Brewer Science Launches New Silicon-Rich Gapfill Material

Brewer Science, Inc. announced the launch of OptiStack PL200 series material, a silicon-rich high-aspect ratio gapfill material designed to provide superior planarization, solving problems faced in sacrificial gapfill applications. This material series also facilitates next-generation advanced-node patterning by providing a protective, easily strippable, gapfill material that overcomes challenges with nanosheet architectures.

OptiStack PL200 series material is a spin-on, silicon-rich gapfill material providing extremely low defectivity in comparison to legacy gapfill materials. This material series is designed to provide excellent gapfill of <10-nm trench and via structures, while also providing superior planarization for robust, faithful lithography and etch transfer. The stability of the product provides a long shelf life of 365 days (at 21°C).

OptiStack PL200 series material shows potential in applications, especially in advanced Fin-FET processes and future architectures, such as forksheets, nanosheets/gate-all-around (GAA) and CFET.

“Advanced logic and foundry platform technologies require a high-aspect ratio gapfilling material that protects structures and easily strips without residue,” said Jim Lamb, corporate fellow at Brewer Science. “OptiStack PL200 series material meets this need.”

A traditional plasma cleaning process is insufficient at cleaning deep structures, leading to potential contamination or damage to transistor structures. In forksheet, or nanosheets/gate-all-around transistor structures, cleaning of the horizontal nanosheets is crucial because residual material on or between nanosheets can prevent removal, or deposition, of subsequent atomic layers.

A cleaning with SC1 effectively removes OptiStack PL200 series material and does not damage critical areas when building the N-type metal oxide semiconductor (NMOS) and p-channel metal-oxide semiconductor (PMOS) structures.