ASM International N.V. (Nasdaq: ASMI and Euronext Amsterdam: ASM) and the Air Liquide Group (Euronext: AL.NX) announce that their collaboration has led to the signature of a license and preferred supplier agreement for ALOHATM advanced precursors. Under the terms of the agreement, Air Liquide will have access to ASM's key processes and material intellectual property related to the deposition of advanced ultra-high-k insulator films such as Yttrium-doped Zirconia, STO and BST.
ASM and Air Liquide's customers will benefit from Air Liquide's ALOHA global research, manufacturing and supply chain capability, with ASM's well known Pulsar atomic layer deposition (ALD) system.
The first high-k materials were introduced in mainstream DRAM manufacturing in the mid 2000's, and more recently as a gate insulator material in logic manufacturing. The materials are expected to be used in both types of devices to further enhance transistor and capacitor performance.
Ivo Raaijmakers, chief technology officer of ASM stated, "It is essential that the whole supply chain, including chemicals, their transportation and storage, deposition equipment and source containers reaches maturity before new materials will be adopted by our customers. The agreement with Air Liquide is a key step to enable ultra high-k materials for the industry." Jean-Marc Girard, chief technology officer of Air Liquide Electronics commented, "We are proud to become a preferred supplier of the leader in high-k ALD technology for these advanced thin film products. It is essential for chemical suppliers to closely cooperate with tool suppliers on an ongoing basis. High-Tech is a growth driver of Air Liquide."