Picosun Group, Finland, reports excellent results obtained with its next generation PEALD (plasma-enhanced ALD) technology, which enables deposition at low temperatures and of several materials that could not be deposited with thermal processes only.
However, it has a drawback: damage to the sample surface caused by ion bombardment. Picosun’s solution is a remote plasma method, in which the plasma source is located high above the sample, and the reactive species hitting the surface consists of radicals, not high-energy ions.
Picosun’s next generation PEALD solution is based on remote, high power microwave plasma (MWP). The compact, lightweight plasma generator can be integrated to existing Picosun R&D ALD reactors as such. The new plasma-ALD solution realizes deposition with virtually no added particles, with extremely low metal contamination, and with far shorter cycle times compared to the previously used method. Excellent film quality and uniformity have resulted and the new MWP allows wider operating range (in terms of plasma parameters) which widens also the selection of available ALD processes.
“We are pleased to provide our customers with our new, thoroughly upgraded plasma-ALD solution,” says Dr. Jani Kivioja, CTO of Picosun Group. “There are several important application areas, such as medical devices and MEMS, where substrates are sensitive and require processing at low temperatures. Now we have an ideal solution to this, which will again facilitate ALD’s breakthrough to yet new components and devices.”
