Tag Archives: letter-pulse-top

SEMI, the global industry association representing the electronics manufacturing supply chain, today reported that worldwide semiconductor manufacturing equipment billings reached a historic quarterly high of US$17.0 billion for the first quarter of 2018, surging 59 percent in March to end the quarter with an all-time monthly high of $7.8 billion.

The US$17.0 billion in quarterly billings shatters the previous record set in the fourth quarter of 2017. First quarter 2018 billings are 12 percent higher than the previous quarter and 30 percent higher than the same quarter a year ago. The data are gathered jointly with the Semiconductor Equipment Association of Japan (SEAJ) from over 95 global equipment companies that provide data on a monthly basis.

The quarterly billings data by region in billions of U.S. dollars, quarter-over-quarter growth and year-over-year rates by region are as follows:
1Q2018
4Q2017
1Q2017
1Q18/4Q17
(Qtr-over-Qtr)
1Q18/1Q17
(Year-over-Year)
Korea
6.26
4.64
3.53
35%
78%
China
2.64
1.77
2.01
49%
31%
Taiwan
2.27
2.89
3.48
-22%
-35%
Japan
2.13
1.96
1.25
9%
70%
Europe
1.28
1.04
0.92
23%
39%
Rest of World
1.27
1.22
0.63
4%
103%
North America
1.14
1.58
1.27
-28%
-10%
Total
16.99
15.10
13.08
12%
30%

Source: SEMI (www.semi.org) and SEAJ, June 2018

 

The Equipment Market Data Subscription (EMDS) from SEMI provides comprehensive market data for the global semiconductor equipment market. A subscription includes three reports: the monthly SEMI Billings Report, which offers a perspective of the trends in the equipment market; the monthly Worldwide Semiconductor Equipment Market Statistics (WWSEMS), a detailed report of semiconductor equipment billings for seven regions and 24 market segments; and the SEMI Semiconductor Equipment Forecast, which provides an outlook for the semiconductor equipment market. For more information or to subscribe, please contact SEMI customer service at 1.877.746.7788 (toll free in the U.S.) or 1.408.943.6901 (International Callers). More information is also available online: www.semi.org/en/MarketInfo/EquipmentMarket.

Consumer demand and government mandates for electronic systems that improve vehicle performance, that add comfort and convenience, and that warn, detect, and take corrective measures to keep drivers safe and alert are being added to new cars each year. This system growth, along with rising prices for memory components within them, are expected to raise the automotive IC market 18.5% this year to a new record high of $32.3 billion, surpassing the previous record of $27.2 billion set last year (Figure 1), according to IC Insights’ soon to be released Update to the 2018 IC Market Drivers report.  If the forecast holds, it would mark the third consecutive year of double-digit growth for the automotive IC market.

Figure 1

Over the past several years, the global automotive IC market has experienced some extraordinary swings in growth. After increasing 11.5% in 2014, the automotive IC market declined 2.5% in 2015, but then rebounded with solid 10.6% growth in 2016. It is worth noting that the sales decline experienced in 2015 was primarily the result of falling ASPs across all the key automotive IC product categories—microcontrollers, analog ICs, DRAM, flash, and general- and special-purpose logic ICs, which offset steady unit growth for automotive ICs that year.

IC Insights’ recently updated automotive IC market forecast shows the automotive IC market growing to $43.6 billion in 2021, which represents a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 12.5% from 2017 to 2021, highest among the six major end-use applications (Figure 2).

Figure 2

Collectively, automotive ICs are forecast to account for only about 7.5% of the total IC market in 2018, although that share is forecast to increase to 9.3% in 2021.  Analog ICs—both general-purpose analog and application-specific automotive analog—are expected to account for 45% of the 2018 automotive IC market, with MCUs capturing 23% share. There are many suppliers of automotive analog devices but a rash of acquisitions among them in recent years has reduced the number of larger manufacturers. Some of the acquisitions that have impacted the automotive analog market include NXP, which acquired Freescale in 2015 and is now itself in the process of being acquired by Qualcomm; Analog Devices, which acquired Linear Technology in March 2017; and Renesas, which acquired Intersil.

Global sales of smartphones to end users returned to growth in the first quarter of 2018 with a 1.3 percent increase over the same period in 2017, according to Gartner, Inc. Compared to the first quarter of 2017 sales of total mobile phones stalled and reached 455 million units in the first quarter of 2018.

Nearly 384 million smartphones were sold in the first quarter of 2018, representing 84 percent of total mobile phones sold (see Table 1). “Demand for premium and high-end smartphones continued to suffer due to marginal incremental benefits during upgrade,” said Anshul Gupta, research director at Gartner. “Demand for entry-level smartphones (sub-$100) and low midtier smartphones (sub-$150) improved due to better-quality models.”

Continued weakness in Greater China’s mobile phone market also limited growth potential for the top global brands, including Chinese brands such as OPPO and Vivo, with over 70 percent of their sales coming from Greater China.

