Thursday December 4, 03:56 PM
IMI Announces Breakthrough "SUMMIT" Technology for Silicon Nitride LPCVD Applications |
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Sunnyvale, California, United States, Thursday, December 04, 2008 -- (Business Wire India) --
Integrated Materials®, Inc. (IMI), a silicon science and technology
company, announced a major research breakthrough that will
significantly improve performance and extend the life of the companies
SiFusion™ brand of ultra-pure polysilicon furnace-ware for Silicon
Nitride (SiN) LPCVD applications. The unique patent pending approach is
expected to enable unprecedented gains in SiN furnace productivity by
dramatically extending the time between preventive maintenance events
and reducing particle defects. The technology works by modifying the
molecular properties of the polysilicon surface enabling a surface state
that is best suited to the promotion of film adhesion and stress
management.
“The “Surface Modification and Molecular Incorporation
Treatment” (SUMMIT) process is a novel process that increases the
adhesive force between the surface of silicon and high stressed films,
such as SiN film,” said Dr. Sang In Lee, Chief Technology Officer of
IMI. “By combining with IMI’s proprietary surface treatment, the SUMMIT
process enhances the productivity and the performance of IMI’s silicon
hotzone by giving better particle performance and a longer mean time
between clean (MTBC) than Quartz and SiC furnaceware.”
Evaluation of the production worthiness of the technology is underway at
multiple customer sites in parallel with joint evaluation at IMI’s
Strategic Marketing partner, Tokyo Electron. IMI believes this
breakthrough will extend its lead in performance for SiN applications
significantly beyond the reach of its competitors, further demonstrating
the technological differentiation of its SiFusion™ ultra-pure
polysilicon product line.
"We believe that our new solution will facilitate more effective
utilization of batch furnace Silicon Nitride processes at current
technology nodes and enable extension of current batch furnace processes
to future nodes. This advancement will clearly enhance productivity, but
more importantly reduce particles and improve yield," said Daniel Rubin,
Chief Executive Officer of IMI. "The development of the SUMMIT process
marks the biggest advance in furnaceware since the introduction of
SiFusion™ ultra-pure polysilicon furnaceware in 2004".
Furnaceware is the widely used term for consumable parts that make up
the process chamber in an LPCVD semiconductor furnace. By adopting the
SUMMIT process across its full 200mm and 300mm SiN product line,
comprised of towers, pedestals, liners, injectors, baffles and dummy
wafers, IMI offers a complete solution to customers in search of a
significant improvement in SiN performance and cost.
About Integrated Materials, Inc.
With its patented SiFusion™ technology, Integrated Materials, Inc.,
Sunnyvale, Calif., is the first and only company to perfect the
polysilicon furnace fixtures solution sought for years by the
semiconductor industry. Integrated Materials’ unique family of SiFusion™
polysilicon furnaceware eclipses traditional quartz and silicon carbide
consumables by its ability to increase yield by reducing particles in
LPCVD as well as trace metal contamination and slip reduction in high
temperature processes. SiFusion™ furnaceware improves productivity and
reduces cost with the significant reduction of routine cleaning. www.sifusion.com.
CONTACTS :
Integrated Materials, Inc.
Fergal O’Moore
+1-408-437-7591 (ex.279)
fomoore@integratedmaterials.com
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