Nanoplas equipment replace wet etch with dry etch in 14nm pilot production

Semiconductor manufacturing equipment vendor Nanoplas has announced a second purchase order for its ALDE (Atomic Layer Downstream Etching) process module for extreme selectivity dielectric dry-etching. Nanoplas said it foresees many different applications at 14nm and beyond, Nanoplas also announced a Joint Development Agreement (JDA) with CEA-Leti, extending the technology to additional applications in 14nm dry-etching, stripping and cleaning. The new ALDE order to replace H3PO4 wet etch with extremely selective isotropic Si3N4 dry etch in a 14nm pilot line. This first beta site in Asia will also enable significant cost-of-ownership reductions, as per Nanoplas. “We are very encouraged by this sale, in which Nanoplas offers an OEM customer a unique dry process solution to replace wet processing,” explains the company's CEO, Gilles Baujon. “At the 14nm node, Nanoplas expects a massive shift from wet to dry. The drivers will be costs (chemicals, high purity water consumption and infrastructure), process performance and safety. By addressing all these challenges and targeting a range of applications, we expect ALDE to play a significant role in this shift.” “The ALDE system offers unique performance in etching the many critical silicon-nitride spacer films in advanced transistor-formation technologies,” notes CEA-Leti CEO Laurent Malier. “In this decisive final phase of de...