Published online by Cambridge University Press: 21 February 2011
Although the benefits of in-situ processing seem intuitively obvious as higher yield due to particle and contamination control, there is presently little data to support these claims. However, materials characterization data on in-situ grown films suggest that it will be advantageous. In this paper we explore the advantages of in-situ processing in a load-locked rapid thermal chemical vapor deposition (RTCVD) chamber for such processes as cleaning, epitaxial growth, oxidation and polysilicon growth. The cold wall nature and low thermal mass of the RTCVD chamber make it an ideal candidate for a cluster module for thermal processing in an integrated process tool.