Why Sundew
Atomic layer deposition offers exceptional benefits to manufacturers: it lays down films with robust, atomic-level control. It deposits high quality films on complex three-dimensional structures with unmatched conformality and uniformity. Yet, ALD presents serious challenges in production environments. Its main ‘pain points’ are extensive maintenance and limited performance, both contributing to excessive cost of ownership. Sundew Technologies is the productivity leader in ALD, providing innovative, complete solutions to ALD productivity. Our production-proven equipment delivers consistent productivity and performance that challenge legacy deposition equipment, such as chemical vapor deposition (CVD) and physical vapor deposition (PVD).
HIGH PRODUCTIVITY
Sundew’s breakthrough SMFD-ALD technology sets new benchmarks of ALD performance and productivity. It enables fast deposition with consistent, robust high performance. Unlike competing ALD, SMFD-ALD achieves high throughput without sacrificing film quality, uniformity, or conformality or equipment uptime.
In addition to high throughput, Sundew’s suite of patented innovations enables new capabilities that were never before possible with ALD. For example, cost-effective fast deposition of ALD films as thick as several microns at deposition temperatures below 200° C.
Another example is efficient delivery of low-volatility precursors. For processes that require low-volatility precursors, such as high-k dielectrics, metal nitrides and metals, Sundew’s patented source and process technologies enable fast and cost-effective deposition, such as hafnium oxide, silicon oxide and hafnium silicate deposition at sub-second cycle times and high quality TiN deposition under 300 °C at sub-second cycle time.
Additional productivity breakthroughs include record up times that surpass legacy equipment performance, low-cost, safe and simple maintenance, drastically reduced consumables use, and a low cost of ownership. These benefits combine to a paradigm shift in thin film deposition productivity and performance.
EFFICIENT CHEMICAL USE
Sundew’s SMFD-ALD technology introduces a novel, efficient method of precursors transport and use during the ALD process. As a result, SMFD-ALD consumes more than 40 times less chemicals than competing ALD. It is also an order of magnitude more efficient in chemicals use than legacy chemical vapor deposition (CVD) equipment. This high chemical use efficiency (up to > 90%) drastically reduces the cost of consumables, while also eliminating the extraordinary waste load that is typical to ALD.
‘ZERO WASTE’ PROCESS
At Sundew, we successfully act on our belief that we can and must prevent the accumulation of hazardous substances during the manufacturing process. Sundew’s ALD is a ‘zero waste’ process. It is a paradigm shift from the traditional way legacy equipment handles chemicals. CVD and, in particular, ALD generate large loads of untreated hazardous waste that expose maintenance personnel to dangerous chemicals and the risk of accidental spills to the environment.
Sundew’s equipment uniquely integrates on-the-spot proprietary integrated abatement that converts unused precursors into environmentally benign films. Rather than dealing with traps or vacuum lines filled with reactive chemicals and by products that violently react when exposed to the atmosphere, maintenance is reduced to a safe and quick replacement of low-cost parts.
Sundew’s equipment sets new standards for efficiency and reduced environmental impact in atomic layer deposition. Our patented, simplified system design enables compact and energy efficient equipment that requires substantially less factory power and footprint. SMFD-ALD consumes drastically reduced chemical amounts, and its integrated abatement prevents harboring hazardous waste that otherwise poses environmental, health & safety risks.
LOW MAINTENANCE
Tired of dealing with vacuum pumps failing every few days in production? Frustrated with white abrasive powder creeping up your vacuum lines and interfering with your ALD process? Using ALD in production can be a costly nightmare, but with Sundew’s suite of proprietary solutions the nightmare is over. Sundew’s Revolution line of ALD systems delivers high productivity performance with up time records that exceed CVD equipment. Proven in production, our SMFD-ALD maintenance cycles exceed 250 μm of accumulated film, or 40,000 wafers in a typical semiconductor high-K application.
LOW COST OF OWNERSHIP
The combination of high productivity, low cost of consumables, low maintenance and a simplified, compact design makes Sundew’s SMFD-ALD the lowest cost of ownership ALD equipment available. Depending on your application, you can realize cost of ownership savings of 75% and more over the competition.
