Gas Circle News: SK Hynix is currently evaluating Tokyo Electron (TEL)'s latest low-temperature etching equipment, and will decide whether to introduce ultra-low temperature etching equipment based on the test results.

The new etching equipment boasts advantages over existing etching tools, including lower carbon emissions and faster etching speeds. The etching process temperature of the current equipment ranges from 0°C to 30°C, while the new equipment can perform high-speed etching at -70°C. According to a technical article cited by the Gas Circle 2023 Industry Conference, the new etching equipment can etch 10 microns in just 33 minutes, which is more than three times faster than existing devices. Industry predictions suggest that TEL’s ultra-low temperature etching equipment will first be utilized in NAND products with more than 400 layers.

SK Hynix has not imported the actual equipment to South Korea; instead, it has sent test wafers to Tokyo Electron's laboratory in Japan. This approach allows 3D NAND manufacturers to effectively assess the technology's potential without the need to transport actual tools to SK Hynix and install them in the wafer fab.

SK Hynix's 321-layer 3D NAND product reportedly employs a triple-stack structure. With TEL's new etching equipment, it may be possible to construct 400-layer 3D NAND devices using single or double-stack configurations, leading to higher production efficiency. The decision on whether future products exceeding 400 layers will transition to single or double stacks will depend on the reliability of tool performance and the ability to consistently reproduce results.

At the same time, Samsung is also validating this new technology. Unlike SK Hynix, Samsung is directly introducing TEL's new equipment for testing.

Samsung Electronics plans to launch its 10th generation NAND chips in 2025, utilizing triple-stacking technology to achieve 430 layers. However, TEL's new equipment requires only two stacks. To solidify and expand its leading position in the rapidly growing market, Samsung is committed to investing heavily in its NAND business. Industry insiders in the semiconductor component sector have indicated that TEL's low-temperature etching equipment has received high praise in Samsung Electronics' equipment evaluations, and it is expected that TEL's low-temperature etching devices will be widely introduced into 3D NAND production lines in the future.

Another reason companies such as Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix are considering the application of ultra-low temperature etching equipment is carbon reduction. A significant advantage of TEL's equipment is that it uses hydrogen fluoride (HF) gas, which has a global warming potential (GWP) of less than 1. In contrast, existing etching processes utilize fluorocarbon (CF) series gases with high GWP values, such as tetrafluoromethane (CF4) and octafluoropropane (C4F8), which have GWP values of 6030 and 9540, respectively, thousands of times higher than that of hydrogen fluoride. Therefore, the potential adoption of TEL's new equipment reflects the industry's ongoing trend towards greener manufacturing practices.

TEL President and CEO Toshiki Kawai stated, "We expect the 400-layer technology to be adopted within two to three years."

TEL anticipates that the NAND channel process market will expand from >00 million in 2023 to ( billion by 2027.

Article source:

https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/5pB38miFhQT10a_S3pxFow