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.
Claims28
A method of thermally annealing a plurality of integrated circuit dice forming part of a wafer and being arranged in at least one row on the wafer, wherein each die has a width, the method comprising:
- directing a continuous wave laser beam in a single pass across the wafer to expose at least the entire width of each of the plurality of dice to the laser beam in one non-interrupted scan of the plurality of dice.
An annealing system comprising:
- a platform to support an integrated circuit wafer comprising a plurality of dice arranged in at least one row on the wafer, each die having a width;
- a laser to generate a laser beam;
- and
- an optics controller coupled to the laser to move the laser beam to expose at least the entire width of each of the plurality of dice to the laser beam in one non-interrupted scan of the plurality of dice.
A method to be used in an annealing system comprising a platform to support an integrated circuit wafer comprising a plurality of dice arranged in at least one row on the wafer, each die having a width a laser to generate a continuous wave laser beam, an optics controller, and a data processing system coupled to the optics controller, the method operating to anneal each of the plurality of dice and comprising:
- directing the continuous wave laser beam at the wafer;
- and
- scanning the continuous wave laser beam in a single pass across the wafer to expose at least the entire width of each of the plurality of dice to the laser beam in one non-interrupted scan of the plurality of dice.
A method to be used in an annealing system comprising a platform to support an integrated circuit wafer comprising a plurality of dice arranged in at least one row on the wafer, each die having a width, a laser to generate a continuous wave laser beam, a controller to control exposure of the wafer to the laser beam, and a data processing system coupled to the controller, the method operating to anneal each of the plurality of dice and comprising:
- directing the continuous wave laser beam at the wafer;
- and
- controlling relative movement of the continuous wave laser beam with respect to the wafer to scan the continuous wave laser beam in a single pass across the wafer to expose at least the entire width of each of the plurality of dice to the laser beam in one non-interrupted scan of the plurality of dice.
An annealing system comprising a platform to support an integrated circuit wafer comprising a plurality of dice arranged in at least one row on the wafer, each die having a width, a laser to generate a laser beam, a controller to control exposure of the wafer 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 dice and comprising the operations of:
- directing a continuous wave laser beam at the wafer;
- and
- controlling relative movement of the laser beam with respect to the wafer to scan the laser beam in a single pass across the wafer to expose at least the entire width of each of the plurality of dice to the laser beam in one non-interrupted scan of the plurality of dice.
A computer-readable medium containing computer instructions for instructing a processor to perform a method of annealing an integrated circuit wafer comprising a plurality of dice arranged in at least one row on the wafer, each die having a width, 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 wafer to the laser beam, wherein the instructions comprise:
- controlling a continuous wave laser beam that is directed at the wafer;
- and
- controlling relative movement of the laser beam with respect to the wafer to scan the laser beam in a single pass across the wafer to expose at least the entire width of each of the plurality of dice to the laser beam in one non-interrupted scan of the plurality of dice.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.