Table 1

Worldwide Smartphone Sales to End Users by Vendor in 1Q18 (Thousands of Units)

Vendor

1Q18

Units

1Q18 Market Share (%)

1Q17

Units

1Q17 Market Share (%)

Samsung

78,564.8

20.5

78,776.2

20.8

Apple

54,058.9

14.1

51,992.5

13.7

Huawei

40,426.7

10.5

34,181.2

9.0

Xiaomi

28,498.2

7.4

12,707.3

3.4

OPPO

28,173.1

7.3

30,922.3

8.2

Others

153,782.1

40.1

169,921.1

44.9

Total

383,503.9

100.0

378,500.6

100.0

Source: Gartner (May 2018)

Samsung Growth Slows, Apple Share Increases

Samsung’s midtier smartphones faced continued competition from Chinese brands, which led to unit sales contraction year on year. This is despite the earlier launch of its flagship Galaxy S9/S9+ compared to the S8/S8+ in 2017, and despite the Note 8 having a positive impact on Samsung sales in the first quarter of 2018. Samsung’s smartphone growth rate will remain under pressure through 2018, with Chinese brand’s growing dominance and expansion into Europe and Latin America markets. Samsung is challenged to   raise the average selling price (ASP) of its smartphones, while facing increasing competition from Chinese brands that are taking more market share.

The delayed sales boost for Apple from last quarter materialized. Apple’s smartphone unit sales returned to growth in the first quarter of 2018, with an increase of 4 percent year on year.

“Even though demand for Apple’s iPhone X exceeded that of iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus, the vendor struggled to drive significant smartphone replacements, which led to slower-than-expected growth in the first quarter of 2018,” said Mr. Gupta. “With its exclusive focus on premium smartphones, Apple needs to significantly raise the overall experience of its next-generation iPhones to trigger replacements and lead to solid growth in the near future.”

Huawei and Xiaomi Remained the Big Winners

Huawei’s refreshed smartphone portfolio helped strengthen its No. 3 global smartphone vendor position.

“Achieving 18.3 percent growth in the first quarter of 2018 helped Huawei close the gap with Apple,” said Mr. Gupta. “However, its future growth increasingly depends on the vendor ramping up share in Emerging Asia/Pacific and resolving issues in the U.S. market, through the development of a stronger consumer brand. Huawei’s attempt to grow its premium smartphone portfolio with its recent launches of the P20, P20 Pro and Honor 10 helps raise its competitiveness and growth potential.”

Xiaomi was the clear winner of the first quarter, achieving a growth of 124 percent year on year. Xiaomi’s refreshed portfolio of smartphones and aggressive pricing strategy helped it hold the No. 4 spot in the first quarter of 2018. “This strategy led Xiaomi to achieve 330 percent growth in the Emerging Asia/Pacific region,” said Mr. Gupta.

In the smartphone operating system (OS) market, Google’s Android and Apple’s iOS achieved growth in units in the first quarter of 2018, but Android saw its share slightly contract (see Table 2).

Table 2

Worldwide Smartphone Sales to End Users by Operating System in 1Q18 (Thousands of Units)

Operating System

1Q18

Units

1Q18 Market Share (%)

1Q17

Units

1Q17 Market Share (%)

Android

329,313.9

85.9

325,900.9

86.1

iOS

54,058.9

14.1

51,992.5

13.7

Other OS

131.1

0.0

607.3

0.2

Total

383,503.9

100.0

378,500.6

100.0

Source: Gartner (May 2018)

Notch design of smartphone displays is estimated to raise manufacturing cost of display panels by more than 20 percent, according to IHS Markit.

According to the OLED Display Cost Model by IHS Markit, manufacturing cost of the 5.9-inch organic light-emitting diode (OLED) panel with notch design, as in the Apple iPhone X, is estimated to be $29. It is found to be 25 percent higher than manufacturing cost of full-display OLED panel without the notch design used in the 5.8-inch display for the Samsung Galaxy S9. Similar cost gap is also found in the thin-film transistor liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD). Manufacturing cost of a 6-inch notch TFT-LCD panel is estimated to be $19, 20 percent higher than similar-sized non-notch, full-display LCD panel.

“Notch cutting should accompany yield loss, resulting in increases in manufacturing cost. In case of TFT-LCD, a notch design may push up the manufacturing cost even to the level of rigid, full-screen OLED’s,” said Jimmy Kim, Ph.D. and senior principal analyst for display materials at IHS Markit. “For OLED panels, cost increase caused by notch design seems to be even higher.”

Quarterly shipments of the iPhone X, Apple’s first smartphone model using OLED panels, have reportedly been smaller than previous iPhone models’ so far, mainly due to higher selling price, caused by expensive OLED panels. “Apple seems to be in the middle of manufacturing optimization,” Kim said.

“Eventually, manufacturing cost for notch OLED will fall more rapidly than that for notch TFT-LCD. The plastic substrate for OLED is not as brittle as glass used in TFT-LCD, so it should be easier to cut the notch, theoretically.”

The OLED Display Cost Model by IHS Markit includes manufacturing cost analysis and forecasts of OLED display panels in mass production for smartwatch, smartphone, tablet PC and TV.

An international team of researchers, affiliated with UNIST has discovered a novel method for the synthesis of ultrathin semiconductors. This is a unique growth mechanism, which yielded nanoscopic semiconductor ribbons that are only a few atoms thick.

