Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Comp. Ltd.

I-Che Huang

Ting-Chun Wang

Pu-Fang Chen

Some embodiments relate to a silicon wafer having a disc-like silicon body. The wafer includes a central portion circumscribed by a circumferential edge region. A plurality of sampling locations, which are arranged in the circumferential edge region, have a plurality of wafer property values, respectively, which correspond to a wafer property. The plurality of wafer property values differ from one another according to a pre-determined statistical edge region profile.

Wafer strength by control of uniformity of edge bulk micro defects

A method is provided for qualifying a semiconductor wafer for subsequent processing, such as thermal processing. A plurality of locations are defined about a periphery of the semiconductor wafer, and one or more properties, such as oxygen concentration and a density of bulk micro defects present, are measured at each of the plurality of locations. A statistical profile associated with the periphery of the semiconductor wafer is determined based on the one or more properties measured at the plurality of locations. The semiconductor wafer is subsequently thermally treated when the statistical profile falls within a predetermined range. The semiconductor wafer is rejected from subsequent processing when the statistical profile deviates from the predetermined range. As such, wafers prone to distortion, warpage, and breakage are rejected from subsequent thermal processing.

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Hsinchu, Taiwan

I-Che Huang