April 13, 2005 – ATDF and VESTA Technology have announced a US partnership creating an R&D and customer demonstration facility for VESTA, with broad capabilities for advanced work in film deposition, plasma nitridation and oxidation, and other key processes for semiconductor manufacturing. The VESTA facility will be housed within the Austin-based ATDF, a leading technology R&D center for the chip industry.
The agreement involves the installation of three cluster tools with 11 separate process chambers mounted on three separate platforms. Processing capabilities will be used by both VESTA and ATDF for their respective customers and leverage the 200 mm/300 mm capability of the versatile bridge systems.
The agreement will bring several VESTA engineers and technicians to Austin. Vesta will receive Class 1 cleanroom space and support, plus access to ATDF’s 200mm and 300mm tool set. ATDF will provide customers with access to atomic-layer deposition of high-k dielectrics and metal gate materials that are expected to be the next advances in high-k and metal electrode structures.
The equipment comprising the VESTA R&D facility will include:
— A dielectric ALD tool, equipped with two Nano-ALD 200/300 mm chambers of atomic-layer deposition for high-k dielectrics and IRIS remote-plasma annealing chamber for nitridation and oxidation for front-end processes development work. A new IRIS high-k chamber will be furnished for developing VESTA Technology’s processes.
— A VULCAN 200/300 mm Production Platform, containing four chambers for atomic-layer deposition; plasma-injection atomic layer deposition (PI-ALD) with vapor phase deposition (VPD) capability having high deposition rate such as pseudo-ALD, CVD, and pseudo-CVD for metal gate development; and rapid thermal processing for silicide processes.
— A second VULCAN tool with four chambers, with one each for PI-ALD with VPD capability, low temperature tungsten CVD, low temperature silicon epitaxial growth, and sputter/etch cleaning.
The first two tools have arrived and are being installed at ATDF, while the third tool will arrive in July.