IEDM 2019 News - Intel roadmap to 1.4 nm by 2029

Limitless - Intel disclosed its extended roadmap to 1.4 nm process node by 2029 including back porting: One of the interesting disclosures at the IEEE International Electron Devices Meeting (IEDM) was that Intel expects to be on 2 year cadence with its manufacturing process node technology, starting with 10nm in 2019 and moving to 7 nm EUV in 2021, then 5 nm in 2023, 3 nm in 2025, 2 nm in 2027, and 1.4 nm in 2029. 

 

In between each process node, as Intel has stated before, there will be iterative + and ++ versions of each in order to extract performance from each process node. The only exception to this is 10nm, which is already on 10+, so we will see 10++ and 10+++ in 2020 and 2021 respectively. The interesting element is the mention of back porting. This is the ability for a chip to be designed with one process node in mind, but perhaps due to delays, can be remade on an older ‘++’ version of a process node in the same timeframe.

 

Intel's slide with ASML's animations overlayed, as shown in the slide deck distributed by ASML. Note by Anandtech: "After some emailing back and forth, we can confirm that the slide that Intel's partner ASML presented at the IEDM conference is actually an altered version of what Intel presented for the September 2019 source. ASML added animations to the slide such that the bottom row of dates correspond to specific nodes, however at the time we didn't spot these animations (neither did it seem did the rest of the press). It should be noted that the correlation that ASML made to exact node names isn't so much a stretch of the imagination to piece together, however it has been requested that we also add the original Intel slide to provide context to what Intel is saying compared to what was presented by ASML. Some of the wording in the article has changed to reflect this. Our analysis is still relevant." Please see the full article in Anandtech for all the details: LINK

 

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By Abhishekkumar Thakur

Schrödinger to present atomic-scale simulation of the chemistry of ALD at Materials Science Hands-on Workshop, Espoo, Finland

Materials Science Hands-on Workshop, Espoo, Finland

January 17, 2020

Schrödinger's Dr. Simon D. Elliott will be leading a hands-on workshop featuring the Maestro graphical user interface for Materials Science solutions. The workshop will take place on Friday, January 17th at the CSC Training Facilities in Espoo, Finland. For more information and to register, please click here.

If you have any other questions, please e-mail rita.podzuna@schrodinger.com.

Workshop Description:
This day-long workshop will give training in the use of Schrödinger's Materials Science solutions for the atomic-scale simulation of the chemistry of atomic layer deposition (ALD) and related gas-surface processes. Participants will get hands-on experience in using the Maestro GUI, including the specialized model builders for molecules, organometallic clusters, bulk materials, and surfaces. The quantum mechanics engines Jaguar and Quantum Espresso will be introduced. The workshop will also include a brief recap of background theory for quantum chemistry and some case studies of ALD simulations from the research literature.

Imec shows excellent performance in ultra-scaled FETs with 2D-material channel

[Press release, imec, LINK] SAN FRANCISCO (USA), December 8, 2019 — At this year’s IEEE International Electron Devices Meeting (Dec 7-11 2019), imec, a world-leading research and innovation hub in nanoelectronics and digital technologies, reports an in-depth study of scaled transistors with MoS2 and demonstrates best device performance to date for such materials. 

TEM pictures showing (a) 3 monolayers MoS2 channel, with contact length 13nm and channel length 29nm Transfer characteristics have improved sub-threshold swing (SS) with thinner HfO2. (www.imec.be)

MoS2 is a 2D material, meaning that it can be grown in stable form with nearly atomic thickness and atomic precision. Imec synthesized the material down to monolayer (0.6nm thickness) and fabricated devices with scaled contact and channel length, as small as 13nm and 30nm respectively. These very scaled dimensions, combined with scaled gate oxide thickness and high K dielectric, have enabled the demonstration of some of the best device performances so far. Most importantly, these transistors enable a comprehensive study of fundamental device properties and calibration of TCAD models. The calibrated TCAD model is used to propose a realistic path for performance improvement. The results presented here confirm the potential of 2D-materials for extreme transistor scaling – benefiting both high-performance logic and memory applications.

