应用材料公司力推3D缩放技术，为HBM和CPO开发新材料
应用材料公司已完成下一代三维半导体缩放所需四项关键技术的准备工作，并正加速相关人力和基础设施建设。该公司为高带宽存储器（HBM）和共封装光学（CPO）开发新材料，以支持先进封装和异构集成。此举与半导体供应链中先进封装产能及材料供应相关。
原文深度解读
应用材料公司（Applied Materials）于2023年8月31日在首尔媒体简报会上宣布，已完成下一代三维（3D）半导体缩放所需的四项关键技术的准备，并正加速人力和基础设施扩张以配合韩国客户扩产。公司为高带宽存储器（HBM）和共封装光学（CPO）开发新材料，涉及先进封装和异构集成。文章提及EPIC中心（投资50亿美元）和韩国ACCK中心，以及三星电子、SK海力士、美光等参与方。这与电子元器件供应链中先进封装产能、材料供应和设备需求相关。
- 应用材料公司全球封装与集成材料解决方案集团副总裁Mukund Srinivasan在8月31日媒体简报会上表示，AI模型计算密集度增加，功耗指数级上升，3D缩放是降低每比特数据功耗的关键。
- 应用材料公司指出逻辑芯片、存储和封装正快速转向3D结构，并列出3D缩放的四项关键技术：新材料开发、工艺创新、埃米级工艺控制、各工艺步骤优化。
- 公司为HBM开发了Producer Avila 2 PECVD系统（低温沉积氧化/氮化薄膜）和Nokota VMax 2 ECD系统（用于3微米以下TSV铜填充），并正与客户联合研究CPO用光波导材料，以及高导热绝缘材料以解决HBM散热问题。
- 公司已开发并商业化选择性工艺（如Centura Prime Epi用于DRAM外围电路选择性外延）和混合键合技术（Kinex D2W系统，将队列时间从13小时缩短至1小时），并拥有D2W和W2W完整产品组合。
- 公司准备了Opta Quad CMP、VeritySEM 7AP和SEMVision G7AP等计量和检测设备，用于实时控制纳米和埃米级误差。
- EPIC中心是投资50亿美元的研发设施，三星电子、SK海力士、美光参与，计划10月在硅谷开放；ACCK中心设在韩国乌山，将连接EPIC中心的基础研究与韩国客户，并支持其量产线。
供应链影响
- 应用材料公司为HBM和CPO开发新材料，可能影响先进封装材料供应链，尤其是光波导和高导热绝缘材料的供应格局。
- EPIC中心和ACCK中心的启用可能加速新技术的商业化，从而影响半导体设备供应链的需求节奏。
- 韩国客户（如三星、SK海力士）的产能扩张可能带动对应用材料设备的需求，进而影响相关设备供应链的交付周期。
- 3D缩放技术的推进可能改变对CMP、计量和检测设备的需求，取决于客户采用新技术的速度。
- 混合键合技术的普及可能影响传统微凸块供应链，但具体影响取决于市场接受度和成本效益。
系统解读，仅作为判断线索，不构成备货、出货、涨价或投资建议。
应用材料公司全球封装与集成材料解决方案集团副总裁Mukund Srinivasan。（照片：THE ELEC）
应用材料公司已完成下一代三维（3D）半导体缩放所需四项关键技术的准备工作。该公司还正配合韩国客户近期的产能增加，加速人力和基础设施扩张。
应用材料公司全球封装与集成材料解决方案集团副总裁Mukund Srinivasan在8月31日于Oakwood Premier Coex Center举行的媒体简报会上表示，人工智能（AI）模型正变得越来越计算密集，其功耗呈指数级上升。他说：“行业面临的关键挑战是最大限度地降低每比特数据的功耗，而解决方案就是3D缩放。”
AI的普及加剧了“内存墙”，即计算与内存之间的瓶颈。克服这一瓶颈需要更高效的数据传输，在快速移动信息的同时降低功耗。应用材料公司表示，逻辑芯片、存储和封装都在迅速转向3D结构。
该公司还概述了实施3D结构面临的四项关键挑战及其已开发的技术。“3D缩放最重要的创新是：第一，新材料开发；第二，实际工艺创新；然后是工艺和设备的埃米级（Å，0.1纳米）工艺控制；以及每个工艺步骤的优化，”Srinivasan说。“应用材料对其核心单元工艺和材料有相当大的信心，我们相信也能解决集成这些工艺和材料的挑战。”
◇ 用于HBM和CPO的新材料
应用材料韩国公司执行董事Kim Ji-hye主持媒体简报会。（照片：THE ELEC）
新材料开发旨在缓解芯片内部和外部的互连瓶颈。需要降低电阻和电容，以提高信号传输速度并降低功率损耗。应用材料公司正通过先进的薄膜和电镀技术以及新材料研发（R&D）寻求解决方案。
Producer Avila 2等离子体增强化学气相沉积（PECVD）系统就是这样的解决方案之一。它可以在高带宽存储器（HBM）的背面低温沉积氧化物和氮化物薄膜。HBM中使用的核心芯片（即DRAM芯片）厚度约为传统DRAM芯片的二十五分之一，因此容易翘曲。应用材料公司的解决方案还包括Nokota VMax 2电化学沉积（ECD）系统，用于对3微米或更小的超细硅通孔（TSV）进行镀铜。
最近，该公司一直与客户共同研究用于共封装光学（CPO）的新型光波导材料。CPO是一种将光学和高性能电子芯片集成在单个封装中的下一代技术。应用材料公司还在开发高导热绝缘材料，在保持电绝缘的同时最大限度地散热，以解决HBM的热问题。
◇ 3D结构和混合键合技术已就绪
HBM和CPO模型。（照片：THE ELEC）
第二个领域，工艺创新，需要能够形成复杂3D结构的技术。应用材料公司已开发并商业化选择性工艺，可以处理3D结构内的特定区域，以及将芯片间距减小到接近零的键合技术。
