Integrated circuit annealing methods and apparatus
US6675057B2 · kind B2 · utility
12Cited by
4References
28Claims
0Family size
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Apr 25, 2001 |
| Grant date | Jan 6, 2004 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Nov 1, 2021 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH01L21/268
- WIPO fieldSemiconductors
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
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.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.