a computer program, the computer program operating the annealing system to anneal each of the plurality of regions and comprising the operations of:
- directing a continuous wave laser beam at the object;
- and
- controlling relative movement of the laser beam with respect to the object to expose each of the plurality of regions.
A computer-readable medium containing computer instructions for instructing a processor to perform a method of annealing an object comprising a plurality of regions, the processor forming an element in an annealing system comprising a laser to generate a laser beam, and a controller to control the exposure of the object to the laser beam, wherein the instructions comprise:
- controlling a continuous wave laser beam that is directed at the object;
- and
- controlling relative movement of the laser beam with respect to the object to expose each of the plurality of regions.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.