This breakthrough has been jointly conducted by Distinguished Professor Feng Ding and Dr. Wen Zhao from the Center for Multidimensional Carbon Materials (CMCM), within the Institute for Basic Science (IBS) at UNIST, in collaboration with the National University of Singapore (NUS), the National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS), the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), and Shenzhen University.

In the study, the research team has successfully fabricated MoS2 nanoribbons via vapour-liquid-solid (VLS) growth mechanism, a type of chemical vapour deposition (CVD) process.

“Synthesis of vertically elongated structure via VLS growth mechanism.”

Chemical vapor deposition or CVD is a generic name for a group of processes whereby a solid material is deposited from a vapor by a chemical reaction occurring on or in the vicinity of a normally heated substrate surface. It is the most widely adopted industrial techniques for producing semiconducting thin films and nanostructures.

“The range of structures that can be controllably synthesized by the current methods is still limited in terms of morphology, spatial selectivity, crystal orientation, layer number and chemical composition,” the research team noted. “Therefore, developing versatile growth methods is essential to the realization of highly integrated electronic and photonic devices based on these materials.

“The current CVD-based growth process relies on the inherent dynamics of the precursors to diffuse and self-organize on the substrate surface, which results in crystallites with characteristic triangular or hexagonal shapes,” says Dr. Zhao. “This unique growth mechanism of the nanoscopic semiconductor ribbons that are only a few atoms thick is an exciting discovery.” In the study, she performed density functional theory based molecular dynamic (DFT-MD) simulations of the MoS2 precipitation process.

The proposed mechanism of VLS growth differs from commonly known CVD technique, as it involves the precursors introduced in the vapour phase form a liquid droplet intermediate before condensing into a solid product.

The team noted that the morphology of the growth product was, however, unlike what is normally expected from a VLS growth, which typically yields cylindrical or tubular structures rather than ribbons. Their observation suggests that the liquid droplet migrates on the substrate surface in a rather ordered manner, leaving behind a track of ultrathin crystal.

“Because the liquid droplet migrates on the substrate surface in a rather ordered manner, the morphology of the growth product yielded cylindrical or tubular structures rather than ribbons.” says Dr. Zhao.

This time, however, the horizontal growth of predominantly monolayer MoS2 ribbons was obtained via VLS growth, a unique growth mechanism that has not been reported until now.

Their observation revealed that the VLS growth of monolayer MoS2 is triggered by the reaction between MoO3 and NaCl, which results in the formation of molten Na-Mo-O droplets. These droplets mediate the growth of MoS2 ribbons in the ‘crawling mode’ when saturated with sulfur. The locally well-defined orientations of the ribbons reveal the regular horizontal motion of the droplets during growth.

“Assisting the growth of MoS2 ribbons, like painting with a an ink droplet.”

In order to gain insight into the liquid-solid transformation, Professor Ding’s team performed density functional theory based molecular dynamic (DFT-MD) sumulations of the precipitation process. The simulation showed the attachment of molybdenum (Mo) and sulfur (S) to the previously established MoS2.

“It is worth noting that MoS2 is not oxidized despite the presence of large numbers of oxygen atoms,” says the research team. “We also observe the nucleation of MoS2 clusters in regions that are rich in Mo and S atoms, further supporting the feasibility of liquid-mediated nucleation and growth of MoS2.”

“This study has prompted questions about surface and interface growth of nanomaterials,” says Professor Ding. “By identifying a suitable liquid-phase intermediate compound, we believe that it will be possible to realize the direct 1D growth of a range of van der Waals layered materials.”

The team anticipates that many other materials can be grown using a similar approach. Their short-term goal is to understand the growth mechanism better and to control the morphology of the ribbons.

“Our work identified many interesting questions about surface and interface growth of nanomaterials,” says Professor Goki Eda at the National University of Singapore (NUS), the corresponding author of this study. “We predict that the ability to directly grow complex structures will greatly facilitate the realization of high performance nanoelectronic circuits.”

The team noted that their results provide insight into the distinct VLS growth mode of 2D MoS2 and demonstrate the potential of their implementation in nanoelectronic devices. The findings of this study have been published in the prestigious journal, Nature Materials on April 23, 2018.

Organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) truly have matured enough to allow for first commercial products in form of small and large displays. In order to compete in further markets and even open new possibilities (automotive lighting, head-mounted-displays, micro displays, etc.), OLEDs need to see further improvements in device lifetime while operating at their best possible efficiency. Currently, intrinsic performance progress is solely driven by material development.

This is a graphic about improving OLEDS on the nanoscale. Credit: Joan Rafols Ribé (UAB) and Paul Anton Will (TU Dresden)To

Now researchers from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona and Technische Universität Dresden demonstrate the possibility of using ultrastable film formation to improve the performance of state-of-the-art OLEDs. In their joint paper published in Science Advances with the title ‘High-performance organic light-emitting diodes comprising ultrastable glass layers’, the researchers show in a detailed study significant increases of efficiency and operational stability (> 15% for both parameters and all cases, significantly higher for individual samples) are achieved for four different phosphorescent emitters. To achieve these results, the emission layers of the respective OLEDs were grown as ultrastable glasses – a growth condition that allows for thermodynamically most stable amorphous solids.

