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Product Briefing Outline: Novellus Systems has introduced the VECTOR ‘Extreme' plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) system that is one of the first systems designed to specifically tackle the high-throughput/short cycle time requirements of ‘Mega' fabs that have production capacity in excess of 100,000wspm. The VECTOR ‘Extreme' has a claimed throughput of up to 250 wafers per hour with the use of 12 deposition stations that also achieve cycle-time reductions of more than 40 percent as compared to other systems available in the market, according to the company.

Problem: The increasing demand for solid-state memory in consumer electronics and computer products has fuelled a sharp rise in the number of companies addressing this market forcing competitors to aggressively reduce costs and increase production to remain competitive. A key cost competitive factor is the migration of production to increasingly larger ‘Mega' fabs that have capacity in excess of 100,000wspm. However, with more than 20 PECVD processing steps required memory manufacturers are faced with system throughput issues as well as a significant increase in the number of tools required that actually increases fab operation complexity, cost and associated maintenance and spare parts. ‘Mega' fabs address cycle-time reduction goals by increasing capacity however high-throughput processing tools can further reduce cycle-times by shorter process step cycles.

Solution: VECTOR Extreme is a 300 mm PECVD system designed for memory fabs with extremely high throughput requirements.  Capable of processing up to 250 wafers-per-hour, VECTOR Extreme features a central wafer process chamber with a dual handling robot that allows the integration of up to three PECVD process modules on a single system, (total of 12 stations).  A key aspect of enabling this number of stations is the use of a unique dual-wafer transfer scheme where four 300mm wafers are simultaneously handled. This also results in faster cycle times due to the reduction in wafer transfer frequency. Employing Novellus' multi-station sequential processing (MSSP) architecture, the VECTOR Extreme's process modules retain hardware transparency with VECTOR Express for ease of process integration between platforms.  In comparison to industry benchmarks, the system improves capital productivity by greater than 25 percent, and shows a commensurate reduction of greater than 40 percent in the number of tools required in the fab, the company claims.

Applications: PECVD processes in high-volume 300mm ‘Mega' fabs.
 
Platform: Introduced in 2000, VECTOR is capable of depositing all dielectric films. The tool's simple design ensures high system reliability and uptime. VECTOR Extreme features a central wafer process chamber with a dual handling robot that allows the integration of up to three PECVD process modules on a single system.

Availability: July 2007 onwards.