SEMICONDUCTORS

Differentiated technology allowing for faster and more efficient ALD while meeting today’s leading quality standards for emerging 200mm More-than-Moore markets

ALDx Enables Ultrathin, Uniform, Pinhole-Free Films at Unprecedented Speed and Efficiencies

Today’s semiconductor industry is not the same as when Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) was first adopted. In the More-than-Moore era of today, film quality and performance are just as important as the ability to scale. As traditional and novel device architectures combine to create innovative electronics, incumbent fabrication technologies will reach their limit of quality and precision.

Things have changed, and now ALD has, too. Ultrathin, uniform and pinhole-free films by ALD are now possible at unprecedented speeds and efficiencies with Forge Nano’s ALDx equipment and solutions, bringing newfound reliability and performance to More-than-Moore device markets.

ALDx: The Solution for Reduced Wafer Cost & Limitless Film Opportunities

ALDx represents a new way of performing ALD designed to overcome the adoption barriers of traditional ALD. Rather than scaling up batch size at the cost of chemical utilization, ALDx offers the perfect ALD process for a single wafer. Made possible by proprietary valving, reactor design and chemistry, ALDx ushers in a step function improvement for high-quality ALD films to be applied faster and at lower cost than competing coating technologies such as PVD and CVD, PE-CVD, and even traditional ALD!

For semiconductor R&D and manufacturing, ALDx provides the following benefits:

  • High wafer throughputs
    • 12 nm/min growth rates make ALDspeeds competitive with CVD offering a superior film at viable manufacturing throughputs
  • Decreased OPEX and reduced waste
    • Up to 90% precursor efficiency limits process waste, decreases OPEX consumable costs and reduces the number of preventative maintenance cycles
  • Low-risk manufacturing
    • Single-wafer processing caps yield loss risk at one wafer and decreases the time at temperature seen by thermally sensitive devices
  • No need for plasma processing (and costs!)
    • Easier process integration using our catalyzed thermal process that easily enables hard-to-deposit materials at low temperature

Case Study

Featured Case Study: Optical FETs – Moisture Barrier

One of the most important layers in back-of-the-line processing for radio frequency and power devices is the encapsulation layer to protect the device from environmental degradation. While traditionally done with PECVD, ALD deposits a dense, pinhole-free film that provides superior barrier properties without risk of surface damage. Learn here how Forge Nano’s ALD-CAP® prevents the failure of optical field-effect transistors in high-stress environments with a fraction of the thickness of PECVD, and other encapsulation applications of ALD.

Who do we help?

Forge Nano provides ALD equipment and thin film solutions for fabs and foundries across the entire More-than-Moore market space. We are eager to work with companies working in the following verticals:

  • Power Devices
  • RF Devices
  • MEMS
  • CMOS Image Sensors
  • LED & Photonics
  • Advanced Packaging
Utilizing proprietary reactor design, valving and process technology, Forge Nano’s ALDx platform smashes the long-standing barriers to ALD adoption of speed and cost to offer the highest quality thin films for semiconductor device fabrication at world-leading ALD throughputs. Specialty semiconductor fabs focused on More-than-Moore device markets can enjoy the quality and precision offered by ALD at speeds and efficiencies comparable to traditional CVD and PVD methods. Our ALDx solutions include:
  • Metal Barrier Seed Layers
  • Moisture Barriers
  • High-k Dielectrics
  • Passivation Layers
  • Metal Contacts

Contact Us To Learn More

RESOURCES

Download one of our application white papers to learn more about a sub-selection of published results.
Don’t see your application? We likely have done it, contact us to talk with one of our application specialists and get the latest