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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 10 February 2011
Rapid Thermal Processing (RTP) has sometimes been used to increase bipolar NPN Beta (Hfe, or current gain) for a polysilicon emitter BICMOS process. It has been demonstrated that Beta may be increased by 20%, compared to normal non-RTP process values, by the addition of an RTP cycle after the final high temperature furnace step. In our work it was found that emitter-base reverse bias degrades Beta much more severely for a process which uses RTP, than for a non-RTP process. In this paper we will report on the electrical performance effects of RTP on a variety of process parameters. The reliability effects on NPN Beta degradation lifetime, and NMOS reliability effects will be discussed as well.