Metal Interconnects for 7 nm Process

Co ELD on Palladium/Tungsten (Pd/W) for different timed stops to yield an (i) under fill, (ii) potential ideal stop or an (iii) overburden in 28nm holes

Metal interconnects is a keys area that limits the shrinking of semiconductor die size. A recent advance in the development of the 7 nm technology is reported below by IMEC with Lam research.

"Co ELD technique was demonstrated as a feasible method for highly selective bottom-up contact fill and via prefill with Cobalt (Co) as an alternative metal to Copper (Cu). Moreover, the high selectivity of the ELD process, at lower cost compared to Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD), intrinsically ensures a good metal-to-metal interface and paves the way to void-free via filling and increased yield."

Ron
Insightful, timely, and accurate semiconductor consulting.

Semiconductor information and news at - http://www.maltiel-consulting.com/

imec and Lam Research develop novel metallization method

During the IEEE IITC conference in Grenoble, the nanoelectronics research center imec and Lam Research Corporation today presented a novel bottom-up prefill technique for vias and contacts. The technique, based on Electroless Deposition (ELD) of Cobalt (Co) is a highly selective method resulting in void-free filling of via and contact holes. Potentially increasing the circuit performance, it is a promising path to scaling advanced interconnects and enabling future logic and DRAM nodes at the 7nm node and below.

As logic and memory nodes scale, performance of these advanced interconnects is negatively impacted by increasing interconnect resistance. Furthermore, voids that occur in heavily scaled vias severely impact yield. imec’s industrial affiliation program on advanced interconnects is exploring novel metallization methods to solve these issues. One way to solve the problem is to identify integration and metallization alternatives that provide resistance benefits over conventional technology without compromising reliability and yield. Together with Lam Research, a Co ELD technique was demonstrated as a feasible method for highly selective bottom-up contact fill and via prefill with Cobalt (Co) as an alternative metal to Copper (Cu). Moreover, the high selectivity of the ELD process, at lower cost compared to Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD), intrinsically ensures a good metal-to-metal interface and paves the way to void-free via filling and increased yield. Trench fill yield and line resistance may also benefit from the de-coupling of line and via aspect ratios, permitting the design of each for optimum Resistance/Capacitance (RC). Therefore, Co prefill ELD has the potential to enable future scaling of advanced logic and memory technologies.

Figure: Co ELD on Palladium/Tungsten (Pd/W) for different timed stops to yield an (i) under fill, (ii) potential ideal stop or an (iii) overburden in 28nm holes (Aspect Ratio (AR) 4.5)

The results were achieved in cooperation with imec’s key partners as part of its core CMOS programs: GlobalFoundries, Intel, Samsung, SK hynix, Sony, TSMC, Amkor, Micron, Utac, Qualcomm, Altera, Fujitsu, Panasonic, and Xilinx.

Semiconductor Manufacturing 2015 Demand

Key new drivers for new semiconductor fabrication tools is advancing FinFETs 20nm to 16nm/14nm with reasonable yield, and the pace of implementation of 3D NAND. 

Ramp up of 3D flash manufacturing tools will really happen only in 2016 due to length of the development cycle.

In lithography, multi-patterning will continue to be used while EUV continue to faces difficulties. More details are below.

Ron
Insightful, timely, and accurate semiconductor consulting.
Semiconductor information and news at - http://www.maltiel-consulting.com/

Fab Tool Biz Faces Challenges In 2015

POSTED ON: DECEMBER 11TH, 2014 - POSTED BY: MARK LAPEDUS

It’s not necessarily bad news, but there are some big unknowns. 

Consolidation likely will continue.

After a slight downturn in 2013, the semiconductor equipment industry rebounded and experienced a solid upturn in 2014. The recovery was primarily driven by tool spending in the foundry and DRAM [KC]sectors.

Another big and ongoing story continued to unfold in 2014. In late 2013, Applied Materials announced a definitive agreement to acquire Tokyo Electron Ltd. (TEL) for $9.3 billion. The deal was supposed to close in the second half of 2014. But now, the completion of the deal has been pushed out into 2015 amid a host of complicated regulatory issues.

