AVS 58th Annual International Symposium and Exhibition
    Nanomanufacturing Science and Technology Focus Topic Tuesday Sessions
       Session NM+NS+MS-TuA

Invited Paper NM+NS+MS-TuA3
Material and Tool Design Challenges for Taking ALD to High-volume Production Beyond 30nm Node

Tuesday, November 1, 2011, 2:40 pm, Room 207

Session: Manufacturable Nanoscale Devices and Processes
Presenter: Brian Lu, AIXTRON Inc.
Authors: B. Lu, AIXTRON Inc.
Z. Karim, AIXTRON Inc.
S. Ramananthan, AIXTRON Inc.
Correspondent: Click to Email
Atomic Layer Deposition enables conformal coating of high-quality thin film on complex nano-scale structures. It has been the preferred choice of deposition technology for high-k and metal films in high-aspect ratio capacitor structure for memory applications. Maintaining 25 fF/cell in sub 30nm DRAM devices poses multiple challenges: (a) structural - very high aspect ratio (~100:1) capacitor cell structures and (b) material - the need for advanced Hi-k oxides beyond ZrO2, which are typically multi-component oxides. Chemical precursors for a majority of the promising new high-k materials are typically low vapor-pressure liquids or even solids. Achieving excellent composition control inside these high aspect ratio structures using low vapour pressure precursors is a significant challenge. These challenges are pushing ALD technology to its limit and are testing its production-worthiness for high volume manufacturing of sub 30nm devices. Innovative technology in precursor delivery, reactor design, and platform architecture are required to overcome these challenges. This presentation will discuss the new developments in equipment design to meet the technology needs as well as practical manufacturing targets (such as throughput and cost of ownership) in order to provide a production-worthy ALD solution. Applications in new high-k oxide (La/Sr/Ba oxides), metals, and PCRAM materials (such as GST) will be discussed.