Automotive Reliability Challenges
Hidden defects caused by small particles, gels, metal ions, and organics can lead to failures throughout the vehicle’s life. Explore the New Collaborative Approach to prevent these process excursions.
Preventing Latent Defects
Improving the cleanliness of the chemistries, gases, air, and wafers used to create microchips of all types present opportunities for the automotive supply chain.
CI Case Studies
This paper illustrates continuous improvement (CI) case studies and fab benchmarks to bridge the gap between design and process engineering to infer best practices in semiconductor manufacturing.
Next Frontiers in SiC Manufacturing
The SiC industry is maturing rapidly, but long-term success depends on collaboration between material suppliers, equipment manufacturers, and device makers. By working together, the industry is not just overcoming manufacturing barriers, it is shaping the future of high-performance, cost-effective SiC technology for the next generation of power electronics.
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What is a latent defect?
Defect appears following installation of the electronic device in the automobile, bus, commercial vehicle, or other transportation. These devices have passed all wafer inspection and burn-in tests prior to installation.
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What is the expected lifetime of an electronic device in automotive applications?
The generally observed lifetime is 10-15 years. The AEC (Automotive Electronics Council) provides a knowledge base of test standards and leading technical discussions to improve the reliability performance.
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How are latent defects related to contamination in semiconductor manufacturing process?
Chemical, gas, water, and air are used extensively to create circuit patterns and interconnects in chips and packages. These materials require a level of purity within the tolerance of the device being manufactured. Small, medium, and large particles, along with metal ions, gels, other organics and microbubbles, may have an influence on the creation of latent defects on wafers. Blockage, or bridging of two parallel circuits with a contaminant is an example of one defect type.
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How does a particle create an electrical bridge?
Contaminants that remain on the wafer surface after a lithography step can create a bridged pattern feature that will be metallized in later processes.
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How are front end (FEOL) and back end (BEOL)/advanced packaging contamination control standards similar or different?
Traditionally front-end chip manufacturing has been more sensitive to contamination and microbubbles than back-end/packaging processes. As finer features and more complex integration package designs are adopted to achieve the processing needs of applications, contamination control tolerance from front-end processes are being adopted throughout all semiconductor manufacturing areas to reduce wafer defects and prevent latent defects.
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Does inline metrology and wafer inspection identify all defects?
These are critical tools to operate effectively. The detection performance is dependent upon the capabilities of the metrology and inspection technology in each fab. Those with higher sensitivity tools will be able to see smaller particles and defects. There is a size limitation in all tools currently. Filtration and purification solutions are available to remove particles below these sizes and contaminant types such as metal ions. Process monitors such as dissolved oxygen sensors, particle characterizers, flow meters, dispense systems, and concentration monitors provide process insights to optimize purity controls and compositional integrity.
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What is the difference between a filter and a purifier?
Filters are generally used to remove particles and gels of all sizes, while purifiers are best suited to remove metal ions and other organics. A combination of each type can be the most effective solution to remove the widest variety of contaminants.
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What is the right filter or purifier for each process area (CMP, Wet Etch and Clean, Photolithography)?
Each chemistry type and process condition presents a unique challenge. Filters and purifiers are designed to remove specific contaminants as well as remove large volumes of contaminants at various points along the chemical and wafer production supply chain. Collaborate with the local Entegris team to create the optimized solution for your application.
Preventing Automotive Latent Defects
This white paper details challenges facing automotive OEMs, semiconductor fabs, and tier one suppliers and identifies solutions to improve the cleanliness of the chemistries, gases, air, and wafers.