March 13, 2012 — Molecular beam epitaxy equipment supplier Riber will work with research organization imec on epitaxy process technologies for next-generation III-V semiconductor CMOS devices. Within imec’s Germanium and III-V devices program, imec and its core partners are exploring the efficacy of high-mobility channel materials for CMOS devices for advanced nodes (below 45nm).
The partners collaborated previously on advanced channel materials for high-performance CMOS scaling, germanium and compound semiconductor (III-V) materials. Riber and imec developed effective passivation techniques for germanium (Ge) and gallium arsenide (GaAs) to resolve bottleneck issues at gate stack passivation. Riber’s 200mm III-V and metal oxide MBE cluster provided an extremely clean background without any interfering gas phase components, enabling material and interface control on the atomic level.
In this successful passivation scheme for the MOS gate stack module, controlling the GaAs surface reconstruction followed by a H2S passivation treatment and in-situ high-k deposition were crucial to create a well-passivated MOS structure with record-low interfacial state density. The first successful MOS capacitors on a new high-mobility candidate material, GeSn, were made in the 200mm Riber MBE cluster.
Also read: Integrating III-V on silicon for future transistor applications
In the new project, the partners will evaluate Riber’s 300mm UHV chamber (ISA300) equipped with in-situ tools for surface analysis and clustered with state-of-the-art 300mm Si CMOS production equipment. The goal is to produce advanced CMOS devices based on high-mobility Ge and III-V channels. They will use Riber’s UHV chamber for study and control of surface structures; gather knowledge on gate stack passivation from a 200mm research environment to a 300mm fab-compatible platform; and demonstrate the technological viability of a 300mm MBE-module, clustered with standard 300mm Si CMOS production equipment.
Using the ISA300 chamber in a 300mm cluster configuration will allow for higher performance in terms of devices operating at high frequencies with reduced energy consumption, said Frédérick Goutard, Riber CEO.
This project will allow for application of powerful in-situ surface analysis tools in CVD and ALD equipment, which so far was not feasible due to the gas-phase environment. MBE-like UHV-techniques for interface control and passivation will benefit the development of next-generation CMOS technologies, said Hans Lebon VP fab operations and process step R&D at imec.
Imec performs world-leading research in nanoelectronics. Further information on imec can be found at www.imec.be.