COMSOL Day: Semiconductor Manufacturing

Plasma reactors are used in important surface-reaction processes in the fabrication of semiconductor devices. To understand and design plasma reactors, and predict their behavior, using modeling and simulation is key.

The Plasma Module, an add-on product to COMSOL Multiphysics^®, provides a diverse set of features for modeling various types of reactors, including ICP, CCP, ICP/CCP, DC, and microwave-excited reactors. These features enable the modeling of fluid mechanics, reaction engineering, physical kinetics, heat transfer, mass transfer, and electromagnetics in 1D, 2D, and 3D for both time-dependent and stationary models.

Join us in this session to learn about the unique capabilities of the Plasma Module and see how they can be applied to plasma reactor modeling.

Thermal treatment and heat transfer are common processes involved in semiconductor processing. Physical modeling is used to better understand the impact of temperature changes and gradients in fragile semiconductor devices. Using modeling and simulation can help with decision making in design, optimization, and product quality control.

The COMSOL Multiphysics^® software is widely used for modeling thermal stresses and strains to predict a device's failure susceptibility. It boasts a broad range of heat transfer modeling capabilities, including thermal contact, natural and forced convection, thermal radiation, and heat transfer in layered materials. It also offers unique functionality for modeling various heating mechanisms together with thermal stresses, such as Joule heating and other types of electromagnetic heating.

In this session, we invite you to learn more about the capabilities of COMSOL Multiphysics^® for modeling thermal stresses and strains in semiconductor processing. You will see demonstrations of defining thermal expansion input parameters and temperature-dependent nonlinear materials.

When designing mass spectrometers, electron guns, and particle accelerators, particle tracing simulation is vital for accurately predicting the motion of ions or electrons in electric or magnetic fields. Depending on which kind of particles you are modeling, in the Particle Tracing Module, you can choose from a variety of built-in forces that affect their motion, including electric, magnetic, gravitational, and collisional forces. The Particle Tracing Module contains predefined expressions for the possible forces and interactions. It also enables bidirectional couplings between fields and particles for cases where particles impact the electromagnetic fields.

Attend this session to learn more about the capabilities of the Particle Tracing Module and how to best use it for your charged particle tracing simulations.

The processes commonly used in semiconductor manufacturing involve various chemical reactions, including thermal oxidation, plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition, etching in plasma reactors, wet-chemical etching, doping, and electrodeposition. To gain insight into such surface processes and optimize them, many researchers and engineers use COMSOL Multiphysics^®.

The Plasma Module, an add-on product to COMSOL Multiphysics^®, offers advanced features for modeling electron implant reactions, heavy species reactions, and surface reactions, including the growth of deposited layers. Meanwhile, the Chemical Reaction Engineering Module provides comprehensive descriptions of surface reactions like deposition, adsorption, and desorption. COMSOL Multiphysics^®, and its add-on products, offers unique capabilities that allow for the integration of chemical reactions with other physical phenomena, such as fluid flow, heat transfer, and electromagnetic fields, which can have an impact on both bulk and surface chemical reactions.

Join us in this session to learn more about the COMSOL Multiphysics^® functionality for modeling chemical reactions in semiconductor processing. We will give an overview of relevant products, such as the Plasma Module, the Chemical Reaction Engineering Module, and the Electrodeposition Module.

The Semiconductor Module, an add-on to COMSOL Multiphysics^®, can be used for understanding, designing, and refining semiconductor devices and materials through modeling and simulation. The module is based on drift-diffusion equations and can include density-gradient contributions for quantum confinement effects. The Semiconductor Module enables the modeling and simulation of a large variety of semiconductor devices, such as MOSFETs, solar cells, photodiodes, and LEDs, among others. In addition, by being customizable, it enables the analysis of novel semiconductor designs, including organic semiconductor devices.

It also contains Schrödinger Equation and Schrödinger-Poisson interfaces, which are particularly useful for modeling quantum-confined systems such as quantum wells, quantum wires, and quantum dots. Additionally, the Semiconductor Module offers functionality for modeling the interplay between drift diffusion, electromagnetic wave propagation, and thermal effects in semiconductors.

This session will provide you with a chance to learn more about the capabilities of the Semiconductor Module for semiconductor physics and multiphysics modeling. We will also demonstrate the ease-of-use of the software for semiconductor and multiphysics modeling.

In the design and optimization of semiconductor processing, heat transfer is a crucial factor that requires detailed consideration in high-fidelity models. These processes often occur at high temperatures and low pressures, making it essential to incorporate heat transfer by radiation in models and simulations.

COMSOL Multiphysics^® offers state-of-the-art capabilities for accurately describing surface-to-surface radiation on both diffuse and mixed diffuse-specular surfaces with temperature- or direction-dependent properties. It also provides predefined physics interfaces for radiation in semitransparent media, including participating media, absorbing and scattering media, and beams in absorbing media. Moreover, the software offers unique functionality for coupling heat transfer with other physics phenomena, such as fluid flow, electromagnetic fields, and phase change.

We invite you to join us in this session to explore the modeling and simulation of heat radiation. This includes discussion on models with radiative spectrum for separate bands, reflective surfaces, and participating media.