The Hafnium FET - Your kids will love this video!

Dad, what do you do at work? The answer is finally here - The Hafnium FET - Your kids will love this video!
 

 

 

Interview with Beneq's technical sales director ALD-based OLED encapsulation technology

Interview with Beneq's technical sales director ALD-based OLED encapsulation technology:

"- ALD is the only truly conformal and pinhole-free thin-film encapsulation technology. Due to the pinhole-free nature of ALD films, ultra-thin layers (i.e. 10’s of nm's) of inorganic material (e.g. Al2O3) is sufficient for OLED encapsulation. Ultra-thin layers are also compatible with future needs for flexibility. Conformality is advantageous e.g. in elimination of side-diffusion, the OLED device can extend to the very edge of the device and still be reliably encapsulated. Finally, the ALD material costs are very low, and overall cost-of-ownership is very competitive.

- ALD is uniquely well suited for flexible OLEDs, due to the ultra-thin layers which are compatible with the future flexibility requirements. I would go as far as to say that ALD will enable future flexible OLED products."

- Beneq's director of Technical sales, Mikko Söderlund
 

Complete Interview with some interesting insights into the ALD OLED business and also comments with respect to Synos/Veeco Fast-ALD(TM) technology.

http://www.oled-info.com/beneqs-technical-sales-director-explains-companys-ald-based-oled-encapsulation-technology

 

 

For more information on all kind of OLED Technology this site has a lot to offer on flexible OLED and all othe topics as well: http://news.oled-display.net

 

The film stack building up an OLED on a flexible substrate such as flexibel glass, plastic or a metal foil (schematic above from OLED-Display.net).

 

According to Erich Strasser at OLED-Display.net there are the development and market entry stages:

• very thin > 0.25mm, light, unbreakable
• Bendable, ready for production (Galaxy Round, LG-Flex)
• Rollable, completely flexible –> ready 2016
• Printable, displays like a paper –> ready 2018-2020

MEMS and NEMS Processing Advances one day workshop presented by Oxford Instruments Plasma Technology and IEMN

MEMS and NEMS Processing Advances one day workshop presented by Oxford Instruments Plasma Technology and IEMN.

 

This workshop is open to all those people working in industry and academia, with an interest in recent progress in research and development, plus future trends in the fabrication and application of micro & nano structures and devices.

 

 

 

An interactive, one day technical seminar focused on practical applications, techniques and advances.

This technical workshop is being hosted in conjunction with the Institute of Electronics Micro-electronics and Nanotechnology (IEMN) in Lille. It is a one day event aimed at all those scientists working in research and manufacturing with an interest in MEMS and NEMS, and is designed to keep participants abreast of the latest technologies and trends in these hot industry research topics.

Talks will include topics such as:

• MEMS – how to make the nanoworld smaller
• Nanoscale etch
• MEMS research applications and results - IEMN
• Looking towards the next generation of MEMS devices – a leading research organisation
• ALD for MEMS – Eindhoven University
• ALD research and results – Guest speaker

More information can be found here.

 

The workshop is free of charge however advance booking is essential. Register your place here.

Beneq-Glaston TFC2000™ for continuous production of TCO-glass

The Beneq-Glaston TFC2000™ is an off-line system designed for continuous production of TCO-coated glass for the solar industry. It represents a unique and seamless combination of the world-leading glass and annealing know-how of Glaston and Beneq nAERO® thin film TCO-coating.

 

Cost efficiency

• high deposition efficiency – higher coating growth rate than competing technology
• precursor yield 20% or better – save on materials
• fast and easy entry to TCO solar glass

High quality

• durable pyrolytic hard coating – high resistance against wear and tear
• adjustable level of haze – enables TCO-coatings for different types of solar cells

 

 

 

The TFC2000 is designed for continuous production of TCO-coated glass for the solar industry. It represents a unique and seamless combination of the world-leading glass and annealing know-how of Glaston and Beneq nAERO^® thin film TCO-coating.

Nanoscale pillars could radically improve conversion of heat to electricity, say CU-Boulder researchers

February 20, 2014 • Natural Sciences, Engineering, Energy • Discovery & Innovation University of Colorado Boulder scientists have found a creative way to radically improve thermoelectric materials, a finding that could one day lead to the development of improved solar panels, more energy-efficient cooling equipment, and even the creation of new devices that could turn the vast amounts of heat wasted at power plants into more electricity. The technique—building an array of tiny pillars on top of a sheet of thermoelectric material—represents an entirely new way of attacking a century-old problem, said Mahmoud Hussein, an assistant professor of aerospace engineering sciences who pioneered the discovery. The thermoelectric effect, first discovered in the 1800s, refers to the ability to generate an electric current from a temperature difference between one side of a material and the other. Conversely, applying an electric voltage to a thermoelectric material can cause one side of the material to heat up while the other stays cool, or, alternatively, one side to cool down while the other stays hot. - See more at: http://www.colorado.edu/news/releases/2014/02/20/nanoscale-pillars-could-radically-improve-conversion-heat-electricity-say#sthash.QSAijsdJ.dpuf

 

In a paper published in the journal Physical Review Letters, Hussein and Bruce Davis demonstrate a Nanophonic Metamaterial: 

 

Nanophononic Metamaterial: Thermal Conductivity Reduction by Local Resonance

Phys. Rev. Lett. 112, 055505 – Published 7 February 2014

Bruce L. Davis and Mahmoud I. Hussein

Abstract

We present the concept of a locally resonant nanophononic metamaterial for thermoelectric energy conversion. Our configuration, which is based on a silicon thin film with a periodic array of pillars erected on one or two of the free surfaces, qualitatively alters the base thin-film phonon spectrum due to a hybridization mechanism between the pillar local resonances and the underlying atomic lattice dispersion. Using an experimentally fitted lattice-dynamics-based model, we conservatively predict the metamaterial thermal conductivity to be as low as 50% of the corresponding uniform thin-film value despite the fact that the pillars add more phonon modes to the spectrum.

