INFICON xParts ALD Coatings using Picosun P1000

Inficon's xParts coating service for coating on 3D parts for use in extreme harsh applications such as semiconductor production processes.

In the todays high-tech industries such as the Semi Conductor production, the complexity of the processes and the equipment exposure to harsh chemistry is intense. The desire for tool up-time, high yield and good wafers by lowering the cost of ownership is eminent. Through INFICON xParts ALD coatings one can address exactly these challenges.

1. High conformity allows to coat highly complex 3D geometries with large aspect ratios

2. Outstanding chemical resistance against harsh chemistries (Fluorine, Chlorine etc.)

3. Sealing pores, cracks and voids in thick but porous coatings (E.g Plasma spray)

4. Reduces AlF3 formation and delimitation

Check out the Picosun P1000 in action in the video below.

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By Abhishek Thakur

AVS ALD2023 & ALE2023 Late News Abstracts Due May 5 - May The 4th Be With You!

 

Technical Program Late News Abstracts Due May 5   Hotel   Hotel Deadline: June 29 Program   View Online Scheduler View PDF Register   Early Registration: June 1     The AVS 23rd International Conference on Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD 2023) featuring the 10th International Atomic Layer Etching Workshop (ALE 2023) will be a three-day meeting dedicated to the science and technology of atomic layer controlled deposition of thin films and atomic layer etching. Since 2001, the ALD conference has been held alternately in the United States, Europe and Asia, allowing fruitful exchange of ideas, know-how and practices between scientists.   The conference will take place Sunday, July 23-Wednesday, July 26, 2023, at the Hyatt Regency Bellevue in Bellevue, Washington (East Seattle). As in past conferences, the meeting will be preceded (Sunday, July 23) by one day of tutorials and a welcome reception. Sessions will take place (Monday-Wednesday, July 24-26) along with an industry tradeshow. All presentations will be audio-recorded and provided to attendees following the conference (posters will be included as PDFs). Anticipated attendance is 800+. Late News Abstracts Due May 5, 2023 Presenters are limited to one oral and one poster presentation. One submission must be to an oral session and one to a poster session. It must be two different abstracts, not the same abstract submitted as both an oral and a poster.   Submit     Key Deadlines: Late Abstract Deadline: May 5, 2023 Early Registration Deadline: June 1, 2023 Hotel Reservation Deadline: June 29, 2023 Manuscript Deadline: November 1, 2023       ALD Plenary Speaker Markku Leskelä (University of Helsinki, Finland)   ALE Plenary Speaker Tristan Tronic (Intel, USA)     ALD Program Chairs   Program Chair: Seán Barry (Carleton University, Canada)   Program Co-Chair: Scott Clendenning (Intel, USA)   ALE Program Chairs   Program Chair: Jane Chang (University of California, Los Angeles, USA)   Program Co-Chair: Steve George (University of Colorado at Boulder, USA)   Program Co-Chair: Thorsten Lill (Lam Research, USA)

Forge Nano Partners with Aleon Renewable Metals for Battery Recycling and Supply of ALD Materials for EV Batteries

DENVER , May 2, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Forge Nano, a global leader in surface engineering and precision nano-coating technology, and Aleon Renewable Metals (ARM), an integrated lithium-ion battery recycler, announced a partnership today for battery recycling and supply of battery materials. Aleon Renewable Metals will recycle Forge Nano's battery scrap at its industry-leading battery recycling facilities in Texas and Oklahoma utilizing Forge Nano's technology to manufacture cathode active materials (CAM) from the battery grade materials produced by ARM. These facilities aim to make battery recycling easier and more cost effective while outputting leading CAMs made in the U.S. using Forge Nano's proprietary Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) coating technology, Atomic Armor™. Batteries made with Atomic Armor are optimized to be longer-lasting and safer than current batteries on the market. ARM's facility is expected to annually produce battery grade materials equivalent to 35 GWh of renewable power.

Approximately three billion batteries are thrown away every year in America alone, posing environmental and economical threats far beyond the lifetime of the battery itself. Until now, few companies have addressed the challenges of recycling lithium-ion battery materials. Together, Forge Nano and Aleon are bringing over four decades of combined experience aiming to make E-waste a thing of the past with a 100% renewable energy process.

"In partnership with Aleon Renewable Metals, our technology will be used to provide sustainable and significant cost and performance advantages over competing recyclers making CAMs," said James Trevey , CTO, Forge Nano. "With the cost and performance benefits enabled by Atomic Armor, implementation of this U.S.-born nano-coating technology into the battery-recycling loop embodies the leapfrog improvement in technological advancement everyone has been waiting for in the lithium-ion battery industry."

