Ultrafast Laser Processing for Next Generation Memory Repair

摘要

The reduced thermal nature of ultrafast laser processing attracts many to develop the laser technology and to explore their applications in semiconductor manufacturing. We report here for the first time the systematic study and the results of using pico-second lasers for semiconductor memory repair. We found that the thermal effect is dramatically reduced by the reduction in laser pulse duration from the conventional nanoseconds to pico-seconds. The neighboring damage caused by such thermal effect is therefore reduced, allowing further reduction in spacing (pitch) between links into the required dimensions for the next generation of memory devices like DRAM. We have also found that due to the ultrashort pulses, the link blowing process is less chaotic compared to the conventional laser process, which results in much better control on substrate damage.