Applied Materials Breakthrough in Chip Wiring Enables Logic Scaling to 3nm and Beyond
June 16 2021 - 7:30AM
Applied Materials, Inc. today unveiled a new way to engineer the
wiring of advanced logic chips that enables scaling to the 3nm node
and beyond.
While size reduction benefits transistor
performance, the opposite is true in the interconnect wiring:
smaller wires have greater electrical resistance which reduces
performance and increases power consumption. Without a materials
engineering breakthrough, interconnect via resistance would
increase by a factor of 10 from the 7nm node to the 3nm node,
negating the benefits of transistor scaling.
Applied Materials has developed a new materials
engineering solution called the Endura® Copper Barrier Seed IMS™.
It is an Integrated Materials Solution that combines seven
different process technologies in one system under high vacuum:
ALD, PVD, CVD, copper reflow, surface treatment, interface
engineering and metrology. The combination replaces conformal ALD
with selective ALD, eliminating a high-resistivity barrier at the
via interface. The solution also includes copper reflow technology
that enables void free gap fill in narrow features. Electrical
resistance at the via contact interface is reduced by up to 50
percent, improving chip performance and power consumption, and
enabling logic scaling to continue to 3nm and beyond. An animation
of the process sequence can be viewed at this link:
https://bit.ly/3g8HMe1.
“A smartphone chip has tens of billions of copper
interconnects, and wiring already consumes a third of the chip’s
power,” said Prabu Raja, Senior Vice President and General Manager
of the Semiconductor Products Group at Applied Materials.
“Integrating multiple process technologies in vacuum allows us to
reengineer materials and structures so that consumers can have more
capable devices and longer battery life. This unique, integrated
solution is designed to accelerate the performance, power and
area-cost roadmaps of our customers.”
The Endura Copper Barrier Seed IMS system is now
being used by leading foundry-logic customers worldwide. Additional
information about the system and other innovations for logic
scaling will be discussed at Applied’s 2021 Logic Master Class
being held today.
About Applied
MaterialsApplied Materials, Inc. (Nasdaq: AMAT) is
the leader in materials engineering solutions used to produce
virtually every new chip and advanced display in the world. Our
expertise in modifying materials at atomic levels and on an
industrial scale enables customers to transform possibilities into
reality. At Applied Materials, our innovations make possible a
better future. Learn more at www.appliedmaterials.com.
Contact:Ricky Gradwohl
(editorial/media) 408.235.4676Michael Sullivan (financial
community) 408.986.7977
A photo accompanying this announcement is available
at
https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/5808956d-a82a-45d4-bb07-6e4804678159
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