Solid State Technology articles from July 2004

Solid State Technology archives from July 2004

New look for process tools?(contracts, integrated device manufactureres, foundries)(Editorial)
July 1, 2004... As the industry congregates for SEMICON West this year, some changes are in the wind. Growing collaboration between major integrated device manufacturers (IDMs) and multiple foundries could have a big impact on future process tools. With...

SIA: first-quarter blues turn to green lights for chip industry.(Business Trends)
July 1, 2004... According to the latest data from the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA), chip sales in 1Q04--typically a slow post-holiday period--blew the doors off of historical norms. Worldwide chip sales (a three-month moving average) rose 4.4%...

Israeli foundry Tower Semiconductor and Siliconix Inc., a subsidiary of Vishay Intertechnology Inc., have finalized a $200 million chipmaking contract.(Worldwide Highlights)
July 1, 2004... Israeli foundry Tower Semiconductor and Siliconix Inc., a subsidiary of Vishay Intertechnology Inc., have finalized a $200 million chipmaking contract. The 7-10-year deal, originally forged at the beginning of this year, calls for a year-long...

Texas Instruments Inc, Dallas, TX, has joined IMEC's sub-45nm CMOS research program as a core member.(Worldwide Highlights)
July 1, 2004... Texas Instruments Inc, Dallas, TX, has joined IMEC's sub-45nm CMOS research program as a core member, to focus on development of advanced lithography technologies, high-k gate dielectrics, strained silicon, and copper/low-k interconnects. TI,...

Macronix International Co. Ltd., a provider of nonvolatile memory (NVM) products, and Saifun Semiconductors Ltd., Netanya, Israel, a developer of NVM technologies.(Worldwide Highlights)
July 1, 2004... Macronix International Co. Ltd., a provider of nonvolatile memory (NVM) products, and Saifun Semiconductors Ltd., Netanya, Israel, a developer of NVM technologies, have extended their collaboration to develop 0.13[micro]m, multibit,...

Amkor Technology Inc., Chandler, AZ, has signed a contract to provide semiconductor assembly and final test services to IBM.(USA)
July 1, 2004... Amkor Technology Inc., Chandler, AZ, has signed a contract to provide semiconductor assembly and final test services to IBM. Under the deal, Amkor will receive the substantial majority of IBM's subcontract wire bond and flip-chip assembly and...

Sumco.(USA)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2004... Sumco, the Japanese-owned joint venture between Sumitomo Metal Industries Ltd. and Mitsubishi Materials Corp., has put two US wafer-manufacturing facilities up for sale. The company's North and South campuses in Salem, OR, totaling slightly...

Intel Corp.(USA)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2004... Intel Corp. has dropped plans for its fourth-generation Pentium 4 chip and a new similarly built Xeon processor so that the company can focus on chips using the cores of each. The abandonment of the 90nm-based "Tejas" and "Jayhawk" chips paves...

AMD.(China)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2004... AMD said it has established AMD China Co. Ltd. in Beijing's Zhongguancun Science Park, following its announcement in late 2003 that it would spend $30 million over the next two years to open the wholly owned subsidiary. As part of its charter,...

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.(China)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2004... Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) has received approval for its plans to open 200mm wafer facilities in mainland China in a second-stage review from an industry-consultant committee under the Ministry of Economic Affairs. The...

Samsung Electronics Co.(China)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2004... Samsung Electronics Co. plans to invest about $55 million in its TFT-LCD assembly plant operations in Suzhou, in addition to a $126.4 million investment already made in the eight-year-old facility, according to Dow Jones. Korea-based Samsung...

Green Mountain Integrated.(China)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2004... Green Mountain Integrated has begun construction of a 200mm wafer fab in Nantong, Jiangsu Province, China, expected to be online by the second quarter of 2005 with a capacity of 30,000 wafers/month, according to the South China Morning Post.

Sony Corp. plans to absorb some chip making capabilities of its game business subsidiary, Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE), in order to consolidate its group semiconductor manufacturing operations.(Japan)
July 1, 2004... Sony Corp. plans to absorb some chip making capabilities of its game business subsidiary, Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE), in order to consolidate its group semiconductor manufacturing operations. SCE will spin off its chip plant in Nagasaki,...

