Silicon, as an electronic substrate, has sparked a technological revolution that has allowed the realization of very large scale integration (VLSI) of circuits on a chip. These 6 fingernail-sized chips currently carry more than 10 components, consume low power, cost a few dollars, and are capable of performing data processing, numerical computations, and signal conditioning tasks at gigabit-per-second rates. Silicon, as a mechanical substrate, promises to spark another technological revolution that will allow computer chips to come with the eyes, ears, and even hands needed for closed-loop control systems. The silicon VLSI process technology which has been perfected over three decades can now be extended towards the production of novel structures such as epitaxially grown optoelectronic GaAs devices, buried layers for three dimensional integration, micromechanical mechanisms, integrated photonic circuits, and artificial neural networks. This book begins by addressing the processing of electronic and optoelectronic devices produced by using lattice mismatched epitaxial GaAs films on Si. Two viable technologies are considered. In one, silicon is used as a passive substrate in order to take advantage of its favorable properties over bulk GaAs; in the other, GaAs and Si are combined on the same chip in order to develop IC configurations with improved performance and increased levels of integration. The relationships between device operation and substrate quality are discussed in light of potential electronic and optoelectronic applications.

As feature dimensions of integrated circuits shrink, the associated geometrical constraints on junction depth impose severe restrictions on the thermal budget for processing such devices. Furthermore, due to the relatively low melting point of the first aluminum metallization level, such restrictions extend to the fabrication of multilevel structures that are now essential in increasing packing density of interconnect lines. The fabrication of ultra large scale integrated (ULSI) devices under thermal budget restrictions requires the reassessment of existing and the development of new microelectronic materials and processes. This book addresses three broad but interrelated areas. The first area focuses on the subject of rapid thermal processing (RTP), a technology that allows minimization of processing time while relaxing the constraints on high temperature. Initially developed to limit dopant redistribution, current applications of RTP are shown here to encompass annealing, oxidation, nitridation, silicidation, glass reflow, and contact sintering. In a second but complementary area, advances in equipment design and performance of rapid thermal processing equipment are presented in conjunction with associated issues of temperature measurement and control. Defect mechanisms are assessed together with the resulting properties of rapidly deposited and processed films. The concept of RTP integration for a full CMOS device process is also examined together with its impact on device characteristics.

The primary thrust of very large scale integration (VLS ) is the miniaturization of devices to increase packing density, achieve higher speed, and consume lower power. The fabrication of integrated circuits containing in excess of four million components per chip with design rules in the submicron range has now been made possible by the introduction of innovative circuit designs and the development of new microelectronic materials and processes. This book addresses the latter challenge by assessing the current status of the science and technology associated with the production of VLSI silicon circuits. It represents the cumulative effort of experts from academia and industry who have come together to blend their expertise into a tutorial overview and cohesive update of this rapidly expanding field. A balance of fundamental and applied contributions cover the basics of microelectronics materials and process engineering. Subjects in materials science include silicon, silicides, resists, dielectrics, and interconnect metallization. Subjects in process engineering include crystal growth, epitaxy, oxidation, thin film deposition, fine-line lithography, dry etching, ion implantation, and diffusion. Other related topics such as process simulation, defects phenomena, and diagnostic techniques are also included. This book is the result of a NATO-sponsored Advanced Study Institute (AS ) held in Castelvecchio Pascoli, Italy. Invited speakers at this institute provided manuscripts which were edited, updated, and integrated with other contributions solicited from non-participants to this AS .

The primary thrust of very large scale integration (VLS ) is the miniaturization of devices to increase packing density, achieve higher speed, and consume lower power. The fabrication of integrated circuits containing in excess of four million components per chip with design rules in the submicron range has now been made possible by the introduction of innovative circuit designs and the development of new microelectronic materials and processes. This book addresses the latter challenge by assessing the current status of the science and technology associated with the production of VLSI silicon circuits. It represents the cumulative effort of experts from academia and industry who have come together to blend their expertise into a tutorial overview and cohesive update of this rapidly expanding field. A balance of fundamental and applied contributions cover the basics of microelectronics materials and process engineering. Subjects in materials science include silicon, silicides, resists, dielectrics, and interconnect metallization. Subjects in process engineering include crystal growth, epitaxy, oxidation, thin film deposition, fine-line lithography, dry etching, ion implantation, and diffusion. Other related topics such as process simulation, defects phenomena, and diagnostic techniques are also included. This book is the result of a NATO-sponsored Advanced Study Institute (AS ) held in Castelvecchio Pascoli, Italy. Invited speakers at this institute provided manuscripts which were edited, updated, and integrated with other contributions solicited from non-participants to this AS .

The European Materials Society decided to hold a Symposium entitled "Materials and Processes for Submicron Technologies" in June 16-19, 1998, within the yearly E-MRS Spring Meeting in Strasbourg, France.
The purpose of this meeting was to discuss the results of the advances in microelectronic devices directly relating to the reduction in size of features of the devices down to submicron size. When electronic materials are patterned to these small sizes, their physico-chemical properties show many aspects (interdiffusion, electromigration, etc.), many of these not well known yet. The articles presented in this volume, 28 in number, are representative of the 40 papers accepted for this particular E-MRS Meeting (Symposium N).

GaAs on Si: Device Applications.- Substrate Considerations.- Majority-Carrier Devices.- Minority-Carrier Devices.- Conclusions.- Ion Beam Synthesis in Silicon.- The Ion Implantation Process.- Buried SiO2 Layers in Si.- Buried Monocrystalline CoSi2 Layers in Si.- Conclusions.- Ion Beam Processing of Chemical Vapor Deposited Silicon Layers.- Ion Beam Effects.- Epitaxy of Deposited Layers.- Polycrystal Formation.- Technology and Devices for Silicon Based Three-Dimensional Circuits.- 3D-Technology.- Device Characteristics.- Features of 3D-Circuits.- Demonstrators.- Conclusions.- Integrated Fabrication of Micromechanical Structures on Silicon.- Mechanical Properties of Silicon.- Thermal Properties.- Fabrication Techniques.- Etching.- Anisotropic Etching.- Boron Doped Etch Stop.- Electrochemical Etch Stop.- Embedded Layers.- Surface Microstructures.- Bonding of Layers.- Electrostatic Bonding.- Oxide Bonding.- Bonding to Metals.- Conclusion.- Micromachining of Silicon for Sensors.- Physical Properties of Silicon.- Transduction Techniques.- Fabrication Techniques.- Pressure Sensors.- Accelerometers.- Microresonator Sensors.- Optical Microresonator Sensors.- Conclusions.- Micromachining of Silicon for Sensors.- Hybrid or Monolithic Approach for optoelectronics: That is the question.- About the Hybrid Approach Material Competitors.- Silicon Based Technologies developed at LETI.- Planar and Channel waveguide Properties of IOS Technologies.- Field of Activities.- Integrated Optical Spectrum Analyser (IOSA).- Integrated Optical Sensors.- Optical Communication Applications.- Optical Memories.- Conclusion.- Principles and Implementation of Artificial Neural Networks.- Binary Networks.- Analog Networks.- Miscellaneous Networks.- Future VLSI Networks.- Conclusions.- List of Participants.