Wafer Inspection System: Calibration and Measurement
Wafer surface scanners are widely used in semiconductor industries to detect particle contamination on wafers. The performance characteristics of a PMS SAS-3600 wafer surface scanner have been evaluated using ideal polystyrene latex (PSL). It was also used to measure irregularly shaped silicon particles. Three sizes of PSL spheres (0.199μm, 0.3μm, and 0.426μm) were used to study the sizing accuracy and counting efficiency of this wafer scanner. The results show that this scanner sizes 0.199μm and 0.3μm PSL reasonably accurate. But it cannot size 0.426μm PSL very well. The background noise lever was so high that this scanner could not measure particles near its nominal lower detection limit: 0.1μm. It over-counted Si particles by 28%. An electrostatic enhanced wafer deposition chamber was used to prepare the test wafers. Both the theoretical calculations and experimental results show that electrostatic force increases the deposition velocity by 2 orders of magnitudes for particles smaller than 1μm. The sedimentation is the dominant mechanism for particles larger than 1μm.
Particle Deposition on Semiconductor Wafers
The deposition of aerosol particles on semiconductor wafers in the typical manufacturing environment of the clean room has been calculated using the equations of convective diffusion and sedimentation. The result shows that the deposition velocity decreases with increasing particle size in the diffusion regime and increases with increasing particle size in the sedimentation regime, with a minimum deposition velocity occurring in the vicinity of 0.2 μm. The minimum deposition velocity varies from approximately 0.2 × 10−3 to 0.7 × 10−3 cm/s, depending on the size of the wafer, the airflow velocity, and whether the wafer is freestanding or placed on top of a workbench.
Neutron Residual Stress Measurements on Rail Sections for Different Production Conditions
Rail sectioning with subsequent neutron diffraction experiments has been used to assess residual stresses in the rails. In this study we present the results of neutron stress measurements performed at the NIST Center for Neutron Research (NCNR) on rail sections from rails that were produced under various conditions. Specifically, these are air-cooled, air-cooled and roller-straightened, head-hardened and head-hardened and roller-straightened. More significantly, a head-hardened and roller-straightened rail was also studied after service to elucidate evolution of the service-induced residual stresses. In the latter case both a transverse-cut slice and the central region of a 0.53 m long piece were studied. Measurements on this piece are the first in which triaxial stresses have been determined for an intact rail. Neutron strain measurements with 3×3×3 mm3 spatial resolution were successfully employed for transversally cut slices to verify the difference in the stress state depending on the production process. Although examination of slices allows determination of only two-dimensional stresses in the plane of the slice, additional measurements on obliquely-cut slices, which were also carried out, and utilization of FEM gives the possibility of reconstructing the full triaxial stress distribution. Together, these approaches provide a better understanding of rail fabrication and the possibility of improving the durability and safety of rails in the future.Copyright © 2004 by ASME