According to Korean media, Hanwha Precision Machinery is developing a new type of thermal atomic layer deposition (ALD) equipment for depositing molybdenum, which is emerging as a superior material for metal gates in next-generation semiconductors due to its lower resistivity and lack of fluoride residue. The new technology, still in the prototype stage and expected to take three years to commercialize, uses molybdenum dichloride dioxide (MoO2Cl2) as a precursor. This initiative marks Hanwha's expansion into the semiconductor fabrication equipment market, collaborating with industry giants like SK Hynix on future projects, including the development of hybrid bonding equipment for high bandwidth memory production.
At two recent conferences, EFDS ALD For Industry and CMC 2024 this week in Phoenix, Air Liquide presented HVM ready solution for MoO2Cl2 sub fab delivery. They also confirmed that it is already in HVM. Other sources claim that Mo is also in HVM for DRAM. However, no reverse engineering is publicly available as of to day.