In fact, the fate of the Applied-TEL deal is just one of the many burning issues for the industry in 2015. The other issues are also clear:

• Will IC-equipment vendors see an upturn or a downturn in 2015?
• What are the drivers?
• Will 450mm fabs, EUV [] and 2.5D [KC]/3D IC [KC] stacked die really happen?
• Will the equipment industry continue to see more acquisition activity in 2015?

The industry continues to consolidate and for good reason. At each node, there are simply fewer customers to serve in a maturing market. “More industry consolidation is needed in several areas, notably in process control and in the components/consumables market, where companies like MKS Instruments, Entegris and others participate,” said Patrick Ho, an analyst at Stifel Nicolaus. “So, will we see (acquisition activity) in 2015? There is a greater likelihood that the smaller players may combine with one another, versus any of the large players taking out the small players. My rationale: the big players are either busy, such as Applied and TEL, or content in their current positions for now. Longer term, we still need one more big deal to occur to further consolidate the space.”

Bold predictions
It’s difficult to predict the future, but there are signs that the Applied-TEL deal will get completed in 2015. So far, the deal has been approved by regulatory bodies in some countries, but not in others. “The deal gets done at some point,” Ho said. “Any deal of this size and scope, particularly when you’re dealing with a relatively consolidated customer base, will likely garner more scrutiny and even some pushbacks from customers. But like many other large deals, I believe ultimately it gets done with perhaps a few contingencies added on to the final deal.”

Another lingering issue is the IC-equipment forecast for 2015. There are mixed signals in the market. Economic growth remains sluggish in many countries. The worldwide geopolitical landscape is troubling. And in the electronics market, the two main catalysts for growth—smartphones and tablets—are showing signs of a slowdown.

As a result, the outlook is cloudy for tool vendors. In fact, citing the slowdown in mobile products and other factors, some are already lowering their forecasts for 2015. In its latest forecast, Gartner projected that semiconductor capital spending and the wafer fab equipment (WFE) market would grow by 11.4% and 17.1%, respectively, in 2014.

For 2015, Gartner currently predicts that semiconductor capital spending and WFE will grow by 8.8% and 11.1%, respectively. “At the moment, those numbers will probably come down a bit, as 2015 does not appear as robust as it did three months ago,” said Dean Freeman, an analyst with Gartner. “WFE for 2015 will be in the 5% to 10% range and CapEx will be closer to 5%. Much of this is dependent upon how much Samsung spends in Q4.”

Many other analysts have a similar forecast for 2015. But on the down side, the ATE market faces a possible downturn in 2015.

Drivers—DRAM, finFETs and NAND
Looking beyond the numbers, tool vendors are in the midst of the most challenging period in the industry’s history. Chipmakers are making a major transition from planar structures to various 3D-like architectures, such as 3D NAND, finFETs [KC] and stacked die.

Toolmakers, in turn, must develop new and advanced systems to meet customer requirements. But the cost to develop new tools is soaring out of control. And yet, there are fewer leading-edge customers at each node.

On the other hand, the shift towards new chip architectures are becoming the “inflection points”—or engines for growth–in the equipment industry, said Doug Bettinger, executive vice president and chief financial officer at Lam Research [], at a recent conference. “(The inflection points include) the move towards multi-patterning. That’s an enormous driver of growth,” Bettinger said. “It’s also the move to finFET from planar. It’s planar to 3D NAND, as well as the move to 3D packaging.”

In 2015, the big driver for fab tool orders will likely reside in the foundry segment, where GlobalFoundries [], Samsung and TSMC [] are making a transition from planar transistors at 20nm to finFETs at 16nm/14nm. Intel Corp. []is already ramping up its second-generation finFETs at 14nm.

For the foundry segment alone, WFE is expected to grow 5% to 10% in 2015, according to Stifel Nicolaus’ Ho. But tool orders for the finFET ramps are also somewhat dependent on one major factor—yield. The foundries, including Intel, are struggling with finFET yields. “With finFET, it will be a question of the magnitude of spending related to yields,” Ho said.

For DRAM, WFE is expected to grow 10% to 15% in 2015. And in NAND, WFE is projected to grow 5% to 10%, according to Stifel Nicolaus. In fact, the DRAM [KC] market remains strong. There could be a shortage of 2D NAND capacity in 2015. But with the exception of Samsung, vendors continue to push out their 3D NAND ramps.

