Novellus Ships 300mm CVD System
Three hundred millimeter wafer processing took another step toward reality on Monday, as <%=company%> (San Jose, Calif.) announced delivery of a Concept 3, 300 mm high density plasma (HDP) oxide chemical vapor deposition (CVD) system to Semiconductor 300 in Dresden, Germany. The tool, the first 300 mm CVD system delivered to the facility, will be evaluated for devices with design rules between 0.25 and 0.18 micron.
High density plasma CVD oxidation balances oxide deposition with simultaneous etching in order to improve the quality of films over topography. The Concept 3 design has multiple stations for oxide deposition within one vacuum chamber, and can process five, six, or seven wafers at once. The wafer receives one-fifth (or one-sixth, or one-seventh) of the total oxide thickness at each process station. According to Novellus, this continuous processing improves overall film uniformity because small variations at one station tend to be offset by depositions at the other stations. The design also improves throughput.
According to Novellus chairman and CEO Richard S. Hill, this shipment is the first to a major semiconductor manufacturer. "Semiconductor 300 has indicated that the C3-Speed HDP tool is the first in a series of planned purchases from Novellus," Hill said.
By Katherine Derbyshire