TEOS Process
I have uploaded the TEOS process outline:
TEOS is tetra-ethyl-ortho-silicate, or equivalently tetra-ethoxy-silane. TEOS slowly hydrolyzes into silicon dioxide and ethanol when in contact with ambient moisture.
IMPROVEMENTS:
-This process prevents us from having to expose the front-side of the silicon during processing. Concurrently, this eliminates the need for aggressive cleaning of the front surface before film deposition.
-Stress may play a role in porosity/pore density. If this is the case, the additional stress of the front-side thermal oxide may give us a different morphology.
-So far, TEOS wafers seem to clear faster during the EDP etch. I have recorded a 12 minute time interval from when the wafer first began to clear to finish. Not sure why this is the case yet (?)
CONCERNS:
-Pinhole Density
-We might have to do some stress-matching between the deposited and thermal oxide films.