Novellus Improves Tungsten Resistivity Performance With Advanced LRWxT(TM) Process
03 Novembre 2009 - 10:05PM
PR Newswire (US)
Contact Resistance Can Be Reduced As Much As 30 Percent For 3Xnm
Memory and Logic Devices SAN JOSE, Calif., Nov. 3
/PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Novellus Systems (NASDAQ:NVLS) announced
today that it has developed a new tungsten deposition process,
called LRWxT, that can effectively reduce contact and line
resistance at the 3Xnm technology node compared to conventional
tungsten chemical vapor deposition (CVD-W) technology. The new
approach uses the company's ALTUS® Max system for a unique
deposition process sequence that results in highly conformal, large
grain size films with lower tungsten bulk resistivity. The new
process was developed and tested on device features provided by NEC
Electronics, and the breakthrough was presented at this year's
annual Advanced Metallization Conference in Baltimore. (Photo:
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20091103/SF04485) (Logo:
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20091020/SF95832LOGO) As
semiconductor manufacturing technology approaches 32nm design
rules, memory and logic device manufacturers face challenges in
scaling the resistivity of contacts, vias and bit line
interconnects. The thinner tungsten films that are required to fill
the smaller critical dimensions associated with 3Xnm devices have
higher resistivity. This thin-film effect will continue to increase
as these critical dimensions shrink at future nodes. To address the
resistance scaling issue, Novellus developed the LRWxT tungsten
deposition process that enables optimal feature fill while reducing
the resistivity of the deposited bulk tungsten layer. LRWxT employs
the high productivity, multi-station sequential architecture of the
ALTUS Max CVD-W system to deliver a unique, three-step deposition
process. First, a