Applied Materials reveals breakthrough RTP technology for 20nm era

SANTA CLARA, USA: Applied Materials Inc. advanced the state of the art in nanoscale transistor fabrication with the launch of its Applied Vantage Vulcan rapid thermal processing (RTP) system. The system leapfrogs current RTP technology to bring a new level of precision and control to the anneal process, enabling chipmakers to reduce variability and boost production yields of their most highly-valued, highest-performing devices.

For manufacturers to achieve the highest chip yields, transistors with the same design should perform identically in all areas of the wafer. This is becoming a major challenge at the 20nm era (28nm and below) since transistors are smaller and more sensitive to temperature variations while many logic chips are also larger in size, making uniformity across the die increasingly difficult. Direct radiant heating can cause variations in temperature, or "hot spots," on a patterned wafer - leading to significant variations in the electrical performance of the transistors - and resulting in many low-end chips on the wafer.

Applied's Vantage Vulcan system overcomes these yield-limiting temperature variations by applying heat to the unpatterned backside of the wafer to deliver an unprecedented level of temperature uniformity. Using the company's proven honeycomb lamp array, the system can control within-die temperature to less than 3°C - even while the wafer temperature is aggressively ramping at more than 200°C per second.

"The Vantage Vulcan system represents a significant technology extension for the industry's roadmap and sets a new benchmark in eliminating sources of temperature variability," said Sundar Ramamurthy, VP and GM of Applied Materials' Front End Products business unit. "We've listened to the needs of our customers and developed a solution that addresses one of their most daunting challenges. Leading chip manufacturers are already recognizing the device benefits of our new Vantage Vulcan system."

In addition to being the first RTP system to heat the wafer entirely from the backside, the Vantage Vulcan system's unique closed-loop control can dynamically control wafer temperature as it ramps from almost room temperature to 1,300°C. This breakthrough capability enables any device wafer, including wafers with challenging reflective surfaces, to be processed without recipe modification - a critical benefit for the high-mix, fast-changing environment of foundries - while also simplifying the integration of new materials and new transistor architectures.

Applied's expertise in temperature control has made the company both a pioneer and market leader in RTP technology. Applied has more than 1,000 RTP systems installed at customers worldwide, making Applied's RTP technology the industry's choice for manufacturing nearly every advanced microchip in the last decade.