Elpida Memory Inc.(Japan)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2004... Elpida Memory Inc. plans to spend [yen] 500 billion ($4.56 billion) to build the world's largest DRAM facility at the site of its Hiroshima subsidiary, according to the Nihon Keizai Shimbun. The plant would produce 10,000 300mm wafers/month by...

TSMC.(Taiwan)(Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Ltd)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2004... TSMC directors have approved a $1.4 billion capacity-expansion plan, with most of the money ($1.334 billion) going toward increasing capacity of 90nm copper processes at its 300mm Fab 12 by 14,000 wafers/month. The remainder ($67.3 million)...

ProMOS Technologies Inc.(Taiwan)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2004... Taiwanese memory chipmaker ProMOS Technologies Inc. plans to spend up to $900 million for a new 200mm plant in China with 60,000 wafers/month capacity, according to Dow Jones. Initial stages of the investment, which had not yet been approved by...

Clariant Co's AZ Electronic Materials.(Taiwan)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2004... Clariant Co's AZ Electronic Materials unit has opened the doors at its plant in Huko, which will manufacture photoresists for LCD lithography processes. Production at the 18,000 [m.sup.2] facility will start this month, with a yield of ~240...

Intel Corp.(Eurofocus)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2004... Intel Corp. said it will invest 1.6 billion [euro] (nearly $2 billion) to expand its 300mm Fab 24 facilities in Leixslip, outside Dublin, to enable 65nm process technologies. The investment, along with grants and incentives from the Irish...

AMD.(Eurofocus)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2004... AMD celebrated the "topping off" of its Fab 36 300mm facility in Dresden on May 17, less than six months after breaking ground. Hans Deppe, VP and GM for AMD Saxony, said that infrastructure additions are now underway to "be ready for...

DuPont Photomasks Inc.(Eurofocus)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2004... DuPont Photomasks Inc., Round Rock, TX, has begun commercial production at its facility in Dresden, Germany, co-located with the Advanced Mask Technology Center, the company's photomask R&D joint venture with AMD and Infineon. The facility...

Si Automation (SiA), Montpellier, France, has signed a three-year contract to provide fabwide tool monitoring and data management services at STMicroelectronics' 200mm site in Crolles.(Eurofocus)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2004... Si Automation (SiA), Montpellier, France, has signed a three-year contract to provide fabwide tool monitoring and data management services at STMicroelectronics' 200mm site in Crolles. SiA already works with STMicro at its Meylan 300mm R&D...

Bonding wafers with microbumps produces SoC performance.(integrated circuits)
July 1, 2004... Sony Corp. says it has achieved system-on-a-chip performance by bonding separate chips together with solder microbumps, in a type of system-in-a-package verging into a simple variant of stacked-wafer 3D circuitry. The company has bonded a...

"Solid First" processing: a new approach to low-k?(Technology News)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2004... Getting to a lower effective dielectric constant, or k values below about 3, is proving troublesome due to integration issues. It has been hard to isolate pores, and inclusions have raised k values over time even with scaling to prevent...

Breaking the sub-1[Angstrom] imaging barrier by combining correction technologies.(Technology News)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2004... A new 200kV transmission electron microscope (TEM) from FEI Co. has an image resolution The high resolution is achieved by combining technologies that correct for both spherical and chromatic aberrations. Spherical aberration is corrected...

Statistical process control may slash IC testing costs.(Integrated Circuits)
July 1, 2004... Continuous cost savings from wafer-lab learning curves and device shrinks have targeted IC testing steps for elimination. Testing costs are now an estimated 10%-25% of average selling prices of ICs. Newly patented software developed by...

Experts debate USJ formation technology at MRS.(Materials Research Society)(Ultra Shallow Junction (semiconductor measurement) )
July 1, 2004... Combine the always strong desire of IC manufacturers to extend current technology (spike anneal) as long as possible, with the growing interest in both flash RTP and SPER, as well as laser annealing, and you have a spirited debate on USJ...

