Advances in lithography, for example, dramatically reduced the size of the transistors that can be reliably fabricated on a chip. Manufacturing processes have come a long way from 25 years ago when silicon wafers were loaded by hand into red-hot furnaces, where they were exposed to various gases for specified amounts of time. Machines whisk wafers between stages. Through its research, Albany s CAT aims to provide answers to that question. Kaloyeros s early work with copper laid the foundation for that expertise.
Aluminum alloys are the current metal of choice for interconnects.
But as all the components of chips have become smaller and smaller, the deposition of aluminum alloys into the small holes made for interconnects has become increasingly difficult and generated industry concerns about chip reliability, says Kaloyeros. For that and other reasons, industry wants to explore alternatives. A tour of CAT laboratories in the University s Physics Building reveals one important reason so many companies come to the CAT for help in exploring alternatives. The CAT now possesses three commercial cluster tools the core components of modern chip manufacturing. The analysis he provides helps CAT researchers determine what is happening at virtually the atomic level when a thin film is grown on a surface.