December 6, 2011 — ALD tool maker ASM International N.V. (NASDAQ:ASMI, Euronext Amsterdam:ASM) created a new 14nm high-k gate dielectric process that achieved less than 6angstroms equivalent oxide thickness (EOT), while maintaining gate leakage below 1A/cm2, on a customer’s 14nm R&D semiconductor manufacturing line.
Using ASM’s most advanced Pulsar atomic layer deposition (ALD) tool, a hafnium-based material with a higher-k value than the current baseline was qualified. The tool required no additional clustered process steps. The new high-k process enables faster switching and lower leakage current in the device, extending the viability of hafnium-based high-k dielectrics.
Planar and 3D devices manufactured below the 20nm node will benefit from the combination of ALD technology in the Pulsar module with ASM’s expertise in high-k metal gates (HKMG), said Glen Wilk Sr., director of ALD products at ASM.
Also see: ASM covers FinFET precursor needs from epitaxy to HKMG ALD
ASM International N.V., and its subsidiaries, design and manufacture equipment and materials used to produce semiconductor devices. ASM International’s common stock trades on NASDAQ (symbol ASMI) and the Euronext Amsterdam Stock Exchange (symbol ASM). For more information, visit ASMI’s website at www.asm.com.