Date: 13/02/2012

Thin dielectric film depositing m/c to make NAND flash memory chips below 20nm

The NAND flash memory semiconductor devices to pack more density are going for vertical integration. The tech is called vertically integrated memory (VIM).

When th integration is in z direction, the process need laying of up to 64 dilectric films in vertical direction to lessen the cross talk across adjacent memory cells.

The semiconductor manufacturing equipment vendor Novellus Systems has announced new dielectric film laying tech called VECTOR Strata for high-volume manufacturing of vertically integrated memory (VIM) Flash memory chips. VECTOR Strata is designed to deposit ultra-smooth films, enabling in-situ deposition of the alternating silicon-based layers used in the formation of the VIM structure.

To lay smooth defect free films, nano-particle control are employed.

Figure 1 below shows a) VECTOR Strata's ultra-smooth films deposited in an alternating layer film stack in comparison to b) conventional PECVD films.

Figure 2 below shows atomic force microscope (AFM) images of ultra-smooth VECTOR Strata films, showing film roughness that is comparable to the underlying substrate.
Electronics Engineering Herald

"VECTOR Strata deposits the low defect, ultra-smooth films required for next generation 3D NAND flash memory designs," said Sesha Varadarajan, senior vice president of Novellus' PECVD Business Unit.

"VECTOR Strata has been adopted by leading memory manufacturers as the VIM development tool of choice due to its industry-leading advanced technology and multi-station sequential processing productivity."

For more information about the new VECTOR Strata, visit www.novellustechnews.com