In the 50 years since the invention of transistor, silicon integrated circuit (IC) technology has made astonishing advances. A key factor that makes these advances possible is the ability to have precise control on material properties and physical dimensions. The introduction of plasma processing in pattern transfer and in thin film deposition is a critical enabling advance among other things. In state of the art silicon Ie manufacturing process, plasma is used in more than 20 different critical steps. Plasma is sometimes called the fourth state of matter (other than gas, liquid and solid). It is a mixture of ions (positive and negative), electrons and neutrals in a quasi-neutral gaseous steady state very far from equilibrium, sustained by an energy source that balances the loss of charged particles. It is a very harsh environment for the delicate ICs. Highly energetic particles such as ions, electrons and photons bombard the surface of the wafer continuously. These bombardments can cause all kinds of damage to the silicon devices that make up the integrated circuits.
The only book of its kind - the only competition on subject matter comes from a Japanese language text to which this author is also a contributor It is neither as coherent nor as comprehensive as the current text The books readership runs the whole gamut of experience in the subject The author works at AT&T's Bell Laboratories in New Jersey This laboratory is a world leader in many areas of technology
Kin P. Cheung
Damage management Damage measurement Diode EEPROM EPROM Gate-oxides MOSFET PROM Plasma charging damage ROM Transistor VLSI Wafer design model