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.112.055505

 

Comparison of the phonon dispersion and thermal conductivity of a pillared silicon thin film with a corresponding uniform thin film. The dispersion curves are colored to represent the modal contribution to the cumulative thermal conductivity, normalized with respect to the highest modal contribution in either configuration. The full spectrum is shown in (a) and the 0≤ω≤2.5  THz portion is shown in (b). Phonon DOS and the thermal conductivity, in both differential and cumulative forms, are also shown. The gray regions represent the difference in quantity of interest between the two configurations. The introduction of the pillar in the unit cell causes striking changes to all these quantities. [from online abstract: Phys. Rev. Lett. 112, 055505 – Published 7 February 2014]

 

Altatech (Soitec) to install new ALD/CVD system at Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin

 

"Soitec’s Altatech subsidiary partners with Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin and installs new CVD system

Altatech Semiconductor S.A. of Montbonnot, near Grenoble, France (a subsidiary of Soitec since January 2012) and Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie (HZB, a member of the Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres) have launched a collaborative partnership for R&D on materials for next-generation high-efficiency solar cells, including new classes of materials and innovative device structures for photovoltaic and photocatalysis applications.

 

 

The AltaCVD system will be used at EMIL to deposit amorphous silicon (alloys), transparent conductive oxides and ultra-thin dielectrics used in fabricating next-generation solar energy devices. The new EMIL building is adjacent to the third-generation storage ring BESSY II, and the cluster tool will be directly connected to an X-ray analytical end-station that accesses a dedicated beam line from BESSY II. Altatech and HZB will conduct atomic-layer deposition (ALD), plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) and physical vapor deposition (PVD) on substrates ranging from small research samples up to fully industry-compatible 6-inch wafers and use EMIL’s analytical capabilities to analyze material and interface properties in between successive processing steps. "

 

Further details in this press release:
 http://www.semiconductor-today.com/news_items/2014/FEB/ALTATECH_200214.shtml

Press release  from Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin:
 http://www.helmholtz-berlin.de/pubbin/news_seite?nid=13925&sprache=en&typoid=49880

A cluster tool for the research on new classes of materials and device structures for photovoltaic and photocatalysis applications. (Source: Altatech)

 

 

HfO2 still going strong for Post-Silicon Channel Materials

According to a recent article HfO2 still going strong for Post-Silicon Channel Materials!

 

"Once device-grade channel materials are achieved, formation of a high quality gate dielectric is the next step. Here, recent results offer reason for optimism. As previously discussed, an initial Al₂O₃ deposition does not appear to be needed to passivate the InGaAs interface. While a clean surface is essential for successful gate oxide deposition, and atomic layer deposition appears to be an enabling technology for surface preparation, D. Hassan Zadeh and coworkers also obtained good results with La₂O₃ dielectrics. This material, along with HfO₂, offers much a higher dielectric constant than Al₂O₃, improving ultimate scalability of alternative channel devices."

 

 

Read all about it on "New Challenges For Post-Silicon Channel Materials", by Katherine Derbyshire, Semiconductor Engineering: http://semiengineering.com/next-steps-for-post-silicon-channel-materials/

As reported by CompoundSemiconductor, Engineers from MIT are claiming to have fabricated the first tunnel FET with a double quantum well InGaAs/GaAsSb structure. This work has been published in: IEEE Electron Dev. Lett. 34 1503 (2013). MIT demonstrate employing HfO2 high-k on an InGaAs channel.

 

Engineers from MIT have fabricated a double quantum well FET (a). Cross-sectional tunnelling electron microscopy provides images of the tunnelling junction and gate stack in the gated region (b), and the edge of the InGaAs air bridge (c). A top view of the air-bridge, after suspension, is provided by a scanning tunnelling microscope (d) [as reported by CompondSemiconductor.net].

The Virtual Project on the History of ALD (VPHA) are looking for more contributors

"In the Virtual Project on the History of ALD (VPHA), we are still looking for more contributors (now we are with 35). Expertise of ALD on carbon or on porous materials would be especially useful. Also people are needed who know Russian language, and also some German speakers. Despite these "special requests", everyone, who knows a bit about ALD and speaks "only" English can contribute meaningfully. In return for volunteering, a position is offered as an author of the ALD history presentations to come, at Baltic ALD in May in Helsinki and at the AVS-ALD meeting in June in Kyoto."

