NCD, a fast growing Korean ALD Equipment manufacturer for High Volume manufactuiring

As announced some weeks ago I am happy to have NCD as sponsor for the BALD Engineering ALD News blog. Here a review of the company and its fantastic ALD products follows and you should check the recently updated web page (http://www.ncdtech.co.kr/). NCD Co., Ltd. from Daejeon in Korea is a young and growing company founded in 2010 and is specialized in ALD original equipment manufacturing, which has been covered here on the ALD blog previously (here).

NCD is focusing on equipment development, process development, coating services, and process consulting for advanced ALD technologies for four business areas:

1. Solar
2. Display
3. Semiconductor
4. R&D

NCD has already had quite some successful years in entering the ALD equipment market and has built a very impressive customer base in Asia with main focus on the Korean domestic market, Japan, China and Taiwan.

As you may know, one of disadvantages of ALD is slow growth rate at typically an Å / cycle or so, that is to say ALD has a low throughput. In order to solve this problem, NCD has applied for patents for the high-throughput, high-volume and large-area every year. Based on these patents, NCD have developed their high-volume and large-area ALD system.

Here follows an overview of the ALD technology and equipment offering by NCD

1) High-volume ALD

   - GS ALD : surface passivation for c-Si solar cell                                                                         

   - MC ALD : dielectric for capacitor and encapsulation for micro display (OLED)

2) Large-area ALD

   - TS ALD : buffer layer for CIGS solar cell

   - GD ALD : encapsulation for OLED

Lucida^TM GS1200 ALD with automation system

NCD has paved the way for high volume manufacturing by a range of ALD systems (see above). Worth highlighting here is especially the Lucida™ GS1200 ALD system applied for high efficiency solar cells at both Hyundai Heavy Industries and LG Electronics etc. The GS series from NCD can realize Passivation for c-Si solar cell at an impressive through put of >3400 wph @ 10nm-Al2O3.

For the large area CIGS thin film soar and OLED display market, NCD has developed two main platforms - the TS and the GD series respectively. ALD chamber clustering is an approach used by many rather than large stand-alone batch tools. 

Lucida^TM GD600 ALD in R&D Lab.

Lucida™ GD series already had been applied to R&D centers of Korean and other customers, and showed the excellent performance for thin film encapsulation (TFE) and barrier applications. NCD is currently possible to run customer demoes with the large size of panel (1500mm x 1800) for using LucidaTM GD600 in the demo room (see above). NCD is the only place to do superior ALD demoes with that size panel.

It will be very exciting to follow NCD the next years when the ALD market continues its growth in many high-volume and large-area ALD applications.

UHV PEALD system from AdNaNoTek

Here is a company for ALD that I was not aware of before that I came across while surfing internet. AdNaNoTek's is building all types of UHV Deposition Systems for MBE, PLD, IBSD, Sputtering, E-beam Evaporatioon, Thermal Evaporatioon, etc. and are now also offering a PEALD system.  Below is some information available from their web: LINK

Plasma Enhanced Atomic Layer Deposition (PEALD - 6)

AdNaNoTek's Plasma Enhanced Atomic Layer Deposition (PEALD - 6) can deposit epitaxial thin-film with extremely high quality and repeatability. This PEALD system is specially equipped with microwave plasma generator which produces plasma from successive ionization, vibrational excitation, and collision. Sufficient precursor units are provided to introduce deposition materials unto the substrate using a sophisticated gas control panel. The deposition chamber and substrate manipulator provides precise control of vacuum condition and substrate temperature to ensure epitaxial deposition process.

In addition, precise control and high stability is achieved by making the process automated with the use of the FBBEAR control software. The FBBEAR control software, provides complete data logging, precise parameter tuning  which allows user to have easy operation and reliable experimental repeatability.

PEALD can be applied for thin layer deposition of materials like: Silicon, Silicon oxide, etc.

