Summary
This acquisition is not Lam Research’s first step into wet processing but will be the most significant and application intensive. A very good match considering the industry is in the transitional phase for new materials and device structures at and below the 65nm node and requires an in-depth understanding of the special sensitivities to wet chemistry and etch interactions. As a major player in dielectric etch area, the SEZ acquisition complements the potential for a customer turnkey integrated process.
Analysis
Lam Research’s first step into wet chemistry applications came in 1997 with the acquisition of OnTrak Systems which was the Synergy product for post CMP (Chemical-mechanical planarization) clean for effectively removing slurry residue. However, dielectric etch tools and processes have been Lam Research’s main source of revenue for several years clearly out pacing Applied Materials in that particular segment with primarily Tokyo Electron as their main competitor for dielectric etch. So why then does Lam look to wet processing from SEZ? The SEZ tools offer single-wafer process capability, and are well suited to 300mm wafer processing and polymer removal, a main byproduct of the dielectric etch process step. The strategy for the marriage of these two companies is an indication of good technical leadership - recognizing that for each metal layer in a given device, a dielectric layer is also required that will see both etch and wet-cleaning. This is true for both 200mm and 300mm wafers and not just for copper metal but also aluminum and tungsten trailing-edge processes. Working together, Lam and SEZ can jointly develop improved process integration for the etch/clean steps and pass this knowledge on to their customers. Solid process integration will be a key offering for advanced node (65nm, 45nm and 32nm) technology customers as new materials like very low-k dielectrics, high-k gates, SOI (Silicon-on-Insulator) and strained-silicon come into play in larger volumes. Challenges from Lam Research’s competitors are Tokyo Electron’s etch and surface preparation tools and others like Semitool, FSI International, Applied Materials “Oasis” tool and Novellus’ Gamma tool. In many respects, Lam Research is a little late to the wet-chemistry game but the delay could payoff as long as SEZ’s knowledge base remains largely intact.
