Using the exotic “4th state of matter” process doubles speed at which 3D nand can be produced

Researchers find a faster way to etch deep holes for 3D nand
Plasma -based cryotechnology doubles etching speed, improvement of efficiency
Faster etching Power Average cheaper storage, but the real effect is TBD

3D nand flash memory differs from traditional single layers as it vertically stacks memory cells to squeeze more storage in smaller spaces.

The process involves the snow of exact, deep holes in alternating layers of silicon oxide and silicon ride, and this has always been a little slow, until now.

A team of researchers from Lam Research, the University of Colorado Boulder and the US Department of Energy’s Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) has developed a plasma-based technique that can etch the deep, narrow holes required for 3D Nand memory at a much faster interest, interest a paper that was published in Journal of Vacuum Science & Technology A Claims.

Will it benefit end users?

The team’s strategy uses a cryogenic etching process with the use of hydrogen fluoride plasma rather than the traditional method.

“Cryo Etch with hydrogen-lluoride plasma showed a significant increase in the etching speed compared to previous Kryo-ETC processes, where you use separate fluoride and hydrogen sources,” said Thorsten Lill from Lam Research. Using the new methods saw etching speeds for the layer increases from 310 nanometers per minute to 640 nanometers per minute – more than doubles efficiency.

“The quality of the etching also seems to have improved, and that is important,” added Lill.

The researchers also looked at the effects of phosphorus trifluoride. Add it during the process quadrupled the etching speed for silica, but it only had a marginal impact on the silicon -ride layer. They also looked at ammonium fluorosilicate, a chemical that is formed during the etching process when silicon ride reacts with hydrogen fluoride. This slows down the etching process, but the addition of water was found to counteract this.

While the technical performance is to be applauded, the practical consequences are less clear. Faster, better etching speeds can simplify and accelerate production, but if these savings seep down to better or cheaper storage units remains to be seen.

“Most people are familiar with the Nand flash memory because it is the type found in the memory cards for digital cameras and thumb units. It is also used in computers and mobile phones. Making this type of memory eaters still – so that more data can be packed in the same footprint – will become increasingly important as our data storage needs grow due to the use of artificial intelligence, ”explained Igor Kaganovich, a main research physicist at PPPL.

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Using the exotic “4th state of matter” process doubles speed at which 3D nand can be produced

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