Category Archives: Materials and Equipment

April 29, 2009: Researchers at the University of Illinois have developed a membrane-penetrating nanoneedle for the targeted delivery of one or more molecules into the cytoplasm or the nucleus of living cells. In addition to ferrying tiny amounts of cargo, the nanoneedle can also be used as an electrochemical probe and as an optical biosensor.

“Nanoneedle-based delivery is a powerful new tool for studying biological processes and biophysical properties at the molecular level inside living cells,” said Min-Feng Yu, a professor of mechanical science and engineering and corresponding author of a paper accepted for publication in Nano Letters, and posted on the journal’s Web site.

In the paper, Yu and collaborators describe how they deliver, detect and track individual fluorescent quantum dots in a cell’s cytoplasm and nucleus. The quantum dots can be used for studying molecular mechanics and physical properties inside cells.

To create a nanoneedle, the researchers begin with a rigid but resilient boron-nitride nanotube. The nanotube is then attached to one end of a glass pipette for easy handling, and coated with a thin layer of gold. Molecular cargo is then attached to the gold surface via “linker” molecules. When placed in a cell’s cytoplasm or nucleus, the bonds with the linker molecules break, freeing the cargo.

With a diameter of approximately 50nm, the nanoneedle introduces minimal intrusiveness in penetrating cell membranes and accessing the interiors of live cells.

The delivery process can be precisely controlled, monitored and recorded — goals that have not been achieved in prior studies.

“The nanoneedle provides a mechanism by which we can quantitatively examine biological processes occurring within a cell’s nucleus or cytoplasm,” said Yang Xiang, a professor of molecular and integrative physiology and a co-author of the paper. “By studying how individual proteins and molecules of DNA or RNA mobilize, we can better understand how the system functions as a whole.”

The ability to deliver a small number of molecules or nanoparticles into living cells with spatial and temporal precision may make feasible numerous new strategies for biological studies at the single-molecule level, which would otherwise be technically challenging or even impossible, the researchers report.

“Combined with molecular targeting strategies using quantum dots and magnetic nanoparticles as molecular probes, the nanoneedle delivery method can potentially enable the simultaneous observation and manipulation of individual molecules,” said Ning Wang, a professor of mechanical science and engineering and a co-author of the paper.

Beyond delivery, the nanoneedle-based approach can also be extended in many ways for single-cell studies, said Yu, who also is a researcher at the Center for Nanoscale Chemical-Electrical-Mechanical Manufacturing Systems. “Nanoneedles can be used as electrochemical probes and as optical biosensors to study cellular environments, stimulate certain types of biological sequences, and examine the effect of nanoparticles on cellular physiology.”

April 29, 2009: Scientists at Florida State University (FSU) will finally be able to clearly see what misoriented atoms are up to along the defects of the new materials that they are developing and how they relate to neighbors, when the school takes delivery of a new JEOL atomic resolution Scanning Transmission Electron Microscope (S/TEM) later this year.

FSU’s Applied Superconductivity Center, housed in the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory; the High Performance Materials Institute in Tallahassee, FL; scientists at FSU; and even more broadly throughout Florida, will soon have access to the highest resolution (80 picometers) of any commercially available S/TEM in its class, according to a news release.

The imaging and analytical resolution of the new JEOL 200kV S/TEM will make it possible to directly observe atomic position, chemical composition, and electronic bonding information that is crucial to development of novel materials with the highest performance. Typical materials are superconductors, lightweight high performance composites, semiconductors, biomaterials, catalyses, materials for fuel cells and high strength metallic materials.

“It’s great that multiple fine institutes and centers exist on this campus and can agree to collectively invest on behalf of a large number of people,” said Dr. David Larbalestier, one of the world’s foremost materials scientists and director of Florida State University’s Applied Superconductivity Center.

FSU’s National High Field Magnet Lab (NHFML) researches the properties of powerful new superconducting materials, such as YBCO, BSCCO, and the recently discovered pnictides. The NHFML is home to hybrid and high field magnets including one with the world’s highest magnetic field (45 tesla, nearly a million times that of the earth in its orbit). The High-Performance Materials Institute (HPMI) will utilize the TEM in its efforts toward developing multifunctional nanocomposites.

“This new JEOL STEM in full analytical mode will let us perform analysis at the single atom level that we dreamed of then, but which has been out of our grasp until now,” said Larbalestier. “The new machine is ideal for settling this type of problem. We should soon provide the capabilities to produce multifunctional materials that will make transportation more energy efficient, affordable, and safer.”