“The timing of 3D NAND has been pushed out due to yields and demand, but the NAND flash industry will eventually transition to this technology,” Ho said. “The cost basis for planar NAND is still more attractive, so I believe the players will try and take advantage of this for two more nodes.”

Others also see a mixed picture in 2015. “In NAND, 3D spending is expected to be broader and larger, but it still lags planar spending until 2016. However, our customers are seeing diminishing gains from planar and (the) 3D adoption is inevitable. DRAM supply is expected to remain tight with strong potential for capacity additions,” said Gigi Lai, senior director of strategic marketing at Applied Materials. “Overall, we expect wafer fab equipment spending will be higher (in 2015), driven by the foundry finFET battle, broader investments in 3D NAND, and increasing DRAM spending.”

450mm and EUV
It’s safe to say that 450mm will not be a factor in 2015. In fact, the industry has put 450mm technology on hold for the foreseeable future. For now, 450mm is too expensive and the benefits are marginal.

But in 2015, the industry will keep a close eye on ASML’s ongoing efforts to put extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography into production. “If you look at the (recent) eBeam Initiative [] survey, it indicates that there is a little bit of an increase in the skepticism in EUV,” said Aki Fujimura, chairman and chief executive of D2S. “The survey echoes the statements from many in the industry: ‘We still want (EUV) to happen.’ But publicly, everyone is saying: ‘I don’t know if we can count on it. So we better have backup plans in place.’ “

Barring a major breakthrough in EUV, chipmakers will use 193nm immersion and multiple patterning for both 16nm/14nm and 10nm. “It’s not the question whether you can do (multiple patterning). Technically, it is possible. The question is if it’s economically viable. Certainly, the economic viability answer is very different, depending on who you are,” Fujimura said.

Backend blues
For years, meanwhile, the industry has been talking about the development of 2.5D and 3D chips using through-silicon vias (TSVs). So far, though, 2.5D/3D technology is taking longer than expected amid a number of cost and technical challenges. “We have stuff in production today. But again, these are high-performance applications,” said Jan Vardaman, president of TechSearch International. “Besides Xilinx, there are other people that are developing products using an interposer that should come out in 2015.”

So when will 2.5D/3D stacked die hit the mainstream? “These are new architectures,” Vardaman said. “New architectures take a long time to develop and you have to sort them out carefully.”

The ATE industry, meanwhile, is expected to grow by 20% in 2014. That was driven by booming demand for test in the mobile-based application processor space. Not long ago, Pacific Crest Securities projected that the ATE market would grow by 10% in 2015. But the firm recently lowered its forecast and now projects a 2% decline for ATE in 2015.

iPhone A8, A9 - Samsung or TSMC

It would make sense economically and to secure their supply for Apple to manufacture chips both in Samsung and TSMC. see iPhone A8, A9 and Second Sources.





Ron
Insightful, timely, and accurate semiconductor consulting.
Semiconductor information and news at - http://www.maltiel-consulting.com

Samsung and TSMC Reportedly Still Competing for Rights to Produce Apple's A9 Chip

Tuesday November 4, 2014 1:57 AM PST by Richard Padilla

Samsung and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) are still competing for the rights to produce Apple's next-generation A9 chip as a primary supplier is expected to be named by the end of this year, reports Digitimes.


According to the report, Samsung has offered Apple lower pricing quotes in an attempt to secure the rights to produce the A9. The company is also willing to produce other chips like flash memory and perform optimization services in-house. Samsung was the longtime producer of Apple's A-series chips until Apple struck a deal with TSMC to produce its chips last year.

Last month, Samsung semiconductor head Kim Ki-nam announced that the company would begin work on 14-nanometer processors for Apple, indicating that the Korean company may have already won the bid to produce the next-generation A9 chip. However, it is also possible that both companies could share the production load as Apple looks to diversify its supply chain even further to better fit its production needs.

Last year, it was reported that Apple signed a contract with Samsung to handle 30% to 40% of total A9 chip production, as TSMC would be handling the rest of the production load. Apple's A9 chip would presumably be featured in next year's line of iPhones and iPads, as the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus currently use the 20-nanometer A8 processor. The iPad Air 2 uses a more powerful triple-core A8X chip which is up to 55% faster than the A8 chip found in the iPhone 6.