This finding is significant, because it is an optimization which does neither involve a change of materials used nor changes to the device architecture. Both are the typical levers for improvements in the field of OLEDs. This concept can universally be explored in every given specific OLED stack, which will be equally appreciated by leading industry. This in particular includes thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) OLEDs, which see a tremendous research and development interest at the moment. Furthermore, the improvements that, as shown by the researchers, can be tracked back to differences on the exciton dynamics on the nanoscale suggest that also other fundamental properties of organic semiconductors (e.g. transport, charge separation, energy transfer) can be equally affected.

By Deb Vogler

This year’s Advanced Lithography TechXPOT at SEMICON West will explore the progress on extreme ultra-violet lithography (EUVL) and its economic viability for high-volume manufacturing (HVM), as well as other lithography solutions that can address the march to 5nm and onward to 3nm. Several session speakers offered their insights into the readiness of EUVL for 5nm and how other lithography solutions will enable 3nm. See the full list of speakers and program agenda at http://www.semiconwest.org/programs-catalog/lithography-5nm-and-below.

Diverging viewpoints on EUVL readiness for 5nm

Mike Lercel, Director of Strategic Marketing at ASML

ASML expects its first customer to start volume manufacturing with EUV at the 7nm logic node and the mid-10nm DRAM node in the 2018/2019 timeframe. “EUV will replace the most difficult layers that require multiple patterning, and many layers will continue to be allocated to immersion tools for the foreseeable future,” said Lercel. “For the 5nm logic node, more layers are expected to migrate to EUV.”

Three ASML customers have early-access versions of the next-generation TWINSCAN NXT:2000i for the development of advanced logic and DRAM nodes. “This system delivers 2.0nm cross-matched on-product overlay, achieved through several hardware advancements,” noted Lercel. “It is also significant because this mix-and-match use with EUV features a significantly different hardware platform.” TWINSCAN NXT:2000i features a new alignment sensor and improved wafer table flatness, endurance, and clamping mechanism to enhance matching to EUV.

ASML has achieved good industrialization progress of its pellicle, with tests confirming that pellicles can withstand 245W source power and an offline power lifetime test indicating 400W capability. Compared to the 7nm logic node, the requirements for EUV masks will become tighter at 5nm, but Lercel noted that ASML sees good progress with the industry infrastructure to support 5nm in areas such as reducing mask blank defects. “We will continue to improve pellicle transmission for enhanced throughput, but there are no fundamental changes in pellicle requirements for 5-3nm logic nodes. We see no infrastructure showstoppers for the introduction of EUVL at the 5nm node.”

Stephen Renwick, Director of Imaging Physics at Nikon Research Corporation of America

Renwick said that the 7nm logic node is expected to be fabbed mostly using 193i lithography. “EUV will struggle to be ready for 5nm, limited by yield issues caused by stochastic effects in the resist,” said Renwick. “Ready or not, though, it will be used.” Renwick suggests that introducing multiple-patterning with EUV may be needed but would increase costs. “193i lithography will continue to be used with quadruple-patterning and in combination with other techniques – there is no single solution.”

Figure 1. Normalized cost/layer vs. lithography method. SOURCE: Nikon Research Corporation of America

When choosing between immersion lithography and EUV for different customer segments at 5nm, Renwick noted that the cost depends on the layer. “Some time ago, we calculated that the costs of either 193i triple-patterning or 193i SADP with two cuts were roughly equal to single-patterning with EUV,” explained Renwick (Figure 1). “That agreed with chipmakers’ public estimates and meant that the choice of lithography method depended more on the performance tradeoffs involved, such as 193i’s better line-edge roughness. At the 5nm node, we are probably faced with quad-patterning from 193i, double-patterning from existing EUV tools, or single-patterning from as-yet undelivered high-numerical aperture (NA) EUV tools.” Renwick believes that the competition between low-NA EUV double-patterning and 193i quad-patterning will be similar to the current situation (i.e., comparison of 193i triple-patterning or 193i SADP with two cuts vs. single-patterning with EUV), but for high-NA EUV tools he believes it’s too early to say.

Other challenges Renwick sees on the horizon for EUVL at 5nm are stochastic effects in EUV resists. “They cause yield problems on contact arrays and unacceptable line-edge roughness on line/space patterns,” said Renwick. “It’s unlikely that these effects will go away without increasing the litho dose, which will further challenge throughput performance.” He also questions whether EUV pellicles, though under development, will be “ready for prime time.”

Harry Levinson, Sr. Director of Strategic Lithography Technology and Sr. Fellow at GLOBALFOUNDRIES

Levinson said additional fundamental engineering work is needed to ready EUV lithography for 5nm. “Among the top problems are stochastics-induced resist defects, which increase significantly as dimensions shrink below those for 7nm,” explained Levinson (Figure 2). “Higher exposure doses will be required to address these issues related to stochastics at 5nm, which will require higher source output” (than 7nm).

Levinson said there will be greater motivation to use EUVL at the 5nm node vs. at 7nm to offset the large number of exposures associated with 193nm immersion multiple-patterning solutions. “The primary application of EUV lithography at 7nm will be for contact, via and cut layers,” Levinson noted. “It will be important to enable EUVL for metal masks at the 5nm node, which increases the need for an ample supply of very low defect EUV mask blanks.” Levinson added that the 7nm node is already stressing defect inspection capabilities, and no actinic defect inspection system is yet available for patterned masks. “This situation becomes more problematic with widespread application of EUVL to metal layers.”