"We are dedicated to driving sustainability and innovation. Aleon Renewable Metals leverages our proprietary recycling technologies to support the global transition to circular supply chains and cleaner energy. Our high-purity, cost-competitive battery grade materials are positioned to meet the growing domestic demands of the EV market for metal sulfates and lithium compounds used in high-performance cathodes," said Tarun Bhatt , CEO of Aleon Renewable Metals. "With our experience in metal recovery and commitment to sustainable solutions, we are excited to partner with Forge Nano to develop downstream cathode active materials. Together, we will address the projected lithium, nickel, and cobalt supply/demand deficits to create a more attractive environment for sustainable energy production."

As active members of NAATBatt and the MPSC , both companies have demonstrated their dedication to a sustainable battery ecosystem, and their commitment to making a difference in the battery waste problem. This exciting partnership will bring together two world-renowned battery powerhouses in the hopes of taking battery recycling technology to the next level.

"Particle coatings in the field of battery technology are an enabler to excel in the marketplace, which Forge Nano is doing as the global leader in ALD methods to achieve the essential coating characteristics," said Bob Galyen , energy storage technology expert and chairman of Galyen Energy. "The U.S. battery supply chain depends on this kind of innovation to compete on the world stage."

TechInsights found Samsung DRAM chips in Samsung Galaxy S23 with Five EUV mask layers

TechInsights found Samsung DRAM chips in Samsung Galaxy S23 with Five EUV mask layers. These are from DRAM wafers produced in the so-called D1a node (or D1α, α as in alpha)

👉https://t.co/oSv4yiHJiB
Get your products to market faster: @TechInsightsinc found next-gen #DRAM found in the #GalaxyS23. @Samsung is the first company to apply five #EUV lithography masks on DRAM D1a, the first node to fully adopt EUVL for #DRAM. Learn more. #semiconductor pic.twitter.com/2Pqg7gKuE9

— TechInsights (@techinsightsinc) May 1, 2023

This is in line with a previous press release from Samsung (2020) so no real surprise here: Samsung Announces Industry’s First EUV DRAM with Shipment of First Million Modules – Samsung Global Newsroom

"EUV to be fully deployed from 4th-gen 10nm-class DRAM (D1a) next year"

EUV will be fully deployed in Samsung’s future generations of DRAM, starting with its fourth-generation 10nm-class (D1a) or the highly-advanced 14nm-class, DRAM. Samsung expects to begin volume production of D1a-based DDR5 and LPDDR5 next year, which would double manufacturing productivity of the 12-inch D1x wafers.

 

Global Semiconductor Sales Decrease 8.7% in First Quarter; March Sales Tick Up Month-to-Month for First Time Since May 2022

Semiconductor sales continued to slip during the first quarter of 2023 due to market cyclicality and macroeconomic headwinds, but month-to-month sales were up in March for the first time in nearly a year, providing optimism for a rebound in the months ahead.

WASHINGTON—May 1, 2023—The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) today announced worldwide sales of semiconductors totaled $119.5 billion during the first quarter of 2023, a decrease of 8.7% compared to the fourth quarter of 2022 and 21.3% less than the first quarter of 2022. Sales for the month of March 2023 increased 0.3% compared to February 2023. Monthly sales are compiled by the World Semiconductor Trade Statistics (WSTS) organization and represent a three-month moving average. SIA represents 99% of the U.S. semiconductor industry by revenue and nearly two-thirds of non-U.S. chip firms.

“Semiconductor sales continued to slip during the first quarter of 2023 due to market cyclicality and macroeconomic headwinds, but month-to-month sales were up in March for the first time in nearly a year, providing optimism for a rebound in the months ahead,” said John Neuffer, SIA president and CEO.

Regionally, month-to-month sales increased in Europe (2.7%), Asia Pacific/All Other (2.6%), and China (1.2%), but decreased in Japan (-1.1%) and the Americas (-3.5%). Year-to-year sales decreased across all regions: Europe (-0.7%), Japan (-1.3%), the Americas (-16.4%), Asia Pacific/All Other (-22.2%), and China (-34.1%).

For comprehensive monthly semiconductor sales data and detailed WSTS forecasts, consider purchasing the WSTS Subscription Package. For detailed historical information about the global semiconductor industry and market, consider ordering the SIA Databook.

