Industry News

In the semiconductor manufacturing industry, as device size continues to shrink, the deposition technology of thin film materials has posed unprecedented challenges. Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD), as a thin film deposition technology that can achieve precise control at the atomic level, has become an indispensable part of semiconductor manufacturing. This article aims to introduce the process flow and principles of ALD to help understand its important role in advanced chip manufacturing.

It is ideal to build integrated circuits or semiconductor devices on a perfect crystalline base layer. The epitaxy (epi) process in semiconductor manufacturing aims to deposit a fine single-crystalline layer, usually about 0.5 to 20 microns, on a single-crystalline substrate. The epitaxy process is an important step in the manufacture of semiconductor devices, especially in silicon wafer manufacturing.

The main difference between epitaxy and atomic layer deposition (ALD) lies in their film growth mechanisms and operating conditions. Epitaxy refers to the process of growing a crystalline thin film on a crystalline substrate with a specific orientation relationship, maintaining the same or similar crystal structure. In contrast, ALD is a deposition technique that involves exposing a substrate to different chemical precursors in sequence to form a thin film one atomic layer at a time.

CVD TAC coating is a process for forming a dense and durable coating on a substrate (graphite). This method involves depositing TaC onto the substrate surface at high temperatures, resulting in a tantalum carbide (TaC) coating with excellent thermal stability and chemical resistance.

As the 8-inch silicon carbide (SiC) process matures, manufacturers are accelerating the shift from 6-inch to 8-inch. Recently, ON Semiconductor and Resonac announced updates on 8-inch SiC production.

This article introduces the latest developments in the newly designed PE1O8 hot-wall CVD reactor of the Italian company LPE and its ability to perform uniform 4H-SiC epitaxy on 200mm SiC.