Single Electrons and Low Energy Computation
Gregory Snider, Ph.D., is a professor and chair of the Electrical Engineering Department at the University of Notre Dame. Over the past few years, his research has focused on the design, fabrication, and measurements of micro- and nanoelectronic devices....
An Introduction to HDPCVD
Introduction to HDPCVD No doubt technology has experienced incredible acceleration since the development of the first transistors nearly 75 years ago. Key to that acceleration is the semiconductor industry and its fabrication methods that enabled low cost production of devices that now fuel nearly all aspects of our lives with ubiquitous advances in communication, healthcare, defense, transportation, and computation....
How to Determine Throughput
What is the throughput of a plasma processing system? When buying a system, it’s important to know whether the level of output is suitable to fulfill the user’s capacity needs. For example, some customers are interested in how many wafers per hour can be run while others are asking how many chambers are needed to satisfy a quota of devices (units) in a month. Multiple factors go into calculating throughput....
Etch Performance: 9 Factors to Consider
Etch Rate Etch rate is the measurable quantity of how fast material is removed from the surface of a wafer and is typically expressed in Å, nm, μm per unit time (e.g. Å/s, nm/min, μm/min). It is usually measured following an etch process by dividing the total thickness change by the time of the etch or by taking several thickness measurements for different etch times and using a “best fit” to the slope. This is done when it is suspected that the etch rate may not be linear with time or that there may be a delay in the onset of etching. Occasionally, it is possible to measure the etch rate in real-time....
How Dry Etching and Deposition Tools Drive the Green Revolution
Driven by concerns over hydrocarbon fuel resources, costs, and environmental impact, energy has moved into the spotlight. New energy sources, and conserving energy, impacts nearly every aspect of our power-dependent lives....
