UNIT I

IC FABRICATION
PART-A
1. Mention the advantages of integrated circuits over the discrete circuits
*Miniaturization and hence increased equipment density.
*Cost reduction due to batch processing.
*Increased system reliability due to the elimination of soldered joints.
*Improved functional performance.
*Matched devices.
*Increased operating speeds.
*Reduction in power consumption.

2. Write down the various processes used to fabricate ICs using silicon planar technology.
*Silicon wafer preparation.
* Epitaxial growth
*Oxidation.
*Photolithography.
*Diffusion.
*Ion implantation.
*Isolation.
*Metallisation.
*Assembly processing and packaging.

3. What is the purpose of oxidation?

*SiO2 is an extremely hard protective coating and is unaffected by almost all reagents.
*By selective etching of SiO2, diffusion of impurities through carefully defined windows can be
accomplished to fabricate various components.
4. Why aluminum is preferred for metallization?
*It is a good conductor.
*it is easy to deposit aluminium films using vacuum deposition.
*It makes good mechanical bonds with silicon.
*It forms a low resistance contact.
5. What are the popular IC packages available?
a. Metal can package.
b. Dual-in-line package.
c. Ceramic flat package.
6. Define an Integrated circuit.
An integrated circuit(IC) is a miniature, low cost electronic circuit consisting of active
and passive components fabricated together on a single crystal of silicon. The active components
are transistors and diodes and passive components are resistors and capacitors.
7. Write the basic chemical reaction in the epitaxial growth process of pure silicon.
The basic chemical reaction in the epitaxial growth process of pure silicon is the
hydrogen reduction of silicon tetrachloride. 1200C SiCl4 + 2H2 <> Si + 4 HCl
8. What are the two important properties of SiO2?
1. SiO2 is an extremely hard protective coatng & is unaffected by almost all reagents
except by hydrochloric acid. Thus it stands against any contamination.
2.By selective etching of SiO2 , diffusion of impurities through carefully defined
windows in the SiO2 can be accomplished to fabricate various components.
9. Explain the process of oxidation.
The silicon wafers are stacked up in a quartz boat & then inserted into quartz furnace
tube. The Si wafers are raised to a high temperature in the range of 950 to 1150oC & at the same
time, exposed to a gas containing O2 or H2O or both.The chemical action is Si + 2H2O > Si O2+
2H2

10. What is lithography?

Lithography is a process bywhich the pattern appearing on the mask is transfered to the
wafer.It involves two steps: the first step requires applying a few drops of photoresist to the
surface of the wafer & the second step is spinning the surface to get an even coating of the
photoresist across the surface of the wafer.
11. What are the different types of lithography?
The different types of lithography are :
1.Photolithography 2.Electron beam lithography 3.X ray beam lithography
4.Ion beam lithography
12. What are the two processes involved in photolithography?
a) Making a photographic mask
b) Photo etching
The development of photographic mask involves the preparation of initial artwork and its
reduction , decomposition of initial artwork or layout into several mask layers. Photo etching is
used for the removal of SiO2 from desired regions so that the desired impurities can be diffused.
13. Distinguish between dry etching & wet etching.
Dry etching :Gaseous mixture is used as the chemical reagent. Chemical reagents used
are in the liquid form.
Wet etching:It produces straight walled etching process. It produces patterns with
undercutting.
14. What is meant by reactive plasma etching?
The term reactive plasma is meant to describe a discharge in which ionization &
fragmentation of gases takes place& produce chemically active plasma species, frequently
oxidizers and reducing agents. Such plasmas are reactive both in the gas phase & with solid
surfaces exposed to them. When these interactions are used to form volatile products so that
material is removed or etching of material form surfaces that are not masked to form lithographic
patterns, the technique is known as reactive plasma etching.
15. Define diffusion.
The process of introducing impurities into selected regions of a silicon wafer is called
diffusion. The impurity atoms have the tendency to move from regions of higher concentrations
to lower concentrations.
16. What is dielectric isolation?
In dielectric isolation, a layer of solid dielectric such as SiO2 or ruby completely
surrounds each components thereby producing isolation, both electrical & physical. This
isolating dielectric layer is thick enough so that its associated capacitance is negligible. Also, it is
possible to fabricate both pnp & npn transistors within the same silicon substrate.

17. What is metallization?

The process of producing a thin metal film layer that will serve to make interconnection
of the various components on the chip is called metallization.
18. What are the advantages of ion implantation technique?
1. It is performed at low temperature. Therefore, previously diffused regions have a lesser
tendency for lateral spreading.
2. In diffusion process, temperature has to be controlled over a large area inside the oven,
whereas in ion implantation process, accelerating potential & beam content are dielectrically
controlled from outside.
19. What are the advantages of ICs over discrete circuits?
1. Minimization & hence increased equipment density.
2. Cost reduction due to batch processing.
3. Increased system reliability
4. Improved functional performance.
5. Matched devices.
6. Increased operating speeds
7. Reduction in power consumption
PART-B
1. Explain the basic Process used in silicon planar technology
with neat diagram. (16)
Silicon wafer preparation
Epitaxial growth
Oxidation.
Photolithography.
Diffusion.
Ion implantation
Metallisation.
Isolation.

2. With respect to BJT based circuit given below, explain the various steps to
implement the circuit into a monolithic IC. (16)

Wafer Preparation
Epitaxial growth
Oxidation
Isolation Diffusion
Base Diffusion
Emitter Diffusion
Aluminium Metallization

3. Fundamentals of monolithic Monolithic IC technology?

Batch production
Monolithic Circuit diagram
Four layer Explanation

4. Write short notes on classification of IC.

Monolithic Ic
Bipolar
Pn junction isolation
Dielectric Isolation
Uni polar
MOSFET
JFET
Hybrid Ic
5. With neat sketches explain the fabrication of diodes capacitors
Five types of circuit connection
Schottky Barrier diode Explanation
Schottky Barrier diode Diagram
Diode Values comparison table

6.

Explain the various methods used for fabricating IC resistors and compare their
performance
Diffused Resistor
Epitaxial Resistor
Pinched Resistor
Thin Film Resistor

7.

Explain about MOSFET fabrication

N- channel MOSFET
Diagram
Use of Silicon nitride
Poly silicon Gate

8. Write a note on CMOS technology.

CMOS inverter Explanation

Cross section of CMOS IC Explanation
Diagram