ALE Technologies and Markets

ALE TECHNOLOGIES AND MARKETS, 2024

For Moore’s Law to continue in the 2020s, advanced logic devices will need to transition from FinFET structures to Gate-All-Around (GAA) Nanosheet Structures (NS). The GAA NS device structure is in many ways similar to a FinFET structure that has been rotated 90o. The dimensions of GAA devices will continue to shrink.

In addition, new materials will continue to be leveraged to enable low power and higher device performance. As scaling moves to the atomic level, it is anticipated that atomic layer etch (ALE) will emerge as an enabling technique for fabricating these types of devices.

Linx Consulting has conducted a ground breaking report, ALE Technologies and Markets, reviewing the background and motivation for ALE in advanced semiconductor devices. The report also examines ALE for dielectric and metal applications and develops forecasts for various processes, in both memory and logic, that have adopted or are likely to adopt ALE over the next several generations.

Report Contents

Chapter 1: Introduction
– Motivation
– Background
– Emerging Applications for ALE
– ALE Forecasts by Device Type

Chapter 2: Fundamentals of ALE
– Review of RIE
– ALE Process
– Example: Self Aligned Contact (SAC)

Chapter 3: Classifications of ALE Processes
– Plasma ALE (PALE)
– Thermal ALE (TALE)
– Cryo ALE (CALE)
– Wet ALE (WALE)

Chapter 4: Emerging Applications of ALE in Semiconductor Manufacturing
– Advanced Logic
– DRAM
– 3D NAND

Chapter 5: Selective Etching of Si, SiN, SiO, and SiCO
– Processes and Chemistries for Dielectric ALE

Chapter 6: Atomic Layer Etching of Metals
– Processes and Chemistries for Metal ALE Processes

Chapter 7: Forecasts
– Memory & Advanced Logic
– Memory
– Advanced Logic

List of References