MAIN SPECIFICATIONS (under construction):

• Cylindrical SS316L electropolised chamber (1E-10 Torr)
• 8-inch quick access door
• 4-axis (XYZR) Laser heating sample manipulator (20 mm xy motion, 100mm z motion, continuous 360° rotation)
• 1-inch sample holder (size upto 6-in)
• Heating temperature up to 1000°C ± 1°C (in 1 atm O2 or O3 process gas)
• High pressure RHEED system (real-time epitaxy monitoring)
• Turbo pump with rough pump
• Metal leak valves
• Full range vacuum gauge
• Industrial computer with 23" touchscreen
• Full system control software (FBBear)
• Large space with many ports for versatile expansion/upgrades
• HV Load lock SS304 electropolished chamber (1E-7 Torr) with full range vacuum gauge and turbo pump

New cyclic azasilanes as volatile and reactive precursors for ALD of SiO2 from Gelest

Here is a very good publication brought to my attention by Henrik Pedersen on Twitter. It is a nice screening exercise of a new class Si precursors for ALD of SiO2 using ozone fom Gelest Inc. SiO2 is one of the most important materials today in the 2nd ALD boom besides silicon nitride. 

As reported earlier here the equipment market for ALD single and multi wafer tools is expected to reach $1.2 billion in the next 2-3 years. One of the reasons behind tremendous growth expectation  is that LPCVD and PECVD just can´t meet the requirements of conformal growth and low thermal budget required by the sub 20 nm Logic and Memory technologies and especially for multi-patterning and also due to the 3D path of 3DNAND. One additional challenge that has to be confronted is to have a stable process that is not affected by surface loading difference due to different chip designs - just imagine the issues with having one specific CVD recipe for each specific litho layer in each specific product in a foundry like TSMC or Globalfoundries.

Here is an excellent publication from Dina Triyoso at Globalfoundries explaining loading effects in the 28nm spacer module PECVD vs ALD SiNx that is free at Research Gate.

The excellent work is form Nicholas Strandwitz research group at the Department of Materials Science and Engineering and Center for Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, USA and has been performed using a the well known workhorse in ALD - the Ultratech/Cambridge Nanotech Savannah S100. This one seems also to be a nice version with a Quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) integrated in the lid from Ultratech.

Cyclic azasilanes as volatile and reactive precursors for atomic layer deposition of silicon dioxide

Ling Ju and Nicholas C. Strandwitz 

J. Mater. Chem. C, 2016, Advance Article, DOI: 10.1039/C5TC03896K

A suite of four volatile aminosilanes, cyclic azasilanes, was used to deposit silicon dioxide (SiO2) films by atomic layer deposition (ALD) over the temperature range 100–300 °C by reaction with O3. The unstable Si–N bonding makes the cyclic azasilanes chemically reactive with hydroxyl surfaces through a ring-opening reaction. Subsequent oxidation with O3 affords silanol groups, which are amenable to further reaction with cyclic azasilanes. The influence of azasilane and O3 exposure times on the growth rate was examined in detail. The growth rates obtained by spectroscopic ellipsometry are 0.6–1.2 Å per cycle for various azasilanes under different ALD conditions, due to side chain structure variation of the precursors. Refractive indices (1.45–1.46) and band gaps (8.5–8.7 eV) are found to be similar to thermal oxide. X-Ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) revealed 3–5 at% C and 0.2–0.4 at% N in the films and an O/Si ratio of ∼1.9 when deposited at 190 °C. The first silane pulse resulted in a surface coverage of ∼1.2 molecules per nm2 as determined by microbalance measurements. The O3 oxidation rate is faster for silanes with Si–OMe groups than those with Si–Me functionalities, and less effective at lower temperatures for some silane precursors. These cyclic azasilanes are promising precursors for ALD SiO2 and surface functionalization, and the variation in the structures provides possibilities to study reaction mechanisms and control surface chemistry.

ALD for Industry, 17-18 January 2017, Swissôtel Dresden Am Schloss

As you may have noticed, Dresden has developed to the German Hotbed for ALD and we want to make you aware of an ALD event in Dresden early 2017 that may be very interesting for your participation since it will have a strong Industrial focus for ALD and you will be able to reach out to the German ALD market and your potential & existing customers here.