Argonne National Laboratory Installs Forge Nano’s Prometheus ALD tool to enable next gen ALD research and innovation.

[Press release, Forge Nano, LINK] LOUISVILLE, CO., October 2019 — Delivery and installation of Forge Nano’s industry leading, lab-scale ALD tool- Prometheus has been completed.

Forge Nano’s Prometheus tool is a lab-scale R&D tool designed to make ALD research approachable and affordable. The Prometheus series of ALD tools have been designed to be the world’s most robust, flexible, and economical ALD tools available. Designed with the lab environment in mind, applying nanoscale encapsulating coatings on milligrams to kilograms of powders has never been more attainable. It can also be used to coat small objects.

The Prometheus system accommodates up to 8 precursors, including basic delivery and low vapor pressure delivery draw systems to handle gas, liquid, and solid precursor recipes with ease. (www.foregnano.com)

Advanced Energy Announces Grand Opening of State-of-the-Art Advanced Materials Processing Showcase Lab Near Frankfurt

FORT COLLINS, Colo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 10, 2019-- Advanced Energy Industries, Inc. (Nasdaq: AEIS) – a global leader in highly engineered, precision power conversion, measurement and control solutions – is pleased to announce the grand opening of its Advanced Materials Processing (AMP) Showcase Lab near Frankfurt, Germany. Located in Karlstein am Main, the state-of-the-art facility includes office space and lab space for plasma deposition and materials characterization. The lab will serve as a central hub for AE product demonstrations and customers’ plasma deposition research and development activities, providing a superior experience for thin film developers. 

 

 

AE’s plasma lab multi-chamber inline coater showing substrate carrier and vacuum load lock in the foreground and with various gas handling cabinets and AE’s power supplies in racks in the background. This equipment includes but is not limited to planar and rotatable dual magnetron sputtering (DMS), and has plasma etch pre-cleaning capability. Various substrate sizes from small experimental coupons (e.g. glass, sapphire, silicon and more) up to 500x600 mm2 rectangular sheets (e.g. glass, plexiglass, plastic, metal and more) can be utilized. (Photo: Business Wire)
 

View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20191210005367/en/

High-performance lithium-ion battery materials with Picosun ALD

ESPOO, Finland, 3rd December 2019 – Picosun Group, the provider of AGILE ALD® (Atomic Layer Deposition) thin film coating technology for global industries, reports excellent results achieved with ALD in the manufacturing of lithium ionthin film battery materials.

Solid-state Li-ion thin film batteries (SSLIBs) are small, compact and may have flexible construction. They don’t contain any aggressive liquid substances, so they are safe to use. Furthermore, SSLIBs possess excellent energy storage capacity, which is why they are regarded as ideal power sources for electric cars, laptops, tablets and smartphones, wireless sensors, implantable and wearable medical devices, and harvesting devices for renewable energy sources. The impact of Li-ion battery technology on our modern society, permeated by portable electronics, wireless data transfer and mobile communications, is so huge that it earned its developers, Dr. John B. Goodenough, Dr. M. Stanley Whittingham, and Dr. Akira Yoshino, the Nobel chemistry prize this year.

As the performance requirements of these devices increase, functional characteristics of their power sources should be improved as well. Transition from planar, 2D battery geometry to corrugated 3D one with much higher active surface area for energy storage could augment the energy and power density of SSLIB. However, finding a suitable method for depositing the functional material layers on the complex microscale structures of the 3D batteries poses another challenge.

 

Diagram of a conventional 2D all-solid-state thin-film Li-ion battery structure (a), its SEM section view (b), and advantages of the 3D battery structure. Image source: Yue et. al., Fabrication of Si-based three-dimensional microbatteries: A review, in Frontiers of Mechanical Engineering 2017 (doi: 10.1007/s11465-017-0462-x).

Picosun’s ALD technology has now been successfully used to fabricate high-quality, high-performance thin film NiO anodes for SSLIBs. Compared to graphite, which is widely used to produce anodes of lithium-ion batteries, deposited NiO films had more than twice as large capacity and more than three times as high density (*). The surpassing characteristics of NiO potentially allow improvement of the energy density of SSLIBs.