 

Riikka Puurunen (Dr.), Senior Scientist, VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland
Jonas Sundqvist (Dr.), Group Leader High-k Devices, Fraunhofer IPMS-CNT, Germany
Annina Titoff, editor-in-chief, www.aldpulse.com

 

VPHA : http://baldengineering.com/vpha.html

BALD 2014, Helsinki : http://www.aldcoe.fi/bald2014/

AVS-ALD 2014, Kyoto : http://www.ald2014.org/             

Veeco ship first Prototype System for FAST-ALD™ for OLED to Samsung

According to the 4Q/2013 results press release  Veeco book first Prototype System for FAST-ALD™

 

"while not included in reported fourth quarter bookings, we received a purchase order from the world leader in mobile OLED displays for a next generation Fast Array Scanning Atomic Layer Deposition (FAST-ALD™) prototype system."

 - See more at: http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=111487&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1901454#sthash.mi25oBRj.dpuf

Recent information has become availabel that the system is heading to Samsung "Veeco sold a FAST-ALD flexible OLED encapsulation prototype system to Samsung". Who else could it bee since Samsung has 95% of that market? It is also in lign with previous reports on Synos Technology working with Samsung for Flexible OLED encapsulation.

 

Check out the cool animated video below to understan more about FAST-ALD a.k.a. Spatial ALD. Further reading on this technology you can find on the Veeco page for FAST-ALD : http://www.veeco.com/promos/fast-ald.aspx, where the key benefits are listed as:

 

• Ultra-fast ALD process with continuous substrate scan Large substrate scalability without losing process throughput
• Excellent uniformity with closed loop linear reactor design
• Low CoO with high efficient gas-solid reaction process
• Simultaneous In-line multi-process capability

 

Other companies that are developing or producing Spatial ALD Equipmet:

SoLayTec, Levitech, BENEQ and Applied Materials.

6th Leti Workshop on Innovative Memory Technologies

For the 6th time, Leti is hosting a workshop on innovative memory technologies at MINATEC on Tuesday, June 24, 2014, Grenoble, France. The workshop will explore the latest achievements in semiconductor memory technologies. Topics will range from short-term to long-term memory solutions, including:

 

·        Flash memories for embedded or stand-alone applications.

·        Resistive memory technologies such as phase-change memories, conductive bridging memories, oxide–based memories and magnetic memories.

·        Innovative ideas covering non-volatile logics and bio-inspired architectures.

The workshop will feature presentations given by both industrial and academic researchers. Invited contributions will be presented by leaders in the global memory industry.

To know more about previous editions of the workshop, please visit:

2012 edition: http://leti.congres-scientifique.com/workshopmemories2012/index.php?onglet=5

2013 edition: http://www.leti-innovationdays.com/index.php?langue=en&onglet=10

       

 

Samsung 3D-VNAND Promo Video and scaling in 3D

Samsung has been mass-producing 3D NAND modules since August last year according to this source. Here is a most informative news on Samsung 3D-VNAND technology from iTers News discussing limits to 2D scaling beyond 10 nm and "3D scaling".



 

Here is a interesting presentation from Applied Materials on 3D NAND "Winning in 3D NAND" explaining quite some details on process requirements for going from 2D to 3D technology.

 

"Advantage of 3D NAND is that it doesn’t require leading-edge lithography…the burden will shift from lithography to deposition and etch."  Ritu Shrivastava, VP Technology, SanDisk, May 2013 (SemiMD) [Picture is a screenshot from Applied Materials presentation linked above]

ALD4PV Workshop at Eindhoven University of Technology (Eindhoven, The Netherlands) - March 20th, 2014

The workshop will highlight the relevance and potential of ALD for crystalline silicon solar cells, copper indium gallium selenide (CIGS) solar cells, dye-sensitized solar cells (DSC) and other emerging solar cell concepts. Furthermore, the upscaling of the ALD technology for the PV industry will be discussed.

 

 The program includes invited presentations by Dr. Alex Martinson (Argonne National Laboratory, US), Dr. Tobias Törndahl (Uppsala University, SE), Dr. Joachim John (IMEC, BE) and Dr. Ernst Granneman (Levitech, NL) as well as several contributed presentations.

More details on the workshop, program and registration can be found at :

http://phys.tue.nl/PMP/Nanomanufacturing/

ALD - Quantum discovery, analysis, and optimization of reactive precursors. Webinar February 20th, 2014

 

Dr. Mathew D. Halls, Director of Materials Science, will present "Quantum discovery, analysis, and optimization of reactive precursors for thin-film deposition with the Materials Science Suite" on Thursday, February 20. Dr. Halls will provide an overview of the Materials Science Suite applied to reactive precursors and demonstrate the use of high-throughput quantum chemistry to more reliably identify candidate organometallic precursors based on chemical reaction energetics for model surface reaction pathways.

 

 

Quantum discovery, analysis, and optimization of reactive precursors for thin-film deposition with the Materials Science Suite

Dr. Mathew D. Halls
Senior Director, Materials Science

Abstract

First-principles simulation has become a reliable tool for the prediction of structures, chemical mechanisms, and reaction energetics for the fundamental steps in processes such as Atom Layer Deposition (ALD). In addition to reaction energies and structural information, quantum-based simulation can also be used to compute vibrational spectra, enabling the conclusive assignment of gas-phase precursor and surface adsorbate-related bands. Such predictive capability raises the possibility for computational discovery and design of new reactive precursors with enhanced properties. Computational structure enumeration of precursor libraries and the automated quantum mechanical analysis of reaction energies opens a new mode of computational discovery for reactive systems.