Together with Christoph Hossbach at TU Dresden IHM I am Co-Charing this Workshop organized by EFDS (http://www.efds.org/) If you like to participate exhibit at the event please contatct.

 

EFDS - Europäische Forschungsgesellschaft Dünne Schichten e.V.

contact: Grit Kotschenreuther
Gostritzer Straße 63 

kotschenreuther@efds.org
01217 Dresden Tel. +49 351 8718372

ALD for Industry, 17-18 January 2017, Swissôtel Dresden Am Schloss

"This event provides the opportunity to learn more about fundamentals of ALD technology, to get informed about recent progress in the field and to get in contact with industrial and academic partners. Increase your visibility and present your company in our accompanying exhibition."

http://www.efds.org/appointments-detail/events/ald-workshop-ald-for-industry.html

More information will be available soon!

Kind regards & greetings from Dresden,

Jonas & Christoph

 

 

 

 

Call for Abstract "Atomic Layer Deposition Applications" PRiME 2016/230th ECS Meeting Honolulu, Hawaii

Call for Abstracts

PRiME 2016/230th ECS Meeting (October 2-7, 2016)

• Submission Instructions
• Call for Papers PDF
• ORCID - "Own" your published work: get an ORCID identifier. You are encouraged to create an ORCID ID here before beginning your abstract submission, and then link your record in the abstract system to your record in ORCID during the submission process.
• Open Access - It's never too early to think about publishing your work in an ECS Journal. ECS Journals are now Author Choice Open Access, learn more.

Abstracts are due no later than Friday, 15 April 2016 at 11:59 PM Eastern Standard Time.

 

G - ELECTRONIC MATERIALS AND PROCESSING

G01 - High Purity and High Mobility Semiconductors 14

G02 - Semiconductors, Dielectrics, and Metals for Nanoelectronics 14

G03 - Atomic Layer Deposition Applications 12

G04 - Processing Materials of 3D Interconnects, Damascene and Electronics Packaging 8

G05 - SiGe, Ge, and Related Materials: Materials, Processing, and Devices 7

 

Recent Publications on ALD and ALE from JVST A and JVST B

JVST Publishes Fundamental and Applied Research Articles and Letters on Atomic Layer Deposition and Etching

Recent Publications on ALD and ALE from JVST A and JVST B

Spectroscopic investigation of the electronic structure of thin atomic layer deposition HfO₂ films

Silma Alberton Corrêa, Simone Brizzi and Dieter Schmeisser

J. Vac. Sci. Technol. A 34, 01A117 (2016) | Read More

Atomic layer deposition by reaction of molecular oxygen with tetrakisdimethylamido-metal precursors

J Provine, Peter Schindler, Jan Torgersen, Hyo Jin Kim, Hans-Peter Karnthaler and Fritz B. Prinz

J. Vac. Sci. Technol. A 34, 01A138 (2016) | Read More

Standing and sitting adlayers in atomic layer deposition of ZnO

Zhengning Gao, Fei Wu, Yoon Myung, Ruixiang Fei, Ravindra Kanjolia, Li Yang and Parag Banerjee

J. Vac. Sci. Technol. A 34, 01A143 (2016) | Read More

Improvement of the thermal stability of nickel silicide using a ruthenium interlayer deposited via remote plasma atomic layer deposition

Inhye Lee, Jingyu Park, Heeyoung Jeon, Hyunjung Kim, Changhee Shin, Seokyoon Shin, Kunyoung Lee and Hyeongtag Jeon

J. Vac. Sci. Technol. A 34, 031502 (2016) | Read More

Growth per cycle of alumina atomic layer deposition on nano- and micro-powders

Kedar Manandhar, James A. Wollmershauser, Janice E. Boercker and Boris N. Feigelson

J. Vac. Sci. Technol. A 34, 021519 (2016) | Read More

Growth, intermixing, and surface phase formation for zinc tin oxide nanolaminates produced by atomic layer deposition

Carl Hägglund, Thomas Grehl, Jukka T. Tanskanen, Ye Sheng Yee, Marja N. Mullings, Adriaan J. M. Mackus, Callisto MacIsaac, Bruce M. Clemens, Hidde H. Brongersma and Stacey F. Bent

J. Vac. Sci. Technol. A 34, 021516 (2016) | Read More

Atomic layer deposition of two dimensional MoS₂ on 150 mm substrates

Arturo Valdivia, Douglas J. Tweet and John F. Conley Jr.