Xbox, PlayStation 4 $332 Manufacturing Cost

TechInsights Teardown (see below) shows that both vendors used many similar parts to optimize their investment in the next generation of gaming consoles.

Based on iFixit tear down I believe that the tear down has a minor error that would add about $3 to Xbox cost of manufacturing due to the 8GB EMMC NAND flash being used instead of:  

"Xbox One also has 4GB eMMC NAND flash, making the non-volatile category US$3 higher for Xbox One"

Based on iFixit disassembles the Xbox One and finds NAND

"One interesting component is an 8GB chunk of eMMC NAND flash memory, the purpose of which Microsoft discussed last month with Eurogamer. In the words of Microsoft Technical Fellow Andrew Goossen:

We use it as a cache system-side to improve system response and again not disturb system performance on the titles running underneath. So what it does is that it makes our boot times faster when you're not coming out of the sleep mode—if you're doing the cold boot. It caches the operating system on there. It also caches system data on there while you're actually running the titles and when you have the snap applications running concurrently. It's so that we're not going and hitting the hard disk at the same time that the title is. All the game data is on the HDD. We wanted to be moving that head around and not worrying about the system coming in and monkeying with the head at an inopportune time.”

 Ron

Insightful, timely, and accurate semiconductor consulting.

Semiconductor information and news at - http://www.maltiel-consulting.com/

Teardown.com compares PlayStation 4 vs. Xbox One

25 November, 2013 TechInsights

 

TechInsights has performed a Quick Turn Teardown of the Sony PlayStation 4 and the Microsoft Xbox One.

TechInsights Teardown shows that both vendors used many similar parts to optimise their investment in the next generation of gaming consoles.

While AMD came out as a big winner in the APU (integrated CPU and GPU) there are choice design differences around the both the processor design and the use of memory in each device.

The TechInsights bill of materials (BOM) for the Microsoft Xbox One amounts to US$331.00. Based on this – and when the estimated costs for the peripherals are included – TechInsights believes Microsoft will have a gross profit of approximately US$100.00 per console sold. This is far better than the US$43.00 Sony will make per complete unit.

Says Al Cowsky, Costing Director, TechInsights: “At the console level, the Xbox One is US$10 less expensive than the PS4. This is primarily due to a US$23 memory premium on the PS4, but it is offset by an US$11 cost premium on the Xbox One processor.

"The Xbox One also has 4GB eMMC NAND flash, making the non-volatile category US$3 higher for Xbox One, while the housings/mechanicals of the Xbox One add another US$4 premium over the PS4.

"The Xbox One also comes with a Kinect vision system in-box with an estimated cost of US$39. This is more than made up for by the US$100 list price premium. Likewise, PS4 has an optional vision system accessory available for a list price of US$60 (unit not costed at this time)”

China and 2013 Semiconductor Sales

Based on IC Insight's recent report of 2013 Semiconductor (see below), growth of cell phone sales in China brought Mediatek to the second place in growth ranking of the top 20 semiconductor suppliers. The list includes foundries (TSMC, GlobalFoundries, and UMC) and five fabless companies. IC foundries are included in the top-20 semiconductor supplier.

 See Smartphone: MediaTek Overtaking Qulacomm
 
"Mediatek is expected to rank 16, up from 22 in last year's list, with smartphone application processor shipments nearly doubling to 200 million up from 108 million last year. The company "is experiencing extremely strong demand for its devices in the booming low-end smartphone business in China and other Asia-Pacific locations."

Micron and Hynix growth benefited from the consolidation of the semiconductor fabs. They were also able to increase their growth for the cell phone market outside of the developed world.

Ron
Insightful, timely, and accurate semiconductor consulting.
Semiconductor information and news at - http://www.maltiel-consulting.com/

IC Insights Expects Big Changes to 2013 Top 20 Semi Supplier Ranking

SK Hynix, MediaTek, Micron, and Qualcomm each forecast to show ≥30% year-over-year growth.