In this presentation, Dr. Halls provides an overview of the Schrödinger Materials Science Suite applied to reactive precursors and demonstrates the use of high-throughput quantum chemistry to more reliably identify candidate organometallic precursors based on chemical reaction energetics for model surface reaction pathways.

 

 

Webinar February 20th, 2014 15:00 CET

Registration: Here

 

HZDR in Germany is printing sub-50 nm nearly-discrete magnetic patterns using chemical disorder induced ferromagnetism

HZDR in Germany is printing nearly-discrete magnetic patterns using chemical disorder induced ferromagnetism. Materials in which the magnetic behavior can be tuned via ion-induced phase transitions may allow the fabrication of novel spin-transport and memory devices using existing lateral patterning tools.

 

Original publication:

 

Printing Nearly-Discrete Magnetic Patterns Using Chemical Disorder Induced Ferromagnetism

Rantej Bali et al

Nano Lett., 2014, 14 (2), pp 435–441

DOI: 10.1021/nl404521c

 

 

Abstract:

 

Ferromagnetism in certain alloys consisting of magnetic and nonmagnetic species can be activated by the presence of chemical disorder. This phenomenon is linked to an increase in the number of nearest-neighbor magnetic atoms and local variations in the electronic band structure due to the existence of disorder sites. An approach to induce disorder is through exposure of the chemically ordered alloy to energetic ions; collision cascades formed by the ions knock atoms from their ordered sites and the concomitant vacancies are filled randomly via thermal diffusion of atoms at room temperature. The ordered structure thereby undergoes a transition into a metastable solid solution. Here we demonstrate the patterning of highly resolved magnetic structures by taking advantage of the large increase in the saturation magnetization of Fe₆₀Al₄₀ alloy triggered by subtle atomic displacements. The sigmoidal characteristic and sensitive dependence of the induced magnetization on the atomic displacements manifests a sub-50 nm patterning resolution. Patterning of magnetic regions in the form of stripes separated by 40 nm wide spacers was performed, wherein the magnet/spacer/magnet structure exhibits reprogrammable parallel (↑/spacer/↑) and antiparallel (↑/spacer/↓) magnetization configurations in zero field. Materials in which the magnetic behavior can be tuned via ion-induced phase transitions may allow the fabrication of novel spin-transport and memory devices using existing lateral patterning tools.

 

[Based on original German News, Ionenstrahlen ebnen den Weg zu neuen Ventilen für die Spintronik and Rossendorfer arbeiten an Ventilen für Spintronik-Chips]

Video from the manufacturing line at Plastic Logic's Dresden facility

Recently a video was released from Plastic Logic from the manufacturing factory in Dresden - If you´re in to Fab Automation you will like this one!

 

Plastic Logic is a spin-off company from Cambridge University's Cavendish Laboratory and specialises in polymer transistors and plastic electronics. The company was founded in 2000 by Professor Sir Richard Friend, Professor Henning Sirringhaus and Stuart Evans. The company develops and manufactures color and monochrome plastic flexible displays in various sizes based on an organic thin film transistor (OTFT) technology. The headquarters of Plastic Logic is in Cambridge, United Kingdom. [Wikipedia, 2014-02-17]

 

Plastic Logic runs a commercial, high-volume organic electronics factory manufacturing plastic displays in Dresden, Germany. Check out the Video below!

Using Oxford Instriments OpAl TiN ALD to create high strength low weight Nano Meta Materials

Fabrication and deformation of three-dimensional hollow ceramic nanostructures
Dongchan Jang, Lucas R. Meza, Frank Greer, Julia R. GreerNature Materials, 12 (2013) 893–898, DOI:doi:10.1038/nmat3738

 

 

Above: Skeletal natural biological materials versus TiN nanolattices.

In the analysis of complex, hierarchical structural meta-materials, it is critical to understand the mechanical behavior at each level of hierarchy in order to understand the bulk material response. We report the fabrication and mechanical deformation of hierarchical hollow tube lattice structures with features ranging from 10 nm to 100 μm, hereby referred to as nanolattices. Titanium nitride (TiN) nanolattices were fabricated using a combination of two-photon lithography, direct laser writing, and atomic layer deposition. The structure was composed of a series of tessellated regular octahedra attached at their vertices. In situ uniaxial compression experiments performed in combination with finite element analysis on individual unit cells revealed that the TiN was able to withstand tensile stresses of 1.75 GPa under monotonic loading and of up to 1.7 GPa under cyclic loading without failure. During the compression of the unit cell, the beams bifurcated via lateral-torsional buckling, which gave rise to a hyperelastic behavior in the load–displacement data. During the compression of the full nanolattice, the structure collapsed catastrophically at a high strength and modulus that agreed well with classical cellular solid scaling laws given the low relative density of 1.36 %. We discuss the compressive behavior and mechanical analysis of the unit cell of these hollow TiN nanolattices in the context of finite element analysis in combination with classical buckling laws, and the behavior of the full structure in the context of classical scaling laws of cellular solids coupled with enhanced nanoscale material properties.

