Large Area ATOMIC LAYER DEPOSITION

The present application represents an upscale of the standard version of this technique, and it is meant to be specifically applied to/operate on 6" samples, or larger.

Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) is similar to CVD except that the ALD reaction occurs at lower temperature and it is broken into two half-reactions, keeping the precursor materials separated during the reaction. The separation of the precursors is important to achieve a self-limiting surface reaction to enable precise thickness control and ensure uniform coatings and compactness even in complicated 3D structures.

ALD has a rich history in microelectronics. It is studied as a potential technique to deposit high-k (high permittivity) gate oxides, high-k memory capacitor dielectrics, ferroelectrics, and metals and nitrides for electrodes and interconnects.

The number of materials that can be prepared by ALD has tremendously increased in the past decade. Notably, it can deposit a wider variety of materials, including important functional oxides like Al₂O₃, MoO₃, SiO₂ and HfO₂.