By Michelle Tokarz

Last week, October 13-15, Linx Consulting hosted a virtual conference on Electronic Specialty Gases which was well attended, informative, and helpful for networking in the current absence of in-person trade shows.  Many different segments of the market were represented including Integrated Device Manufacturers, Fabs, Specialty Gas provides, and accompanying ancillary service providers. 

Common themes of ultra high purity were communicated by all parties, especially as the industry drives to a sub 7nm model and trace amounts of impurities have a greater negative impact on performance of such devices.  

Additionally, in the current paradigm of the Covid pandemic, as doctors, clinicians, and researchers scramble to find solutions, the amount of data storage and processing concurrently grows, requiring more and more computing power.  This is best achieved with smaller and more powerful microprocessors, and greater throughput.  To achieve this, continued increases in deposition rates and increases in purity requirements are expected for the industry.

One of the more impactful insights was the discussion of necessary collaborations amongst all players and the special challenges that come with that.  IDMs and Fabs want assurance of necessary performance criteria in production environments before committing to collaboration or even adoption of new precursors.  Additionally, there remains continued frustration on the part of specialty gas providers and researchers who are not able to develop their new molecules in absence of the knowledge of necessary processing parameters.  Additionally, IDMs and FABs want assurance of long term distribution channels before committing to new precursors that may require substantial changes in processes and/or equipment.

Additionally, there have been several academic pursuits to develop and understand the deposition characteristics of higher order silanes, specifically with respect to higher deposition rates and/or low deposition temperatures.^1-3   

The Coretec Group recently signed a manufacturing agreement with Evonik to produce initial evaluation samples of cyclohexasilane, a silicon precursor with potential benefits of higher deposition rates, better purities, and lower temperature depositions.  This agreement validates the value that Evonik sees in this molecule, and ensures a steady supply to the microelectronics industry.    

If you are interested in evaluating our samples and would like to have a conversation about your specific needs and how we might be able to help, please reach out to Michelle at mtokarz@thecoretecgroup.com.  

1. S. Guruvenket, J.M. Hoey, K.J. Anderson, M.T. Frohlich, R. A. Sailer, P. Boudjouk – Aerosol assisted atmospheric pressure chemical vapor deposition of silicon thin films using liquid cyclic hydrosilances.  Thin Solid Films 589 (2015) 465-471
2. R. Bartlome, S. De Wolf, B. Demaurex, C. Ballif, E. Amanatides, and D. Mataras – Practical silicon deposition rules derived from silane monitoring during plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition.  J. Appl. Phys. 117 203303 (2015)
3. B. Arkles, Y. Pan, F. Jove, J. Goff, and A. Kaloyeros – Synthesis and Exploratory Deposition Studies of Isotetrasilance and Reactive Intermediates for Epitaxial Silicon.  Inorg. Chem 2019, 58, 3050-3057