Plasma Etching:

Market Analysis and Strategic Issues

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Chapter 1

Introduction

1-1

1.1

The Need For This Report

1-1

Chapter 2

Executive Summary

2-1

2.1

Summary of Technical Issues

2-1

2.2

Summary of User Issues

2-2

2.3

Summary of Supplier Issues

2-3

2.4

Summary of Market Forecasts

2-4

Chapter 3

Technical Issues and Trends

3-1

3.1

Introduction

3-1

3.2

Processing Issues

3-14

3.2.1

Chlorine Versus Fluorine Processes

3-19

3.2.2

Multilevel Structures

3-32

3.2.3

New Materials

3-39

3.2.4

GaAs Processing

3-46

3.3

Plasma Stripping

3-47

3.3.1

Photoresist Stripping

3-47

3.3.2

Low-K Removal

3-68

3.4

Safety Issues

3-70

3.4.1

System Design Considerations

3-70

3.4.2

Gas Handling

3-71

3.4.3

Reactor Cleaning

3-73

Chapter 4

Market Forecast

4-1

4.1

Influence of Technology Trends on the Equipment Market

4-1

4.2

Market Forecast Assumptions

4-5

4.3

Market Forecast

4-6

Chapter 5

Strategic Issues: Users

5-1

5.1

Evaluating User Needs

5-1

5.1.1

Device Architecture

5-1

5.1.2

Wafer Starts and Throughput Requirements

5-6

5.1.3

Wafer Size

5-7

5.2

Benchmarking a Vendor

5-8

5.2.1

Pricing

5-8

5.2.2

Vendor Commitment and Attitudes

5-10

5.2.3

Vendor Capabilities

5-12

5.2.4

System Capabilities

5-14

5.3

Cost Analysis

5-17

5.3.1

Equipment Price

5-17

5.3.2

Installation Costs

5-20

5.3.3

Maintenance Costs

5-21

5.3.4

Sustaining Costs

5-22

5.3.5

Hidden Costs

5-22

5.4

User - Supplier Synergy

5-23

5.4.1

Feedback During Equipment Evaluation

5-23

5.4.2

Feedback During Device Production

5-25

Chapter 6

Strategic Issues: Suppliers

6-1

6.1

Competition

6-1

6.2

Customer Interaction

6-3

6.2.1

Customer Support

6-3

6.2.2 

Cleanroom Needs in the Applications Lab

6-6

6.3

Equipment Compatibility in Class 1 Cleanrooms

6-7

6.3.1

Footprint Versus Serviceability

6-7

6.3.2

Particulate Generation

6-7

6.3.3

Automation

6-17

6.3.4

300-mm Tools

6-20

FIGURES

3.1

Various Enhanced Designs (a) Helicon, (b) Multiple ECR, (c) Helical Resonator

3-4

3.2

Schematic of Inductively Coupled Plasma Source

3-6

3.3

Schematic of the HRe Source

3-9

3.4

Schematic of the Dipole Magnet Source

3-10

3.5

Schematic of Chemical Downstream Etch

3-11

3.6

Silicon Trench Structure 

3-21

3.7

Dual Damascene Dielectric Etch Approaches

3-35

4.1

Trends in Minimum Feature Size for Dynamic RAMS

4-4

4.2

Market Shares for Dry Etch Equipment

4-7

4.3

Market Shares for Strip Equipment

4-10

4.4

Distribution of Etch Sales by Type

4-14

4.5

Distribution of Etch Sales by Device

4-17

4.6

Geographical Distribution of Equipment Purchases

4-19

5.1

Typical First Year Single Wafer System Cost Analysis

5-17

6.1

Relationship Between Device Yield and Particles

6-9

6.2

Sources of Particles

6-12

6.3

Relationship Between Die Yield and Chip Size

6-16

TABLES

3.1

Silicon Wafer Usage

3-2

3.2

Plasma Source Comparison

3-12

3.3

Typical Process Specifications

3-18

3.4

Dry Resist Stripping Systems

3-51

4.1

Worldwide Dry Etch Market Shares

4-8

4.2

Worldwide Dry Strip Market Shares

4-11

4.3

Worldwide Market Forecast of Plasma Etching Systems

4-12

4.4

Distribution of Etch Sales by Device by Vendor

4-16

4.5

Number of Layers To Be Etched

4-20

4.6

Distribution of Wafer Starts

4-21

4.7

Feature Sizes of Equipment Capabilities

4-22

5.1

Overall Roadmap of Technology Characteristics

5-3

5.2

Levels of Integration of Dynamic Rams

5-5

5.3

Interconnect Levels of Logic Devices

5-6

6.1

0.18µm Etch Process Specifications

6-22