Thermal processing provides control of time, temperature, and environment in a variety of semiconductor applications. In heat treatment processes used in semiconductor device fabrication, it’s important to control the heating ramp-up rate, hold time, and cooling ramp-down rate. Being able to raise the substrate temperature rapidly and then control it enables dopant activation, thermal oxidation, metal reflow, ohmic contact formation, annealing of damage, and even chemical vapor deposition (CVD). The extremely fast heating rates are typically accomplished with lamps due to their fast response times. Temperatures significantly greater than 1000C are possible. Beyond the applications mentioned, thermal processing can also be used to densify films and change the interfaces between film layers or between a film and a substrate.

Rapid Thermal Anneal (RTA) Technology 

RTA is a subset of thermal processing in which the wafer temperature reaches a point that may repair damage from etching or ion implantation processes. At the same time, it may also activate dopants.