April 23, 2009: A water desalination industry publication is running warnings of potential dangers of nanoparticles used in developing desalination technologies.

The online newsletter Desalination & Water Reuse, cites concerns from Kenneth Donaldson, a toxicology professor at the University of Edinburgh, who said he was concerned about the “potential impacts of manufactured nanoparticles on health.”

Examples of nanomaterials being proposed for water treatment membranes are carbon nanotubes or nanocapillary arrays for nanofiltration and nanoreactive membranes. The article cited studies where nanotubes demonstrated “asbestos-like behavior.”

April 21, 2009: Nanocomp Technologies Inc., a developer of energy saving performance materials and component products from carbon nanotubes (CNT), has been awarded two new contracts by the United States Air Force under the Department of Defense’s Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program.

The lightweight and conductive nature of CNTs make them extremely attractive for many aerospace applications. To date, however, most development activities have taken place on a small scale with ineffective results due to performance, production and cost limitations. As a result, integrating CNT macrostructures into large-scale trials has not yet been achieved. Nanocomp’s materials and production capabilities leave these barriers behind.

The first SBIR award builds upon Nanocomp’s successful demonstration, accomplished under a Phase I contract awarded in early 2008, of the use of lightweight conductive wires made from CNTs. During Phase II, Nanocomp will work toward optimizing processing and manufacturing methods to produce CNT wiring in the quantities and forms required for direct integration into aircraft electric power applications.

The Air Force awarded Nanocomp the second SBIR contract to develop carbon nanotube mats as a viable substitute for nickel-based conductors in electrostatic discharge (ESD) and electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding applications. This Phase I research has been designated as a “critical program,” indicating that the government places a high degree of importance on the research. The goals of this program are to optimize the properties of CNT sheet materials to meet shielding requirements, develop a process to integrate the mats into existing commercial EMI/ESD shielding systems, and develop on-line production quality-control methods.

“The nature and importance of these projects demonstrates the unique potential of our material as the basis for creating game-changing yet cost-effective replacements for traditional aerospace components,” said Peter Antoinette, president and CEO of Nanocomp Technologies, in a statement. “We’ve proven that the performance of CNT wiring is superior to that of copper for high frequency applications, with dramatic weight savings. The critical next piece of moving to commercialization is optimizing our manufacturing process for wire and cable applications. We also look forward to making substantial progress toward successfully demonstrating an ultra lightweight CNT based solution for ESD and EMI shielding.”

April 20, 2009 – News flash: The market for chip tools is still awful. But for those seeking hope, the heavy declines in orders for tools seems to have abated, what may be the first step in a long road back to an industry turnaround.

Makers of semiconductor manufacturing tools based in North America reported $278.9M in bookings in March, about 8% higher than in February, though still down ~76% from a year ago, as has been the trend lately. Billings dropped off significantly to $455.3M, down -13% sequentially, and now down -66% from March 2008. Both are based on three-month averages. Final February numbers were revised down by about 2% in bookings (~$5M) and nearly 4% in sales (almost $21M).

For the opening quarter of 2009, bookings total $814.5M, down -63% from 4Q08 and down -77% from 1Q08 — which was, it now appears, the peak of the market. Sales in 1Q were down -33% sequentially, and -60% from the same period a year ago, again invoking memories of early 2002 post-crash woes.

The swing to the positive for M-M tool orders growth, just the third month of growth in the past year, is a good sign — tool demand has hovered around the same ~$250M-$270M mark for the past three quarters, perhaps suggesting a whiff of a trough having finally been reached (though those levels are also unprecedented, going back to the beginning of when the data was first tracked in 1991). The book-to-bill ratio (B:B) of 0.61 ($61 in orders for every $100 in sales) is a decent improvement from the prior two months of 0.47 and 0.49, but that merely indicates the airplug in the supply chain first caused by plummeting orders has extended through to the sales end. “Semiconductor equipment bookings remain at levels below that needed to support a healthy supply chain,” noted SEMI president/CEO Stanley Myers, in a statement.

