Hanwha Precision Machinery was developing a new thermal atomic layer deposition (ALD) equipment used in wafer fabrication that can deposit molybdenum, TheElec has learned.
Molybdenum, compared to tungsten, has a lower resistivity and doesn’t leave fluoride residue after it is deposited.
This has made it a candidate to be used as the material for metal gates in future semiconductors; Samsung and SK Hynix are considering using it for their Gen 7 1dnm DRAM production. Micron is planning to use it starting with its Gen 6 1cnm DRAM.
However, as molybdenum is solid as a precursor, it is harder to deposit compared to tungsten hexafluoride.
Hanwha’s solution to this problem is the use of thermal ALD, where molybdenum dichloride dioxide (MoO2Cl2) was used as a precursor and heated at 600℃~650℃, according to a paper it published. The company’s prototype machine is named as I2FIT-Mo in the paper.
Sources said the machine used is still a prototype and it will take at least three years for it to be commercialized due to the sophistication needed for the technology and for the need to pass quality tests of customers.
Meanwhile, Hanwha is collaborating with SK Hynix in the development of a hybrid bonding equipment for the likely use in the production of future high bandwidth memory chips.
Hanwha Precision Machinery focused on chip mounters as other electronics production equipment in the past but in recent years has begun tapping into the fab equipment market.
