The total process cost of selective epitaxial growth (SEG)dielectric isolation process as compared to LOCOS

摘要

The traditional local oxidation of silicon (LOCOS) deviceisolation process is widely used in the semiconductor industry. Yet, asthe need for below 0.18 microns and smaller devices increases, thestress induced leakage currents and device spacing of LOCOS becomes asevere limitation. The use of Shallow Trench Isolation (STI) has alsobeen developed. However, recent improvements in the selective epitaxialgrowth dielectric isolation (SEG-DI) process have provided analternative device isolation technique. The simpler SEG-DI processallows for higher packing density and reduced leakage current byeliminating stress. The DI-SEG process has been shown to beapproximately the same cost as the LOCOS process