August 22, 2007 – JSR Corp. says it has developed an insulating material that can be spin-coated on substrates for use in 45nm chip manufacturing, according to the Nikkei Business Daily.
Insulating materials typically applied via chemical vapor deposition require vacuum conditions; spin coating offers a less expensive alternative with cheaper tools and fewer cleaning steps. The problem has been finding a suitable material that’s both strong enough and has good insulating properties, the paper notes.
JSR says it has solved the problem by adding more carbon to a silicon oxide compound, in which carbon and silicon atoms form strong bonds to strengthen the material to withstand cracking during polishing and etching. The company, which spent ~1B yen (US $8.7M) on a dedicated facility to make the materials, has started shipping samples of the new spin-on material for 45nm devices, and hopes to record first sales by 2009.