Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : Formerly About Applied Materials -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: StanX Long who wrote (62985)	4/19/2002 1:04:31 AM
From: StanX Long	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 70976

Applied executive warns of misleading low-k measurements in interconnects By Sara Sowah of EETimes, UK Semiconductor Business News (04/18/02 13:52 p.m. EST) siliconstrategies.com MUNICH -- Let the buyer beware. Some materials being touted as low-k dielectrics films may not be low-k at all, warned Walter Schoenleber, senior director for technology at Applied Materials Europe. Speaking at this week's Semicon Europa here, Schoenleber said the wafer fab equipment giant has noticed that a number of supposed low-k materials for IC interconnect structures are delivering disappointing results in tests, partly because of the combinations in which they sometimes need to be used. Low-k materials -- typically described as films with a dielectric constant (k) of 3 and lower -- are seen as one way of insulating the metal interconnects in ICs and preventing cross-talk interference as process geometries shrink. Chips also can run at higher speeds and consume less power because of reduced capacitance in the interconnects. But Applied's Schoenleber says k values are often higher than expected. The values are impacted by the formulation of low-k materials, coating layers that prevents the low-k material being contaminated by copper metal lines and the interconnects themselves, said the Applied Materials executive.