Dr. Paula Doe, Contributing Editor
High-k films for DRAM capacitors look poised to create real volume production demand for atomic layer deposition (ALD) tools. But furnace makers with new batch ALD furnaces may challenge the leading ALD suppliers’ single-wafer cluster tools for the business. Samsung has started using batch ALD in its 90nm memory production, reportedly with tools from several different suppliers.
Tube furnaces are just starting to emerge for ALD capacitor applications, still only selling one or two units at a time. “But anyone doing DRAM capacitors now needs to make 30-50