SBIR Phase II: Simulation of Rapid Thermal Processing in a Distributed Computing Environment

Engineering Sciences, Inc., Huntsville AL

Investigators

Abstract

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project will continue to develop and demonstrate a computational tool for detailed simulation of Rapid thermal processing (RTP) in a distributed computing environment by taking advantages of the findings in Phase I. RTP has become a key technology in the fabrication of advanced semiconductor devices. As wafers get larger and chip dimensions smaller, the understanding of the highly coupled physics such as radiative heat transfer, transient fluid flow and heat transfer as well as chemical reactions through numerical modeling using high-performance computing is the key to the design, optimization, and control of RTP reactors. In Phase II, A 3D surface radiation model based on the modified discrete transfer method (MDTM) will be developed to treat radiative transfer in the lamphouse and process chamber as a whole process. The detailed pattern effects will be taken into account by rigorously solving time-domain Maxwell's equations through a finite volume approach. The rarefied gas dynamics in low pressure RTP will be modeled by adding Burnett terms into the Navier-Stokes equations. The governing equations that contain various multi-disciplinary physical models will be solved by a 3D unstructured finite volume method. To address computationally intensive 3D simulation needs, an efficient parallel strategy will be implemented in the solution procedure. Data communication among parallel processors will be conducted by the Message Passing Interface (MPI) library. To accelerate the overall solution convergence and improve the parallel performance, the algebraic multi-grid (AMG) method will be used to solve the discretized equations in each processor. It is expected that the proposed simulation tool can be used to systematically investigate the underlying physics occurring in RTP systems, and to help in the design, optimization, and control of RTP reactors. The proposed simulation tool will significantly benefit the semiconductor manufacturing equipment industries that require a detailed understanding of multimode and highly coupled transport phenomena. The potential applications include the design, optimization, and control of RTP reactors and many other manufacturing and materials processing systems.