Lam Research Corporation

02/13/2025 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 02/13/2025 21:06

Everything You Need to Know About Aether®

  • Aether® dry resist + development process is essential for enabling next-gen devices
  • A leading memory chip maker recently chose Aether for advanced DRAM processes

In advanced technology nodes, pitch size is a critical parameter that measures the distance between identical features in a pattern on a wafer. Pitch sizes are getting smaller and smaller as more transistors are packed into a given area on a chip. As pitch sizes shrink even more, from the nanometer to angstrom range, achieving good pattern resolution becomes a real challenge.

Lam Research's Aether dry resist and development process uses a series of Lam tools before and after the extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography process to support smaller pitch sizes and create advanced patterns on semiconductor devices. 

  • Why it matters: Aether dry resist and development process integrates with EUV lithography to improve pattern resolution at small pitch sizes, leading to increased yield of next-generation semiconductors.

The Aether process is designed to overcome the traditional tradeoff between exposure dose and manufacturing defectivity in EUV lithography, leading to precise, low-defect patterning. This advancement helps drive down costs and enhance scanner productivity during chip manufacturing.  

Lam is the creator of the world's only EUV dry resist deposition and dry development technologies with capabilities that surpass all other industry offerings in terms of leading-edge pattern fidelity, defectivity, material usage, and overall cost of ownership.

"Lam's dry photoresist technology provides unparalleled low-defectivity, high-resolution patterning," said Vahid Vahedi, chief technology and sustainability officer at Lam Research. "We are excited to offer this technology to imec and its partners as a critical process in the design and manufacturing of leading-edge semiconductor devices."

How It Works

Applying dry resist is just one part of the overall Aether process. As shown in Figure 1, an underlayer is first deposited, then dry resist, then the wafer undergoes a clean step. After EUV lithography, during which a pattern is applied, the wafer goes through a bake/dry develop phase and a etch step.

Figure 1: The Aether dry resist and development process supports everything before and after EUV lithography.

Industry Adoption Gains Momentum

Lam has qualified a robust EUV dry resist precursor supply chain through its partners, Gelest and Entegris, via collaborative material development.

High-volume manufacturing scale-up efforts are now underway as the advanced semiconductor industry continues adoption of this groundbreaking technology.

  • In January, Lam announced Aether was selected by a leading memory manufacturer as the production tool of record for the most advanced DRAM processes.
  • IBM recently reported it achieved champion yields in its 28nm and 26-nm pitch copper damascene interconnect processes using Lam's dry-deposited metal oxide resists, calling them "a key enabler for allowing the integrated patterning process in Albany [NanoTechComplex] to realize the full potential of EUV technology," and claiming it as "the best-known process available today."

Imec Qualifies Aether for Advanced Chips

Aether also qualified for direct-print 28-nm pitch back end of line (BEOL) logic at 2 nm and below by imec, a leading research and innovation hub in nanoelectronics and digital technologies. Chipmakers require direct-print 28-nm pitch BEOL processing for next-generation devices.

At imec, Lam's 28-nm pitch dry resist process was paired with a low NA EUV scanner and is extendible to a high NA EUV scanner. The dry resist layer enhances EUV sensitivity and the resolution of each wafer pass.

In addition, dry resist offers key sustainability benefits by consuming less energy and five to ten times less raw materials than existing wet chemical resist processes. Lam's technology outperforms wet resist materials with exceptionally low defectivity at competitive cost.

"Lam's dry resist achieves excellent defectivity and fidelity at competitive dose," said Steven Scheer, senior vice president of process technology at imec.

Ben Eynon Jr. is senior director of marketing in the Global Product Group at Lam Research.

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Caution Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
Statements made in this article that are not of historical fact are forward-looking statements and are subject to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements relate to but are not limited to: market and industry trends; the potential benefits and applications of our technologies and developmental processes; the impact and success of our products and processes on the semiconductor industry; and the potential benefits of such developmental processes on the environment. Some factors that may affect these forward-looking statements include: trade regulations, export controls, trade disputes, and other geopolitical tensions may inhibit our ability to sell our products; business, political and/or regulatory conditions in the consumer electronics industry, the semiconductor industry and the overall economy may deteriorate or change; the actions of our customers and competitors may be inconsistent with our expectations; supply chain cost increases and other inflationary pressures have impacted and may continue to impact our profitability; supply chain disruptions or manufacturing capacity constraints may limit our ability to manufacture and sell our products; and natural and human-caused disasters, disease outbreaks, war, terrorism, political or governmental unrest or instability, or other events beyond our control may impact our operations in affected areas; as well as the other risks and uncertainties that are described in the documents filed or furnished by us with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including specifically the Risk Factors described in our annual report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2024 and our quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended December 29, 2024. These uncertainties and changes could materially affect the forward-looking statements and cause actual results to vary from expectations in a material way. The Company undertakes no obligation to update the information or statements made in this article.