Novellus Systems (NASDAQ: NVLS) today announced that it has shipped the company's 1000th VECTOR plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) system to GLOBALFOUNDRIES' Fab 7 in Singapore.
A leading provider of advanced semiconductor manufacturing technology, GLOBALFOUNDRIES recently integrated the operations of Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing, and will use the milestone 300mm VECTOR Express™ for high-volume manufacturing at the 65nm technology node and beyond in Fab 7.
Originally introduced in July of 2000, the VECTOR system is a manufacturing workhorse used to deposit a wide range of dielectric applications. In the front-end-of-line (FEOL), VECTOR is used to deposit gate spacers and liners, high stress films for straining silicon, amorphous carbon and anti-reflective layers, hard mask films and etch stop layers. Back-end-of-line (BEOL) applications include inter-metal and inter-layer dielectrics, copper diffusion barrier films, low dielectric constant capping layers, and final passivation layers. Recently, VECTOR is being employed for emerging dielectric applications, such as ultra-low dielectric constant (ULK) films and dielectric layers used in through-silicon-via (TSV) packaging technology.
VECTOR's strong acceptance in the semiconductor manufacturing market is a result of the product's high capital productivity, low installation and operating costs, small system footprint, high wafer-to-wafer repeatability and, single digit defect performance in the sub-100 nm particle sizes.
"The Novellus VECTOR platform is used in high-volume production at 65nm and in the advanced 45/40nm technology nodes in Fab 7 for both FEOL and BEOL dielectric applications," said Peter Benyon, head of Fab 7 operations at GLOBALFOUNDRIES. "We look forward to continuing our partnership with Novellus in developing cost-effective, advanced technological solutions to help our customers rapidly bring their innovative designs to market."
"We are very pleased to be commemorating this milestone shipment with the company's acceptance of our 1000th tool, as Chartered becomes a part of the new GLOBALFOUNDRIES," said Kevin Jennings, senior vice president of Novellus' PECVD business unit. "Chartered purchased its first VECTOR system in 2004, and had long been an important customer of Novellus. We hope to develop an equally close relationship with GLOBALFOUNDRIES."
Novellus Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq: NVLS) is a leading provider of advanced process equipment for the global semiconductor industry. The company's products deliver value to customers by providing innovative technology backed by trusted productivity. An S&P 500 company, Novellus is headquartered in San Jose, Calif. with subsidiary offices across the globe.