[labnetwork] LPCVD film anomaly

[Terre Briggs]

Hello All,
    We are currently having film quality issues with our LPCVD Low Stress
Nitride, HTO and Nitride films. Without getting into all of the details
just yet I am sharing with you some SEM images. The anomaly, as our furnace
manufacturer describes it, are what look like spheres, or bubbles on the
surface of the films. We are pretty confident that the spheres are only on
the surface and not down into the film itself.
It is very random across the wafers and across the wafer load. After
further processing, the spheres come off and leave behind a divot, or
crater on the surface. This can also be seen in the SEM images.
   My question is, has anyone ever seen anything like this with any of your
LPCVD films? I have been working with Tempress for the last several months
to resolve the issue, but they have never seen anything like this, and so
far we have not made any progress in determining the source. Any help would
be appreciated.

Thanks.....Terre

Terre Briggs
Engineer in Research Sr.
Lurie Nanofabrication Laboratory
University of Michigan
1301 Beal Ave.
Ann Arbor, MI 48109
734-320-4470
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