Q:
What is epitaxy?
A: The word epitaxy is derived from the
greek “epi” meaning surface and “taxi” meaning arrangement and
refers to the process of growing complex structures atom-by-atom
arranged onto the surface of a substrate.
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Q:
What is Strained Silicon?
A: Implementation of strained silicon into
leading edge processes has been shown to give significant device
performance enhancements.
Steady progress in the resolution capabilities of
projection lithography tools has, up till now, allowed for
economic scaling of gate lengths and other device structures in
step with the International Technology Roadmap for
Semiconductors.
However, things are set to change! Low power
logic performance is now driven by the need for reduced leakage
currents. Gate leakage and sub-threshold leakage are becoming
major challenges and high-k gate dielectrics will be needed at
the next technology nodes to address this. One of the problems
with the new high-k materials is that they create a drag on the
carriers in the channel, reducing effective mobilities.
Therefore introduction of strained silicon is likely to happen
ahead of high-k because without it high-k transistors will have
no performance improvement over transistors with conventional
gate oxides.
The substrate engineering required to produce a
thin strained silicon film is complex and uses a SiGe based
heteroepitaxy process to form a strain relaxed buffer layer with
a larger lattice constant than silicon.
A thin, pseudomorphic layer of silicon is then
grown directly on the buffer layer; this layer is tensile
strained due to the larger lattice constant of the buffer layer
on which it is grown.
Processes developed by IQE help remove the
barriers to entry for strained silicon products. Wafer cost and
poor surface quality have till now been two of the major issues
preventing the adoption of strained silicon. Fundamental changes
to the manufacturing process have now resulted in low cost, high
quality strained silicon materials becoming available.
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Q:
What is IQE's UltraSmooth strained silicon?
A: IQE's
UltraSmooth strained silicon products are produced using a
proprietary single stage epitaxial process. UltraSmooth
strained silicon provides a highly cost effective entry route to
strained silicon.
Advantages of
UltraSmooth:
-
Single stage,
continuous epi-process
-
Clean, simple,
cost effective
-
Proprietary
Technology
-
First to Market
-
Ge Content 10%
- 30%
-
Low defectivity
-
UltraSmooth
short range surface morphology
-
Available NOW
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Q: What are the specifications for IQE's UltraSmooth
strained silicon?
A: Data sheets on
IQE's strained silicon products can be found
here.
Amongst the
attributes that makes UltraSmooth "Best in Class" are:
-
Particle
levels: <200 at 0.25um and <20 at 0.50um
-
Threading
Dislocation Density (TDD): Mid 10E4
-
Pile-up
Dislocation Density: <1cm/cm2
-
Surface
Roughness: 10x10; Ra 5A and 1x1; Ra 0.5A
-
Germanium
Uniformity: <3%
-
Strained Si
Thickness Uniformity: <2%
-
Fully Relaxed
Layer: >98%
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Q:
What are the benefits of outsourcing?
A: Outsourcing saves money, resources and
speeds products to market. The benefits of outsourcing are
compelling. Outsourcing allows business to concentrate on their
core competencies and reduce costs. Outsourcing helps companies
decrease their debt by shifting capital to another company's
books. The question shouldn't be, "Why outsource
manufacturing?", but rather, "Why didn't we outsource
manufacturing sooner?" Today, an improved bottom line is the
driving force behind outsourcing; tomorrow, it will be pure
survival.
In summary, the key
benefits are:
-
Improved Return
on Investment
-
Improved
Profitability
-
Reduced Capital
Spend
-
Ability to
match epi-supply to demand
-
Faster Time to
Market
-
Reduces or
eliminates idle, In-house Capacity
-
Access to
Advanced epi-Technologies
-
Ultimate
Procurement Flexibility
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Q:
Who are IQE's customers?
A: IQE's customers include a number of
major, blue chip manufacturers worldwide comprising a mixture of
integrated device manufacturers (IDMs), fabless and foundry
operations. However, since preserving customer's IP is a primary
feature of IQE's business relationships, confidentiality is of
utmost importance and as such, we are unable to divulge customer
names and details.
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Q:
How can I find out more about how IQE can help me?
A: Our sales team are ready to help in
whatever way they can. You can contact by email, phone, fax or
mail. Click here to visit our contacts
page.
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