ION IMPLANT EQUIPMENT CHALLENGES FOR 0.18 MU-M AND BEYOND

Ion implant manufacturers face process-and productivity-driven equipme nt performance challenges as device design rules shrink into the less than or equal to 0.18-mu m regime and wafer size moves from 200 to 300 mm. These challenges apply to all three implanter segments (high curr ent, medium current, and high energy) and can be separated into two di stinct categories: process-level and productivity-level challenges. Ap proaches to these challenges vary among ion implant equipment manufact urers. Several key process-and productivity-level challenges will have the greatest effect on Mure equipment designs. These are the formatio n of ultrashallow junctions in the sub-100-nm range in production envi ronments (high-current implanters); the cost-effective formation of hi gh-dose, high-energy buried layers (high-energy implanters); and the p recision placement of dopants in sub-0.25-mu m channels (medium-curren t implanters).