J. Vac. Sci. Technol. A 34, 021515 (2016) | Read More

Initial evaluation and comparison of plasma damage to atomic layer carbon materials using conventional and low T_e plasma sources

Ashish V. Jagtiani, Hiroyuki Miyazoe, Josephine Chang, Damon B. Farmer, Michael Engel, Deborah Neumayer, Shu-Jen Han, Sebastian U. Engelmann, David R. Boris, Sandra C. Hernández, Evgeniya H. Lock, Scott G. Walton and Eric A. Joseph

J. Vac. Sci. Technol. A 34, 01B103 (2016) | Read More

Fluorocarbon assisted atomic layer etching of SiO₂ and Si using cyclic Ar/C₄F₈ and Ar/CHF₃ plasma

Dominik Metzler, Chen Li, Sebastian Engelmann, Robert L. Bruce, Eric A. Joseph and Gottlieb S. Oehrlein

J. Vac. Sci. Technol. A 34, 01B101 (2016) | Read More

At the edge between metal organic chemical vapor deposition and atomic layer deposition: Fast Atomic Sequential Technique, for high throughput conformal deposition

Fabien Piallat and Julien Vitiello

J. Vac. Sci. Technol. B 34, 021202 (2016) | Read More

Lund Univeristy in Sweden moves ahead with Phase 1 for the Nano Pilot Production facility - ProNano

Lund University, Sweden, is the largest university in the Nordic Countries situated across the bridge from Copenhagen. ProNano is a pilot study of the market potential for a pilot production facility for nanotechnology and nano materials in Lund. The facility is aimed at researchers and companies wants to develop pilot production and products with industry standard, without having to invest in expensive equipment by themselves.

The project was initiated by NanoLund at Lund University, Sweden and is conducted in collaboration with Lund University, Region Skåne, RISE and Medicon Village with representation from industry, academia and authorities and Yvonne Mårtensson, former CEO Cellavision AB is the project manager of ProNano. This week the next steps have been announced by a press release from Lund University.

Science Village Scandinavia will consist of buildings aimed at research facilities, research institutes, research institutes for Lund University and other universities, companies related to innovation and research, a Science Centre and Business Centre, premises for laboratories, administration, service and accommodation (http://sciencevillage.com/)

Prof. Lars Samuelson, founder of NanoLund and the nanowire growth research and also founder of a number of spin-off companies and the driver of commercialization of nano materials at Lund University stated: "An effort for the industrialization of nano materials in Lund is a natural result of the world leading materials research with the establishment of a number of companies where the research is channeled all the way to the market". As a note for the readers here, Prof. Samuelson is the Keynote Speaker of ALD 2016 in Dublin, Ireland 24-27th of July.

 

Prof. Lars Samuelson (left) and Prof. Heiner Linke (right), the founder resp. the Director of NanoLund.

Prof. Heiner Linke, Director of NanoLund added "The goal with ProNano is to create a vertical integrated system around Swedish nanotechnology that stretches from education through basic and applied research all the way to production. The vision is to realize the foundation for a Swedish industry based on advanced nano materials"

The regional authorities of Skåne (Region Skåne, Southern part of Sweden part of greater Copenhagen) has now decided to fund the project ProNano Phase 1 with additional funds of 4 million SEK for 2016 and 2017.

Pontus Linberg (regional conservative politician) put it in a context by saying: "The world class infrastructure of ESS and MAX IV currently being constructed in Lund has to be followed up by additional support for the foundation for business development and commercialization. ProNano will be the first bid establishment of infrastructure placed between MaxIV and ESS. ProNano will be targeting developing existing and new companies and is a natural and highly important part of the push for smart materials."