 

Screendump from the video below, showing the fabrication method of the 3D architected nano meta materials described in the Nature publication above.

 

Video from Solve for X - Julia Greer - 3D Architechted Nano Metamaterials at World Economic Forum.

According to the information I have the ALD TiN process was performed in an OpAL Atomic Layer Deposition System from Oxford Instruments. 

The Julia Greer Group at Caltech: http://www.jrgreer.caltech.edu/home.php

Idea and inspiration for this post taken from the Next Big Future Blog.

Pacemaker powered by piezoelectric energy harvesting technology

University of Arizona reports on "Tiny power generators developed by the University of Arizona and the University of Illinois could eliminate the need for batteries in medical devices.

The miniature devices consist of piezoelectric nanoribbons sandwiched between two thin layers that serve as electrodes, one made of titanium and platinum and the other made of chromium and gold. Piezoelectric elements are crystals that generate an electrical current when deformed under mechanical pressure and are used in many applications, such as disposable lighters and mini speakers."

 

The mechanical energy harvester, which is flexible enough to conform to the surface of an organ such as the heart, converts the organ's motion into electricity. (Photo: Univ. of Illinois/UA)An energy harverster for an implanted medical device could still though need an energy storage, e.g., for comunicating with the outside world thru wireless communication were more power is need under short period of time.

Check out our extremely thin (2 to 10 µm) on chip 3D capacitor technology at Fraunhofer CNT that has exactly this type application in mind!

 

SEM a) cross section of a trench array with AR 13:1 filled with MIM stack and b) top down micrograph of Si trench array after silicon etch. Current technology is 1:20 and gives 220nF/mm2 with a goal for 1000nF/mm2 in the near future.

ARM is evaluating CeRAM technology for embedded NVM

ARM is evaluating CeRAM - correlated electron random access memory - technology for embedded NVM according to a recent statment from Symetrix:

"ARM is evaluating CeRAM technology as part of its strategy in embedded nonvolatile memory offerings and their discussions with Symetrix started over three months ago. Symetrix will provide its technology and the results from Symetrix programs ongoing at the University of Texas (Dallas) and the University of Colorado (Colorado Springs) to chip foundries engaged by ARM. Other chip companies are also working with Symetrix under similar terms."

 

EE Times also reported on this and CeRAM technology here: CeRAM Memory Gets ARM's Attention:

"CeRAM is based on a transition metal oxide, in this case nickel oxide (NiO). The premise is that, by cleaning up NiO through a suitable doping technique, it is possible to obtain electrically conducting NiO that can make very rapid, reversible, nonvolatile bulk transitions between its electrically insulating and conducting states. In the past, these transitions were possible only at a high pressure and temperature, but they now can be achieved at room temperature with low switching voltages and currents. Key to the operation is a reversible metal-to-insulator transition (MIT) that has its roots in the work of Sir Nevill Mott and John Hubbard. "

Here is a descriptive presentation from Symetrix that goes into detail on CeRAM and compares it to the more mainbstream ReRAM technology. In short:

1) CeRAM vs. Filament Technologies (ReRAM) according to Symetrix

• Control of material properties and proper device architecture are fundamental to this new paradigm. Evidence? No filament formation. (No electroforming)

• The CeRAM resistor is designed to exploit materials properties, surface properties, switching mechanism (endurance) and memory mechanism (retention).

• Optimizing CeRAM is a different science than building the perfect filament.

 

Unlike ReRAM, CeRAM is resistive memory which uses the same transition metal oxide (TMO), such as NiO, but strands are not used and electroplating. Instead CeRAM-memory quantum correlation effects observed positions of electrons, where it got its name. In the structure of the active region is allocated CeRAM TMO, which separates the two conductive layers TMO, whereas in the transition metal oxide ReRAM occupies entire domain between the metal layers.

2) CeRAM STATUS according to Symetrix:

THEORY: Confirmed with empirical results DONE

MATERIALS: Doping any TMO with any extrinsic ligand PATENTED

PROCESS: Create and isolate thin (5 nm) active region by simple spin-on or ALD PATENT FILED

ARCHITECTURE: Array only (no pass gate) PATENTED

3-D (STACKING) With only silicon friendly materials IN PROCESS

FPGA Architecture PATENT FILED

Further References on CeRAM:

Patents:
16 Patents by Symetrix (as assignee) on "correlated electron memory" as returned from Google Patent search.

