November 16, 2001 – Midland, MI – International SEMATECH will supply process wafers to the SiLKnet Alliance, an industrywide collaboration of materials and equipment suppliers working toward integrated low-k process development.
SiLKnet members will use the wafers to develop compatible processes and products to support SiLK semiconductor dielectric resins, a low-k material for the 130nm technology node and beyond.
“Our wafer supply agreement with International SEMATECH kicks off formal development efforts under the SiLKnet Alliance, but more importantly it underscores the real value of this collaboration. With these wafers, Alliance member companies are able to work simultaneously on developing products and streamlining processes for SiLK resins, thereby speeding availability of off-the-shelf SiLK process module solutions for our customers,” said Greg Bauer, SiLKnet Alliance development director.
“We’re especially pleased to have SEMATECH as our wafer supplier. SEMATECH is a highly regarded technology partner whose mission is to promote the interests common to all chipmakers. It has extensive experience collaborating with equipment and materials suppliers, as well as with government and academic research centers, to refine the tools and technology necessary to produce future generations of chips,” Bauer continued.
SEMATECH’s advanced technology development facility (ATDF), which recently began to offer low-k processing using SiLK dielectric materials, will produce partially patterned wafers for the Alliance in support of SiLKnet’s etch, CMP, cleaning, metrology, and other process module focus areas.
The ATDF will produce wafers using dense SiLK structures; initial wafers will use 250nm designs, with a future migration toward smaller geometries. As the Alliance develops processes to support the extensibility of SiLK materials, future ATDF activities will include production of partially patterned wafers using porous SiLK resins.
Michael Simmonds, SiLKnet applications development manager, noted that SiLKnet members will make information about SiLK-compatible process and product developments available to their customers. “Dow [Chemical Company] will manage distribution of all wafers to Alliance member companies. This facilitation will be essential as the Alliance achieves its development goals, and represents Dow’s commitment to assuring that customers have compatible SiLK processes for their most complex device structures,” Simmonds said.
“As the industry moves toward the 100nm technology node, advanced low-k dielectric materials will become ubiquitous in the development of next-generation devices. As a result, chipmakers must have production-ready low-k processes that are easy to integrate and cost efficient,” said Brent Ames, Wafer Services manager at International SEMATECH. “International SEMATECH has built working electrical test structures with Dow SiLK resins in the past, and is now beginning to evaluate the porous SiLK material with two-level copper dual damascene structures. For SiLKnet, our goal is to supply the Alliance with exceptional quality SiLK-coated wafers.”
Established earlier this year to enable industrywide SiLK resin integration expertise, SiLKnet is a diverse, non-exclusive alliance open to all semiconductor materials and equipment suppliers. Founding Alliance members include Arch Chemicals Inc., Ashland Specialty Chemical Company, Dainippon Screen Mfg. Co. Ltd., The Dow Chemical Company, EKC Technology Inc., Ferro Corp., Planar Solutions LLC, Supercritical Systems Inc., Tokyo Electron Limited and Verteq Inc.