Sub-1nm EOT scaling for high-k/metal-gate stacks.(equivalent oxide thickness )
July 1, 2004... The aggressive scaling of advanced devices has necessitated the search for a suitable high-k gate dielectric. A material is needed that provides the required specific capacitance at a considerably larger physical thickness than Si[O.sub.2]. As...

Addressing sidewall roughness using dry etching silicon and Si[O.sub.2].(microelectromechanical systems)
July 1, 2004... The common element in micro-optical electromechanical systems (MOEMS) is the requirement to manipulate the optical signal--light--via surface reflection or gratings. Fabricating structures that do not alter the data that light signals carry...

Nonlinear models used to address epi layer uniformity.(epitaxial layer)
July 1, 2004... OVERVIEW Engineers in semiconductor fabs depend on trial-and-error experimentation to improve thickness uniformity, a quality measurement for epitaxial layers grown by CVD. New linear modeling techniques reported in the last 10-12 years...

What's driving the new momentum behind cryoqenic aerosols.(Wafer Cleaning)
July 1, 2004... OVERVIEW Whether the particle defects are random or due to process excursions, their removal from wafer surfaces is becoming more difficult without damaging or altering the material properties of surrounding structures. Smaller device...

Analyzing strained-silicon options for stress-engineering transistors.(Software)
July 1, 2004... OVERVIEW Future silicon technology will depend on locally strained silicon channels to squeeze higher currents from each process node. Careful stress engineering can enhance device performance by more than 50%, but there are tradeoffs in...

New processes allow InP HBTs to top 150GHz.(Compound Semiconductors)(Indium phosphide heterojunction bipolar transistor)
July 1, 2004... OVERVIEW standard compound-semiconductor manufacturing techniques, such as lift-off contact metallization and unique epitaxial structures, while viable for low transistor-count applications, have process yield limitations that prevent...

The many options for managing CMP wastewater.(Waste Treatment)
July 1, 2004... OVERVIEW Waste streams from CMP can vary greatly depending upon a wide variety of factors in wafer processing, and one "right" solution for treatment of CMP wastewater may never exist. This article provides an overview of treatment...

Integrating a nonporous low-k (k = 2.2) film.(Materials)
July 1, 2004... OVERVIEW Several low-k ([less than or equal to] 2.7) dielectric films will be examined in view of critically important properties required for IC integration, reliability, and IC packaging. Additionally, integration results of a nonporous,...

Approaching tool automation with an application program interface standard.(Automation/Robotics)
July 1, 2004... OVERVIEW Deploying automation software and tool interfaces for 300mm wafer fabs becomes more complex as SEMI standards evolve and expand. One solution is to borrow a key concept from the PC software arena and implement application program...

Model-based solution for multigas mass flow control with pressure insensitivity.(Gas Handling)
July 1, 2004... OVERVIEW Relentless advances in semiconductor manufacturing have placed extreme performance demands on gas delivery systems. Along with higher levels of accuracy and reliability, material delivery solutions are growing more complex while...

Exploring the needs and tradeoffs for immersion resist topcoating.(Photoresist)(Industry Overview)
July 1, 2004... OVERVIEW Immersion lithography has quickly become the leading candidate to extending 193nm scanners to the 45nm process node. While it appears there are no major showstoppers facing immersion lithography, key questions remain about the...

Etch and CMP process control using in-line AFM.(Metrology)
July 1, 2004... OVERVIEW As aspect ratios become higher, features become smaller, and requirements for planarity tighten, atomic force microscopy has begun to replace profilometry for topographic measurements such as trench and via depths, step height,...

Fabs can ride through voltage sags with power-quality targets.(Contamination Control)
July 1, 2004... OVERVIEW Interruptions and brief disturbances in utility power during semiconductor manufacturing can result in significant loss of revenue, productivity, production yields, and product quality. Concerns about power quality are growing...

Mechanisms for improving sub-90nm etch processing.(Etch)
July 1, 2004... OVERVIEW The challenges for etch processing at sub-90nm include tighter critical dimension uniformity, and higher selectivity to maintain smooth sidewalls and control silicon recess. Plasma etch suppliers are committed to finding...

