Wireless & Connectivity
The wireless market continues to grow with the popularity of
smartphones and tablets, and the increasing adoption of wirelessly connected products
such as smart watches, fitness wearables, "smart" TVs and appliances, other types of devices in the expanding Internet of Things (IoT), and 5G connectivity networks.
The wireless market is dominated by compound semiconductor materials.
Compound semiconductors are used in digital, analog, and mixed
ICs, including radio, power, and other high-frequency circuits
that use heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBT), high-electron-mobility
transistors (HEMTs), surface acoustic wave (SAW), and bulk
acoustic wave (BAW) devices.
With plasma etch, deposition, and ion beam tools, Plasma-Therm
systems support the full range of compound semiconductor materials
used in devices for the wireless market.
Supported applications for HBTs and HEMTs:
- Low-damage
gate opening
- High-rate backside via etching
- Deposition of low-stress silicon nitride
Reproducibility for a production environment is provided with
Plasma-Therm’s actively controlled ICP heated process module and an integrated
endpoint system. The endpoint system, known as EndpointWorks™, is capable of working
with laser interferometry, optical emission spectroscopy and other inputs.
Typical applications
• Etch
- GaAs via — high rate with profile control.
- InP via — high rate with profile control
- GaAs-based mesa etching
- SiNx low-damage gate etching
Low-damage SiNx gate opening is accomplished with low-power processes
appropriate for damage-sensitive compound semiconductors such as GaAs and InGaAs.
The fastest backside via etch rate with profile control is available
with the VERSALINE®. Electrostatic clamping of unmetallized sapphire carriers
provides the advantage of better thermal performance with minimal edge exclusion. Plasma-Therm
leads the development of pillar-free vias.
• Deposition — low-stress, low-damage PECVD of
SiNx
- Capacitors
- Encapsulation
- Passivation
- Interlayer dielectric
With Plasma-Therm’s advanced PECVD helium dilution technology,
stress-controlled silicon nitride films can be deposited without the device damage associated
with the use of low frequency.
• Wafer Singulation
•Ion beam
QuaZar™ Systems ion beam etch and deposition technology
provides the highest uniformity, repeatability, and lowest cost
of ownership for SAW and BAW applications.
Products
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