Kinetics and Mechanism of Energetic Events in Deposition Reactor Systems for Semiconductor Fabrication

Abstract

The study of the thesis is about the energetic material that are used in semiconductor industries. A process model is developed to simulate the processes that results in some run-away exothermic reactions involving reactive deposited materials in the downstream of typical deposition reactors used in semiconductor manufacturing, such as chemical vapor deposition(CVD) and atomic level deposition(ALD). The potential sources of energetic material have been pointed out in the study. This model takes into account various transport and reactions involved in the process and reveals the details of the mechanism that trigger these uncontrolled energetic reactions and the potential damaging effects due to formation of hotspots. Using the developed model, a parameter study is conducted to see the effect of various parameters on this process. In particular, the concentration of reactants, the accumulation due to competition between the deposition and reaction, the gas flow rate and the properties of reactants and reactions play the key role in the trigger mechanism as well as the location and time of hot spot formation. Based on the results, a number of techniques are suggested to minimize and mitigate the occurrence of these energetic events.