Joint agreement will centre on advanced films and process development into 2010
Aviza Technology has announced that it has extended its joint development agreement with Air Liquide. The agreement, which now has been extended through 2010, centres on advanced films and process development for semiconductor fabrication. The decision between Aviza and Air Liquide was announced on April 2005.
"We joined forces with Aviza as a partner for innovative materials development and integration so that we could offer chipmakers manufacturing-worthy process solutions to meet their roadmap requirements," said Christophe Fontaine, Vice President of Air Liquide Electronics. "The agreement has proven to be a mutually beneficial partnership for both companies and we look forward to continuing our development efforts with Aviza."
Continuous integrated circuit (IC) device scaling poses certain critical manufacturing challenges, with new materials playing an integral role in successful sub-90-nm IC production. Ongoing industry collaboration is important for early development of process and technology solutions to overcome these next-generation challenges.
Aviza and Air Liquide's collaborative partnership enables both companies to leverage their expertise in the areas of advanced films, process technology and hardware to help address deposition challenges for increasingly smaller and complex IC devices. As part of the agreement, Air Liquide's ALOHA organization will produce the chemicals, perform the associated analyses and characterisations, evaluate them through their Precursor Screening Program when needed, and Aviza will utilise selected precursors to develop fully characterized films to support advanced applications for sub-90nm manufacturing.
"To date, Aviza has experienced quite a successful collaborative partnership with Air Liquide," said Helmuth Treichel, Vice President of Advanced Applications of Aviza Technology, Inc. "Both Aviza and Air Liquide have benefited from our ongoing agreement and we feel there is much more opportunity to expand and enhance our research and development efforts by working with industry experts, like Air Liquide in the materials arena."
