World's First 300-mm Ready Ion Beam Deposition System for Spintronics and MRAM Development

Aviza Technology, a supplier of advanced semiconductor capital equipment and process technologies for the global semiconductor industry and related markets, today announced the introduction of StratIon(TM) fxP, the world's first 300-mm ready Ion Beam Deposition system.

The first system was shipped to CEA-LETI-MINATEC in Grenoble, France, one of Europe's foremost applied research centers in electronics and Spintronics. The StratIon fxP will be used to develop next-generation magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ)-based devices for applications including MRAM, hard disk drive read heads or RF components. The system will also be used for the deposition of metal gates for advanced CMOS processes. In addition to the system shipment, Aviza and CEA-LETI have signed a three year joint development program covering the development of MTJ deposition processes for future MRAM and Spintronics devices.

The StratIon fxP system uses ion beam processing for the deposition of metal and dielectric thin films, and is the world's first ion beam deposition system for 300mm wafer manufacturing. Designed for high volume manufacturing silicon fabs, the system is based on production-proven hardware and software platforms and can be configured with three standard chamber types: preclean, oxidation and deposition. Additional Aviza deposition chambers such as atomic layer deposition (ALD) and magnetron PVD can be seamlessly added for additional flexibility. StratIon fxP offers low cost of ownership, high throughput and a smaller fab footprint compared to currently available systems used for MTJ deposition.
Posted: Nov 06,2008 by Ron Mertens