Then again, how many months in a row of calling a bottom does it take before it finally happens?

by Debra Vogler, senior technical editor, Photovoltaics World

April 16, 2009 – Abound Solar (formerly AVA Solar), a manufacturer of low-cost thin-film photovoltaic (PV) solar panels using cadmium telluride (CdTe), has opened its first full-scale production facility in Longmont, CO. The manufacturing process employs proprietary continuous in-line semiconductor equipment to convert sheets of glass into solar panels in less than two hours. Within the next 30-45 days, the facility will be ramped up into production, company president and CEO Pascal Noronha told PV World, and at full capacity the fully automated facility will produce 200MW of solar modules annually. “We have a sufficient backlog that we can be at full scale production fairly quickly,” he noted. “When the factory is ramped up, we will be producing modules at <$1/W, and we expect to be able to drop that number materially in the next few years as we scale our production."

Abound Solar was founded in 2007 to commercialize a proprietary process for manufacturing thin-film photovoltaic modules, using patented technology developed by Prof. W.S. Sampath of Colorado State University, built upon 15 years of development at CSU with support from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

The company has applied for a DOE loan guarantee program, noted Russ Kanjorski, VP of marketing. That process involved a number of third-party reviews, including a full environmental review/audit. Bousted Consulting looked end-to-end from sand to black-box manufacturing to the module, he explained, to calculate the amount of energy used in the entire process, and compared the results to the standard US electrical grid and other competing PV technologies (see Figure). “We were significantly below in the calculations,” he said.


Energy payback time (in years) of Abound Solar’s x-Si and a-Si modules. (Source: Abound Solar/Bousted Consulting Environmental Report)

Abound’s manufacturing technology is based on “closed-space sublimation” — it takes place in a vacuum with all process steps in a continuous chamber. The pressure range of the process is anywhere from ~10mTorr to ~60mTorr, and the process temperature can be anywhere between 200°C-700°C. “A piece of glass goes in one end every 90sec or 2min, and ~28 min. later, a piece of glass comes out the other end, virtually ready to be made into a module,” noted Noronha. “It combines in one step multiple processes that other companies have to do in either batches or a semi-continuous process, and then they have to bring the substrate back up to atmosphere before going to the next step.” Because the technology was developed at CSU, the company designed and optimized the manufacturing equipment and assembled the components.

Compared to other solar PV technologies, Abound’s CdTe technology is much less expensive and more efficient than amorphous silicon, Noronha said. “CdTe does much better in lower light at higher temperatures than silicon, which needs idealized conditions,” he told PV World. CIGS, meanwhile, has many different “flavors” and thus appears to be not a very homogeneous technology, and he knows of no company doing commercial production on a material scale.

Material usage for the production line is >98% and the yield is very high, according to Noronha. Because the manufacturing line is 100% automated (no operator is required) and labor cost is low, the company has been able to keep the manufacturing cost to sales below $1. The total time between when a piece of glass enters the line and a finished module comes out is <2hrs (the line runs 24/7). Noronha feels very strongly about the US market, and hinted that the company is comfortable with the prospect of having two or three factories in the US. He also noted the new site creates more than 300 new jobs.

This article was originally published by Photovoltaics World.

By Gene Dunn, Panasonic Factory Solutions of America
Plasma technology is often characterized as a “dry” cleaning process, using ionized gases in vacuum chambers. In contrast to chemically-based wet technologies, which have their role removing thicker contaminants in the micron range such as flux residues, plasma deals with contamination in the nanometer range on substrate and wafer surfaces. While these oxides are invisible to the naked eye and quite thin, if left on bond pads, they can contribute to bond strength degradation in both wire bonding and gold bump flip chip applications.

This article describes the basics of vacuum-based plasma cleaning and surface modification technology, and demonstrates how plasma etching can removes contaminants to improve yields in gold bonding processes. In addition, auger electron spectroscopy (AES) is explained as a useful analytical technique for determining the elemental surface characteristics and the effectiveness of plasma treatment to remove contaminants. The surface modification aspect of plasma deals with altering the molecular makeup of the substrate and die surfaces of interest. Plasma treatment here will increase the number of C-O-H molecules resulting in a “rougher” surface that becomes more hydrophilic, thereby improving underfill and encapsulant wetting and adhesion.

Vacuum Based Plasma Technology
A plasma etching system consists of an RF generator and a vacuum chamber with a parallel plate arrangement that keeps the lower electrode at a negative voltage bias with respect to the upper electrode (Figure 1). This design is most effective for directional ion flow from the grounded upper electrode to the negatively biased lower electrode where the object to be treated is located. Typical vacuum pressures are set at 8-12Pa (60-90mtorr). The electric field helps accelerate the free electrons to collide with the argon atoms. Ionization occurs as a free electron dislodges an electron from the Ar atom, resulting in a positively charged Ar+ ion plasma. These highly directional ions move in parallel fashion toward the negatively biased chamber electrode and thus provide a physical etching effect to the Au pads on the substrate. Argon is particularly effective since it is relatively heavy and has a high sputter yield* with respect to gold and nickel.


