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An overview of the merits and applications of batch ALD in a vertical furnace will be presented. We address new material and process developments and throughput enhancement which are key factors for future high-volume manufacturing applications. We present ALD SbOx as a new material on the batch platform. For the workhorse ALD Al2O3 and TiN materials, experimental and simulation results demonstrate that a reduction in cycle time to <21s does not significantly compromise uniformity, resistivity and step coverage. Moreover, batch ALD offers process flexibility in the mitigation of non-idealities, such as growth inhibition, as will be discussed for thermal ALD AlN. The very low non-uniformities < 1% (1σ) for the latter process demonstrate the competitive film properties that can be achieved by batch ALD. With applications as diverse as metal gates in logic, trench capacitor electrodes, capacitor dielectrics, barrier layers and passivation films, batch ALD has firmly established itself at device manufacturers and foundry sites with significant prospects for emerging markets.

The effect of 3D patterns on the heating of silicon substrates was investigated theoretically and experimentally. As energy sources RTA systems based on radiant heating (i.e. lamp-based) and on conduction heating (wafer placed in very close proximity to hot surfaces) were applied. The 3D patterns were trenches with dimensions 150-450nm wide, and 400nm deep. In case of lamp-based systems with heat-up rates of 75°C/s within-die temperature variations of 10-20°C were observed. In case of conduction-based systems with heat-up rates up to 900°C/s the impact of the 3D structures was negligible. Both types of systems were modeled, and a reasonable correlation with the experimental data was found.

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