特别是，用于DRAM外围电路的Centura Prime Epi选择性外延系统，在晶体管电极区域（即源极和漏极）选择性生长硅锗（SiGe）和掺磷硅（Si:P）。该技术通过向硅中引入杂质并精确控制其浓度来调节半导体的电学特性，从而实现下一代半导体制造。
应用材料公司还提供Kinex，一种集成的芯片对晶圆（D2W）混合键合集群系统。D2W键合直接连接芯片间的铜和介电材料，与微凸块相比，可最大化输入/输出（I/O）密度并减少信号延迟。Kinex将等离子体活化、清洗、D2W键合和计量集成到一个系统中，将队列时间从13小时缩短至1小时。
“应用材料拥有完整的D2W和晶圆对晶圆（W2W）产品组合，”Srinivasan说。“我们正在帮助客户更轻松地确定他们想要采用的组合和方法。”
第三，随着逻辑和存储工艺变得更加先进，能够实时控制和测量纳米和埃米级误差的设备变得至关重要。应用材料公司已准备了Opta Quad化学机械平坦化（CMP）系统、VeritySEM 7AP电子束关键尺寸计量系统和SEMVision G7AP电子束缺陷分析系统。Opta Quad CMP可用于混合键合和TSV，VeritySEM 7AP用于HBM和芯片粒基板，SEMVision G7AP用于硅、有机和玻璃基板。
◇ EPIC中心和ACCK联动，韩国招聘持续进行
应用材料韩国公司总裁Park Kwang-sun。（照片：THE ELEC）
最后一个领域，每个工艺步骤的优化，涉及整合半导体制造工艺之间的相互作用，超越单个设备层面。应用材料公司正通过其EPIC（设备与工艺创新及商业化）中心和韩国应用材料协作中心（ACCK）为此做准备。
应用材料公司的EPIC中心是一个耗资50亿美元的研发设施。三星电子、SK海力士和美光等公司参与其中。该设施正在建设中，计划于10月在硅谷开放。它将允许半导体公司共同协调从早期材料开发到器件设计、沉积、平坦化和键合的整个过程，并验证大规模生产的技术。目标是显著缩短新技术商业化所需的时间。
ACCK是正在京畿道乌山建立的下一代半导体研发协作中心。它将接收在硅谷EPIC中心开发的基础技术和创新材料，并通过技术验证与韩国客户共同开发。“一旦韩国的ACCK建成，我们将把EPIC中心开发的基础研究和材料创新通过乌山的ACCK与韩国客户连接起来，”应用材料韩国公司总裁Park Kwang-sun说。“我们将加强支持体系，使新技术能够直接连接到韩国客户的大规模生产线，并最大限度地加快创新步伐。”
“我们还正在做出各种努力，以确保随着客户在全球扩张，人力和技术支持不会出现缺口，”Park补充道。“我们不仅在内部，还与大学和客户就人力扩张进行深入讨论，因此我们预计不会遇到重大困难。”
Mukund Srinivasan, global group vice president of Packaging and Integrated Materials Solutions at Applied Materials. (Photo: THE ELEC)
Applied Materials has completed preparations for four key technologies needed for next-generation three-dimensional (3D) semiconductor scaling. The company is also accelerating workforce and infrastructure expansion in line with recent capacity increases by its Korean customers.
Mukund Srinivasan, global group vice president of Packaging and Integrated Materials Solutions at Applied Materials, said at a media briefing at Oakwood Premier Coex Center on Aug. 31 that artificial intelligence (AI) models are becoming increasingly compute-intensive, with their power consumption rising exponentially. "The solution to the industry's key challenge of minimizing power consumption per bit of data is 3D scaling," he said.
The proliferation of AI is exacerbating the "memory wall," a bottleneck between computing and memory. Overcoming it requires more efficient data transmission that moves information quickly while consuming less power. Applied Materials said logic chips, memory and packaging are all rapidly transitioning to 3D structures.