Figure 1: Parallel plate vacuum chamber cross-section.

Contamination Analysis of Gold Bond Pads
Die attach and subsequent adhesive cure steps can cause contamination to form on substrate or package gold bond pads. Untreated, this can lead to no-sticks or low ball shear at the wire bonding operation. Oftentimes the problem is mistakenly assigned to the wire bonder, resulting in attempts to alter the recipe to improve bondability. However, before assuming the wire bonder is at fault, it is important to analyze the condition of the gold bond pads by performing a ball shear test and if possible, an elemental analysis of the bond pad surface. Named after Pierre Auger, AES is an analytical technique that offers reliable surface analysis by using an electron beam and an electron spectrometer to measure energy levels of reflected Auger electrons. These particular electrons are of interest because their origin is from the first 5-50

April 13, 2009: Inlustra Technologies, a California-based startup spun out from gallium nitride (GaN) research laboratories at the University of California at Santa Barbara, has developed a scalable production process for nonpolar and semipolar GaN substrates. The company is expanding its production facilities and has recently started to fill orders from customers.

GaN semiconductor materials are critical for the production of compact and highly efficient green, blue, violet, and ultraviolet light sources. They form the basis for green LEDs for traffic signals, white LEDs as backlights for modern high-definition/high contrast displays, and blue laser diodes for Blu-Ray DVD players. GaN-based white LEDs used for general lighting are seen as a highly efficient, non-toxic replacement for fluorescent and incandescent bulbs, yielding energy savings equivalent to over 5 billion barrels of oil over the next 20 years (according to the US Dept. of Energy).

The crystal structure of GaN causes some of its properties to vary strongly with orientation. The nonpolar and semipolar planes of this structure have excited practitioners in recent years as alternatives to the conventional polar GaN c-plane, which faces some fundamental device efficiency limitations. Nonpolar and semipolar GaN promise markedly increased device performance, manufacturing yields, and device longevity compared to conventional GaN technology. While the benefits of GaN substrates are widely acknowledged, producing the material has proven challenging, especially in the nonpolar and semipolar orientations.

“Our proprietary crystal growth techniques significantly reduce the number of microscopic defects in the substrates, which will enable our customers to realize improved yields in their device production processes,” Paul Fini, CTO at Inlustra, said in a news release. The company is currently offering nonpolar GaN substrate sizes between 5×10mm and 10×20mm but will scale up its process to 2-in. over the next 9-12 months.

by Michael A. Fury, Robert L. Rhoades, Steven P. Holland, Techcet Group

Executive overview

CMP continues to play an increasingly vital role in enabling new transistor and isolation structures, often with new materials not previously used in semiconductor manufacturing, and in enabling the increase in the number of interconnect layers from single to double digits. It can safely be said that this industry darling sector during the 1990s and early 2000s has now blossomed to maturity, with a stable supplier base and growth rates that look more like the rest of its peer materials supply chains.

The semiconductor technology migration to copper interconnects continues to drive the remaining extraordinary growth of the CMP consumables market, both in terms of implementation of copper in new 300mm fabs and a now-slowing increase in the number of copper layers per chip. Tungsten and interlayer dielectric (ILD) remain steady due to the large installed base of manufacturing above the 65nm node.

Copper interconnects is also the CMP area that is most actively evolving. As device technology is pushed toward smaller geometries, new materials come into play that create a need for better CMP and associated cleaning technology. Although it appears there is no need to replace copper through the 32nm node, barrier materials and ILD materials will change to further enhance conductivity and minimize parasitic capacitance. The need for these newer materials also should be factored into the post-CMP cleaning market to ensure the integrity of the films is not compromised by the cleaning steps.

Consumables

For the first time since the implementation of CMP in the 1990s, we are seeing a decline in CMP consumable revenues. Exacerbated by the economic downturn, this is due to the convergence of a number of factors. Having been highlighted as one of the most expensive process in the fab for several years, the attention placed on CMP has resulted in pricing pressure on suppliers as well as cost management pressure on the fab engineers. There will be additional cost pressure on CMP consumable prices as Cu CMP is implemented more broadly beyond logic.

