Thin layers paved the way for ASMI’s success - Outgoing CTO Ivo Raaijmakers explains what atomic layer deposition has brought the semiconductor industry

ASM International played a key role in developing a deposition technique that has saved Moore’s law more than once. Outgoing CTO Ivo Raaijmakers explains what atomic layer deposition has brought the semiconductor industry – and ASMI – and what more is in store.

This vision has come true. The technique that ASMI acquired through Microchemistry – atomic layer deposition (ALD) – has become an integral part of the semiconductor manufacturing process. And that’s just the beginning, according to Raaijmakers. The demands placed on material layers are ever higher – thinner, more uniform, featuring just the right properties – and ALD is the best technique to meet them, the former CTO argues.


Well before ALD had proven itself in the deposition of high-k materials, Raaijmakers was already looking at which applications would follow. On his initiative, ASMI acquired Korean company Genitech in 2004, a specialist in plasma-enhanced ALD technology (PEALD). Plasmas are more reactive than un-ionized gases and therefore can deposit materials at lower temperatures. Because chipmakers often have to deal with strict temperature budgets, PEALD expands the scope of ALD.

Full interview in this article in Bits & Chips: https://bits-chips.nl/artikel/thin-layers-paved-the-way-for-asmis-success/