Oxford Instruments to supply KAUST with hardware upgrades and ALE systems

Significant partnership with KAUST: hardware upgrade and support its cutting-edge ALD research with the addition of ALE capability

Oxford Instruments Plasma Technology has announced a significant agreement with the Saudi Arabia-based King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) Core Labs, a system of multidisciplinary and interconnected research laboratories. Under the agreement, KAUST’s Core Labs and Research Infrastructure benefits from the addition of two Oxford Instruments PlasmaPro®100 Cobra® atomic layer etch (ALE) systems to add to its existing Oxford Instruments FlexAL® atomic layer deposition (ALD) capability. 

With both ALE and ALD modules, KAUST is now even better positioned to develop its world-leading technology research and bridge the gap between academia and industry, by enhancing projects like their cutting edge research on Oxford Instruments ALD equipment GaN HEMT Origin of Interfacial Charges and GaN HEMT Highly Suppressed Interface Traps.

Press release: Significant partnership with KAUST - Oxford Instruments (oxinst.com)

Call for Papers on ALD & ALE Applications, at ECS Fall Meeting / Gothenburg Oct. 2023 ►►DEADLINE EXPIRES APRIL 21◄◄

Call for Papers on ALD & ALE Applications, at ECS Fall Meeting / Gothenburg Oct. 2023 ►►DEADLINE EXPIRES APRIL 21◄◄

The Electrochemical Society (ECS) conference is an international event running every spring and fall, and gathering 2000-4000 participants and 30-40 exhibitors both from academia and industry.

The conference has a strong focus on emerging technology and applications in both electrochemistry and solid-state science & technology.

This fall the event will be held as 244^th ECS Meeting on Oct. 8-12, 2023 in Gothenburg (Sweden).

The full program as well as information on travel assistance for students can be found on https://www.electrochem.org/244.

 

The organizers of symposium G01 on “Atomic Layer Deposition & Etching Applications, 19” encourage you to submit your abstracts on the following (and closely related) topics:

 

1.   Semiconductor CMOS applications: development and integration of ALD high-k oxides and metal electrodes with conventional and high-mobility channel materials;

2.   Volatile and non-volatile memory applications: extendibility, Flash, MIM, MIS, RF capacitors, etc.;

3.   Interconnects and contacts: integration of ALD films with Cu and low-k materials;

4.   Fundamentals of ALD processing: reaction mechanisms, in-situ measurement, modeling, theory;

5.   New precursors and delivery systems;

6.   Optical and photonic applications;

7.   Coating of nanoporous materials by ALD;

8.   MLD and hybrid ALD/MLD;

9.   ALD for energy conversion applications such as fuel cells, photovoltaics, etc.;

10. ALD for energy storage applications;

11. Productivity enhancement, scale-up and commercialization of ALD equipment and processes for rigid and flexible substrates, including roll-to-roll deposition;

12. Area-selective ALD;

13. Atomic Layer Etching (‘reverse ALD’) and related topics aiming at self-limited etching, such as atomic layer cleaning, etc.

 

Abstract submission

Meeting abstracts should be submitted not later than the deadline of April 21, 2023 via the ECS website: Abstract submission instruction

 

List of invited speakers

·   Johan Swerts, (Imec, Belgium) KEYNOTE: ALD challenges and opportunities in the light of future trends in electronics

·   Stephan Wege (Plasway Technology, Germany), Reactor design for combined ALD & ALE

·   Masanobu Honda (TEL, Japan), Novel surface reactions in low-temperature plasma etching

·   Barbara Hughes, (Forge Nano, USA), Dual Coatings, Triple the Benefit; Atomic Armor for Better Battery Performance

·   Juhani Taskinen, (Applied Materials-Picosun, Finland), ALD for biomedicine

·   Alex Kozen (Univ. of Maryland, USA), ALD for improved Lithium Ion Batteries

·   Malachi Noked (Bar-Ilan Univ., Israel), ALD/MLD for batteries

·   Yong Qin (Chinese Academy of Sciences), ALD for catalysis

·   Jan Macák, (Univ. of Pardubice, Czechia), ALD on nanotubular materials and applications

·   Bora Karasulu, Univ. of Warwick, UK), Atomistic Insights into Continuous and Area-Selective ALD Processes: First-principles Simulations of the Underpinning Surface Chemistry

·   Ageeth Bol (Univ. Michigan, USA), ALD on 2D materials

·   Pieter-Jan Wyndaele (KU Leuven-imec, Belgium), Enabling high-quality dielectric passivation on Monolayer WS₂ using a sacrificial Graphene Oxide template

