193i Lithography Takes Center Stage…Again


Cutting-edge lithography to create smaller features increasingly is being supplemented by improvements in lithography for mature process nodes, both of which are required as SoCs and complex chips are decomposed and integrated into advanced packages. Until the 7nm era, the primary goal of leading-edge chipmakers was to pack everything onto a single system-on-chip (SoC) using the same process... » read more

Smart Manufacturing Makes Gains In Chip Industry


Lights out manufacturing is gaining steam across the semiconductor industry, accelerating productivity, improving quality, and reducing costs and environment impact. These benefits are the result of years of strategic investments in technologies like machine-to-machine communication, data analytics, and robotics to achieve higher levels of autonomy. Semiconductor factories have long depen... » read more

Improving DRAM Device Performance Through Saddle Fin Process Optimization


As DRAM technology nodes have scaled down, access transistor issues have been highlighted due to weak gate controllability. Saddle Fins with Buried Channel Array Transistors (BCAT) have subsequently been introduced to increase channel length, prevent short channel effects, and increase data retention times [1]. However, at technology nodes beyond 20nm, securing sufficient device performance (su... » read more

Blog Review: June 14


Synopsys' Richard Solomon and Gary Ruggles examine the Compute Express Link (CXL) protocol and how it could unlock new ways of doing computing such as enabling efficient heterogeneous computing architectures, accelerating data-intensive workloads, and facilitating advanced real-time analytics. Cadence's Andre Baguenie explains how to convert an electrical signal to a logic value using the Ve... » read more

Chip Industry’s Technical Paper Roundup: June 5


New technical papers recently added to Semiconductor Engineering’s library: [table id=105 /] More Reading Technical Paper Library home » read more

3D Memory Structures: Common Hole And Tilt Metrology Techniques and Capabilities


A technical paper titled "Inline metrology of high aspect ratio hole tilt and center line shift using small-angle x-ray scattering" was published by researchers at Bruker Nano and Lam Research. Abstract: "High aspect ratio (HAR) structures found in three-dimensional nand memory structures have unique process control challenges. The etch used to fabricate channel holes several microns deep... » read more

Etch Processes Push Toward Higher Selectivity, Cost Control


Plasma etching is perhaps the most essential process in semiconductor manufacturing, and possibly the most complex of all fab operations next to photolithography. Nearly half of all fab steps rely on a plasma, an energetic ionized gas, to do their work. Despite ever-shrinking transistor and memory cells, engineers continue to deliver reliable etch processes. “To sustainably create chips... » read more

The Impact Of Metal Gate Recess Profile On Transistor Resistance And Capacitance


In logic devices such as finFETs (field-effect transistors), metal gate parasitic capacitance can negatively impact electrical performance. One way to reduce this parasitic capacitance is to optimize the metal gate recess dimensions. However, there are limits to reducing this capacitance if you simply remove more of the metal material, since this can modify capacitance unexpectedly through chan... » read more

Impacts Of Process Flow, Scaling, And Variability On Interconnect Performance


Virtual fabrication is used to evaluate the performance of interconnects (line and via resistance, capacitance, etc.) across pitches compatible with either EUV single exposure or SADP for three different process flows: single damascene, dual damascene, and semi-damascene (subtractive metal etch). The effects of process variation for the three flows are also investigated to determine the relativ... » read more

A Deposition And Etch Technique To Lower Resistance Of Semiconductor Metal Lines


Copper's resistivity depends on its crystal structure, void volume, grain boundaries and material interface mismatch, which becomes more significant at smaller scales. The formation of copper (Cu) wires is traditionally done by etching a trench pattern in low-k silicon dioxide using a trench etch process, and subsequently filling the trench with Cu via a damascene flow. Unfortunately, this meth... » read more

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