New Applied Materials Technologies Help Leading Silicon Carbide Chipmakers Accelerate the Transition to 200mm Wafers and Increase Chip Performance and Power Efficiency
September 08 2021 - 6:30AM
Applied Materials, Inc. today announced new products that help
enable the world’s leading silicon carbide (SiC) chipmakers
transition from 150mm wafer production to 200mm production, which
approximately doubles die output per wafer, to help satisfy the
world’s growing demand for premium electric vehicle powertrains.
SiC power semiconductors are in high demand because they help
efficiently convert battery power to torque, thereby increasing
vehicle performance and range. Compared to silicon, SiC is
inherently harder with natural defects that can lead to
degradation of electrical performance, power efficiency,
reliability and yield. Advanced materials engineering is needed to
optimize raw wafers for production and build circuits with minimum
damage to the crystal lattice.
“To fuel the computer revolution, chipmakers moved to
ever-larger wafer sizes, dramatically increasing chip output to
satisfy burgeoning global demand,” said Sundar Ramamurthy, Group
Vice President and General Manager of the ICAPS group at Applied
Materials. “Today we are in the early stages of another revolution
that will benefit from Applied’s expertise in materials engineering
at an industrial scale.”“Electrification of the transportation
industry is a rising trend, and we are accelerating this inflection
point by leading the global transition from silicon to silicon
carbide with our Wolfspeed technology,” said Gregg Lowe, President
and CEO of Cree, Inc. “Delivering the highest-performing silicon
carbide power devices on larger 200mm wafers enables us to increase
end-customer value and meet growing demand.”
“Applied’s support in helping speed qualification of 200mm
processes in Albany and multi-equipment installations at our Mohawk
Valley Fab is expediting this transition,” Lowe added. “Moreover,
new technologies being developed by Applied’s ICAPS team, such as
hot implant, have broadened and deepened our technical
collaboration and helped accelerate our power technology
roadmap.”
New 200mm SiC CMP System
SiC wafer surface quality is critically important to SiC device
fabrication as any defects on the surface of the wafer will migrate
through the subsequent layers. To produce uniform wafers with the
highest quality surfaces, Applied has developed the Mirra® Durum™
CMP* system which integrates polishing, measurement of material
removal, cleaning and drying in a single system. The new system has
demonstrated a 50X reduction in finished wafer surface roughness as
compared to mechanically grinded SiC wafers and a 3X reduction in
roughness compared to batch CMP processing systems.
Hot Implant Increases SiC Chip Performance and Power
Efficiency
During SiC chip fabrication, ion implantation places dopants
within the material to help enable and direct the flow of current
within the high power producing circuits. The density and hardness
of SiC material makes it extremely challenging to inject,
accurately place and activate the dopants while minimizing damage
to the crystal lattice which reduces performance and power
efficiency. Applied has solved this challenge with its new VIISta®
900 3D hot ion implant system for 150mm and 200mm SiC wafers. The
hot implant technology injects ions with minimal damage to the
lattice structure, resulting in a more than 40X reduction in
resistivity compared to implant at room temperature.
Applied’s ICAPS (IoT, Communications, Automotive, Power and
Sensors) business is developing additional products for the SiC
power chip market including in PVD*, CVD*, etch and process
control. Additional details on how Applied is enabling advancements
in SiC and other specialty semiconductor technologies will be
discussed at the company’s 2021 ICAPS and Packaging Master Class
being held today.
About Applied MaterialsApplied Materials,
Inc. (Nasdaq: AMAT) is the leader in materials engineering
solutions used to produce virtually every new chip and advanced
display in the world. Our expertise in modifying materials at
atomic levels and on an industrial scale enables customers to
transform possibilities into reality. At Applied Materials,
our innovations make possible a better future. Learn more
at www.appliedmaterials.com.
*CMP = chemical mechanical planarization. PVD = physical vapor
deposition. CVD = chemical vapor deposition.
Contact:Ricky Gradwohl (editorial/media)
408.235.4676Michael Sullivan (financial community) 408.986.7977
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