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Vapor Phase Decomposition

The requirements for the purity of materials and processes in silicon and compound semiconductor technology are becoming increasingly demanding, necessitating effective methods for their assessment. 

The Vapor Phase Decomposition (VPD) technology is an established system for detecting chemical contaminants in wafer material and on the surface of silicon wafers. 

In the case of compound semiconductors such as SiC, GaAs, and others, the standard VPD process cannot be applied due to the different chemical behaviors of these materials. Nevertheless, it remains essential to examine the surface for contaminants in order to avoid jeopardizing subsequent process steps and the final device.

 

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The process

In VPD technology, the surface of the substrate material is decomposed in the gas phase, and the reaction products are removed. Contaminants present in the ablated material generally do not enter the gas phase and remain on the surface. In the next step, a droplet of fluid is guided over the surface, absorbing the remaining impurities. The impurities are thus concentrated to improve their detectability in subsequent analysis, for example in ICP-MS

Droplet-Based Surface Analysis

With conventional compound semiconductors, the etching step commonly used for silicon is ineffective due to the different chemical behavior. Therefore, the surface is scanned here using a droplet without a prior etching step. However, since the surface in this case is hydrophilic, the droplet is maintained using a specialized scanning tube. The analysis of the sample is then carried out in the same way as with the conventional VPD process.

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Vapor‑phase plasma etching
Droplet scan without plasma etching

Relevant industries

Absolute cleanliness to the wafer material and in all single processes are the highest priorities in the manufacturing of integrated circuits.
Our products and processes are used in many areas of electronic device manufacturing. From wafer production to finished components, we make significant contributions to the quality of our customers’ products.

Semiconductor

Wafer Manufacturers:
Quality assessment is critically important in wafer manufacturing. Early detection of possible defects reduces production costs. Our systems are therefore used worldwide in wafer production.

Chip Manufacturers:
The production of complex electronic components requires many processing steps on the wafers, where the highest standards of cleanliness are essential.

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The systems / overview

PVA offers solutions for all applications of ultra-trace analysis, from manually loaded stand-alone single modules to fully integrated VPD-ICP-MS systems. 

These are divided into two product groups: WSPS (Wafer Surface Preparation System), which provides measurement and reference samples for external measurement equipment, and WSMS (Wafer Surface Measurement System), which utilizes an integrated ICP-MS to analyze the samples directly and automatically deliver the measurement results.

Modular Concept & Configurable Options

Our modular concept is based on modules for various applications and all common wafer sizes. Some examples include:

  • PAD-Fume-S enables etching of bulk material using HF/ozone.
  • PAD-Dry-T is used for expelling volatile residues
  • PAD-Scan-B allows etching and scanning of the wafer edge including a small area of the front and back sides of the wafer.
  • PAD-Scan UB scan the upper bevel part of the wafer and monitors it using an optical system
  • PAD-Scan-Y enables scanning of hydrophilic surfaces.
  • PAD-Scan-E is used to reduce unwanted Si-matrix in the VPD droplet.

Driven by Partnership

PVA TePla collaborates with leading institutes, wafer manufacturers, and chip producers, continuously incorporating customer requirements and feedback into the development of its products.

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Wafer Surface Preparation System
Wafer surface measurement system with enclosed chamber, robot arm, and control workstation.
Cleanroom setup with monitor, keyboard, and wafer containers beside semiconductor equipment.

The systems at a glance

WSPS

Wafer Surface Preparation System

The WSPS system covers the entire process, either through cost-effective stand-alone single modules or modules integrated into a compact system housing equipped with FFU units and the necessary infrastructure.

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WSPS

Wafer Surface Measurement System

The WSMS system is an advancement of the WSPS series, combining the excellent detection limits of the WSPS series with a fully integrated ICP-MS.

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