ASM International introduce integrated surface clean process module for Intrepid EPI

San Francisco, California – ASM International N.V. (Euronext Amsterdam: ASM) today introduced its Previum® process module for 300mm integrated pre-deposition surface cleaning, which significantly improves the performance of deposited films.

Integrated into ASM’s production-proven Intrepid ES epitaxy platform, Previum surface cleaning enables optimal quality epitaxial depositions for advanced node channel and source/drain engineering applications. Intrepid ES systems integrated with Previum modules are already in production at a leading foundry for advanced-node CMOS transistor Epi applications. 

 

“Previum delivers critical process capabilities to achieve high-quality epitaxy films at 5nm and smaller devices,” said Dr. Hichem M’Saad, ASM General Manager and Senior Vice President, Thermal Products Business Unit. “While the integrated surface clean process capability delivers a strong performance benefit, it also delivers on critical HVM requirements with high throughput, low defectivity, and excellent removal uniformity.” 

Previum has demonstrated excellent surface clean performance for interfacial oxide removal to create a pristine silicon surface for defect-free epitaxy film deposition. Additionally it has the capability to perform removal of both interfacial oxygen and carbon in the same chamber with a single recipe – a significant HVM productivity advantage for advanced-node CMOS processing.