Merits of Batch ALD

Abstract

An overview of the merits and applications of batch ALD in a vertical furnace will be presented. We address new material and process developments and throughput enhancement which are key factors for future high-volume manufacturing applications. We present ALD SbO x as a new material on the batch platform. For the workhorse ALD Al 2 O 3 and TiN materials, experimental and simulation results demonstrate that a reduction in cycle time to <21s does not significantly compromise uniformity, resistivity and step coverage. Moreover, batch ALD offers process flexibility in the mitigation of non-idealities, such as growth inhibition, as will be discussed for thermal ALD AlN. The very low non-uniformities < 1% (1σ) for the latter process demonstrate the competitive film properties that can be achieved by batch ALD. With applications as diverse as metal gates in logic, trench capacitor electrodes, capacitor dielectrics, barrier layers and passivation films, batch ALD has firmly established itself at device manufacturers and foundry sites with significant prospects for emerging markets.