Mask development for 5nm

Christopher C. Progler, CTO & Strategic Planning at Photronics

Progler said that the basic infrastructure for delivering EUV masks is available, especially for dark field layers and near in nodes. “The interconnected or more open frame patterns will need refinements to the processes and two to three nodes out will need certain new infrastructure,” said Progler. Overall, the main challenges for initial insertion are about creating a cost-effective and rapid-turn EUV mask process, he said. “The industry can certainly deliver EUV masks in some form. It is more a question of doing it efficiently and productively to match the stated value proposition of EUV over other lithographic methods. We don’t want a pick two of ‘cost, cycle time, capability’ sort of mask solution.”

More specifically, Progler explained that after the initial EUV mask development for 5nm focused on contacts and block layers, the major push for N5 switched to delivering single-exposure EUV metal patterning as early as possible. “This has opened some new challenges for masks given the resolution, critical pattern density and tight pitch defect requirements of the re-aggregated single-layer metal mask designs,” said Progler. “For example, on the resolution side, we are accelerating the insertion of higher dose photoresists and also driving patterning module improvements in CD control, mask LER and sidewall angle.” Progler added that at N5, the mask 3D structure itself – including the sidewall – will have a greater impact on lithography because it is tied to stochastic error rates on the wafer.

“Reliable, wide-area metrology for some of these 2D and 3D mask parameters is currently hard to come by. We may see an evolution of the blank structure at some point in N5, including hard mask options for pattern stability and expect earlier insertion of EUV mask process correction with model-based hot spot detection and rule checking as well. We also hope mask-scanner dedication is not needed, but there are some indications process sensitivity may push us earlier in this direction.” He added that to reduce metal layer defects, more attention needs to be devoted to advanced repair and model-based validation. “We are, unfortunately, still in a situation of blurry vision and high native defect counts alongside possible in situ contamination during mask changes.”

Figure 2. Resist stochastics-induced defects. Graph courtesy of Peter DeBisschop, imec; Source: GLOBALFOUNDRIES

Progler pointed out that, with the advent at 5nm, metal masks will require some level of actinic blank inspection for yield, increasing the cost of an already expensive mask technology. “So, unless we want to contend with double and triple photomasks’ starts to deliver a single metal layer, it will be very important to tighten the multi-sensor inspection, defect abatement, and repair loops,” said Progler. He does see some clouds forming around high-volume manufacturing pellicles for metal layers. “This remains an open question, mainly for thermal and materials reasons, not to mention cost and cycle time,” Progler said. “We may be pessimistic, but we do not see an HVM pellicle solution converging in the required timeframe, which means leaning even more on a wafer-level inspection in the validation loop.” He believes that streamlining validation will be a differentiator. “I can imagine one losing most of the EUV cycle time benefits by endlessly circling masks around if this is not done well.”

How does the industry get to 3nm?     

ASML plans to ship its first high-NA EUV prototope/pilot systems between 2020 and 2023 to support 3-2nm process development. “System designs are now being finalized and the platform is starting to come to life,” said Lercel. ASML supplier ZEISS is building a high-NA cleanroom for optics production. ASML believes that EUV, high-NA and DUV systems will be used together at the most advanced nodes and is designing to account for this mixed environment. “As chipmakers drive toward smaller geometries in the most advanced nodes like 3nm, they face unprecedented challenges in devices and materials. This will make the process control requirements even more challenging.” ASML is tackling these challenges with its YieldStar metrology platform, e-beam metrology (HMI) and computational lithography solutions that are designed to expand the process window, enhance process control, and improve patterning defect detection. “This ‘Holistic Lithography’ approach will become increasingly important to ensure throughput and yield at the most advanced nodes.”

Levinson said that the issues he projects for 5nm will need to be addressed further at 3nm. “The challenges associated with resists at 3nm dimensions are such that it isn’t clear that chemically amplified resists will be capable of meeting requirements,” said Levinson. “If true, we would be seeing the most significant change in resist platforms in a quarter of a century. Potentially cost-reducing technologies such as directed self-assembly (DSA) are always welcome, but EUVL will be the lithographic workhorse through the 3nm node, and likely beyond.”

At 3nm, mask makers will confront the realities of higher EUV NA tools. “We will need to implement thinner mask absorbers, new films, and perhaps hard masks,” Progler said. “This puts us in a new materials regime for masks, and history has shown us the mask industry takes a long time to refine processes and tools for new mask materials.” He explained that the small scale of the mask ecosystem and the small number of large suppliers available to address the challenges accounts for this lengthy time frame.

Still, looking ahead, Progler noted that Photronics has already done a few studies on the impact of proposed half-field, high NA anamorphic optics on masks. “We uncovered some challenges that need to be addressed, particularly at boundaries and within the overall mask flow,” said Progler. As mask resolution continues to scale down, the industry will need fundamentally higher resolution mask making and inspection processes, requiring next-generation multi-beam mask writing and electron beam inspection, he explained.

