Novellus Announces Copper Plating Technology Licensing Agreement With IBM
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San Franciso, California (July 13, 1998) – SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., July 13, 1998æIn a press conference today, Novellus Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq: NVLS) announced they have signed a licensing agreement with IBM pertaining to certain critical technologies needed to manufacture advanced integrated circuits (ICs) with copper interconnect structures. The agreement is an outgrowth of a two-year joint development program between the two companies aimed at creating electroplating equipment needed for volume production of higher speed copper-based devices. Novellus has shipped copper plating systems to IBM to support its ramp of sub-0.25 micron copper manufacturing.
Under terms of the agreement, IBM is licensing its copper electroplating technology to Novellus for use in the company’s new SABRE copper electrofill system, introduced last month as the centerpiece of Novellus’ Damascus Complete Copper product suite. Combining Novellus proprietary technology with that licensed from IBM, SABRE is a revolutionary new tool that enables production-worthy, void-free copper fill in extremely deep, narrow trenches.
Driving the Copper Revolution
Late last year, IBM became the first chipmaker to announce plans to replace traditional aluminum device interconnects with copper wiring to create advanced logic devices that are smaller and more powerful than the most advanced chips in commercial production today. Industry experts agree that copper is the interconnect of the futureæa technology transition that represents a fundamental, sweeping change in chip fabrication.
“Electroplating was our technology of choice to create copper interconnects due to its superior trench fill capability, higher reliability and low cost,” explained Bill Rozich, director of Equipment Technology for the IBM Microelectronics Division. “To produce these chips in volume, however, we needed a new breed of manufacturing equipment specifically developed for the unique challenges of copper electroplating. IBM elected to work with Novellus in this effort based on their track record in developing production-worthy technologies.”
According to Novellus’ Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Richard S. Hill, IBM’s leadership in driving this major industry transition made this an exciting development effort. “IBM invented the dual damascene copper process,” stated Hill. “The breadth of their understanding in both copper processing and electrofilling was invaluable in helping us develop a system that delivers breakthrough production performance. This experience will serve us well as we begin to make this technology available to other chipmakers pursuing copper production.”
Novellus’ extensive field testing confirms the success of SABRE’s proprietary chemistry control in enabling void-free copper electrofill in extremely narrow geometry, high aspect ratio IC structures. In addition, the system demonstrates superior reproducibility of the copper fill with film uniformity of 3 sigma, <5 percent within a wafer. Equally important is the elimination of backside contamination, which is attributable to a proprietary wafer fixture that prevents backside contact with the plating bath. With its simple, robust architecture, SABRE also provides excellent productivity with throughput rates of more than 50 wafers per hour and manufacturing availability of greater than 90 percent.
Accelerating Industry’s Transition to Copper Technology
Hill reports that the licensing agreement with IBM is one of the final building blocks needed to help chipmakers accelerate their transition to higher speed, lower cost, copper-based devices. “When we first conceived our Damascus copper program more than three years ago, we knew that three key elements would be integral to our strategy to lead the copper market with comprehensive manufacturing solutions,” noted Hill. “The first was a complete copper deposition solution featuring industry-leading chemical vapor deposition (CVD), physical vapor deposition (PVD) and electrofill technologies. The second was alliances with leading suppliers of complementary copper manufacturing technologies to resolve the process integration issues that could hinder or delay chipmakers’ adoption of copper interconnects. The third was a corporate partner with both the commitment and technology leadership needed to pave the way in this new processing era.”
“Today, we are pleased to say that we can harness the power of all three elements.” Hill continued, “Our Damascus launch last month unveiled a complete suite of products and processes for the entire copper interconnect structure. Similarly, the partnerships we announced with IPEC and Lam are bringing best-of-breed etch and chemical mechanical planarization (CMP) to the customer. Finally, our arrangement with IBM provides for a production-worthy system for electrofill, the newest technology in the complete copper solution set.”
As a result of these developments and Novellus’ ongoing copper innovation roadmap, global chipmakers may be able to greatly accelerate their migration to devices with copper wiring. This, in turn, may speed the development of more powerful consumer and electronic devices that have significantly greater functionality, longer battery life and lower price points than those commercially available today.
“Safe Harbor” Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995
The statements regarding the performance characteristics of the Company’s Damascus Complete Copper equipment and processes and the potential positive effect of this equipment on customer microprocessor speeds as well as other matters discussed in the news release that are not purely historical data, are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties including, but not limited to, the inability of the Company’s equipment and processes to perform to the expected technical levels as well as other risks indicated in the Company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Actual results may differ materially. Novellus assumes no obligation to update this information. For more details, please refer to Novellus’ SEC filings, including its most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q.
Source: IBM