In the front end of the line of semiconductor wafer fabrication, GENEVA STP is capable of producing high performance Nickel Silicides while maintaining excellent uniformity, high throughput, and very low cost of ownership.

In the back end of the line of semiconductor wafer manufacture, GENEVA STP is able to process high quality low k and copper anneal for interconnection integration in a single wafer processing format and still achieve very high throughput with very low cost of ownership.

In the area of wafer level packaging, GENEVA STP provides novel solutions to solder reflow with a one-step processing by removing the need for flux. The end results is the elimination of flux dispensing system, large foot print belt furnace, and flux wash machine with a small, simple, high throughput, and low cost of ownership GENEVA STP system.

GENEVA STP can accommodate different heating modules for a variety of process applications. The heating methods include contact heating, close proximity heating, radiation heating, and vacuum heating depending on the modules adapted into the system. Fully automated with cassette-to-cassette wafer loading and a tight ambient controlled loadlock, it is best suited for shorter time-at-temperature applications such as solder reflow, metal anneal, silicide formation, low k dielectric material anneal, and others. It has a very high throughput for processes requiring time-at-temperature shorter than 10 minutes.

There are three important steps in traditional wafer level packaging: dispensing flux, reflow solder, and washing flux residues. GENEVA STP uses advanced no-flux processing to combine these three steps into one. The end result is a fully automated solution with much smaller foot print and lower cost.

SEMIgear is presently targeting two different applications with the GENEVA STP. The first, solder reflow, is used for flip-chip packaging applications. The reflow process and conditions are essential for generating smooth, spherical solder bumps with minimum void content. This operation allows the solder balls to be formed on the semiconductor chips with no oxide, little segregation of tin/lead, and minimum inter-metallic compound formation. The second application is the copper/low k annealing. This is the new process for technology nodes of 0.13um or smaller. The ambient control and vacuum capability are most essential in this application.

SEMIgear has since developed systems to handle both the 200mm and 300mm wafters for solder reflow,copper anneal, and low-k curling application.
The GENEVA STP200 is designed for processing 125, 150, 200mm wafers.
The GENEVA STP300 is fundamentally a scaled-up version of the GENEVA STP200, capable of processing both 200mm and 300mm wafers with more additional automation features. With automation, superior ambient control, and fast ramp rates, SEMIgear GENEVA STP can achieve high throughput with excellent results. It is the tool of choice when competing with belt furnaces and rapid furnaces in the semiconductor solder reflow application and tube furnaces in the copper/low k anneal applciation.

GENEVA STP200 (Serial Thermal Processor for 125mm, 150mm, and 200mm wafers)

GENEVA STP300 (Serial Thermal Processor for 200mm and 300mm wafers)

A Novel No Flux Solder Reflow for 300/200mm Wafers

Traditional wafer level solder reflow process involves dispensing of flux and washing off residual flux before and after solder reflow resulting in high capital and operating costs due to large clean room space requirement, and machine cost, and high gas and water consumptions. The not-so-clean processing conditions also make it difficult to eliminate or reduce voids inside the solder balls. SEMIgear unique multi-station processing platform, GENEVA STP (Serial Thermal Processor), offers solutions to these issues by providing a one-step no flux reflow process to eliminate the flux dispensing system before reflow and the de-flux system after reflow. With high throughput, high vacuum capability, low thermal budget with fast ramp up and cool down rates, and a small footprint, this state-of-the-art, fully automated equipment is the ideal solution for high lead, eutectic, and no lead solder reflow processing.

A Novel Solution for Nickel Salicides in 30nm Applications

Salicide process is a technique often used in advanced process technologies to reduce gate and junction resistivity. A recent paper published by TI scientists has shown that nickel silicides have several device performance advantages over the conventional Cobalt silicides that are currently used by major manufacturers of semiconductor devices. The alternative nickel salicide processing requires longer process time at low temperature to produce NiSi that has low resistivity, low silicon consumption, and thin gate silicide formation resulting in lower dose consumption and good device performance. The GENEVA STP (Serial Thermal Processor), developed by SEMIgear, Inc., not only meets the processing specifications, but also provides a low cost, high throughput, and small footprint solution for nickel salicide applications. Designed to operate at a steady state environment for both temperature and ambient conditions with its unique system of serial processing stations, GENEVA STP has demonstrated its capabilities for process repeatability and reproducibility with excellent results.