Picosun’s PicoArmour™ Reduces Semiconductor Manufacturing Costs

Picosun Group has pending patent rights for an ALD enabled corrosion protection solution against plasma etch that will bring benefits in semiconductor fabrication processes in terms of throughput, film uniformity and conformality. With PicoArmour^TM the corrosion protection can be achieved more efficiently compared with the industry solutions commonly used today.

Wafer fabrication process flows include several steps where plasma etching is necessary. An inevitable consequence of using etching chemicals is that the tool itself will be etched. A common industrial solution for reducing the tool damage is applying a corrosion-resistant coating to the etch tool using for example PVD or spray coating​ with Y₂O_3. Compared to only using Y₂O_3, PicoArmour^TM enables an up to five times faster and a more cost-effective way of producing the coating. Compared to Al₂O₃, the coating can be five times more durable.* Also, the maintenance interval of etch tools can be increased which also translates to significant reduction of manufacturing costs.

“Picosun’s approach with PicoArmour^TM is to combine the highly-etch-resistant Y₂O₃ ALD process with more robust ALD processes. A high performance ALD corrosion barrier combining the speed and convenience of Al₂O₃ process with the durability of Y₂O₃ can be achieved by carefully controlling the film composition. With ALD, the protective effect can be achieved with thinner films, which in turn leads to material savings and a more environmentally friendly process”, states Juhana Kostamo, VP, Industrial Business Area of Picosun Group.

To learn more about PicoArmour^TM and a study Picosun has done related to protective coatings against plasma damage, join Picosun talk at the virtual ALD 2021 conference on June 29 at 10:25 am EDT. Register here.

*Values dependent on deposition and etch parameters

Source: https://www.picosun.com/