SEMATECH announced today that Araca Inc., a leading provider of products and services for chemical mechanical planarization (CMP) research and development, and the International SEMATECH Manufacturing Initiative (ISMI) are partnering to deliver CMP processing and productivity solutions to help chip manufacturers increase yields, reduce equipment downtime and lower consumables costs.

“Leading-edge device designs and materials are introducing more complexity into planarization processing for manufacturers. This is increasing wafer costs and impacting die yields,” said Dr. Ara Philipossian, president and founder of Araca, Inc. "Partnering with ISMI allows us to validate our CMP Slurry Injector System (SIS-x) and other innovations in high-volume manufacturing facilities across the industry. This technical collaboration with the industry’s leading device manufacturers is vital to our success as we develop and commercialize high-performing and cost-effective CMP solutions.”

As a part of ISMI’s Manufacturing Technology program, Araca and ISMI will evaluate Araca’s CMP SIS-x system on varying consumable set-ups on select types of CMP equipment at ISMI members’ manufacturing locations to help increase removal rates while reducing polishing defects and slurry consumption for CMP processes.

“Cost and productivity are major obstacles in CMP, in addition to eliminating process variables that arise from equipment generated variation. While this applies equally to new and legacy processes, this is especially true for sub-20 nm high-volume manufacturing,” said Boyd Finlay, ISMI project manager.

ISMI is working cooperatively with the semiconductor industry to provide solutions to common high-volume productivity and cost detractors. ISMI’s Manufacturing Technology Program leads various equipment productivity improvement projects including CVD/PVD/etch particle elimination, CVD pump failures and chamber dusting prevention, electrostatic chuck cost-of -ownership, equipment variation and control, and defect source and root cause analysis.

ISMI also provides industry leadership through the ESH Technology Center, focusing on sustainability and green initiatives, addressing regulatory issues, and resource conservation in manufacturing operations.

ISMI membership is open to all semiconductor manufacturers and suppliers. ISMI and its members collaborate with a broad network of companies, consortia, universities, national laboratories, and associations from around the world to tackle manufacturing and ESH technology challenges.