At 3nm and below, Progler noted that the metrology needs for masks, while not as severe as that for wafers at these nodes, will test the mask equipment infrastructure in ways that could challenge the relatively small mask industry. “Of course, EUV multi-patterning comes into play as well, and with that, the SRAF sizes will drop below 20nm, requiring an asymmetric compensation over a much wider influence area than the OPC people are used to considering.” With EUV multi-patterning, Progler explained that it will be increasingly important to match or pair EUV masks and to consider how 3D effects and stochastics will drive new technology to enable new requirements for high-speed metrology and simulation components. “All the justifiable hand-wringing over EPE with ArF multi-patterning today gets introduced to the EUV scene when masks are ganged together to make a single device layer,” said Progler.

Originally published on the SEMI blog.

A new class of adsorbent materials offer high capacity storage and safe delivery of dopant gases

BY J. ARNÓ, O.K. FARHA, W. MORRIS, P. SIU, G.M. TOM, M.H. WESTON, and P.E. FULLER, NuMat Technologies, Skokie, USA J. MCCABE, M. S. AMEEN, Axcelis Technologies, Beverly, MA

Metal-Organic Framework (MOF) materials are a new class of crystalline adsorbents with broad applicability in electronics materials storage, delivery, purification, and abatement. The adsorbents have unprecedented surface areas and uniform pore sizes that can be precisely customized to the specific properties of electronic gases. ION-X® is a sub-atmospheric dopant gas delivery system designed for ion implantation, and the first commercial product that uses MOFs (ION-X® is commercially available through an agreement between NuMat Technologies and Versum Materials). The performance of ION-X deliv- ering arsine (AsH3), phosphine (PH3), and boron triflu- oride (BF3) was evaluated in high current implanters at the Axcelis Advanced Technology Center and compared to the incumbent delivery systems. In-process and on-wafer results of the MOF-based dopant gases compared positively to conventional source gases. Flow, pressure, and beam stability were undistinguishable from conven- tional gas sources throughout the lifetime of the cylinder. Beam and wafer contamination levels (both surface and energetic) were below specification limits, matching the performance of the reference qualified products.

Dopant gas safety challenges

The storage and delivery of hazardous gases creates signif- icant environmental, health, and safety challenges. Their usage requires implementation of stringent safety control systems to minimize the risks of exposure to humans and the environment. The dangers associated with handling toxic gases are the result of both the inherent chemical hazard of the molecule and the kinetic energy stored in the vessel in the form of compression. In essence, the lethality of a toxic release is magnified exponentially by the energetic force of the high-pressure storage. Historically, one way to mitigate these risks was to dilute the hazardous material with inert gases in an effort to attenuate the toxicity effects. Depending on the concentration, this solution provides a safety factor improvement of 10 or 100 by virtue of reducing the molecular density of the hazardous gas to 10% or 1% mixtures, respectively. This approach is commonly used in the electronics manufacturing industry for gases that are known to have extreme toxicity. Hydride gases (i.e. arsine, phosphine, germane, or diborane) are examples of such highly toxic gases used as source materials in a number of electronic manufacturing processes. While this dilution method is effective at reducing the toxicity levels, these mixtures are typically produced at cylinder pressures significantly higher than the pressures of the pure toxic gases. In a release event, this solution reduces the lethality of the dose at the expense of a higher release rate.

In 1993, ATMI (now an Entegris company) introduced a different approach to reduce the toxic gas storage hazards [1]. The technology involves using nano-porous adsor- bents to condense the gas molecules onto their surfaces. This process effectively reduces the kinetic energy of the gas, thus reducing the pressure in the gas cylinder. The large available surface areas within these materials result in gas storage capacities comparable to the high-pressure cylinders. The intrinsic safety advantages of adsorbed gas cylinders are derived from the reduction in pressure within the cylinder. Typically, these vessels are filled to sub-atmospheric pressures (measured at room temperature) in order to inhibit an outward gas release in the event of a leak.

The first sub-atmospheric dopant gas delivery systems used zeolites (SDS® 1) while the second and third genera- tions (SDS® 2 and SDS® 3) evolved to activated carbon adsorbent materials. These gas cylinders store and deliver dopant precursor gases (primarily arsine, phosphine, and boron trifuoride) predominantly for ion implantation processes. In its third generation, and in order to further improve gas storage capacities, SDS 3 evolved by creating a highly dense monolithic adsorbent that nearly eliminated void volumes in the cylinder.

In this paper, we describe a new sub-atmospheric gas delivery system (ION-X ®) that uses a novel ultra-high surface area class of materials called metal-organic frame- works (MOFs). In addition, the implant process perfor- mance using the new product delivering arsine, phosphine, and boron trifluoride was evaluated in a major ion implant OEM facility will be described.

MOF overview: The next generation in nano- porous adsorbents

MOF are three-dimensional crystalline structures assembled with metal-containing nodes connected by organic links (FIGURE 1). The resulting highly organized molecular structures generate nano-pores with record surface areas [2-4]. In addition, the large number of available metal nodes and organic linkers provide unpar- alleled molecular design flexibility to tailor the chemical and physical properties of the adsorbent material to fit the application. Since their discovery in the early 1990’s, MOFs have evolved from an academic curiosity to a widely recognized new class of materials with practical applications in energy, specialty chemicals, military, medical, pharmaceutical, and electronics industries. MOFs are one of the fastest growing classes of materials, with thousands of experimental structures now being reported.

