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Semiconductor fabrication and packaging

Electronics and Communication Engineering (B.E./B.Tech) · VLSI and semiconductors · free study notes for exams, placements and interviews

In short

Semiconductor fabrication is the sequence of physical and chemical steps that turn a polished silicon wafer into thousands of working integrated circuits, and packaging is the set of steps that cuts, mounts, connects and seals each die so it can be soldered onto a board. Fabrication is where device physics, chemistry and precision optics meet manufacturing economics — yield, cost per die and reliability all come out of this stage. It is examined in GATE EC (and GATE IN, instrumentation) under "IC fabrication: oxidation, diffusion, ion implantation, photolithography, twin-tub CMOS", and in university papers on VLSI Technology. It matters practically because India's Semiconductor Mission (ISM, 2021) has funded fabs and ATMP/OSAT plants — Micron's ATMP in Sanand, the Tata-PSMC fab in Dholera, the Tata OSAT in Assam, CG Power-Renesas and Kaynes in Sanand — so fabrication and packaging roles now exist in India and not only abroad.

Explained

From sand to wafer: substrate preparation

Oxidation, diffusion and ion implantation

Photolithography and pattern transfer

  1. Clean and dehydrate the wafer; apply HMDS adhesion promoter.
  2. Spin-coat photoresist (0.5–2 µm) — thickness varies as 1/√(spin speed).
  3. Soft bake (prebake) to drive off solvent.
  4. Align and expose through a mask/reticle. Positive resist: exposed region becomes soluble (pattern = mask pattern); negative resist: exposed region cross-links and stays. Positive resist gives better resolution and dominates.
  5. Post-exposure bake and develop, then hard bake for etch/implant resistance.
  6. Etch or implant through the resist opening; then strip the resist (plasma ashing or solvent).
  7. Exposure systems: contact and proximity printing (cheap, mask damage, poor resolution) → projection step-and-repeat (stepper) and step-and-scan scanner with 4× reticle reduction.
  8. Resolution R = k₁λ/NA and depth of focus DOF = k₂λ/NA² — pushing NA up buys resolution but loses depth of focus quadratically. Wavelengths progressed 436 nm (g-line), 365 nm (i-line), 248 nm (KrF), 193 nm (ArF), 193 nm immersion (water, effective NA up to about 1.35), and EUV at 13.5 nm.
  9. Resolution enhancement: phase-shift masks, off-axis illumination, optical proximity correction (OPC), multiple patterning (LELE, SADP) when a single 193i exposure cannot reach the pitch.
  10. Overlay/alignment accuracy must be a small fraction of the feature size; mask defects are repeated on every die, so reticles are inspected and pellicled.

Etching, deposition and interconnect

CMOS process flow, isolation and modern devices

Yield, cost and economics

Packaging, assembly and test

Key points

Formulas and examples

Deal-Grove oxidation: x² + A·x = B(t + τ) — x = oxide thickness (µm), B = parabolic rate constant (µm²/h), B/A = linear rate constant (µm/h), τ accounts for initial oxide. Thin: x ≈ (B/A)(t + τ); thick: x ≈ √(Bt)
Silicon consumed = 0.44 × oxide thickness grown (ratio of molar volumes)
Diffusivity D = D₀ exp(−Ea/kT) — D in cm²/s, Ea in eV, k = 8.617×10⁻⁵ eV/K, T in K
Pre-deposition (constant surface conc.): C(x,t) = Cs·erfc[x/(2√(Dt))]; Dose Q = 2Cs√(Dt/π)
Drive-in (constant dose): C(x,t) = [Q/√(πDt)]·exp(−x²/4Dt) — surface conc. C(0,t) = Q/√(πDt)
Implant profile: N(x) = [Q/(√(2π)·ΔRp)]·exp[−(x−Rp)²/(2ΔRp²)] — peak Npeak = 0.4·Q/ΔRp; Q in ions/cm², Rp and ΔRp in cm
Implant dose from beam: Q = I·t/(q·n·A) — I = beam current (A), t = time (s), q = 1.6×10⁻¹⁹ C, n = charge state, A = implanted area (cm²)
Sheet resistance Rs = ρ/t (Ω/sq); R = Rs × (L/W); four-point probe Rs = 4.532 × V/I for a thin sheet
Lithography: R = k₁λ/NA, DOF = k₂λ/NA², NA = n·sinθ
Dies per wafer (approx.) N = π·(D/2 − E)²/S − π·(D − 2E)/√(2S) — D = wafer diameter, E = edge exclusion, S = die area (same units)
Poisson yield Y = exp(−A·D₀); Murphy's model Y = [(1 − e−A·D₀)/(A·D₀)]²; A = die area (cm²), D₀ = defect density (defects/cm²)
Cost per good die = (wafer cost)/(dies per wafer × yield)
Thermal: TJ = TA + θJA·P — TJ, TA in °C, θJA in °C/W, P in W; θJA = θJC + θCA

