Surface Preparation Products

As interconnect structures migrate toward smaller feature sizes, issues involving surface preparation become one of the primary barriers to the extendibility and reproducibility of deposition processes. Residual contamination from improperly prepared surfaces can affect the deposition and adhesion of subsequent metal or dielectric layers. In addition, the transition to low-k dielectrics is driving a complete change in surface preparation technology, since most current surface preparation processes are incompatible with these low-k materials. As a result, surface preparation technology is becoming a critical device performance enabler in sub-90 nm devices.


GxT™/G400™

The GxT and G400 are photoresist strip systems based on the production-proven, market-leading GAMMA platform. Targeted for bulk strip and high-dose implant strip (HDIS) applications, primarily in large DRAM and flash memory fabs, the G400 is the industry's most productive ashing system. Enhanced source technology combined with faster wafer heating provides the G400 with throughputs of over 400 wph for bulk strip applications, and 300 wph for implant strip applications. The GxT, in turn, is designed for critical logic device manufacturing process steps that demand low silicon loss and ultra-low defectivity. The GxT's multi-station sequential processing (MSSP) architecture provides multiple process stations where both temperature and chemistry may be controlled, allowing higher-temperature bulk strip, lower-temperature HDIS and advanced cleaning processes all on the same platform.

GxT/G400

GAMMA® Express

The GAMMA Express is a 300 mm photoresist strip system designed for both front-end-of-line (FEOL) and back-end-of-line (BEOL) resist removal applications at 65 nm and 45 nm. In addition to supporting conventional bulk strip, HDIS (highdose implant strip) and C4 packaging requirements, the GAMMA Express employs low silicon loss implant strip and non-oxidizing strip chemistries for compatibility with advanced silicide and ultra low-k films. A new proprietary source technology, combined with Novellus' Multi-Station Sequential Processing (MSS) architecture, provides the GAMMA Express with industry-leading throughputs of 300 wph for bulk strip applications and 150 wph for HDIS.

GAMMA® Express

GAMMA® 2130

The GAMMA 2130 for 300 mm wafers is designed for front-end-of-line (FEOL) photoresist strip applications, where high productivity and low CoO are prime considerations. Featuring a MultiStation Sequential Processing (MSSP) architecture that incorporates six stations within a single process chamber, the GAMMA 2130 can remove both the low-dose and the more challenging high-dose implanted photoresist at a 30 percent higher throughput than its nearest competitor. By virtue of its very simple design, the high productivity and high reliability of GAMMA contributes to a CoO that is as much as 25 percent lower than that of competing tools. The GAMMA 2130 system is the first robust, production-worthy 300 mm FEOL strip system available on today's market.

GAMMA® 2130

GAMMA® 2100

The GAMMA 2100 is a Multi-Station Sequential Processing (MSSP) photoresist strip system for 200 mm wafers that uses Novellus’ patented Interlaced Inductively Coupled Plasma (I2CP) RF source. The system uses a single wafer process control for six independent stations within the same chamber, allowing multi-step processing at significantly higher throughput than competitive systems for strip and HDIS. High throughput, low consumable costs and high reliability combine to make the GAMMA 2100 the lowest cost of ownership (CoO) strip tool on the market today.

GAMMA® 2100