Applied Materials sets cobalt on path to future chips
When a global leader in providing equipment, services and software used for manufacturing semiconductors makes an announcement, industry players sit up and listen, as the technologies are going to impact market activity in devices such as smartphones, flat screen TVs and solar panels. Tuesday's announcement from Applied Materials was big. The Santa Clara, California based equipment supplier announced the launch of its Endura Volta CVD Cobalt chip making machine. This is the only tool capable of encapsulating copper interconnects in logic chips beyond the 28nm node by depositing precise, thin cobalt films, said the company. The news is in the world "cobalt." The company sees cobalt as a superior metal encapsulation film. "Applied Materials announced that the Endura Volta CVD Cobalt system represents the first material change in more than 15 years of copper barrier/seed (CuBS) development, "a new materials era" for extending copper interconnect technology. It is not only...