This sixth film in the SILICON RUN SERIES takes a close look at the etch process in semiconductor manufacturing, including chemical mechanical polish, or CMP. It shows how thin films of nonconductive, semiconductive, and conductive materials are sculpted into microchips.

Following the fabrication process of a CMOS transistor, SILICON RUN ETCH looks specifically at dielectric etch, silicon etch, and metal etch. It also explores the role of pressure, gas flows, RF power, temperature, and machine geometry within the plasma etch processes.

37 minutes / 2000

SILICON RUN ETCH is the perfect film to demonstrate, in clear and vivid graphics, the basics of the etch process as used in most production fabs today. It takes a complicated and complex process and presents it in a straight-forward, fun formatPaul Martinez
Etch Product Specialist Applied Materials

Etch TOPIC Summary

• IC Fabrication Overview
• Wet Etch
• Dry Etch
• Planarization (CMP)
• Selectivity
• Plasma
• Plasma Variables
• Vacuum
• Chemical Reactions
• Physical Reactions
• Sidewall Deposition
• Defect Inspection
• End Point Detection
• Wafer Thinning

Partial Funding from the Intel Foundation, Texas Instruments, Maricopa Advanced Technology Education Center, Applied Materials, Tru-Si Technologies, and SEMI.