Quantum dot arrays in silicon and germanium

Electrons and holes confined in quantum dots define excellent building blocks for quantum emergence, simulation, and computation. Silicon and germanium are compatible with standard semiconductor manufacturing and contain stable isotopes with zero nuclear spin, thereby serving as excellent hosts for spins with long quantum coherence. Here, we...

Three-Tiered Risk Assessment for Engineered Nanomaterials. A Use Case for the Semiconductor Industry

Safety of engineered nanomaterials is a new scientific field, which draws increasing attention in the literature. Among the challenges the field is facing are the insufficient amount and quality of nanotoxicological data and the ambiguity in the metrics describing the exposure. This results in substantial difficulties in the actual...

Sounding out buried nanostructures using subsurface ultrasonic resonance force microscopy

Imaging of nanoscale structures buried in a covering material is an extremely challenging task, but is also considered extremely important in a wide variety of fields. From fundamental research into the way living cells are built up to process control in semiconductor manufacturing would all benefit from the capability to image nanoscale...

Characterizing electron beam induced damage in metrology and inspection of advance devices

Lab- and field-test results of MFIG, the first real-time vacuum-contamination sensor

To produce high-end products, clean vacuum is often required. Even small amounts of high-mass molecules can reduce product yield. The challenge is to timely detect the presence of relevant contaminants. Here is where MFIG can help1. The massfiltered ion gauge sensor (MFIG) continuously and selectively monitors the presence of high-mass...

Wet-etch sequence optimisation incorporating time dependent chemical maintenance

Wafer fabrication is the major cost contributor in semiconductor manufacturing. One of the steps in the fabrication is the removal of exposed layers in an automatic wet-etch station with chemicals. In time, these chemicals get polluted and their effectiveness decreases. Therefore, the chemicals in these baths need to be renewed or maintained on...

Examples and Case Studies

Release of nanomaterials may occur during any stage of the life-cycle and can eventually lead to exposure to humans, the environment or products. Due to the large number of combinations of release processes and nanomaterials, release scenarios can currently only be tested on a case-by-case basis. This chapter presents five case studies on...