FSI receives ORION single wafer cleaning system order from leading foundry for 32/28nm FEOL apps

MINNEAPOLIS, USA: FSI International Inc., a leading supplier of surface conditioning equipment for microelectronics manufacturing, announced today that it has received an order for its ORION single wafer processing system from a second major semiconductor foundry based in Asia.

The ORION system, scheduled to ship later this summer, was selected primarily for its superior performance in nickel platinum (NiPt) silicide processing and all-wet photoresist stripping in 32/28nm front-end-of-line (FEOL) applications.

“This order is evidence of the performance advantages offered by the ORION system in advanced processing applications,” said John Ely, Vice President of Global Sales, Marketing and Service at FSI.

“The selection was made after a rigorous competitive evaluation. FSI successfully demonstrated the ORION system’s unique ability to completely remove unreacted NiPt (10 percent) and to provide all-wet photoresist stripping using the high temperature ViPRTM process. This order also represents the continued success and acceptance of FSI’s leading advanced single wafer cleaning technology by the world’s leading foundries,” continued Ely.

Unique among single wafer processing tools, the ORION system’s closed chamber design effectively contains process chemicals, permitting the use of the aggressive, high temperature sulfuric peroxide mixture (SPM) chemistry of the ViPR process. Standard SPM chemistries are unable to completely remove unreacted platinum (Pt).

Hydrochloric acid (HCl) based chemistries can remove the metal, but cause parasitic oxidation of the silicide. The ViPR process effectively removes unreacted Pt without causing parasitic oxidation, thus improving the quality, repeatability and speed of metal stripping in advanced NiPt salicide processes and extending the use of these processes to future CMOS generations.

At the same time, the high reactivity of the ViPR process enables the ORION system to strip implanted photoresist by wet chemical action alone (for all but the most extreme implant conditions), eliminating the need for ashing and reducing the stripping sequence to a fast, single step.