The Region of Skåne will except for financially supporting ProNano facilitate the process and connect the player on the nano materials and nano technology arena.

The recently published white paper can be downloaded here (in Swedish)

Aixtron soars after qualification with Taiwanese Epistar LED chipmaker

Press release from Aixtron:

AIXTRON SE (FSE: AIXA; NASDAQ: AIXG), a worldwide leading provider of deposition equipment to the semiconductor industry, announced today that Epistar Corporation, a global leading supplier of LED chip products, has successfully achieved all milestones in the internal qualification process of the AIX R6 beta-type MOCVD production system (“AIX R6” hereafter). 

In the course of the qualification process, the AIX R6 confirmed its value proposition in terms of throughput maximization, intrinsic yield and uniformity. Particularly designed for LED mass production, the AIX R6 also demonstrated its cost advantages through precursor efficiency and continuous run production modus. 

“We have been satisfied with the performance of AIXTRON’s Showerhead tool during the internal test phase, especially with its improved uniformity which is the basis for high-quality LED products. We are looking forward to benefit from the system’s low cost of ownership in the future”, says Dr. M. J. Jou, President of Epistar Corporation. 

“The AIX R6 is a state-of-the-art LED manufacturing system that recognizes the needs of the LED industry, especially with regard to output, efficiency and costs. Based on our longstanding and trustful business relationship with Epistar, we are looking forward to the further cooperation with one of the leading and most innovative players in the global LED market”, comments Dr. Bernd Schulte, Executive Vice President and COO of AIXTRON SE.“ 

Located at the Hsinchu Science-based Industrial Park, Taiwan, Epistar Corporation has been driving the development, manufacture and marketing of ultra-high brightness (UHB) LED products for over a decade. Via its proprietary MOCVD process technology, Epistar continues to successfully commercialize worldwide a full range of UHB LEDs having compact size, low power consumption and long operation life.

Beneq is looking for a Technical Sales Manager for ALD

Technical Sales Manager (ALD)

to support the sales of Beneq’s Thin as a ServiceTM offering, consisting of ALD-123TM Development Services, ALD Coating Services, and ALD Equipment. Customers comprise of industrial manufacturers and research organizations, both academic and industrial. Main tasks will include soliciting potential customers, processing inquiries and RFQ’s, preparing commercial quotations rich in technical content, and leading sales negotiations up to securing contracts. Extensive travelling will be required to succeed in the position.

Aixtron shows growth in silicon semiconductor equipment business due to ALD

Here are some interesting statements with respect for ALD from the latest Aixtron 4Q/2015 Earnings Call (2016-02-23):

"Demand for our power electronics equipment more than doubled to over €25 million last year. We also saw solid growth in our silicon semiconductor equipment business where revenues increased by 75% to just over €29 million. This was largely due to a strong demand for our ALD technology, which has become a key element of the DRAM production of our customer." Said Martin Goetzeler, CEO of Aixtron.

According to Bernd Schulte, COO: "For memory chip production, our QXP-8300 ALD deposition tool performs at the highest uptime levels in high volume manufacturing environment. It is production qualified by a major Korean producer with qualification ongoing at two other memory chip manufacturers."

I remember seeing the first PowerPoint version of this multi stage chamber and it impressed me a lot so I am happy to read that they have had success with it in the Korean DRAM industry. It is also interesting to see that Aixtron has integrated some of their technologies coming from their MOCVD reactors like the TriJet Vaporizer and the CCS (Shower head).

Full details on the here

 

Photo show NaMLab Novel High-k Materials Workshop in Dresden

Novel High k Application Workshop 2016

In collaboration with the EU COST networking project HerALD (working group 4), NaMLab invites to the Novel High-k Application Workshop on March 14th and 15th, 2016. New challenges offered by the application of high-k dielectric materials in micro– and nanoelectronics will be discussed by more than 80 participants from industry, research institutes and universities. NaMLab created with the workshop a stimulating European platform for application-oriented scientist to exchange ideas and discuss latest experimental results on MIM-capacitors, process technology, leakage & reliability as well as characterization of high-k dielectrics integrated in silicon based micro– and nanoelectronics. In addition, new results in the field of ALD dielectrics in solar cells, transparent conduction oxides (TCOs) and atomic layer etching (ALE) will be discussed. 

