You've heard it before but we'll say it again — much of the excitement in devices today occurs at the transistor level. This month we examine the options behind high-k and metal gate, ways of fabricating ultrashallow junctions, and methods for cleaning the residues left behind various processes without sacrificing precious silicon. Remember that you can always find other useful information at our Wafer Processing Technology Channel:

Laura Peters, Editor-in-Chief
lpeters@reedbusiness.com

Air Gaps: Unlikely Becoming More Likely?
Laura Peters, Editor-in-Chief — Semiconductor International, 4/23/2008

The upcoming International Interconnect Technology Conference (IITC), held in Burlingame, Calif., June 1-4, will once again feature papers on the use of air gaps as a low-k dielectric. But unlike the papers of years ago, air gaps seem to be emerging out of the pure research phase, becoming possible, even likely, to one day be used in production devices. Two companies propose sacrificial approaches to air gap formation in the pre-conference material. Toshiba (Tokyo) builds a 10 metal level interconnect with sacrificial polyarylene (PAr) interlevel dielectric. STMicroelectronics and CEA-Leti researchers in Grenoble, France, will also report on the use of a sacrificial material, SiO2, which is removed using hydrofluoric acid (HF). More

IBM: 'Open For Business' for 32 nm High-k/Metal Gate Designs
David Lammers, News Editor — Semiconductor International, 4/14/2008

IBM Corp. (Armonk, N.Y.) and its partners are "open for business" for early customer design engagements using a bulk 32 nm technology with a high-k/metal gate stack, said Gary Patton, an IBM vice president. IBM announced that a low-power 32 nm design enablement package is now available, with a design prototyping shuttle starting in the third quarter of 2008 and continuing on a quarterly schedule. More

VLSI Symposium Takes on Nanowires, FinFETs, High-k/Metal Gate
David Lammers, News Editor — Semiconductor International, 4/1/2008

The 2008 VLSI Technology Symposium, planned for June 17-19 in Honolulu, kicks off with an appropriate beginning for an industry with a keen interest in renewable energy, and then takes up high-k dielectrics, nanowires, vertical devices and other topics on the semiconductor industry's research agenda. More

Aviza Announces Major Restructuring
Staff — Semiconductor International, 4/3/2008

Aviza Technology Inc. (Scotts Valley, Calif.) stated it will undergo a "significant restructuring" of its global workforce and products, focusing on atomic layer deposition (ALD), as well as etch and physical vapor deposition (PVD) technologies for the fast-growing MEMS, 3-D IC and power semiconductor markets. More

Chartered Extends Technology Development With IBM to 22 nm
Business Wire, 4/2/2008

Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing announced the extension of its joint development collaboration with IBM to include 22 nm bulk CMOS. Financial terms were not disclosed. More

Lam Records $65.8M Charge for Stock-Option Backdating
Ann Steffora Mutschler, Senior Editor — Electronic News, 4/1/2008

The semiconductor manufacturing equipment supplier has recorded adjustments to previously issued financial statements totaling $65.8M for compensation expenses, net of taxes, in fiscal years 1997-2006, with a $3M impact on the three most recent fiscal years. More

Applied Targets Mask Cleaning
Business Wire, 4/14/2008

Applied Materials Inc. released its Applied Tetra Reticle Clean, a wet clean system designed to deliver damage-free, >99% particle removal efficiency for 32 nm photomasks. According to the company, the compact Tetra Reticle Clean system offers up to four times the throughput of competing systems. More