Silicon Processing for the VLSI Era, Vol. 1: Process Technology

Rating:
Summary: Silicon Processing for the VLSI Era
Review: "Silicon Processing for the VLSI Era" is by far the most authoritative guide to semiconductor processing and nano-fabrication in existence. Practical processing techniques as well as their underlying fundamental principles are thoroughly covered in detail. This book has been indispensable to me during my graduate education and has the solution to just about every fabrication problem I have encountered in my 5+ years of experience. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is trying to build a semiconductor device or just curious about how such things are done.

Rating:
Summary: Just overview
Review: I don't like this series. Vol 1, 2 were used when I was in University

The series just gave you overview. It won't explain in details. You have to research on your own. Since silicon processing changes in very fast pace, these books may already be out of date (almost 4 years ago). But it is still good reference.

Basically, this book is just collection of the technical papers. I can find some articles are almost 'word by word' copied from the reference Journals and technical papers.

Neverless, it still saves a lot of time to go to the library and get the journals (This may be the only good things I can find. THe journals are not cheap. IEEE subscripts for site is over $20K. There are more than IEEE journals in these books). When I have to get journals in library, it took 'long time' to search and go to the shelf to get the journal I want.

However, I won't be very impressed in the book. As I said, this book is just summary of the reference journals. Sometimes (if not all the time), I can find the articles in the book are almost 'word by word' copied from the technical journals without any further explanation. I really doubt anyone knows the "details of physics" behind. But in the industrial, most people just trial and error, very little physics behind. I would say nobody cares too much physics, it took too much time to research and it is too difficult to keep up with new technilogies.

Rating:
Summary: Disappointing
Review: I was forced to use this book as an undergrad. It was torture. Runyan and Bean ( Semiconductor Integrated Circuit Processing Technology by W.R. Runyan, K.E. Bean) and Ghandi (don't have title handy) are both much better and easier to read.

Rating:
Summary: THE best set of technical references in this area
Review: In my 25 years of semiconductor process development I have never come across such a complete and in-depth collection of device and process knowledge in a single place. Years ago we needed to spend many hours with the journals to extract the requisite information to supplement our laboratory efforts. These volumes synthesize the basics with the most modern techniques now employed in advanced technologies. In addition, many subtle processing difficulties are addressed as well which will be much appreciated by the researcher. Through the years I have purchased in excess of 100 text references and none comes as close to these in the total knowledge contained within. These volumes are intended for the researchers and engineers working in this field yet they are so very well written and easy to comprehend that any one with such an interest in this field can understand them. Study these volumes completely.

Rating:
Summary: Silicon Processing for the VLSI Era
Review: This book provides an outstanding presentation of Silicon processing technology that is technically current, rich in detail, and most importantly, factually correct. The new edition of this book appears to have been completely rewritten, and covers every important area of Silicon processing in a comprehensive manner. I especially enjoyed that fact that in each chapter of the book the basic principles underlying a technology are explained first, and these explanations are then integrated into descriptions of the relevant technology (i.e. PVD, CVD, CMP etc.).

The two Lithography sections are beautifully done, and contain lucid explanations of concepts that I have not seen anywhere else.

For anyone who is seriously interested in semiconductor manufacturing, this book is a "must have". No other volume even comes close to being this comprehensive.