Picosun, Finland, announces the development of a method for producing zero-stress and controlled-stress atomic layer deposition films using intricate tuning of process chemistry and deposition conditions, improving products for industries such as MEMS and IC industries.
Researchers use a precise selection of precursor chemicals and process temperatures that allows them to eliminate additional process steps such as heat or plasma treatments that could cause structural damage to the films. Replacing a single material film with carefully designed nanolaminate of materials with opposite stress properties is another way to achieve zero stress layers.
The company has validated the process with HfO2, and has tested on other ALD materials including SiO2, Ta2O5, and TiO2, with results were initially published in the AVS 18th International Conference on Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD 2018), Incheon, South Korea.
