SAFC Hitech has extended its collaborative partnership with leading industrial and medical gas producer, Air Water Inc., (AWI) to offer the semiconductor industry in Japan further support for developing advanced materials for FEOL and BEOL applications. Material development includes materials such as Zirconium and Titanium, amongst others, as well as metal thin film precursors, including but not limited to, Ruthenium, the companies have announced.
"The innovative, highly competitive nature of Japan's semiconductor market has proven to be a significant driver in pushing the microelectronics industry forward," commented Dr. Peter Heys, Research and Development Director at SAFC Hitech. "Extending our excellent working relationship with AWI provides valuable development resources to this key strategic market, one that we believe will continue to lead advancement of chip technology. The highly skilled scientific teams of SAFC Hitech and AWI and the world class facilities in which they work have attracted a number of Japanese multinational IDMs and OEMs. We currently have numerous programs where a customer's research engineers work closely alongside SAFC and AWI researchers to collaborate on projects."
AWI's research facility employs three Atomic Layer Deposition Reactors that can deposit single, atom-thin layers of film in a controlled sequence cycle using specially designed and 'fit for purpose' chemical precursors.