Publications on CeRAM:

“A non-filamentary model for unipolar switching transition metal oxide resistance random access memories”, Kan-Hao Xue, Carlos Paz De Araujo, Jolanta Celinska, and Christopher McWilliams, J. Appl. Phys. 109, 091602 (2011)

“Material and process optimization of correlated electron random access memories”, Jolanta Celinska, Christopher McWilliams, Carlos Paz De Araujo, and Kan-Hao Xue, J. Appl. Phys. 109, 091603 (2011)

“Device characterization of correlated electron random access memories”, Christopher McWilliams, Jolanta Celinska, Carlos Araujo, and Kan-Hao Xue, J. Appl. Phys. 109, 091608 (2011)

“Operating Current Reduction in Nickel Oxide Correlated Electron Random Access Memories (CeRAMs) through Controlled fabrication Processes”, Jolanta Celinska, Christopher McWilliams, Carlos Paz De Araujo, and Kan-Hao Xue, Integrated Ferroelectrics, 124, 105-111 (2011)

“Re-Programmable Antifuse FPGA Utilizing Resistive CERAM Elements”, Christopher McWilliams, Carlos Paz De Araujo, Jolanta Celinska, and Kan-Hao Xue, Integrated Ferroelectrics, 124, 97-104 (2011)

PVD Free processes used for future emerging memory technologies

This week at the Fraunhofer IPMS-CNT Industry Day, Malgorzata Jurczak, Director Emerging Memory Devices - IMEC, stated that "PVD-free processes (ALD/CVD) are needed for Emerging Memory" To visualize this in the case of 3D NAND there is a recent blog post (SemiMD.com) on the topic - and yes obviously PVD and also not CVD can´t be an option for these highly scaled 3D architectures. Below is a brief snapshot [complete story here]

"The current iteration of NAND flash technology, 2D – or planar – NAND, is reaching its limits. In August 2013, South Korean consumer electronics brand Samsung announced the launch of its 3D NAND storage technology, in the form of a 24-layer, 128 GB chip. In 2014, memory chipmakers Micron and also SK Hynix will follow suit, heralding the arrival of a much-anticipated and debated technology during various industry conferences in recent years. Other companies, including Sandisk, are all working on 3D NAND flash technology." as reported by

Sara Ver-Bruggen, contributing editor at Semiconductor Manufacturing and Design.

“Everything in 3D is a significant challenge. With vertical scaling the challenges include etching high aspect ratio holes, with the aspect ratio doubling with each doubling of layers. These holes must have absolutely parallel walls or scaling and device operation may be compromised. If the layers are thinned then the atomic-layer deposition (ALD) of the layers must be able to apply a constant thickness layer across the entire wafer, which is also true of the layers that are deposited on the walls of the hole,” according to Handy. [Jim Handy from Objective Analysis, who is writing aboute NAND and 3D NAND in the Memory Guy Blog]

 

3D NAND manufacturing considerations and challenges - Staircase etching requires very precise contact landing and the ALD process has to be applied with a constant thickness in 3D across the whole 300mm wafer. Obviously PVD or CVD is not an option at all. These staircase contacts could have an 60:1 aspect ratio.
Chuck Dennison, Senior Director Process Integration, from Micron, explained for 3DNAND “There is a lot planarization, you are etching very high aspect ratio contacts where you need to be very controlled, in terms of how you define your control and CD uniformity. Then there are a lot of additional modules requiring ALD deposition. So we think that there is a lot of opportunity to utilize our DRAM expertise.”

KIT demonstrates lightweight ALD coated material that mimics the structure of bone

"High-strength cellular ceramic composites with 3D microarchitecture" Bauer et al., Karlsruhe Nano Micro Facility, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, D-76131 Karlsruhe, Germany LINK (10.1073/pnas.1315147111, including supporting free avaialble material, videos and pictures)

 

Uniaxial compression test of a polymeric truss structure (right). Failure due to local buckling of diagonal struts under compressive load is followed by large plastic deformations and fracture. Before the collapse, bending of single struts due to processing-related predeformation (shrinking effects) also is observed. Uniaxial compression test of a polymeric truss structure (left) coated with 10 nm of [ALD] Al2O3. Local buckling of individual vertical compression bars leads to the immediate collapse of the whole structure. Only a little plastic deformation can be observed.

Abstract:

To enhance the strength-to-weight ratio of a material, one may try to either improve the strength or lower the density, or both. The lightest solid materials have a density in the range of 1,000 kg/m3; only cellular materials, such as technical foams, can reach considerably lower values. However, compared with corresponding bulk materials, their specific strength generally is significantly lower. Cellular topologies may be divided into bending- and stretching-dominated ones. Technical foams are structured randomly and behave in a bending-dominated way, which is less weight efficient, with respect to strength, than stretching-dominated behavior, such as in regular braced frameworks. Cancellous bone and other natural cellular solids have an optimized architecture. Their basic material is structured hierarchically and consists of nanometer-size elements, providing a benefit from size effects in the material strength. Designing cellular materials with a specific microarchitecture would allow one to exploit the structural advantages of stretching-dominated constructions as well as size-dependent strengthening effects. In this paper, we demonstrate that such materials may be fabricated. Applying 3D laser lithography, we produced and characterized micro-truss and -shell structures made from alumina–polymer composite. Size-dependent strengthening of alumina shells has been observed, particularly when applied with a characteristic thickness below 100 nm. The presented artificial cellular materials reach compressive strengths up to 280 MPa with densities well below 1,000 kg/m3.

 

There´s hope for a Good Hair Day for a BALD Engineer!

Good hair day: New technique grows tiny 'hairy' materials at the microscale

"(Nanowerk News) Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory attacked a tangled problem by developing a new technique to grow tiny “hairy” materials that assemble themselves at the microscale"

Actually there is more than hope, there is a also a hair vax to go with the micro hair - and yes it is made by ALD!

