Contents

• 1. Introduction
  • 1.1 History and Importance of Semiconductor Technology
  • 1.2 Technology Computer Aided Design
  • 1.3 Semiconductor Process Technology
  • 1.4 Importance of Topography Simulation in Semiconductor Manufacturing
  • 1.5 Outline of the Thesis
  
  
• 2. Mathematical Description of the Motion of Interfaces
  • 2.1 Formulation of the Motion of Interfaces
  • 2.2 An Overview of the Techniques for Tracking the Motion of a Surface
  
  
• 3. Topography Effects in Deposition and Etching
  • 3.1 Common Aspects of Deposition and Etching
  • 3.2 Minimizing the Corner Rounding
  
  
• 4. Simulation Models for Deposition of Silicon Dioxide Layers from TEOS
  • 4.1 The Models
  • 4.2 Summary
  
  
• 5. The General Purpose Topography Simulator ELSA
  • 5.1 Simulation Flow of ELSA
  • 5.2 Initialization
  • 5.3 Transport of Particles
  • 5.4 Extending the Speed Function
  • 5.5 Fast Marching Method
  • 5.6 Narrow Banding Technique
  • 5.7 Combining Narrow Banding and Extension of the Speed Function
  • 5.8 Coarsening Algorithm
  • 5.9 Advancing the Level Set Function Using Finite Difference Schemes
  • 5.10 Iterative Solver
  • 5.11 Input File of Three-Dimensional ELSA
  • 5.12 Fully Three-Dimensional Process Simulation
  • 5.13 Stability of the Simulator
  • 5.14 Summary
  
  
• 6. Application of ELSA to Interconnect Processes
  • 6.1 Motivation
  • 6.2 Feature-Scale Simulation
  • 6.3 Backend Simulation
  • 6.4 Simulation Results
  • 6.5 Void Extraction Step
  • 6.6 Optimizing the Voids for the Metal Profiles with Constant Line-to-Line Spacings
  • 6.7 Summary
  
  
• 7. Application of ELSA to the Simulation of Plasma Etching
  • 7.1 Calculation of Ion Flux
  • 7.2 Etching Kinetics
  • 7.3 Neutral-Ion Synergy Model
  • 7.4 Etching Profile with Minimal Spurious Corner Rounding
  • 7.5 Simulation Results
  • 7.6 Summary
  
  
• 8. Applications of Three-Dimensional ELSA to Crack Prediction
  • 8.1 Description of the Considered Deposition Processes Used by Investigations
  • 8.2 Three-Dimensional Void Characteristics for the Prediction of Cracks
  • 8.3 Summary
  
  
• 9. Application of ELSA to Mesh Generation
  • 9.1 Motivation
  • 9.2 The Semiconductor Equations
  • 9.3 Main Steps of the Grid Generation
  • 9.4 Construction of a Device Using the Level Set Method
  • 9.5 Grid Generation for a TMOSFET
  • 9.6 Grid Generation for an SOI Power Device
  • 9.7 Summary
  
  
• 10. About Efficiency
• 11. Conclusion and Outlook
• Bibliography
• Own Publications