 Later this month, IC Insights’ November Update to the 2013 McClean Report will show a preliminary ranking of the top 25 semiconductor suppliers in 2013.  A preview of the top 20 companies is listed in Figure 1.  The top 20 worldwide semiconductor (IC and O-S-D—optoelectronic, discrete, and sensor) sales leaders forecast for 2013 include nine suppliers headquartered in the U.S., three in Japan, three in Europe, three in Taiwan, and two in South Korea.

 The top-20 ranking includes three pure-play foundries (TSMC, GlobalFoundries, and UMC) and five fabless companies. IC foundries are included in the top-20 semiconductor supplier ranking because IC Insights has always viewed the ranking as a top supplier list, not as a marketshare ranking, and realizes that in some cases semiconductor sales are double counted.  With many of our clients being vendors to the semiconductor industry (supplying equipment, chemicals, gases, etc.), excluding large IC manufacturers like the foundries would leave significant “holes” in the list of top semiconductor suppliers.  Overall, the list shown in Figure 1 provides a guideline to identify which companies are the leading semiconductor suppliers, whether they are IDMs, fabless companies, or foundries. Excluding the foundries of TSMC, GlobalFoundries, and UMC, from the top-20 ranking would bring Fujitsu ($3,524 million), Marvell ($3,205 million), and Sharp ($3,078 million) into the 18th, 19th, and 20th positions, respectively.

 There are numerous changes expected within the top-20 semiconductor ranking in 2013 as compared to the top 20 ranking of 2012.  Some of the companies forecast to rise in the ranking include SK Hynix, which, despite a significant fire and production set-back at its largest memory fab in China, is taking full advantage of the surge in the DRAM market this year and is expected to move up three places and into the top 5.  Also, Broadcom is forecast to edge into the top 10, Micron is expected to move up two spots, spurred by its acquisition of Elpida in 3Q13, and MediaTek is forecast to jump up six positions to 16th place and into the top-20 ranking for the first time.  MediaTek is experiencing extremely strong demand for its devices in the booming low-end smartphone business in China and other Asia-Pacific locations.  In fact, MediaTek expects its application processor shipments for smartphones to reach over 200 million units this year, about double the 108 million units the company shipped in 2012.

 In contrast to the companies moving up in the ranking, Fujitsu is expected to drop five places to fall out of the top-20 ranking in 2013, going from being ranked 16th in 2012 to 21st this year (the company sold its analog and MCU business to Spansion in August of this year).  Renesas is another “casualty” expected in the top-20 ranking and is forecast to fall to 11th place in 2013 from the 7th position it held in 2012.

 

Figure 1

In total, the top 20 semiconductor companies’ sales are forecast to increase by 7% in 2013 as compared to 2012, which would be two points better than the 5% forecast for the total worldwide semiconductor market this year.  It is expected to take total semiconductor sales of over $3.7 billion to make the top-20 ranking in 2013.

As shown in Figure 2, there is expected to be a 60-percentage-point range of growth rates among the worldwide top 20 semiconductor suppliers in 2013 (from +44% for SK Hynix to -16% for Sony).  The continued success of the fabless/foundry business model and the strong growth of the memory market (especially the 29% DRAM market surge) this year is evident when examining the nine top-20 semiconductor suppliers that are forecast to log higher growth than the total worldwide semiconductor market (5%).  As shown, the top nine performers in 2013 are forecast to include three memory companies (SK Hynix, Micron, and Toshiba), two fabless companies (MediaTek and Qualcomm), and two pure-play foundries (TSMC and GlobalFoundries).

 

Figure 2 

Figure 2 illustrates that the two top-20 ranked companies that are forecast to register double-digit sales declines in 2013 are headquartered in Japan (Renesas and Sony).  As previously mentioned, Japan-based Fujitsu is also expected to register a double-digit decline (-15%) in 2013 and drop out of the top 20 ranking this year.  However, it should be noted that the conversion of Japanese company semiconductor sales from yen to U.S. dollars, at 96.96 yen per dollar forecast for 2013 versus the 79.70 yen per dollar rate in 2012, is expected to have a significant impact on the sales figures for the Japanese companies.  Using a constant 2012 U.S. dollar versus Japanese yen exchange rate for 2013, the forecasted 2013 semiconductor sales increases of Sony, Fujitsu, and Renesas would be 4%, 3%, and 2%, respectively.