In addition to high quality and performance of the ALD NiO anodes, ALD’s unmatched capability to produce conformal and uniform coatings with excellent purity and repeatability inside challenging microscale architectures such as high aspect ratio trenches makes it an ideal method for 3D SSLIB materials manufacturing. Also, the ALD processes for several other anode materials such as SnO2, CoO, and MnO are well-known and thoroughly studied.

“We are very pleased with the PICOSUN® ALD system at our facilities, and all the support and consultancy we have received from Picosun over the years. With our ALD system we have been able to deposit dense, uniform ALD NiO films with low roughness and very high capacity. The excellent qualities of these films allowed us to develop high-performance anodes for SSLIBs,” says Picosun customer, Dr. Maxim Maximov from Peter the Great St.Petersburg Polytechnic University (SPbPU), Russia.

“Battery applications are yet one example of ALD’s flexibility as a method, and how new industries discover the possibilities of ALD day by day. Deep trenches with aspect ratios exceeding 1:2500 have been successfully coated with our ALD tools equipped with our patented Picoflow™ feature, which further advocates the use of our technology in 3D solid state Li-ion battery manufacturing. We are happy that our ALD solutions can be potentially utilized in future’s energy storage solutions in conjunction with clean energy production, and to power more compact healthcare devices, to improve people’s quality of life,” states Dr. Jani Kivioja, CTO of Picosun Group.

Picosun provides the most advanced ALD thin film coating technology to enable the industrial leap into the future, with turn-key production solutions and unmatched expertise in the field. Today, PICOSUN® ALD equipment are in daily manufacturing use in numerous major industries around the world. Picosun is based in Finland, with subsidiaries in Germany, North America, Singapore, Taiwan, China and Japan, offices in India and France, and a world-wide sales and support network. Visit www.picosun.com.

(*) Yury Koshtyal et. al., Atomic Layer Deposition of NiO to Produce Active Material for Thin-Film Lithium-Ion Batteries, Coatings 2019, 9, 301; doi:10.3390/coatings9050301. Open access: https://www.mdpi.com/2079-6412/9/5/301

For more information about the application of ALD in Li-ion batteries, please visit Dr. Maxim Maximov’s profile at https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Maxim_Yu_Maximov.

45 years since the first patent on Atomic Layer Deposition by Tuomo Suntola and Jorma Antson from Finland

Tomorrow it is 45 years since the first patent on Atomic Layer Deposition by Tuomo Suntola and Jorma Antson from Finland. While on LinkedIn, you are using multiple computer chips manufactured by this almost invisible technology that is inside your smartphone, tablet, laptop, PC, internet servers, and many more places. In the periodic table below, ALD processes of ultra-thin films and interfaces containing Si, Al, T, Zr, Hf, Nb, Ta, W, and some more that are used in those chips are shown. The ALD revolution continues in the field of more efficient solar cells and safer and improved batteries as well as novel applications in energy harvesting, pharmacology, and space exploration! Enjoy!

Animated periodic table of ALD processes from AtomicLimits LINK

It was a honour to meet Dr. Tuomo Suntola yesterday in Dresden on The World Nano Day at EFDS V2019 in Dresden! Vielen Dank an Herrn Dr. Suntola für die Atomlagenabscheidung!

Short courses on ALD and ALE by ALD Academy January 14-15, 2020 in Eindhoven, NL

[ALD Academy, LINK] On January 14-15, 2020, the ALD Academy will organize short courses on Atomic Layer Deposition and Etch at TU Eindhoven, The Netherlands.

Description and target audience – During this noon-to-noon event, basically 3 courses will be given, which can be taken individually but also combined. The three courses are:

Program – The program consists of lectures as well as interactive sessions (especially for the Advanced ALD course and the ALE course). For the Advanced ALD course, also a lab visit is planned. The dinner buffet on the evening of January 14 is optional.

