Particle Reduction through Temperature Control in Furnace Equipment for LPCVD Process

Particle contamination during wafer processing posed a critical challenge in semiconductor manufacturing, as it directly affected device yield and reliability. This study investigates the mechanisms of particle generation in the polycrystalline silicon (Poly-Si) deposition process using low pressure chemical vapor deposition (LPCVD) within a furnace-type system. Using energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), the analysis identifies wafer warpage–caused by thermal stress differentials–as a key contributor to particle formation. To address this issue, the study develops a method that enhances heat transfer uniformity between the wafer center and edge, thereby reducing film stress and suppressing warpage. Experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness and reliability of the proposed approach. Production results show an improvement of approximately 6.7% in particle counts. When applied to more than 10,000 wafers in mass production, the optimized deposition method achieves a significant reduction in particle generation, leading to improved process yield and reliability.