Wafer-cleaning system achieves 2-3 min cycle times.(Product News)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2004... The Emersion 300 single-wafer cleaning system addresses particle removal, film loss, structure damage, and watermarks by using rapid single-wafer immersion processing with multiple chemical solutions to process each wafer in a single process...

X-ray system aids viewing with filament-free tube.(Product News)
July 1, 2004... The XiDAT XD7600 provides oblique angle views of up to 70[degrees] for any position 360[degrees] around any point of the 458x 407mm inspection area. Precise manipulation allows the system to inspect all interconnections--ball, bond, and...

Flow controller provides point-of-use dispense.(Product News)
July 1, 2004... The NT integrated flow controller (IFC) is used in wafer-processing equipment including CMP and etch systems, bulk chemical delivery, and wet processing equipment. The IFC is designed for point-of-use chemical and slurry dispense systems, and...

Processing platform shows 300 hr reliability.(Product News)
July 1, 2004... The Endura2 is a 300mm platform for advanced PVD, CVD, and ALD processes, featuring a modular architecture for easy access and serviceability, 20% fewer parts, and process transparency for minimum requalification. This architecture reportedly...

Stud bumper bonds in a single pass.(Product News)
July 1, 2004... The WaferPRO plus is a high-speed, single pass stud bumper that handles wafers up to 300mm and bonds 22 bumps/sec, depending on bump type, size, and pitch. It offers [+ or -] 5[micro]m positional accuracy at 3[sigma] and can bump down to...

Dicer uses cold laser process.(Product News)
July 1, 2004... Laser Microjet is available as an automated dicing machine--the LDS200A--that handles wafers up to 200mm and dice-chip sizes down to 0.25x 0.25ram. The "cold laser" process uses a hair-thin water jet to guide the laser beam onto the wafer,...

Stepper has fully integrated subsystems for flexible operation.(Product News)
July 1, 2004... The Model 5200 PanelPrinter system provides advanced photolithography for large-area substrate applications requiring 0.8-4[um]m resolution. Fully integrated subsystems include a high-fidelity projection lens and illumination system, precision...

Inspection system finds defects as small as 30nm.(Product News)
July 1, 2004... The Surfscan SP2 wafer-surface inspection system provides a low cost of ownership wafer substrate and process-tool qualification solution for the 65/45nm nodes, with extendibility to 32nm. Incorporating UV laser technology, darkfield optics,...

Pump system targets energy reduction.(Product News)
July 1, 2004... The Zenith Etch is an integrated vacuum pump and abatement system designed for dielectric etch applications. It is available with up to four EPX500Z drypumps to meet requirements of 300mm etch tools in a reduced footprint. The system offers PFC...

Temporary bond material eliminates VOCs.(Product News)
July 1, 2004... The Aquabond series includes hot-water soluble thermoplastics used as temporary wafer-bonding material, eliminating volatile organic compounds in a wafer-polishing or wafer-dicing process. all products are virtually insoluble in cold or cool...

Analyzer measures without periodic test structures.(Product News)
July 1, 2004... The nondestructive 3300DR analyzer tracks across-wafer characteristics of designated DRAM structures using innovative hardware and proprietary software. Special periodic test structures are not required. The tool can also be incorporated into...

Softer performs multiple wafer-management tasks.(Product News)
July 1, 2004... Designed as a unified wafer-management system, the SPARTAN 300mm wafer-handling solution reportedly employs the minimum scale and complexity necessary to move wafers while delivering cleanliness with lower particle levels, compared to...

Carl Zeiss SMT: corporate profile.
July 1, 2004... Corporate Profile Carl Zeiss SMT and its divisions serve the global semiconductor manufacturing and testing equipment markets with leading-edge optical and E-beam technology. Products range from top level systems and components for...

BOC Edwards: corporate profile.
July 1, 2004... Corporate Profile BOC Edwards is a leading supplier of integrated solutions for the Manufacture of microelectronics devices, including silicon semiconductors, compound semiconductors and flat panel displays. Partnering with fabs, foundries...

All-surface inspection system.(Product News)
July 1, 2004... A solution for high speed, all-surface advanced macro wafer inspection and metrology for frontside, backside, and wafer edge detects contaminants, cracks, and other defects that can lead to large-scale contamination further in the process. The...