For gas storage and delivery applications, MOFs’ design flexibility provides advantages over traditional adsorbents (FIGURE 2). Pore size, surface area, and chemical stability can be tailored to the specific properties of the adsorbed gases. Compared to zeolites and activated carbon adsorbents, MOFs have significantly larger surface areas (up to 7,000m2/g has been reported[5]. This property, combined with bulk density, is critical in gas storage applications where capacity is measured in terms of vessel volume rather than adsorbent mass. Pore size tunability is also an important parameter in efforts to match the dimensions of the MOF cavities to the molecular sizes of the target adsorbates. This parameter impacts adsorption capacities (how much gas can be loaded) and desorption characteristics (how much can be delivered as a function of pressure). Unlike the broad pore size distributions found in activated carbon adsorbents, MOFs’ crystallinity results in more “usable” pores. This pore size uniformity also results in higher gas quality, as impurities are selectively size excluded.

Preventing reactions between the adsorbent and the target gas is extremely important in electronics applications. Adsorbent/gas interactions will contribute to gas decomposition, leading to impurities and unwanted dopant gas composition changes that could affect the process. The molecular composition of zeolites and carbon adsor- bents are limited to a few elements (typically carbon, aluminum, and silicon) and their oxides. MOFs, on the other hand, can be synthetized from a large range of organic and inorganic constituents, offering more options for creating stable gas/ adsorbent interactions.

MOF-based gas delivery system for ion implant gases ION-X (FIGURE 3) is a sub-atmospheric dopant gas storage and delivery system designed for ion implantation [6]. ION-X uses individual MOF structures with tailored pore sizes to effectively and reversibly adsorb arsine, phosphine, and boron trifluoride gases. The pressure in filled ION-X cylinders is below one atmosphere, significantly reducing the health and environmental impact of an accidental gas release. Furthermore, MOFs’ ultra-high surface areas and uniform structures provide capacity and deliverable advantages compared to existing carbon adsorbent-based products (FIGURE 4). It is important to note that the first-generation ION-X cylinders utilize granulated MOFs with similar adsorbent bulk density to the first-generation carbon product: for the same mass of adsorbent, MOFs provide 40% to 55% higher gas delivery by virtue of their superior surface area and pose size uniformity. Analogous to the evolution of SDS®2, MOF densification inside the cylinder will further increase the gas capacity in next-generation ION-X products.

Implant performance characterization

The performances of ION-X dopant delivery systems were recently evaluated using a PurionH 300 mm high current ion implanter at Axcelis’ Advanced Technology Center (Beverly, MA, USA). The test plan included flow, mass spectral, and metal contamination analyses (both at the surface and at implanted depth). The experiments were repeated using commercially available and well-estab- lished sub-atmospheric dopant gas sources in order to provide a basis for comparison.

Cylinder installation and setup was seamless, requiring no modifications to the existing gas box hardware or software. Flow rate stability for all three gases (AsH3, PH3, and BF3) was demonstrated in the 3.5 to 8 sccm ranges down to cylinder pressures of 20 torr (spec limit). For arsine, the flow experiment continued through a full cylinder depletion, showing a stable flow rate down to cylinder pressure below 3 torr.

The beam energy, purity, and stability were evaluated by analyzing the mass spectra generated during the implantation processes. In all cases, the target dose was 5 x 1015 at/cm2 with beam energies of 40 keV, 20 keV and 15 keV for As+, P+, and BF¬2+ ion implants respectively. The stability and purity of the target doping ion beams were within specifications and very similar to the ones produced by the reference gas sources. Based on the mass spectra, ION-X did not generate any impurities derived from either gas or MOF decomposition.

Neutral and energetic metal contamination levels were thoroughly investigated in this study. All metal analyses were performed by sampling wafers produced using the recipes described in the previous paragraph. Vapor Phase Decomposition-inductively coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry (VPD-ICP-MS) was used to monitor the contamination from key trace metals at the wafer surface. Particular attention was placed on monitoring zinc and iron, metals used in the hydride and BF3 ION-X MOF adsorbents respectively. Results show that all metal levels were within specification limits and compared well to the levels detected in control wafers. In all cases, zinc and iron surface contamination levels were below their corresponding detection limits of 0.03 and 0.05 x 1010 atoms/cm2.

Energetic metal contamination is of special interest in ion implantation as even low levels of impurities could affect the performance of the electronic devices. The depth profile of the metals used in ION-X’s MOFs composition were measured using Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (SIMS). Wafers used for SIMs analyses were doped using both ION-X and incumbent gas sources using the same ion implant tool and previously stated recipes. The zinc and iron metal concentration profiles for the hydride and boron implants were well within specifications and show no discernable differences between the incumbent and the MOF-based gas sources (FIGURE 5). These results, combined with the previous surface contamination tests, conclusively establish the gas and ion purity of the dopant species extracted from ION-X adsorbents. Moreover, the results are consistent with extensive gas analyses performed at NuMat after subjecting the MOF adsorbent materials to accelerated aging, vibration, and cycle testing.

