sp3 Diamond Technologies launches dual-chamber CVD diamond deposition reactor

SANTA CLARA, USA: sp3 Diamond Technologies Inc. (sp3), a leading supplier of diamond products, equipment and services, has introduced its newest hot-filament chemical vapor deposition (CVD) diamond reactor, the Model 665.

The new dual-chamber system can accommodate up to eighteen 100 mm-diameter substrates at a time, representing a 100 percent increase in deposition area over the company's single chamber model. The Model 665 significantly reduces cost of ownership (COO) by doubling system throughput while delivering the identical CVD diamond film characteristics, deposition rate and process uniformity as the company's single-chamber reactor.

Customer demand for efficient, lower COO platforms for volume production drove development of the higher throughput system. Key markets that are rapidly moving towards full commercialization include chemical mechanical planarization (CMP) pad conditioners and diamond-coated electrodes for water treatment.

The Model 665 will serve as a platform for the development of even higher volume deposition equipment targeting the use of diamond interlayers on semiconductor wafers.

"CVD diamond films are moving into full commercialization," said Dwain Aidala, president and COO of sp3 Diamond Technologies. "Scale and throughput are now critical as the inherent benefits of diamond have become well-recognized, moving it from the R&D and pilot production stage into volume manufacturing in some high growth areas. With multiple customers ramping manufacturing of products incorporating CVD diamond, our ability to deliver a high productivity deposition platform is a truly unique offering in the marketplace."

CVD diamond is an ideal material for CMP pad conditioners due to its wear characteristics, chemical inertness and range of abrasive characteristics. CMP use is escalating in semiconductor manufacturing in terms of the number of process steps using CMP, the increasing number of metallization layers and the number of materials being polished.

These factors are driving the requirement for CVD diamond-based conditioning that delivers finer line widths and compatibility with the increasing complexity of slurries and pad textures.

Another market that has seen rapid growth in the adoption of CVD diamond is diamond-coated electrodes for water treatment. Increasingly, these electrodes are being implemented in industrial water treatment facilities and filtration systems where diamond's chemical inertness and ability to be selectively doped enable long life, high reliability systems.