Method for recycling/reclaiming a monitor wafer

Abstract

The present invention provides a method for recycling / reclaiming a monitor wafer and a method for testing a manufacturing process. The method for recycling / reclaiming the monitor wafer, among other steps, includes providing a monitor wafer having a number of front surface defects thereon (110), and annealing the monitor wafer in a presence of an inert gas to correct one or more of the number of front surface defects (150).

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION [0001] The present invention is directed, in general, to a method for manufacturing an integrated circuit and, more specifically, to a method for recycling / reclaiming a monitor wafer used in the manufacture of an integrated circuit. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0002] In practical semiconductor fabrication, hundreds and hundreds of individual manufacturing steps are required to convert a bare silicon wafer into one or more operational integrated circuits (ICs). In an effort to save time and money, after each individual manufacturing step is set up a monitor or test wafer is processed through the given manufacturing step to examine whether the manufacturing step achieves its intended purpose. If the specific manufacturing step being tested achieves its intended purpose, then the manufacturer is confident that actual device wafers may be subjected to the manufacturing step. However, if the specific manufacturing step being tested does not achieve its in...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0006] To address the above-discussed deficiencies of the prior art, the present invention provides a method for recycling/reclaiming a monitor wafer and a method for testing a manufacturing process. The method for recycling/reclaiming the monitor wafer, among other steps, includes providing a monitor wafer having a number of front surface defects thereon, and annealing the monitor wafer in a presence of an inert gas to correct one or more of the number of front surface defects.

[0007] The method for testing a manufacturing proces

Problems solved by technology

However, if the specific manufacturing step being tested does not achieve its intended purpose, the manufacturing step may be tweaked and tested again, without subjecting actual device wafers to the unsatisfactory manufacturing step.

The industry, as a result of the extreme number and cost of the monitor wafers being used, currently attempts to recycle or reclaim these used monitor wafers.

However, conventional technologies do not always thoroughly restore the original condition of a monitor wafer.

For example, conventional technologies are not capable of removing or reducing the number of crystal oriented pits (COPs) or oxygen induced stacking faults (OISFs), thereby making it more atomically flat, that show up on the surface of the monitor wafer.

As the COPs and OISFs show up as light point defects, similar to airborne particles, the industry generally finds them undesirable.

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