Spotlight on Deposition Solutions from Advanced Energy
Posted January 29, 2019 by Advanced Energy Editor
It might be a surprise to you to learn that the average diameter of an atom is on the order of 10−8 cm. Then again, if you are designing semiconductor deposition processes, that’s no surprise. You also would understand that controlling the plasma chamber conditions to the level essential for precise deposition uniformity, conformity and smoothness – down to one layer of atoms at a time – depends to a large degree on the power source.
New Demands Driving Increased Process Complexity
While general atomic deposition is well known and relatively refined, deposition processes involving multiple patterning of ICs and 3D NAND memory chips are much more complex. Plasma enhanced atomic layer deposition (PEALD) and plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD), advanced processes developed to meet the challenge of packing more computing horsepower into ever-smaller chip geometries, multiply the demand for precision layering – and the consequences of failure.
With tolerances of a million times thinner than a human hair, there’s near-zero margin for error, which means the decision you make for the power source also has an equally low tolerance. Furthermore, you need options and reliability in addition to incredibly precise plasma control when dealing with high aspect ratio features, intricate three-dimensional architectures and new base materials.
We’ve taken all of that into account in our off-the-shelf (and custom, just ask us) precision power conversion solutions:
- Pinnacle® Diamond series – Available in 8, 10 and 15 kW, our Pinnacle DC power supply provides the highest efficiency and power factor available, resulting in the lowest operating and installed cost in the industry.
- PDX® Low-Power series – Designed for a wide range of applications, the PDX 1250 and 1400 W mid-frequency power supplies offer a highly efficient, compact, easy-to-integrate power source with a mean time between failure of 200,000 hours.
- PDX High-Power (HP) series – Enabling operation over a wide frequency range for optimum control of particular specie production, PDX HP comes in 5000 and 8000 W versions.
Complete Solutions, Faster Time-to-Market
Advanced Energy also integrates Fast DAQ™ and our data acquisition and accessibility suite. As part of a complete solution, we to provide process insight and speed development. That means reduced time to market, the agility you need to respond to changing application requirements and visibility into plasma chamber health.
You can learn more about how our solutions for deposition reduce operational costs and improve throughput for power supplies critical to applications spanning from ICs to thin films, and dielectric sputtering to substrate biasing on our web site and by contacting us.