"In one experiment the researchers used a process called atomic layer deposition that deposits a molecule-thick layer of material over the entire hairy structure, like a fresh blanket of snow, to add a layer of semiconductor material. Semiconductors are essential ingredients in many technologies, such as solar cells and electronics"

Argonne materials scientists announced a new technique to grow these little forests at the microscale (the scale shows 100 micrometers, which is about the diameter of a single human hair). (Image by Alexey Snezhko and Igor Aronson)

Read more: Good hair day: New technique grows tiny 'hairy' materials at the microscale
For all Moomin fans the resembelence with the electrified Hatifnats is stunning :-)

SENTECH Plasma Process Technology Seminar 2014 Feb. 27th

Sentech (www.sentech.de) announces that "In good tradition SENTECH is glad to announce its annual Plasma Seminar which takes place on Thursday, February 27th, 2014 at SENTECH Instruments GmbH, Schwarzschildstraße 2, Berlin Adlershof.

 

As the global interest in Nanotechnology is growing, we want to get our participants introduced to new topics in fields of deposition and etching combined with recent examples. Invited speakers will focus on topics such as the deposition through ALD and PE-ALD, the etching of micro- and nanostructures in Si, the manufacturing of graphene films and the deposition of passivation and encapsulation films through IC PECVD and ALD. The whole Seminar Program can be downloaded here: Programme_SENTECH Plasma Seminar . If you want to participate please send this Registration for SENTECH`s Plasma Process Technology Seminar to: sales@sentech.de

 

After the seminar there will be a presentation of the SENTECH application laboratories and its production facilities. The whole material of this seminar will be provided for all participants.

For further information don`t hesitate to contact us or call: +49 89 8979607-0"

IBIS predict that cost/gate is now increasing and thus is no longer an economic driver to move to the next node

At a Semi Industry Strategy Symp (ISS) Int Business Strategies (IBS) presented a forecast for the semiconductor industry until 2020. i-Micronews reports on this event here.

"IBIS predict that cost/gate is now increasing and thus is no longer an economic driver (for same wafer size) to move to the next node."

 

 

Interesting graph that shows that 28nm is the cheapest node ever (per gate) and will probably stay so unless 450mm wafers will make a difference. As we all know 450mm has been delayed again, meaning 28nm will probably be the dominating node for a long time to come.

The IBIS report concludes:

"IBIS further predicts that:
- 28nm will have long lifetime ( Probability 80% )
- 20nm yields will improve, and will be high volume technology node in 2015 and 2016 (Probability 50%)
- 16/14nm will provide low cost gates and support high bandwidth interfaces in SoC environment (Probability 20% in 2016 and 50% in 2017)
- 10nm will likely be postponed, cost per gate will be prohibitive and unclear as to demand other than high speed processors and FPGAs (Probability 90%)."

According to IC Insights’ ranking of the leading IC foundries, "... the top 13 foundries in the figure represented 91% of total foundry sales in 2013. For comparison, the leading 13 foundries accounted for 84% of total foundry marketshare in 2009, the year before Samsung dramatically ramped up its IC foundry production for Apple."

BENEQ nSILVER coating for special edition coins in honor of Tove Jansson - creator of The Moomins

ALDpulse.com reports that Mint of Finland will mint a special issue of 100 numbered Tove Jansson coins with a nominal value of EUR 20. The special edition coins will be given anti-tarnish nSILVER ALD coating developed by the Finnish company Beneq (www.beneq.com).

 

 

The Tove Jansson collector coin will be issued on 7 February. It will be available on the Mint of Finland online shop and from distributors.

Jansson is best known as the author of the Moomin books for children. The first such book, The Moomins and the Great Flood, appeared in 1945, though it was the next two books, Comet in Moominland and Finn Family Moomintroll, published in 1946 and 1948 respectively, that brought her fame. Tove Jansson was selected one time previously as the main motif in the 2004 minting of a Finnish commemorative coin, the €10 Tove Jansson and Finnish Children's Culture commemorative coin. [Wikipedia]

 

 

ALD:ed Tove Jansson €20 coin from Mint of Finland. The coins have been coated with nSILVER(R) from BENEQ to protect them from oxidation.

More information on the BENEQ nSILVER coating you can find here and below you can watch a Video on development of silver saving technology by University of Maryland using a BENEQ TSF 500 Batch ALD reactor.

Good news on Ultratech Cambridge Nanotech

Art Zafiropoulo , the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Ultratech reported on Cambridge Nanotech integration into Ultratech in a Q4 2013 Results - Earnings Call transcripetd by Seeking Alpha.

 "We also integrated our asset acquisition of Cambridge Nanotechnology. We manufacture the most flexible and successful atomic layer deposition systems in the world, for use in research and specific production applications. A total of 370 systems have been shipped since its inception a few years ago. The most popular models is Savannah and Fiji were totally updated and redesigned making these more flexible and serving the global research institutes and university markets."

On the forecast of ALD systems sales in 2014 he said "This year we’ll be probably in the range of 50 systems…” and he went on "… we hope to diversify more than we are today and hopefully outside the semiconductor industry and my objective is to move into the medical field and the MEMS area and sensors if we can.”

