Applied Materials launches systems for 2nm chip manufacturing

Applied Materials Inc. (NASDAQ: AMAT) introduced two chipmaking systems designed for manufacturing logic chips at 2 nanometer process nodes and smaller geometries. The company announced the Precision Selective Nitride PECVD system and Trillium ALD system on April 8.

The Precision Selective Nitride PECVD system deposits silicon nitride materials to preserve shallow trench isolation structures in Gate-All-Around transistors. The system uses a selective bottom-up deposition process that operates at low temperatures to maintain isolation integrity during chip manufacturing.

The Trillium ALD system deposits metal gate stacks in GAA transistors with atomic-scale precision. The system integrates multiple metal deposition steps on a single platform and provides thickness control at the angstrom level for gate stack layers.

Both systems are being used by foundry manufacturers for 2nm and advanced process nodes, according to the press release. GAA transistors require more than 500 process steps and present manufacturing challenges due to their three-dimensional structures.

"At the most advanced angstrom-class logic nodes, performance and power are increasingly determined by materials," said Dr. Prabu Raja, President of the Semiconductor Products Group at Applied Materials.

The Trillium system builds on Applied Materials' Endura platform and has been used for metal gate stack deposition in previous FinFET process generations. The company modified the system for GAA applications with features for thinner work function metals and materials designed for the limited space in GAA structures.

Applied Materials stated the technologies address manufacturing requirements for AI computing applications that demand higher transistor density and performance efficiency.

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