Here are pictures from the Event - Day 1:

Networking / Breaks:

Two of the Sponsors of the event Jamal Belgacem from Strem and Andy Stamm Oxford Instruments

The Precursor Buffé from Strem 

Additional sponsors of the event - Sara Wengström from Swedish FAB Support and Paul Williams from Pegasus disussing precursors with very important customers.

Sessions :

 The speakers lining up with USB sticks to upload their presentations

Dr. Karim Cherkaoui, Nanoelectronic Materials and Devices Group (NMD), Tyndall National Lab, Ireland giving a talk on High-k on III/V semiconductors. 

 
J. Roberts from University of Liverpool - Dielectrics for AlGaN/GaN MISHEMT power electronics 

Dr. Jurgen Schubert Peter Grünberg Institute (PGI-9), Forschungszentrum Jülich - Rare eath oxides on GaN

N. Szabo, NaMLab, Dresden - ALD Al2O3 as a high‐k dielectric material for future GaN power devices.

Max Drescher, Fraunhofer IPMS, Dresden - Deciphering Reliability in High‐K Metal Gate Technology. 

Dr. Elke Erben, Globalfoundries, Dresden - Workfunction tuning and gate stack for 22nm FD‐SOI.

Felix Winkler, TU Dresden - Novel vertical TSV field effect transistor using ALD high‐k gate dielectrics

A. Thomas, IFW Dresden - ALD deposited HfO2‐based magnetic tunnel junctions 

 

M. Godlewski, Acad. of Sc. Warsaw, Poland - High‐k oxides by ALD ‐ from applications in electronics to biology and medicine

J. Van Houdt, Imec - High-k in memory devices.

M.H. Park, SNU, Seol, South Korea - Current understanding of ferroelectricity and field‐induced‐ferroelectricity in (Hf,Zr)O2 films based on first order phase transition theory 

 

High-k & Metal Precursors for ICs to Reach ~$400M by 2020

San Diego, CA, March 5, 2016: Chemical precursors (inorganic and organic) used to form high dielectric constant (High-K) materials, metals and metal nitrides needed in advanced ICs are forecasted to reach $400M USD in global sales by 2020, as highlighted in TECHCET’s 2016 Critical Materials Report. Estimated to have totaled over $258M in 2015, this market consists of ~51% high-k metal precursors used for gate dielectrics and capacitors, and ~49% other metal precursors used for electrode and interconnect processes. 

The largest usage for High-K ALD and CVD (Atomic Layer Deposition and Chemical Vapor Deposition) precursors will continue to be capacitor formation for volatile memory devices through 2020. However, it is expected that revenues for High-K gate oxides processes may surpass memory capacitors by 2021. Compared to CVD, the ALD process relies on unique properties of precursors to self-limit reactions at the atomic level, so ALD precursors are generally chemically engineered complex molecules that command relatively higher average selling prices. 

Atomic Layer Etching (ALE) is a new technology similar to ALD, in that alternating sequential surface-limited steps remove precise layers. When engineering atom-scale device features, chip fabricators will continue to rely on such high precision processes employing new and existing materials to enable high quality surfaces. Besides the physical plasma assisted path to ALE employing Cl2 and Ar ions, the chemical path to ALE uses metal organic compounds and hydro fluoric acid, and recent research is focused on using tin(II) acetylacetonate and other beta-diketonates.

