Looking ahead to the next generation of IC design, process flows and the increasing number of advanced materials they entail, we see a real need for semiconductor companies to rethink traditional approaches to research and development as efficiency becomes increasingly vital for continued viability. As chip geometries continue to shrink, so do the timetables for development when considering market share and competitive advantage. With end-user product iterations speeding up (we are already on iPhone 4, for example), a collective “need for speed” in development has arrived. This is clearly evident in what has been called the Materials Age.
During previous economic downturns, it was common for manufacturers to examine tools closely with an eye toward increasing their efficiency. Even relatively small incremental gains could result in proportionally larger increases in throughput and yield. Today, companies are adding a new wrinkle by also seeking ways to boost efficiency at the molecular level. The application of high-productivity development methods are taking center stage as they significantly compress the time required to achieve fab readiness for newly introduced materials and processes, the result being that leading manufacturers can now add new weapons to their strategic arsenals in the form of innovations around materials and processes, and turn time into an ally rather than a foe.
Not so long ago, very few materials were in play in the semiconductor industry. Until the arrival of copper, a select group of dopants, dielectrics and a few other materials were heavily used with no or little ongoing modifications. Today, new nodes are requiring a dozen or more new materials, and this number is set to expand as more exotic materials are considered for viability. Companies are looking for competitive edges in high-productivity development techniques for identifying and integrating new materials faster. As faster, more productive approaches continue to emerge, we shall witness the passing of traditional R&D practices.
New methods, however, must solve the time-honored (and time-leaching) traditional approaches of sequential research process steps. These steps can typically take a year or two. Today, using high-productivity development methods — including combinatorial screening — many experiments can be conducted at the same time. While massive parallel processing has its advantages in time and cost savings, reaching the goals of speed to solution and maximized efficiency requires more than a capable partner and productive platform. It requires another element, namely collaboration.
Semiconductor companies are realizing what it takes today to deliver on the promise of new R&D techniques to solve materials challenges faster. With new process changes comes the engagement change. While willing to look more and more to outside guidance and new approaches to gain efficiencies, IC manufacturers must also be more willing to share information and collaborate with partners. In addition to newly applied technologies and techniques, this is a key contributor to realizing success in performance and efficiency gains in new material solutions.
High-productivity methods are already improving R&D efficiency and effectiveness while opening the door to significant economic gains. Manufacturers leveraging this approach are experiencing rapid learning cycles with minimum expenditures on silicon and test materials. With formulated chemistries and/or precursors, these high-productivity methods have been used successfully in applications such as copper-loop integration, advanced transistor materials and process flows, and advanced patterning.
The Materials Age combined with the recent economic downturn have helped to spawn a new age, where the needs for speed-to-solution and collaboration are key. It is the Age of Development Efficiency.
— Tod Higinbotham, Executive Vice President and General Manager, Microelectronics, ATMI Inc.