Abstract

Integrated circuits consist of many devices or components each of which has a specific combination of conducting, semiconducting, and nonconducting layers that performs a single electrical function. Many of these devices are connected (integrated) into a complete integrated circuit or chip, and thousands of chips are formed simultaneously on a wafer. Increased miniaturization of device features, together with an increase in chip size and a concomitant increase in the number of chips per wafer, has led to increasingly sophisticated electronic products. Silicon technology predominates in the semiconductor industry. Thus developments in silicon technology, as well as developments in the manufacture of devices on silicon, drive advances in integrated circuitry. The basics of silicon technology including crystal growth and wafer preparation are described. The fabrication processes that deposit layers such as silicon epitaxy and oxidation, dielectric film formation, and metallization are discussed. Those techniques utilized to modify the electrical properties of the layers using dopants, and those employed for patterning and process integration, are presented as are the instrumental techniques that enable the analysis of the resultant circuits.