Furnace annealing and rapid thermal annealing (RTA) are two common heat treatment processes, mainly used in semiconductor manufacturing and materials science. Their main differences are heating rate, temperature control and processing time.
Furnace Annealing
Processing Capacity:
Supported Size: 4-8 inches
Equipment Capacity:
Maximum Heating Temperature: 1250℃
Maximum Heating Rate:
Temperature Uniformity:
Process Gas Path:
Ultimate Vacuum:
1. Principle: Furnace annealing is carried out in a traditional high-temperature furnace, where the material is slowly heated to the required temperature over a long period of time and then slowly cooled.
2. Heating Rate: Slow, usually a few degrees to tens of degrees per minute.
3. Temperature Control: The temperature control is precise and uniform, suitable for large-scale processing.
4. Processing Time: Usually takes several hours to dozens of hours, depending on the material and process requirements.
5. Application:
- Diffusion process (such as doping diffusion)
- Oxidation process (such as generating silicon oxide)
- Annealing stress (such as reducing lattice defects and internal stress)
- Used for defect elimination, impurity activation, silicide formation, ohmic contact annealing and other processes after ion implantation of silicon and compound semiconductor materials.
Rapid Thermal Annealing (RTA)
Processing capability:
Supported size: 4-8 inches
Equipment capability:
Maximum heating temperature: 1300℃
Maximum heating rate: 150℃/s
Temperature uniformity: ±1%
Process gas path: N2, O2, Ar
Ultimate vacuum: 4x10-2mbar
1. Principle: RTA uses high-power light sources (such as halogen lamps, lasers) to quickly heat the material in a very short time, and then quickly cool it.
2. Heating rate: extremely fast, usually hundreds to thousands of degrees per second.
3. Temperature control: The temperature rises and falls very quickly, usually only lasting a few seconds to a few minutes, and the temperature distribution is relatively uneven, but it can be controlled by a fast feedback system.
4. Processing time: A few seconds to a few minutes, suitable for fast processing and small batch experiments.
5. Applications:
- Activation ion doping (such as activation ion implantation)
- Improvement of interface properties (such as interface repair)
- Crystallization and annealing of thin film materials (such as crystallization of polysilicon thin films)
Comparison:
1. Time and efficiency:
- Furnace annealing has a long processing time, which is suitable for mass production and has low efficiency.
- Rapid annealing has a short time, which is suitable for small batches and laboratory use and has high efficiency.
2. Temperature control and uniformity:
- Furnace annealing temperature control is precise and uniform, suitable for processing processes requiring high temperature uniformity.
- Rapid annealing temperature rises and falls quickly, but the temperature uniformity is relatively poor, and a precise control system is required.
3. Equipment and cost:
- Furnace annealing equipment is complex and occupies a large area, but is suitable for large-scale production and has a relatively low unit cost.
- Rapid annealing equipment is relatively compact, occupies a small area, is suitable for rapid response and small batch production, and has a relatively high unit cost.
In summary, furnace annealing and rapid annealing each have their own advantages and application scenarios. The choice of which process depends on the specific process requirements, production scale, and cost-benefit analysis.
OMeda (Shanghai Omedasemi Co.,Ltd) was founded in 2021 by 3 doctors with more than 10 years of experience in nanpfabrication. It currently has 15 employees and has rich experience in nanofabrication (coating, lithography, etching, two-photon printing, bonding) and other processes. We support nanofabrication of 4/6/8-inch wafers.