The preliminary program schedule is:
January 14, 2020
12:00 – 13:00 Welcome and sandwich lunch
13:00 – 14:45 Introductory ALD course
14:45 – 15:15 Afternoon break
15:15 – 18:30 Advanced ALD course
19:00 – 21:00 Dinner buffet & drinks

January 15, 2020
9:00 – 12:00 Atomic layer etching course
12:00 – 13:00 Sandwich lunch

Cobalt and Nickel Targets Super Strategic for IC Fabs

[Press Release, TECHCET LLC] San Diego, CA, November 14, 2019: TECHCET-the advisory services firm providing electronic materials information- announced that the global market for Physical Vapor Deposition (PVD) Sputter Targets is declining by 1.5% in response to semiconductor fabrication market challenges in 2019. However, 5% growth is forecasted for 2020, with the non-precious-metal segment expected to reach US$690 million. 

 

 

Including precious metals the 2020 Sputter Target market is expected to reach US$1,084 million, as detailed in the latest Critical Materials Report™ (CMR) quarterly update on Sputter Targets (see Figure). This report covers the following suppliers: Furuya Metals, GO Element, Grikin, Honeywell, JX Nippon, KFMI, Materion, Pioneer Materials, Praxair/Linde, Sumitomo, Tanaka, Top Metal Materials, Tosoh SMD, Solar Applied Materials Technology, Umicore, VEM, and Vital Materials.

Purchase Reports Here: https://lnkd.in/dn7euVg

Imec updates semiconductor miniaturization roadmap to 1nm-ITF Japan 2019

Imec held an annual research result presentation event “imec Technology Forum Japan 2019 (ITF Japan 2019)” in Tokyo on October 11.

This is what we are to expect coming next for Logic scaling: Nanosheet transistors (Gate All Around transistors), Buried Power Rails, Ruthenium incorporation, Forksheet transistor architecture, CFET (complementary FET by 3D stacking of nanosheet PFET and NFET), deployment of 2D materials, spintronics, and quantum computing as the way to continued chip scaling for keeping a modified Moore's Law alive.

Source: LINK

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By Abhishekkumar Thakur

The US Patent Office has approved Nanexa’s expanded patent application for the drug delivery platform PharmaShell®

[Press release, Nanexa AB LINK] The US Patent Office has today approved another patent application for Nanexa. The currently approved patent has broader protection than the patent that was approved earlier this year and includes the use of PharmaShell® products for multiple administration methods, such as parenteral injection, inhalation, and oral preparations.

Keynote at ALD for Industry by Prof. Pedersen - ALD as enabler for InN based Electronics

Prof. Henrik Pedersen, Department of Physics, Chemistry and Biology (IFM) at Linköping University, Sweden, to give the Keynote at the 4th EFDS ALD for Industry Workshop and Exhibition in Freiburg, Germany on March 31 to April 1, 2020.

Event Page: https://www.efds.org/event/ald2020/

PEALD processes employing Strem supplied TDMASn precursor presented by diverse groups of researchers

We offer prepackaged precursors in ALD Cylinders!

Atomic layer deposition (ALD) using Tin (Sn) based compounds have been widespread in applications, such as sensors, Li-ion batteries, catalysts, photovoltaics. Recently, researchers have reported state-of-the-art applications like 3D thin-film solid-state batteries (by Pearse et. al.) and efficient perovskite solar cells (by Guan et. al. and Sun et. al.). Many of these applications feature layers that are susceptible to degradation at elevated temperatures. It’s mandatory to deposit SnO₂ below 200°C for applications such as perovskite and silicon heterojunction solar cells. Alternatively, plasma-enhanced atomic layer deposition (PEALD) with Strem Chemicals’ highly reactive metalorganic precursor, tetrakis(dimethylamino)tin (TDMASn), with a decomposition temperature range of 250–300°C, also enables low deposition temperatures. 

Figure 1. 50-1815 Structure

Strem Chemicals offers TDMASn [Sn[N(CH₃)₂]₄] (catalog number 50-1815) precursor, which has been widely accepted in the PEALD community worldwide for the deposition of tin-based compounds. The colorless to pale yellow liquid phase precursor with a density of 1.169 at 20°C and vapor pressure of 15 Torr is sold pre-packed, in an ALD cylinder by Strem Chemicals (98-4050).

