NAND Flash Targets 1,000 Layers


The chip industry is pushing to quadruple the stack height of 3D NAND flash from 200 layers to 800 layers or more over the next few years, using the additional capacity will help to feed the unending need for more memory of all types. Those additional layers will add new reliability issues a number of incremental reliability challenges, but the NAND flash industry has been steadily increasin... » read more

Optimizing Wafer Edge Processes For Chip Stacking


Stacking chiplets vertically using short and direct wafer-to-wafer bonds can reduce signal delay to negligible levels, enabling smaller, thinner packages with faster memory/processor speeds and lower power consumption. The race is on to implement wafer stacking and die-to-wafer hybrid bonding, now considered essential for stacking logic and memory, 3D NAND, and possibly multi-layer DRAM stac... » read more

Memory Fundamentals For Engineers


Memory is one of a very few elite electronic components essential to any electronic system. Modern electronics perform extraordinarily complex duties that would be impossible without memory. Your computer obviously contains memory, but so does your car, your smartphone, your doorbell camera, your entertainment system, and any other gadget benefiting from digital electronics. This eBook prov... » read more

Defect Challenges Grow At The Wafer Edge


Reducing defects on the wafer edge, bevel, and backside is becoming essential as the complexity of developing leading-edge chips continue to increase, and where a single flaw can have costly repercussions that span multiple processes and multi-chip packages. This is made more difficult by the widespread rollout of such processes as hybrid bonding, which require pristine surfaces, and the gro... » read more

A Memory Device With MoS2 Channel For High-Density 3D NAND Flash-Based In-Memory Computing


A technical paper titled “Low-Power Charge Trap Flash Memory with MoS2 Channel for High-Density In-Memory Computing" was published by researchers at Kyungpook National University, Sungkyunkwan University, Dankook University, and Kwangwoon University. Abstract: "With the rise of on-device artificial intelligence (AI) technology, the demand for in-memory computing has surged for data-intensiv... » read more

Advanced FTIR Optical Modeling for Hydrogen Content Measurements in 3D NAND Cell Nitride and Amorphous Carbon Hard Mask


Abstract Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy offers inline solutions for chemical bonding, epi thickness, and trench depth measurements. Through optical modeling of the transmission or reflectance spectra, information about the electronic structure and chemical composition may be obtained, which can be used for process control and monitoring. In this article, we demonstrate the measurement... » read more

3D Metrology Meets Its Match In 3D Chips And Packages


The pace of innovation in 3D device structures and packages is accelerating rapidly, driving the need for precise measurement and control of feature height to ensure these devices are reliable and perform as expected throughout their lifetimes. Expansion along the z axis is already well underway. One need look no further than the staircase-like 3D NAND stacks that rise like skyscrapers to p... » read more

Important Process Parameter And Its Sensitivity Check By Virtual Fabrication: Channel Hole Profile Impact On Advanced 3D NAND Structure


A virtual DOE-based process sensitivity check was performed for two tiers of channel holes in a 3D NAND device. The channel hole tilt distance, twist angle, and their sensitivities to the visible area in silicon-oxide-nitride-oxide (SONO) punch process were analyzed. The results show that controlling the upper tilt distance is more important for offering a larger visible area. Also, a negative ... » read more

Modulated Electron Microscopy Applied In The Process Monitoring Of Memory Cell And The Defect Inspection Of Floating Circuits


A technical paper titled “In situ electrical property quantification of memory devices by modulated electron microscopy” was published by researchers at Hitachi High-Tech Corporation, KIOXIA Corporation, and Western Digital. Abstract: "E-beam inspection based on voltage-contrast (VC) defect metrology has been widely utilized for failure mode analysis of memory devices. Variation in e-beam... » read more

Gearing Up For Hybrid Bonding


Hybrid bonding is becoming the preferred approach to making heterogeneous integration work, as the semiconductor industry shifts its focus from 2D scaling to 3D scaling. By stacking chiplets vertically in direct wafer-to-wafer bonds, chipmakers can leapfrog attainable interconnection pitch from 35µm in copper micro-bumps to 10µm or less. That reduces signal delay to negligible levels and e... » read more

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