Linde intros line of dopant gas sources for IC manufacturers

MURRAY HILL, USA: For semiconductor manufacturers looking for a sub-atmospheric dopant gas source that will deliver high performance at a lower cost, Linde North America has the answer: the Genii Sub-Atmospheric Gas Sources.

Linde North America is a member of The Linde Group, a world leading gases and engineering group and a major supplier of high-purity gases and technology to the semiconductor and electronics manufacturing industries. The new Linde ion implantation gas sources use chemical complexing or electrochemical generation as a means to achieve the desired performance characteristics required by integrated circuit (IC) manufacturers.

Ion implantation is a critical step in the manufacture of integrated circuits. It is the method of introducing doping gases such as arsine, phosphine and boron trifluoride, to the silicon substrate. IC manufacturers prefer using dopants in sub-atmospheric pressure cylinders because of the inherent safety compared with higher pressure alternatives.

“The Genii Sub-Atmospheric Gas Sources from Linde provide IC manufacturers with a lower cost-of-ownership, high-performance alternative to other sub-atmospheric products currently on the market,” said Peter Thomas, vice president of marketing for Linde’s electronics business.

Beta testing at an IC maker’s site proved that the Genii gas sources can reduce a manufacturer’s ion implant source costs by a minimum of 20 percent with no impact on device performance.

Linde is offering two technologies in the Genii dopant line. One generates arsine at sub-atmospheric pressure from an electrochemical generator housed in the cylinder. The second delivers enriched boron trifluoride or phosphine through chemical complexing with ionic liquids contained in the cylinder.

“Both technologies deliver the kind of performance and efficiencies IC manufacturers require,” Thomas said. “And they are a demonstration of Linde’s ongoing commitment to developing new products for the electronics industry,” he said.

The Linde Group is a world leading gases and engineering company with almost 50,000 employees working in around 100 countries worldwide. In the 2008 financial year it achieved sales of EUR 12.7 billion (USD 15.9 billion). The strategy of The Linde Group is geared towards sustainable earnings-based growth and focuses on the expansion of its international business with forward-looking products and services.