Figure 2: Strem Chemicals pre-packed ALD cylinders

The following are some of the examples of PEALD processes employing Strem supplied TDMASn precursor presented by diverse groups of researchers. 

Hoffmann et. al. report the preparation of transparent conductive gas permeation barriers based on thin films of tin oxide (SnO_x) grown by spatial atomic layer deposition (ALD) at atmospheric pressure. They present a comparative study using tetrakis(dimethylamino)tin(IV) and various oxidants (atmospheric pressure oxygen plasma, ozone, and water) at process temperatures in the range of 80–165°C. (Link)

Recent reports by researchers from the Eindhoven University of Technology in collaboration with the Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research (TNO), present an extensive characterization of plasma-assisted atomic-layer-deposited SnO₂ layers. They aim at identifying key material properties of SnO₂ to serve as an efficient electron transport layer in perovskite solar cells. The SnO₂ thin films were deposited at substrate temperatures of 50, 100, 150, and 200°C on Czochralski polished c-Si (100) wafers and indium tin oxide (ITO) glass substrates in an Oxford Instruments OpAL ALD reactor using tetrakis(dimethylamino)tin (TDMASn) (99% purity, Strem Inc.) as the tin precursor and radio-frequency (RF) inductively coupled oxygen plasma as the co-reactant. (Link)

Figure 3: Perovskite solar cells are one of the most promising emerging cell technologies with fast recent improvement in cell efficiency shown above red/yellow circles reaching >22% cell efficiency (From Wikimedia Commons, the free media repository).

An American researcher from University of Maryland, U.S. Naval Research Laboratory and Sandia National Lab, has reported the experimental realization of fully conformal 3D thin-film solid-state batteries (3D TSSBs) incorporating a SnN_x anode (deposited at 200°C using TDMASn and an N₂ plasma), demonstrating the simultaneous power-and-energy benefits of 3D structuring. All active battery components—electrodes, solid electrolyte, and current collectors—were deposited by atomic layer deposition (ALD) onto standard CMOS processable silicon wafers. The wafers were microfabricated to form arrays of deep pores with aspect ratios up to approximately 10. Their work shows that the exceptional conformality of ALD, combined with conventional semiconductor fabrication methods, provides an avenue for the successful realization of long-sought 3D TSSBs which provide power performance scaling in regimes inaccessible to planar form factor cells. (Link)

Since 1964, Strem Chemicals, Inc. has been serving its clients from academic, industrial and government research and development laboratories as well as commercial scale businesses in the pharmaceutical, microelectronic and chemical/petrochemical industries. Strem (Headquarters: Newburyport, Massachusetts, USA) is a high purity specialty chemicals manufacturer and supplier. Strem also provides custom synthesis (including high-pressure synthesis) and current good manufacturing practice (cGMP) services. Strem’s products are of high purity, typically 99%, with some at 99.9999% metals purity. 

More than fifty years of experience in manufacturing inorganic and organometallic chemicals has enabled Strem to expand its product offering of MOCVD, CVD, and ALD precursors. They’re continually adding new products for this dynamic and exciting field. Strem’s product range includes:

·         Metal alkyls ·         Metal alkylamides ·         Metal amidinates ·         Metal alkoxides ·         Metal β-diketonates ·         Metal cyclopentadienyls

·         Metal halides ·         Volatile organometallics ·         Volatile metal carbonyls ·         Electronic grade chemicals ·         Single source precursors for mixed metal oxides

Additional Resources:

Full Line of High Purity CVD/ALD Precursors
CVD/ALD Precursors contained in Swagelok® Cylinders
Cylinder and Adaptors
Metal Amidinates for CVD/ALD Applications
MOCVD, CVD & ALD Precursors Booklet
Stainless Steel Bubblers: Vertical Electropolished

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Promotional blog written and researched by Abhishekkumar Thakur and Jonas Sundqvist, BALD Engineering AB