Summary

This article provides process and on-wafer performance of ION-X, a new MOF-based dopant gas delivery system. The adsorbents used in these cylinders have surface areas, stability, purity, and pore sizes ideal for the storage and delivery of ion implant dopant gases. In-process and on-wafer performance of boron trifluoride, arsine, and phosphine dopant sources compared positively to conven- tional source gas cylinders. The issue of contamination was investigated in detail, demonstrating that the new adsorbents do not contribute to surface or energetic metal impurities. The results published in this article provide independent evaluation of the new product, supporting the safe use of this product in mainstream ion implant applications. To that end, ION-X is already qualified and being used at an electronics manufacturing site with confirmed high stability and purity performance.

References

  1. Olander, K. and Avila, A., “Subatmospheric Has Storage and Delivery: Past, Present, and Future”, Solid State Technology, Volume 57 (2014), pp 27-302.
  2. Y. Cui, B. Li, H. He, W. Zhou, B. Chen, and G. Qian, “Metal–Organic Frameworks as Platforms for Functional Materials,” Accounts of Chemical Research, vol. 49, pp. 483-493, 2016/03/15 2016.
  3. H. Furukawa, K. E. Cordova, M. O’Keeffe, and O. M. Yaghi, “The Chemistry and Applications of Metal-Organic Frameworks,” Science, vol. 341, 2013.
  4. P. Silva, S. M. F. Vilela, J. P. C. Tome, and F. A. Almeida Paz, “Multifunc- tional metal-organic frameworks: from academia to industrial applications,” Chemical Society Reviews, vol. 44, pp. 6774-6803, 2015.
  5. Omar K Farha et al., “Metal-Organic Framework Materials with Ultrahigh Surface Areas: Is the Sky the Limit?” J. Am. Chem. Soc. (2012), Vol. 134, pp 15016−15021
  6. G. M. Tom et al., “Utilization of Metal-Organic Frameworks for the Management of Gases Used in Ion Implantation”, 2016 21st International Conference on Ion ImplantationTechnology (IIT),Tainan, 2016, pp. 1-4.

North America-based manufacturers of semiconductor equipment posted $2.69 billion in billings worldwide in April 2018 (three-month average basis), according to the April Equipment Market Data Subscription (EMDS) Billings Report published today by SEMI. The billings figure is 10.7 percent higher than the final March 2018 level of $2.43 billion, and is 26.0 percent higher than the April 2017 billings level of $2.13 billion.

“April 2018 monthly billings for North American equipment manufacturers surpassed the October 2000 record high of $2.6 billion,” said Ajit Manocha, president and CEO of SEMI. “Storage, artificial intelligence and big data are driving strong demand for semiconductors, offsetting smartphone sales that have lagged expectations this year.”

The SEMI Billings report uses three-month moving averages of worldwide billings for North American-based semiconductor equipment manufacturers. Billings figures are in millions of U.S. dollars.
Billings
(3-mo. avg)
Year-Over-Year
November 2017
$2,052.3
27.2%
December 2017
$2,398.4
28.3%
January 2018
$2,370.1
27.5%
February 2018
$2,417.8
22.5%
March 2018 (final)
$2,431.8
16.9%
April 2018 (prelim)
$2,691.4
26.0%

Source: SEMI (www.semi.org), May 2018

IC Insights recently released its May Update to the 2018 McClean Report.  This Update included a look at the top-25 1Q18 semiconductor suppliers, a discussion of the 1Q18 IC industry market results, and an update of the 2018 capital spending forecast by company.

Overall, the capital spending story for 2018 is becoming much more positive as compared with the forecast presented in IC Insights’ March Update to The McClean Report 2018 (MR18).  In the March Update, IC Insights forecast an 8% increase in semiconductor industry capital spending for this year. However, as shown in Figure 1, IC Insights has raised its expectations for 2018 capital spending by six percentage points to a 14% increase.  If this increase occurs, it would be the first time that semiconductor industry capital outlays exceeded $100 billion.  The worldwide 2018 capital spending forecast figure is 53% higher than the spending just two years earlier in 2016.

Although Samsung says it still does not have a full-year capital spending forecast for this year it did say it will spend “less” in semiconductor capital outlays in 2018 as compared to 2017, when it spent $24.2 billion.  However, as of 1Q18, with regard to its capex, its “foot is still on the gas!”  Samsung spent $6.72 billion in capex for its semiconductor division in 1Q18, slightly higher than the average of the previous three quarters.  This figure is almost 4x the amount the company spent just two years earlier in 1Q16!  Over the past four quarters, Samsung has spent an incredible $26.6 billion in capital outlays for its semiconductor group. Wow!

IC Insights has estimated Samsung’s semiconductor group capital spending will be $20.0 billion this year, $4.2 billion less than it spent in 2017.  However, given the strong start to its spending this year, it appears there is currently more upside than downside potential to this forecast.

With the DRAM and NAND flash memory markets still very strong, SK Hynix is expected to ramp up its capital spending this year to $11.5 billion, 42% greater than the $8.1 billion it spent in 2017. The increased spending by SK Hynix this year will primarily focus on bringing on-line two large memory fabs—M15, a 3D NAND flash fab in Cheongju, South Korea and its expansion of its huge DRAM fab in Wuxi, China.  The Cheongju fab is being pushed to open before the end of this year.  The Wuxi fab is also targeted to open by the end of this year, a few months earlier than its original planned start date of early 2019.

Figure 1