Memory fabs have more severe pricing pressures than logic, and so tend to be more receptive to testing and qualifying new products from small startup suppliers. DRAM is moving to Cu at 55nm; flash is moving to Cu at 45nm or 32nm. The CMP staff inside fabs will likely continue to expand with the addition of new levels and new materials; the current outlook is to continue adding 1-2 more CMP levels for each node.

Already, slurries are diluted prior to use, pad life is extended by more prudent use of pad conditioning, and process performance is no longer the dominant trump card in determining fab suppliers. Fabs are becoming more willing to trade some performance in return for consumable cost savings. Memory will continue to drive the market for W and ILD CMP, but continues its migration to copper, in which the two old CMP steps are replaced by two new copper steps, bulk and barrier. But shrinking geometries require less total metallization thickness, resulting in a reduction in total polishing time and hence slurry consumption.

There is clear evidence of market expansion in Asia, especially with China coming on line, and stability or contraction elsewhere. In particular, Samsung and its local suppliers have become a market force to be reckoned with, with all due respect to Intel’s global influence. Local suppliers in China, Korea and yes, still in Japan, remain viable threats to the market shares held by US and European suppliers.

High-k metal gate applications

High-k metal gates represent a significant market expansion opportunity, but this market carries with it a significant R&D investment obligation. These processes will have returns more comparable to STI and other single pass applications, much smaller than the W and Cu interconnect opportunities. Aside from these new applications, CMP market growth is now expected to track semiconductor growth overall more closely than it has in the past, as the process application field is approaching CMP saturation [1].

Slurry business environment

In its June 2008 report, Techcet estimates the total available slurry market in 2008 at $1.03B-$1.10B, and that it will rise by 2011 to as high as $1.34B. The upside forecast assumes no slurry price erosion and that the average number of copper levels will increase from 10 to 11 at the 32nm node. However, we anticipate an increase in pricing pressure, particularly on copper slurries as their volume grows in production. This would have resulted in a worst-case scenario in which slurry revenues remain relatively flat now through 2011 even without the current recession.

A worst case convergence of slurry dilution at point of use, significant price erosion in copper slurries, and the average number of copper levels holding steady at 10 layers at the 32nm node would contribute to our CMP slurry forecast wherein revenues dip further in 2009 to $820M to $915M, and don’t recover to 2007 levels until 2013. Slurry volumes will recover during this period, regardless of pricing dynamics, with an estimated CAGR of 19% over the period 2008-2011.

There are still over 30 players in the slurry market, but this number has been stable over the past several years and is no longer growing. Slurries provide a more level playing field than the CMP pad segment. This is due in part to the high level of market segmentation in CMP slurries that provides more niches in which suppliers can compete with adequate success to justify their business. Margins are down, due in part to the relatively high need to customize slurry for different polishing applications compared to the ability of one pad to be used for several different applications. Slurry dilution at point of use is another factor in margin erosion.

The ILD segment (Figure 1) is still dominated by the two traditional leaders: Cabot Microelectronics (CCMP) with its legacy SS-12 and SS-25 fumed silica products, and Rohm & Haas Electronic Materials (RHEM) with its Klebosol colloidal (precipitated) silica products. The ‘Other’ category in the pie chart includes ATMI, Anji, Wacker and Bayer. Some of this silica slurry is used for non-selective STI processes, but data is not available to segregate this usage from ILD.


Figure 1. ILD and non-selective STI slurry market share.

In selective STI (i.e. ceria slurry) Hitachi is the clear leader that other competitors focus on, with ~76% of the market (Figure 2). The ‘Other’ segment includes DA Nano, Ferro and Asahi Glass. CCMP and RHEM, market leaders in other CMP consumables sectors, have only a small presence in the selective STI market. The semiconductor grade ceria starting material is expensive, thus selective STI slurries run from $30 to >$60/gal. Market data for estimating the percentage of wafers processed with fixed abrasives, and its impact on the STI slurry market, is not available and is not considered in this market share estimate.


Figure 2. Selective STI slurry market share.

In the tungsten slurry segment, CCMP still remains the market leader with an estimated 78% share, and is the primary competitive focus of the few other players remaining in this market (Figure 3). W slurry typically costs $20-$30/gal depending on abrasive type, slurry version, and customer volume use.


Figure 3. Tungsten slurry market share.

The Cu step 1 slurry segment (Figure 4a) is a relatively level playing field, with no single dominant player. Significant shares are held by Fujimi, DA Nano, RHEM (actually Eternal, which has since been acquired by Cabot Micro), Hitachi, CCMP and JSR. In the Cu barrier slurry segment (Figure 4b) Planar Solutions has established a beachhead with a 41% share. Other significant players include JSR, RHEM, Hitachi and DA Nano.


