The role of single wafer Rapid Thermal Processing (RTP) in semiconductor
manufacturing has been steadily expanding over the last 2 decades. There are several reasons for the
successful adaptation of this technology. These include more critical requirements by advanced
semiconductor technologies with respect to thermal exposure and control, as well as tremendous
improvements by the RTP equipment community in resolving some fundamental limitations of the
tooling, historically restricting wide spread implementation. From rather humble beginnings, RTP
technology has now established itself as indispensable to the production of advanced semiconductor
products. We review the history and implementation of RTP technology in semiconductor
processing technology at International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) from the late 1980s to
recent time.