Using VICTORY PROCESS for Rapid Geometry Prototyping Including Advanced Geometrical Operations

Introduction

The fully three-dimensional process simulator VICTORY PROCESS allows user to perform a wide range of manipulations of the structure’s geometry in order to obtain the device of the desired shape. Most of the supported operations correspond to real technological processes (etching or deposition, CMP, epitaxy and others) so in many cases an engineer can establish a direct link between the technological processes step and an input deck statement of VICTORY PROCESS.

VICTORY PROCESS can simulate complicated full physics-based etching and deposition processes which take into account

• reactor characteristics (particle flux),
• shading effects and/or
• secondary effects like redeposition of the etched material

Naturally, such full physics-based simulations can take a long time and may be influenced by numerical error. However, many advanced operations may be performed very quickly and accurately using either the ‘geometrical’ mode of VICTORY PROCESS or very simple physical models. This paper covers several aspects of etching and deposition process characteristics which can be obtained by applying these fast operational modes of VICTORY PROCESS. Among those characteristics are :

• Rounded corners
• Tapered sidewall
• Non-conformal epitaxial growth
• Selective geometrical etch
• Selective CMP

In this paper we describe in details how each feature can be obtained.