DUV metrology system.(Product News)
July 1, 2004... The NovaScan 3090 is a fully polarized DUV single-channel, high throughput, integrated or standalone metrology system for 200-300mm manufacturing, with full support for 65nm. In CMP, the system can be used for thin-flint thickness and slotted...

Thick-film photoresist.(Product News)
July 1, 2004... AZ 10XT photoresist is formulated especially for high-resolution applications, such as redistribution. It offers 4:1 aspect ratios with wide process latitude at film thicknesses of 10-20[um]m. This photoresist is free of perfluorooctyl...

Convertible scanner.(Product News)
July 1, 2004... The TWINSCAN XT:1400 is a 0.93NA, 193nm scanner that images at the 65nm node in volume production environments, and can be used for pre production testing and development at the 45nm node. The system's architecture and design provide the option...

Sputtering targets.(Product News)
July 1, 2004... The patented ECAE technology is an advanced target process for AI and AI alloys. Targets processed with ECAE technology show superfine grain size, homogeneous microstructure, high mechanical strength, and controllable texture. Benefits of 300mm...

ATE system.(Product News)
July 1, 2004... The Maverick Lightning automated test equipment (ATE) system adds full dynamic analog test capability to the Maverick line for systems-on-a-chip (SoC) and systems-in-a-package (SIP) technologies: logic, memory, and analog test. The system...

Manufacturing execution system.(Product News)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2004... The third-generation manufacturing execution system (MES) FACTORY works3 provides modeling, process planning, wafer tracking, data collection and analysis, and equipment monitoring/dispatching. The system supports collaborative manufacturing...

ALD valve.(Product News)(atomic-layer deposition)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2004... The ALD series valve is an ultrahigh-purity, pneumatically actuated valve for application in atomic-layer deposition (ALD) processes, featuring valve actuation limes Reference no. 42

Mini-environment and ECU.(Product News)(environmental control unit)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2004... Turnkey mini-environment and environmental control unit (ECU) solutions for advanced semiconductor applications are completely custom-designed around customers' process needs and can be fabricated in a variety of metals, such as powder-coated...

Batch sputtering system.(Product News)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2004... The LLS EVO II batch sputtering system has five sources that can be configured for sputtering options that include DC, RF, RF/DC, pulsed DC, and co-sputtering. Batch-to-batch uniformity for various materials ranges from [less than or equal to]...

ICP etching system.(Product News)
July 1, 2004... The GroovyICP SE-4000 narrow-gap ICP etcher is a 200/300mm, high-density plasma etching tool with a narrow discharge-gap configuration similar to capacitive RIE etchers. The tool exhibits low-pressure performance down to 1mtorr, a gas pressure...

X-ray metrology tools.(Product News)
July 1, 2004... The entire JVX 4x00 and JVX 5x00 series of x-ray metrology tools incorporates microspot x-ray fluorescence (XRF) and/or fast x-ray reflectance (XRR) technology. The JVX 4x00 series is designed for blanket wafers, while the JVX 5x00 series...

Dual-range MFCs.(Product News)
July 1, 2004... Dual-range mass flow controllers (MFC) improve accuracy of gas flow control at both low and high flow rates required in the semiconductor manufacturing process. To reduce gas line cost and address problems caused by multiple MFCs, a single MFC...

In-line chemical monitor.(Product News)
July 1, 2004... The WetSpec100 is a noncontact in-line monitor for the chemical composition of liquids. Its noninvasive measurement removes all risk of contamination, and results are available in real time, allowing for closed-loop control. All processes are...

Substrate-processing tool.(Product News)
July 1, 2004... The TALON300 is a nonlinear, automated substrate-processing tool designed for pilot line and small-scale production and process development for MEMS, semiconductor manufacturing, and optoelectronics-fabrication applications. The SEMI and...

300mm PVD system.(Product News)
July 1, 2004... The MD(x) Series of PVD systems enables gains in yield and tool ROI by delivering high-quality films and high throughput required for emerging IC PVD applications. PVD cathode geometries are optimized to provide metallurgical uniformity across...

