Fabricating integrated circuits (ICs) from semiconductor wafers is done through a sequence of complex processes (such as etching and deposition) in plasma chambers. Depending on the type of the process, a certain mixture of gases is pumped into the chamber to the required pressure specification. Igniting plasma out of this gas mixture and controlling it requires continuous delivery of RF power into the chamber. Designing RF power delivery systems to ensure reliable supply of power into the plasma chamber is the core responsibility of an RF engineer working in the semiconductor industry. While the overall manufacturing system consists of many parts, the power delivery system is one of the most critical ones and directly affects the quality and consistency of the produced ICs.
Comet Technologies designs and builds power delivery and metrology systems for different semiconductor manufacturing needs. Each new project usually requires design of custom impedance matching networks and comes with its unique challenges. Turning a set of customer specifications into a final product requires a combined effort of RF, hardware, firmware and mechanical engineers. Even after the design work is complete, the system still needs to be fine-tuned to work in harmony with the rest of the customer’s system due to the volatile nature of the plasma. Therefore, an RF engineer’s knowledge and learning never stays within its own narrow discipline but instead grows into the adjacent fields relevant for semiconductor manufacturing.
One of the most rewarding aspects of being in the semiconductor industry is seeing early on what the future of the technology will look like and knowing that you are part of the team working to create that future. Every time a new breakthrough processor or memory is announced, you know there was a group RF engineers, years before the announcement, working on new design challenges. Every time you see someone carrying a smartphone, you know one of the ICs in that phone was likely manufactured using one of your RF designs. What more could you ask for?
