Influence of BiCMOS processing steps on thin gate oxide quality

Abstract

This paper reports on the work carried out on the improvement of gate oxide quality on a 1.0 /spl mu/m BICMOS process. The gate oxide defectivity was improved by partitioning the process into key process blocks and examining the contribution of each block to the overall defect level. Case studies from each block are presented which describe the weaknesses identified and the solutions implemented which have resulted in a robust and manufacturable process. A short loop process monitor is also described.<>