·   Elton Graugnard (Boise State Univ., USA), Atomic Layer Processing of MoS₂

·   Han-Bo-Ram Lee (Incheon National Univ., Korea), Area-Selective Deposition using Homometallic Precursor Inhibitors

·   Ralf Tonner (Univ. Leipzig, Germany), Ab initio approaches to area-selective deposition

·   Nick Chittock (TU Eindhoven, Netherlands), Utilizing plasmas for isotropic Atomic Layer Etching

·   Heeyeop Chae (Sungkyunkwan Univ., Korea), Plasma-enhanced Atomic Layer Etching for Metals and Dielectric Materials

·   Charles Winter (Wayne State Univ., USA), New Precursors and Processes for the Thermal ALD of Metal Thin Films

·   Anjana Devi, Ruhr Univ. Bochum, Germany), Novel precursors dedicated for Atomic Layer Processing

 

Visa and travel

For more information, see: www.electrochem.org/244/visa-travel/

In addition, Mrs. Francesca Spagnuolo at the ECS (Francesca.Spagnuolo@electrochem.org) can provide you with an official participation letter from the site of the Electrochemical Society.

 

We are looking forward to meeting you in Gothenburg !

Korea’s Jusung Engineering set to supply non-memory chip gears overseas

South Korean chip equipment manufacturer Jusung Engineering Co. is set to supply atomic layer deposition (ALD) equipment to a leading global chip manufacturer for system chips at a U.S. integrated device manufacturer and a major foundry in Taiwan, according to its Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Hwang Chul-joo.

“The test conducted by our global customer on the Guidance Series, an ALD equipment developed for the first time in the world in 2020, has been completed and we expect the purchase order to come in the first half of this year,” Hwang told Maeil Business Newspaper.

In general, it takes two to three years for a chip equipment to be verified and applied to mass production after development. Jusung Engineering, which has been engaged in the joint development of an ALD equipment with a global non-memory chip manufacturer since 2015, has carried out tests with multiple clients from 2020.

Jusung Engineering until now had been focused on the manufacturing deposition equipment that coats necessary substances to wafers as part of a chip manufacturing process.

Full Story: Korea’s Jusung Engineering set to supply non-memory chip gears overseas - 매일경제 영문뉴스 펄스(Pulse) (pulsenews.co.kr)

Applied Materials’ Pattern-Shaping Technology - Centura Sculpta

Applied Materials’ pattern-shaping technology is a breakthrough innovation that brings new capabilities to the patterning engineer's toolkit. This animation shows how engineers can replace EUV double patterning steps with the Centura® Sculpta® patterning system to reduce the cost, complexity and environmental impact of leading-edge chipmaking.

Applied Materials showcased a patterning technology that helped chipmakers to create high-performance transistors and interconnect wiring with fewer EUV lithography steps, thereby lowering the cost, complexity, and environmental impact of advanced chipmaking. To help chipmakers shrink designs without the added cost, complexity, and energy and materials consumption of EUV double patterning, Applied Materials worked closely with leading customers to develop the Centura Sculpta patterning system.

Chipmakers such as Intel, Samsung and TSMC, can now print a single EUV pattern and then use the Sculpta system to elongate the shapes in any chosen direction to reduce the space between features and increase pattern density. The Sculpta system can provide chipmakers with capital cost savings of $250 million per 100K wafer starts per month of production capacity, manufacturing cost savings of $50 per wafer, and energy savings of more than 15 kWh per wafer, the company said.

Ryan Russell, corporate vice president for logic technology development at Intel Corp, said, "Having collaborated closely with Applied Materials in the optimization of Sculpta around our process architecture, Intel will be deploying pattern-shaping capabilities to help us deliver reduced design and manufacturing costs, process cycle times and environmental impact."

Applied Materials Centura with four Sculpta chambers

Applied Materials also launched a new eBeam metrology system specifically designed to precisely measure the critical dimensions of semiconductor device features patterned with EUV and emerging High-NA EUV lithography. Applied's new VeritySEM 10 system features a unique architecture that enables low-landing energy at 2X better resolution than conventional CD-SEMs. It also provides a 30% faster scan rate to reduce interaction with the photoresist and increase throughput​.

• Directed ribbon-beam capability for novel etching applications

Journal of Vacuum Science & Technology B 33, 06FA02 (2015); https://doi.org/10.1116/1.4932161