Figure 4. Slurry market share for (top) copper step 1, and (bottom) copper barrier.

There are a number of other niche applications, particularly in FEOL processing, that are anticipated to emerge from R&D over the next several years. These will in all probability be single layer processes that will not generate the kinds of volumes found in tungsten and copper interconnects. One area that is generating a noteworthy level of activity is copper slurry for through-silicon vias (TSV), a packaging process that has begun moving into manufacturing.

Pad business environment

Techcet estimates the total available pad market in 2008 at $616M to $632M, and that it will rise by 2011 to between $673M and $743M. The upside forecast assumes no pad price erosion and that the average number of copper levels will increase from 10 to 11 at the 32nm node. With the widening implementation of point-of-use slurry dilution, some fabs have been reporting that pads are now the largest portion of their CMP consumables costs.


Figure 5. Polishing pad market share.

Overall pad market share is dominated by RHEM at 83% (Figure 5). Thomas West (TWI) has a well-established niche in tungsten pads. Cabot and JSR have recent market entries, and their respective market shares are reportedly each dominated by a single significant fab win.

The dominance of RHEM does not adequately reflect details of the market dynamics in specific process segments. The following estimates are based on interviews conducted by Techcet for its 2008 CMP Report.

  • ILD. Praxair manufactures a pad that is marketed jointly with AMAT as an AMAT BKM and is believed to have captured as much as 10% of the ILD pad market share. Similarly, Toyo is thought to have captured as much as 5% of the ILD pad share in Japan.
  • Selective STI. This segment is a clean split between 3M with 100% of the fixed abrasive pads and RHEM with 100% of the conventional slurry pads. We have found no reliable estimates for the share distribution between fixed abrasive and conventional STI.

  • W. RHEM holds ~65%, with a declining share. TWI is holding steady at ~30%, Cabot may already have as much as 5%, and innoPad is said to be installed at one large Korean fab, both of these increasing at the expense of RHEM.

  • Cu. The copper pad market dynamics are dominated by the two leading CMP equipment makers, AMAT and Ebara. On the AMAT platform, the copper bulk and soft landing steps are dominated by RHEM IC pads at 80%, with JSR the biggest player in the remaining 20%. The AMAT barrier and buff step is dominated by RHEM Politex at 90%, with Fujibo controlling the remaining 10%. On the Ebara platform, copper bulk and soft landing is dominated by RHEM IC pads at 95%, with Cabot finding a niche for the other 5%. Ebara barrier and buff is the same as AMAT, with RHEM Politex at 90% and Fujibo at 10%.

Collaboration moves CMP forward

While much of the work done by suppliers and fab customers is proprietary, there are two forums that have established themselves as magnets for peer-to-peer CMP collaboration.

The Northern California Chapter of the American Vacuum Society (NCCAVS) has a long-standing CMP Users Group (CMPUG) that schedules multiple meetings per year focused on various aspects of CMP. These meetings provide a structured but flexible forum for technical presentations and discussions which help all attendees improve their understanding of CMP. Suppliers also use this forum for new product introductions and evaluation results [2]. Another emerging venue for CMP technical exchange is the Planarization Lounge on SemiNeedle, modeled after other online communities.

Conclusion

The stabilization of the CMP consumables community has made it possible for both fabs and suppliers to focus on the business of optimizing process performance and cost. The growth slowdown in slurry revenue suggests that the history of photoresist utilization is repeating itself in CMP. The full impact of the current economic downturn remains to be seen, but early indications are that the CMP consumables market has slumped no less, but no worse, than other materials sectors. By the end of 2010, Techcet projects that CMP consumables will recover only to 2007 levels at $1.8B combined.

References

1. 2008 Techcet CMP Critical Materials Report.
2. Proceedings of NCCAVS CMPUG meetings.

Michael A. Fury received his PhD in physical chemistry from the U. of Illinois at Urbana, and is a senior technology associate at The Techcet Group, LLC, P.O. Box 29, Del Mar, CA 92014 USA; email [email protected].

Robert L. Rhoades received his PhD in electrical engineering from the U. of Illinois at Urbana and is a senior technology associate at The Techcet Group, LLC; email [email protected].

Steven P. Holland received his PhD in analytical chemistry from Purdue U. and is a senior partner and manager at The Techcet Group, LLC; email [email protected].