Example 1 — Wet oxidation time (Deal-Grove). For wet oxidation at 1000 °C take B = 0.287 µm²/h and B/A = 0.41 µm/h, starting from a bare wafer (τ ≈ 0). Target x = 0.5 µm. A = B/(B/A) = 0.287/0.41 = 0.700 µm. x² + Ax = B·t → (0.25) + (0.700 × 0.5) = 0.25 + 0.350 = 0.600 = 0.287 t. t = 0.600/0.287 = 2.09 h ≈ 125 minutes. Silicon consumed = 0.44 × 0.5 = 0.22 µm, so the oxide surface sits 0.5 − 0.22 = 0.28 µm above the original surface. Check the thick-film approximation: √(Bt) = √(0.287 × 2.09) = 0.775 µm — far from 0.5 µm, so this growth is still mixed linear-parabolic and the full quadratic was necessary.

Example 2 — Implant dose and peak concentration. A boron implant uses a 2 mA beam of singly charged ions for 30 s over a 300 mm wafer (area = π × 15² = 706.9 cm²). Q = I·t/(q·A) = (2×10⁻³ × 30)/(1.6×10⁻¹⁹ × 706.9) = 0.06/(1.131×10⁻¹⁶) = 5.3×10¹⁴ ions/cm². If Rp = 0.3 µm and ΔRp = 0.07 µm = 7×10⁻⁶ cm: Npeak = 0.4 Q/ΔRp = 0.4 × 5.3×10¹⁴/7×10⁻⁶ ≈ 3.0×10¹⁹ cm⁻³, located 0.3 µm below the surface.

Example 3 — Lithography resolution and depth of focus. With k₁ = 0.4, k₂ = 0.5:

Immersion shrinks the printable feature by about 30% but more than halves the focus window — hence tight wafer flatness and focus control; EUV regains resolution at a modest NA.

Example 4 — Dies per wafer, yield and cost per good die. A 10 mm × 10 mm die (S = 1.0 cm²) on a 300 mm wafer with 3 mm edge exclusion: First term = π(15 − 0.3)²/1.0 = π × 216.09 = 678.9. Second term = π(30 − 0.6)/√2 = π × 29.4/1.4142 = 92.36/1.4142 = 65.3. N ≈ 678.9 − 65.3 = 614 dies. With D₀ = 0.5 defects/cm²: Poisson Y = e−0.5 = 0.607; Murphy Y = [(1 − e−0.5)/0.5]² = (0.3935/0.5)² = 0.787² = 0.619. Good dies (Poisson) = 614 × 0.607 ≈ 373. At a wafer cost of ₹4,50,000, cost per good die = 4,50,000/373 ≈ ₹1,206. Halving the die to 0.5 cm²: N ≈ π × 216.09/0.5 − π × 29.4/√1.0 = 1357.8 − 92.4 = 1265; Y = e−0.25 = 0.779; good dies ≈ 985 → ₹457 per good die — area, not just count, drives cost.

Example 5 — Package thermal limit. A QFN device dissipates 1.8 W with θJA = 32 °C/W in still air at TA = 55 °C. TJ = 55 + 32 × 1.8 = 55 + 57.6 = 112.6 °C — within a 125 °C limit, with 12.4 °C margin. In a 70 °C enclosure: TJ = 70 + 57.6 = 127.6 °C — over limit. Maximum allowed dissipation = (125 − 70)/32 = 1.72 W, or switch to a package/board with θJA ≤ (125 − 70)/1.8 = 30.6 °C/W (more thermal vias or a copper pour under the exposed pad).

StepDiffusionIon implantation
Temperature900–1150 °CRoom temperature (anneal later)
Dose controlPoor (solid-solubility limited)Excellent (charge integration)
Profileerfc or Gaussian, deepGaussian about Rp, shallow possible
Lateral spreadLarge (isotropic)Small, self-aligned to mask
DamageNoneSignificant; needs anneal
Equipment costLow (furnace)High (implanter)
DepositionTemperatureConformalityTypical use
APCVDModeratePoorThick oxide, fast
LPCVD600–900 °CGoodPolysilicon, nitride
PECVD200–400 °CModeratePassivation over metal
ALD150–350 °CExcellentHigh-k, barriers, liners
Sputtering (PVD)LowModerateAl, Ti/TiN, Ta/TaN, Cu seed
PackageI/O rangePitchNotes
DIP8–402.54 mmThrough-hole, legacy, lab use
TQFP32–2560.4–0.8 mmPeripheral leads, hand-solderable
QFN8–1000.4–0.65 mmExposed pad, good thermal, no leads
BGA/FBGA100–2000+0.4–1.0 mmArea array, needs X-ray inspection
WLCSP4–1000.35–0.5 mmNear die size, mobile, board-level stress
2.5D/TSV 3D1000sMicro-bump 40 µmHBM, chiplets, highest bandwidth

Where it is used

Interview questions

Common mistakes

Related topics

VLSI design flow · CMOS digital IC design · MOSFET device physics and short-channel effects · Semiconductor physics: carriers, junctions and doping · Electronic product design and testing · Microelectronic reliability and failure analysis

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