The MRS Symposium Proceeding series is an internationally recognised reference suitable for researchers and practitioners.

This book covers all aspects of physical vapor deposition (PVD) process technology from the characterizing and preparing the substrate material, through deposition processing and film characterization, to post-deposition processing. The emphasis of the book is on the aspects of the process flow that are critical to economical deposition of films that can meet the required performance specifications. The book covers subjects seldom treated in the literature: substrate characterization, adhesion, cleaning and the processing. The book also covers the widely discussed subjects of vacuum technology and the fundamentals of individual deposition processes. However, the author uniquely relates these topics to the practical issues that arise in PVD processing, such as contamination control and film growth effects, which are also rarely discussed in the literature. In bringing these subjects together in one book, the reader can understand the interrelationship between various aspects of the film deposition processing and the resulting film properties. The author draws upon his long experience with developing PVD processes and troubleshooting the processes in the manufacturing environment, to provide useful hints for not only avoiding problems, but also for solving problems when they arise. He uses actual experiences, called ""war stories"", to emphasize certain points. Special formatting of the text allows a reader who is already knowledgeable in the subject to scan through a section and find discussions that are of particular interest. The author has tried to make the subject index as useful as possible so that the reader can rapidly go to sections of particular interest. Extensive references allow the reader to pursue subjects in greater detail if desired. The book is intended to be both an introduction for those who are new to the field and a valuable resource to those already in the field. The discussion of transferring technology between R&D and manufacturing provided in Appendix 1, will be of special interest to the manager or engineer responsible for moving a PVD product and process from R&D into production. Appendix 2 has an extensive listing of periodical publications and professional societies that relate to PVD processing. The extensive Glossary of Terms and Acronyms provided in Appendix 3 will be of particular use to students and to those not fully conversant with the terminology of PVD processing or with the English language.

The focus of semiconductor wafer processing is rapidly changing. Pure device performance is no longer sufficient to ensure a technology's success as IC chips approach 1GB. Yield, reliability, cost and manufacturability are principal drivers of the industry. Great strides have been made in understanding the science and impact of front-end (pre-metal) chemical surface preparations and are beginning to influence the 'real' technology and its evolution. Efforts in understanding particle and metals removal, along with Si surface etching and microroughness are prime examples of areas where work is beginning to pay off together with processes related to the back-end (post-metal). The focus of this book is to report new findings and to discuss surface preparation with an emphasis on gaining a mechanistic understanding of the underlying science upon which the technology is based. Topics include: megasonic cleaning; SC1 technology; surface preparation and gate oxide reliability; CMP/CMP cleaning; post-etch processing; surface microroughness; wet chemical cleaning and gate oxide integrity; analytical studies of surfaces; wet chemical cleaning/etching; dry wafer cleaning; and environmentally friendly processing.