The company also outlined four key challenges in implementing 3D structures and the technologies it has developed to address them. "The most important innovations for 3D scaling are, first, new materials development; second, actual process innovation; then angstrom-level (Å, 0.1 nanometers) process control of processes and equipment; and optimization at each process step," Srinivasan said. "Applied has considerable confidence in its core unit processes and materials, and we are confident that we can also solve the challenges of integrating them."
◇ New Materials for HBM and CPO
Kim Ji-hye, executive director at Applied Materials Korea, moderates the media briefing. (Photo: THE ELEC)
New materials development is aimed at easing interconnect bottlenecks inside and outside chips. Resistance and capacitance need to be reduced to increase signal transmission speeds and lower power losses. Applied Materials is seeking solutions through advanced thin-film and plating technologies and new materials research and development (R&D).
The Producer Avila 2 plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) system is one such solution. It can deposit oxide and nitride thin films at low temperatures on the backside of high-bandwidth memory (HBM). Core dies, or DRAM chips, used in HBM are about one-25th the thickness of conventional DRAM dies, making them susceptible to warpage. Applied Materials' solutions also include the Nokota VMax 2 electrochemical deposition (ECD) system for copper plating of ultra-fine through-silicon vias (TSVs) measuring 3 micrometers or less.
More recently, the company has been jointly researching new optical waveguide materials with customers for co-packaged optics (CPO). CPO is a next-generation technology that integrates optical and high-performance electronic chips in a single package. Applied Materials is also developing highly thermally conductive insulating materials that maximize heat dissipation while maintaining electrical insulation to address HBM thermal issues.
◇ 3D Structure and Hybrid Bonding Technologies in Place
HBM and CPO models. (Photo: THE ELEC)
The second area, process innovation, requires technologies capable of forming complex 3D structures. Applied Materials has developed and commercialized selective processes that can treat specific areas within 3D structures, as well as bonding technologies that reduce the spacing between chips to near zero.
In particular, the Centura Prime Epi selective epitaxy system for DRAM peripheral circuitry selectively grows silicon germanium (SiGe) and phosphorus-doped silicon (Si:P) in transistor electrode regions, or sources and drains. The technology enables next-generation semiconductor manufacturing by introducing impurities into silicon and precisely controlling their concentration to tune the electrical properties of semiconductors.
Applied Materials also offers Kinex, an integrated die-to-wafer (D2W) hybrid bonding cluster system. D2W bonding directly joins copper and dielectric materials between chips, maximizing input/output (I/O) density and reducing signal delays compared with microbumps. Kinex integrates plasma activation, cleaning, D2W bonding and metrology into a single system, cutting queue time from 13 hours to one hour.
"Applied has a complete portfolio of products for both D2W and wafer-to-wafer (W2W)," Srinivasan said. "We are helping customers more easily determine which combinations and approaches they want to adopt."
Third, as logic and memory processes become more advanced, equipment capable of real-time control and measurement of errors at the nanometer and angstrom scales has become essential. Applied Materials has prepared the Opta Quad chemical mechanical planarization (CMP) system, the VeritySEM 7AP e-beam critical-dimension metrology system and the SEMVision G7AP e-beam defect analysis system. Opta Quad CMP can be used for hybrid bonding and TSVs, VeritySEM 7AP for HBM and chiplet substrates, and SEMVision G7AP for silicon, organic and glass substrates.
◇ EPIC Center and ACCK Link Up as Korea Hiring Continues
Park Kwang-sun, president of Applied Materials Korea. (Photo: THE ELEC)
The final area, optimization at each process step, involves integrating interactions among semiconductor manufacturing processes beyond the individual equipment level. Applied Materials is preparing for this through its EPIC (Equipment and Process Innovation and Commercialization) Center and Applied Collaboration Center Korea (ACCK).
Applied Materials' EPIC Center is a $5 billion R&D facility. Companies including Samsung Electronics, SK hynix and Micron are participating. The facility is under construction and is scheduled to open in Silicon Valley in October. It will allow semiconductor companies to jointly coordinate the entire process from early-stage materials development to device design, deposition, planarization and bonding, and validate technologies for mass production. The goal is to significantly shorten the time needed to commercialize new technologies.
ACCK is a next-generation semiconductor R&D collaboration hub being established in Osan, Gyeonggi Province. It will receive foundational technologies and innovative materials developed at the EPIC Center in Silicon Valley and jointly develop them with Korean customers through technology validation. "Once ACCK in Korea is completed, we will connect foundational research and materials innovations developed at the EPIC Center with Korean customers through ACCK in Osan," said Park Kwang-sun, president of Applied Materials Korea. "We will strengthen the support system so new technologies can be directly linked to our customers' mass-production lines in Korea and maximize the pace of innovation."
"We are also making various efforts to ensure there are no gaps in workforce and technical support as our customers expand globally," Park added. "We are having in-depth discussions about workforce expansion not only internally but also with universities and customers, so we do not expect major difficulties."