Understanding the complex dynamics of materials interactions are critical to the successful use of novel processes and materials in IC HVM. Challenges and opportunities relating to the affordable, controllable, and safe implementation of new materials will be presented in detail at the Critical Materials Conference 2016—open to the public May 5-6, in Hillsboro, Oregon—in conjunction with the private Critical Materials Council (CMC) meetings. For more info on TECHCET’s Report or to Register for the CMC Conference, please go to www.cmcfabs.org/seminars/ or contact cmcinfo@techcet.com

About TECHCET CA LLC

TECHCET’s work is focused on process materials supply-chains and materials technology trends for Semiconductor, Display, Solar/PV, and LED manufacturing industries. The company has been responsible for producing the Critical Material Reports for SEMATECH and the industry since 2000. This work continues to benefit the Critical Materials Council, now organized as CMC Fabs. For more info please go to: www.cmcfabs.org or www.techcet.com

How to pronounce: Atomlagenabscheidung (German)

Great summary of the patterning options at 7nm

As many of you know, the insertion of multi patterning technology is driving the single wafer and multi wafer ALD equipment market enormously. The actually the market is predicted by many (Gartner, ASMi, VLSI) to double in the coming 2-3 years and many new players are entering ALD with new powerful ALD technology Lam Research, Applied Materials and Jusung Engineering have new platforms on the market targeting the multi patterning market and Veeco is developing new low temperature Fast Spatial ALD also targeting this market. Here is a collection of recent blog posts on this topic here at BALD Engineering ALD News Blog:

ASM International's CEO Chuck Del Prado on 2015 ALD results
Applied Materials to introduce a new system for Atomic Layer Deposition - Olympia™ ALD

Lam Research gets into the booming ALD business and doubles their install base 

Jusung Engineering launches SDP R2 Revolution-Rotation ALD System at SEMICON Korea
Veeco brings low temperature nitride Spatial FAST ALD to semiconductor manufacturing

From this point of view it is good to understand what the options are at 7nm where the number of multi patterning steps may be fore than a handful. Therefore a recommend you to read this article by Mark LaPedus in Semiconductor Engineering with the latest insights from SPIE 2016.

7nm Lithography Choices

Four possible scenarios for patterning the next generation of chips

March 7th, 2016 - By: Mark LaPedus
 

1. A chipmaker doesn’t insert EUV at 7nm, but rather it uses immersion/multi-patterning exclusively.
2. A chipmaker uses immersion/multi-patterning first. Then, EUV is inserted later in the flow where it makes sense.
3. A chipmaker inserts immersion/multi-patterning and EUV simultaneously.
4. A chipmaker uses an alternative technique, such as DSA and multi-beam.

Article:  http://semiengineering.com/7nm-lithography-choices/

Open Access for ALD Publications by Riikka Puurunen

Here is a very insightful blog by Riikka Puurunen on the options for Open Access publication opportunities especially for ALD.

Thoughts on Open Access, VPHA and figshare

A publication is meant to be public. Many are not, as the journals limit the access to the subscribers of the journals --- the content is published, but not publicly available.

Mid-February, I blogged about "Open research: How sharing can help researchers succeed", linking to an excellent manuscript-in-progress by McKiernan et al. that considers open research aspects from a researcher-centric approach. The manuscript triggered my thinking in many ways, I recommend reading it to others, too. In this blog post, I continue around Open Access and Open Science from my own ALD scientist's viewpoint and from the viewpoint of the VPHA ALD history project, ending with a question: Could we use figshare to share VPHA's material, other than journal articles? Are there other good options? Discussion on the topic is very much needed and welcome.

 

Continue reading in Riika´s blog: http://aldhistory.blogspot.de/2016/03/on-open-access-VPHA-and-figshare.html

LG Innotek teams up with AIXTRON technology

According to a recent press release (see below) LG Innotek teams up with AIXTRON technology. The Korean electronic components specialist counts on AIX G5 WW system for the developmnt of silicon carbide epitaxial wafers 

 

AIXTRON SE (FSE: AIXA; NASDAQ: AIXG), a worldwide leading provider of deposition equipment to the semiconductor industry, announced today that one of Korea’s leading electronics companies, LG Innotek has selected a AIX G5 WW (Warm-Wall) reactor for the development of silicon carbide (SiC) epitaxial wafers aimed mainly at power devices for automotive and renewable energy applications. The system configured for 8x6-inch substrates was delivered in the fourth quarter 2015.