E-diagnostics suite rental framework.(Product News)
July 1, 2004... eCentre Hosted allows fabs and OEMs to rent an e-diagnostics application suite on a tool-by-tool basis. The main hardware-and-software framework is located within a secure hosting environment identical to those used by financial institutions....

Within-wafer metrology system.(Product News)
July 1, 2004... INtegrated Wafer, a complete, wireless, low-profile temperature metrology system within a wafer, gathers data throughout an entire process. It is suitable for prober hot plates, photoresist track systems, steppers, and copper annealing....

CD measurement system.(Product News)
July 1, 2004... The automated INNOVA-800AV system performs critical dimension (CD) measurement of subresdlution features on photomasks. Measurement accuracy is [less than or equal to] 0.002 [micro]m with 3[sigma] repeatability below 1.5nm. The system achieves...

Process chambers.(Product News)
July 1, 2004... The Raider M series offers high-performance process chambers in an automated platform scaled for pilot line, R&D, or low volume production installations. Single or dual chambers are capable of processing 150-300mm wafers and are served by a...

Calendar.(Calendar)
July 1, 2004... * AUGUST 2004 10--CALL FOR PAPERS: Thin Films 2004 International Symposium--San Jose, CA. The AVS's Thin Films 2004 takes place on Oct. 14, 2004. Info: AVS, ph 408/246-3600, fax 246-7700, www.avsusergroups.org. Submit abstracts via...

Ask the expert.
July 1, 2004... Q Mu LPCVD silicon nitride process has hit its limit at 680[degrees]C. How can I reduce my thermal budget without sacrificing film quality? A Maintaining film performance and quality while managing a thermal budget is a challenge faced by...

Power supply catalog.(Literature showcase)
July 1, 2004... Comdel's new RF and DC power supply catalog covers a full range of RF generators in frequencies from 20 kHz to 80 MHz with selected topographies to 150 MHz and power levels from 100 to 100,000 Watts. Configurations include custom packaging for...

The upraged automation 3200 catalog includes new and expanded information on the intelligent, 32-axis motion, vision, PLC, robotics, and I/O platform.(Literature showcase)
July 1, 2004... The upgraded Automation 3200 catalog includes new and expanded information on the intelligent, 32-axis motion, vision PLC, robotics and I/O platform. The Automation 3200 provides a "future-proof" architecture, dramatically lower integration...

Tool mounted RF power.(Literature showcase)
July 1, 2004... The compact CB series RF generators feature a solid-state design and proven Comdel RF amplifier technology providing precise and repeatable power control and low cost of ownership. The CB series available in power ranges from 50 to 5000 Watts...

FREE 2004 PXI Product Guide.(Literature showcase)
July 1, 2004... National Instruments PXI Product Guide is a complete catalog and technical reference for building measurement and automation systems. The guide features detailed product information a tutorial on the PXI and Compact PCI specifications. a PXI...

Leica Mircrosystems AG.(People in the News)(David Martyr appointed )(Brief Article)
July 1, 2004... Leica Microsystems AG has appointed David Martyr the third member of its management board, as senior executive VP, sales and marketing. Martyr received his BSc in naval engineering and his PhD in engineering He joined Leica Microsystems in...

Brooks Automation Inc.(People in the News)
July 1, 2004... Brooks Automation Inc. has named president and COO Edward Grady as the successor to CEO Robert Therrien, who plans to retire at the end of this year. Grady joined the company in February 2003, and was named a director in September.

Silterra Malaysia.(People in the News)( Bruce Gray named interim CEO)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2004... Wafer foundry Silterra Malaysia has named executive VP and COO Bruce Gray as interim CEO, replacing Ahmad Pardas Senin, who will return to lead the UEM Group subsidiary of majority shareholder Khazanah Nasional Berhad.

Royal Philips Electronic NV.(People in the News)(Rene Penning de Vries named senior Vice president)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2004... Royal Philips Electronics NV has named Rene Penning de Vries as senior VP and CTO of its semiconductor division, responsible for managing the CTO organization of the business. Penning de Vries was previously deputy CTO for Phillips...