ALD Stories Ep.20 - The story behind AlixLabs and ALE Pitch Splitting

Jonas Sundqvist joined the ALD Stories podcast again to talk about his company, AlixLabs! Check out their Atomic Layer Etch Pitch Splitting tech and how it challenges traditional patterning techniques.

Spotify - https://lnkd.in/djrMbZ-v
Apple - https://lnkd.in/d93sW3JK

Picosun contributes funds to Aalto University to strengthen semiconductor know-how

The growth of the semiconductor sector and its investments in Finland are also increasing the need for skilled personnel. Picosun is one of four semiconductor companies contributing funds to Aalto University to hire twelve summer interns to work in six different research groups for the summer. The Semi Summer 2023 program jobs are intended for the School of Electrical Engineering and the School of Chemical Engineering students.

The other three companies contributing are Okmetic, Murata and KYOCERA Tikitin.

“We are grateful for this support to strengthen semiconductor education in Aalto. We have excellent facilities in Micronova Nanofabrication Centre. Teaching in semiconductor technology is exceptionally expensive due to cleanliness and safety requirements, and the donation will enhance our capabilities significantly”, explained Professor Sami Franssila.

“Understanding semiconductor properties and their modification techniques are key drivers in developing smaller, faster, and cheaper devices. Semiconductors are used everywhere, in electronics, energy technology, medicine, telecom, and the field is in rapid growth both in Finland and globally, with increasing demand for specialists”, adds Professor Markku Sopanen.

Read the News at Aalto University’s site.

Jussi Rautee signing the Deed of Donation

A True Pioneer of ALD Research with Jeffrey Elam – ALD Stories

Tyler is joined by Dr. Jeffrey Elam from Argonne National Lab in Chicago. Jeff is the head of the Atomic Layer Deposition research program at Argonne and has received numerous awards, accolades and patents for his work, the ALD Innovator Award and Lifetime Achievement Award at Argonne as examples. 

In this episode, Tyler and Jeff discuss his time as a post doc in the Steven George lab where he built the first ALD reactors, how he began the ALD group at Argonne, and some of his award-winning work on fabricating large-area microchannel plates.

Dutch ALD euipment leader ASM to invest $100 mil. in Korea for facility expansion

Korea’s industry ministry said Thursday it agreed with Dutch semiconductor equipment supplier ASM to boost cooperation for the firm’s planned investment of $100 million to build a production factory and a research and development center in Korea.

The two sides signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) in Seoul on the day, which calls for joint work for the smooth implementation of the corporate investment worth $100 million through 2025, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

The company is reviewing building a second factory that produces equipment for atomic layer deposition, a key process in chips manufacturing, and the expansion of its RD center in Korea.

Currently, ASM is headquartered in the city of Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, some 40 kilometers south of Seoul.

In October, ASM announced a plan to invest $100 million in Korea, but the amount has surged “as discussions between the two sides have developed,” a ministry official said.

Following the MOU signing ceremony, Industry Minister Lee Chang-yang and ASM CEO Benjamin Loh held a meeting for discussions on the envisioned expansion of bilateral cooperation.

“The investment is expected to help Korea better ensure stable supply chains of the sector and boost exports,” the ministry said in a release. “The government will actively extend support, such as providing incentives and resolving difficulties.” (Yonhap)

Source: Dutch chip firm ASM to invest $100 mil. in Korea for facility expansion

https://theconservativeinvestordaily.com/2023/02/02/dutch-chip-firm-asm-to-invest-100-mil-in-korea-for-facility-expansion/

Go Go Hellzilla - the ALD Monster in Helsinki

In vacuo cluster tool for studying reaction mechanisms in atomic layer deposition and atomic layer etching processes

Journal of Vacuum Science & Technology A 41, 022401 (2023); https://doi.org/10.1116/6.0002312

ABSTRACT

In this paper, we introduce a vacuum cluster tool designed specifically for studying reaction mechanisms in atomic layer deposition (ALD) and atomic layer etching (ALE) processes. In the tool, a commercial flow-type ALD reactor is in vacuo connected to a set of UHV chambers so that versatile surface characterization is possible without breaking the vacuum environment. This way the surface composition and reaction intermediates formed during the precursor or etchant pulses can be studied in very close to true ALD and ALE processing conditions. Measurements done at each step of the deposition or etching cycle add important insights about the overall reaction mechanisms. Herein, we describe the tool and its working principles in detail and verify the equipment by presenting results on the well-known trimethyl aluminum–water process for depositing Al2O3

Asking the AI powered ChatGPT some simple questions

I have been asking the AI powered ChatGPT some simple questions - what do you think? Is there a better way to explain ALD and ALE in a simple way? I like the ALE answer more than the ALD answer.

So I reiterated and asked ChatGPT to give a very simple answer for ALD, which I like a bit more. I would probably swap electronics for semiconductor, which I did using the teaching function :-)