Method for recycling/reclaiming a monitor wafer
AssigneeTexas Instruments Incorporated
InventorsGary C. Barrett, Bradley D. Sucher, Colin L. Carr
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The invention provides a method for recycling/reclaiming a monitor or test wafer and a method for testing an integrated circuit manufacturing process. After a monitor wafer has been used for testing one or more semiconductor wafer processing steps to determine adequacy for use with production wafers, deposited materials and other residues from the tested processing steps are removed, and the stripped wafer is subjected to a thermal anneal to repair defects in its surface and return it to a reusable condition.
Claims20
A method for testing a manufacturing process, comprising:
- providing a monitor wafer;
- forming one or more integrated circuit films on the monitor wafer and testing the one or more integrated circuit films, the process of forming or testing the one or more integrated circuit films on the monitor wafer causing the monitor wafer to have a number of front surface defects thereon;
- annealing the monitor wafer in a presence of an inert gas to correct one or more of the number of front surface defects, and thereby recycling/reclaiming the monitor wafer.
A method for restoring the atomical flatness of a monitor wafer for recycling/reclaiming the wafer for testing of semiconductor device fabrication processes, comprising:
- providing a monitor wafer;
- processing the monitor wafer through one or more processing steps used in the manufacture of a semiconductor device;
- testing the processed monitor wafer to assess the effectiveness of the one or more processing steps;
- and
- following the testing, annealing the monitor wafer in an inert gas to remove front surface defects left due to the processing.
A method for restoring the atomical flatness of a monitor wafer for recycling/reclaiming the wafer for testing of semiconductor device fabrication processes, comprising:
- providing a monitor wafer characterized by a given maximum number of crystal oriented pit and oxygen induced stacking fault surface defects within a prescribed size limit;
- processing the monitor wafer through one or more processing steps for the growth or deposition of one or more layers of material used in the manufacture of a semiconductor device;
- testing the processed monitor wafer to assess the effectiveness of the one or more processing steps;
- following the testing, subjecting the monitor wafer to one or more chemical etchings and/or chemical-mechanical polishing steps to strip the material grown or deposited on the monitor wafer in the one or more processing steps;
- following the one or more chemical etchings and/or chemical-mechanical polishing steps, annealing the monitor wafer by heating the monitor wafer above a recrystallization temperature in an inert gas;
- and
- following the annealing, inspecting the wafer to determine whether the maximum number of crystal oriented pit and oxygen induced stacking fault surface defects is still within the prescribed size limit.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.