 

The complete transcript of the call is available here: Seeking Alpha

For all ALD maniacs out there I can realy recomend to spend some time on Cambridge Nanotech´s web - it is realy informative : Cambridge Nanotech. Especially interesting is the Knowledge center with customer papers, tutorials an more. Earlier they used to have a very good Abstract database but I have not been able to locate that one since Ultratech bought them.

Here you can read more about their well known ALD systems:

Lab ALD - The Savannah http://www.cambridgenanotechald.com/thin-film-deposition.html
PEALD - The Fiji http://www.cambridgenanotechald.com/advanced-thin-films.html
Batch ALD - The Phoenix http://www.cambridgenanotechald.com/batch-ald-system.html

SMEs like Beneq – could be the key to Finnish economic success

YLE reports on the display technology form Finnish ALD Company BENEQ:The Finnish economy is in dire need of new export business. In the past, Finnish exports have mainly been driven by major corporations. However, big company job opportunities are now few and far between. The future seems to lie with smaller export business, such as Beneq, which manufactures see-through displays.

A Beneq see-through display in the hands of the company CEO Sampo Ahonen. [Image from Yle.fi]

Read the full story on Yle.fi

The 2nd International Conference on ALD Applications & 3rd China ALD Conference Oct 16, 2014

The 2nd International Conference on ALD Applications & 3rd China ALD conference will be will be held in Shanghai, China, from October 16 to 17, 2014. It will be a two-day meeting, dedicated to the fundamental, materials, and applications of Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) technology. It Following the success of the 1st and 2nd China ALD Scientific Meeting in 2010 and 2012, the 3rd China ALD 2014 conference will feature plenary sessions, poster sessions and an industrial exhibition. Papers submitted by students will be eligible for the“Best Student Paper Awards”

This conference will cover all aspects of ALD:
* ALD Precursors and Precursor Design
* Simulation, Modeling, and Theory of ALD
* ALD Surface Chemistry
* Surface Preparation for ALD
* Initiation of ALD Growth
* Patterned and Selective Area ALD
* In-situ Monitoring and Analysis
* Radical, Plasma and Other Energy-Enhanced ALD Methods
* Equipment and Manufacturing
* Applications of ALD for Microelectronics and Nanotechnology
* ALD for MEMS
* ALD for Catalytic, Photovoltaic, Optical, Magnetic Materials
* Characterization of ALD Coatings

IMPORTANT DATES
September 15, 2014—Abstract Submission Ends
September 20, 2014—Preregistration Opens
Please submit your abstract for Oral or Poster presentation to the
Email address: honglianglu@fudan.edu.cn and fzhang@semi.ac.cn

PROCEEDING AND FULL PAPER:
Full contributed papers will be peer reviewed and published
in a special issue Nanoscale Research Letters (2013 impact factor: 2.52).

The SEMATECH ALD equipment forum will run from February 17th-20th in San Diego

The SEMATECH ALD equipment forum will run from February 17th-20th in San Diego and will focus on the following topics:

- Equipment Cost of Ownership
- Defect Reduction
- Precursor Qualification
- Maintenance Best Practice
- Process Control / FDC

 This forum is being supported by HKE, TEL and others; with high volume manufacturing Fab engineers participating from: Intel, IBM, Samsung, UMC, Winbond, Macronix, GlobalFoundries, TSMC, Renesas, Freescale and HP. We are focusing on both oxides and metal nitrides.

LAM Research sees a transition to single wafer atomic layer deposition (ALD) tools for multi-patterning as the film conformality and uniformity requirements increase

As reported by Seeking Alpha - Lam Research Management Discusses Q2 2014 Results - Earnings Call Transcript :

“In DRAM, the number of multi-patterning steps more than doubles with the transition to 20-nanometer going from 3 or 4 in a mid-2x device to between 8 and 10 at 20-nanometer, with the same evidence of upsize on number of passes. You should expect more specificity from Lam on this in the coming quarters. This transition also presents growth opportunities for our deposition business. Many of the spacer-based, multi-patterning deposition steps can be done with batch variances today. However, customers are evaluating or starting to transition these steps to single wafer atomic layer deposition, or ALD tools, as the film conformality and uniformity requirements increased.”

Access the full transcript thru Seeking Alpha
http://seekingalpha.com/article/1978731-lam-research-management-discusses-q2-2014-results-earnings-call-transcript?part=single

JUSUNG ENGINEERING to introduce 'Space Divided Plasma System'

AVING NET reports that JUSUNG ENGINEERING(www.jseng.com) to introduce its semiconductor product including 'Space Divided Plasma System'(SDP), which features largely three functions which are 'ALD', 'CVD' and 'Treatment' for Nitridation, Oxidation and Doping. The system is capable to go through the process of ordinary PECVD, LPCVD and Defusion Furnishing, which can solve wafer damage problem by plasma.

 

Image from AVING NET - Jusung SDP - Space Divided Plasma System

SEMICON Korea 2014

▶ February 12(Wen) - 14(Fri), 2014

▶ Venue: Hall A, B, C, D 1F&3F, COEX, Seoul, Korea

▶ Program: Exhibition, SEMI Technology Symposium

▶ Program: Press Conference, imec Technology Forum, Keynote Speech, Executive Forum, SEMI Technology Symposium(STS), LED Korea Conference 2014.

▶ Organized by: SEMI (Semiconductor Equipment and Material International)