High-tech facility at AT&S lays foundations for future high-performance processors

The modern Multiwet Tool that AT&S has installed at its new competence center for R&D and IC substrate production in Leoben-Hinterberg allows for the flexible development of new processes and methods for the production of next-generation IC substrates. The new machine enables AT&S to create IC substrates with conductive structures that are only five to two micrometers wide and suitable for supplying the high-performance microchips of the future with data and energy. The engineers in Leoben also use the Multiwet Tool for research work pertaining to the European flagship project IPCEI ME/CT (Important Project of Common European Interest on Microelectronics and Communication Technology).

One of the showpieces of the new AT&S competence center for R&D and IC substrate production in Leoben is located on the second floor of the recently completed complex: The state-of-the-art CPM901 Multiwet Tool combines five processes on an area of just 61 square meters, where normally each process would require a separate production line of a similar size. “Robots pick up the substrates, pack them into frames and then load them into one of four independent process chambers, each of which can apply two different processes. This allows our researchers to process small prototype series very quickly and efficiently with a flexibly adaptable process chain. Three of the processes are completely new for AT&S and an important prerequisite for the next miniaturization push in microchips and IC substrates,” says R&D Manager Timo Schwarz.

The Multiwet Tool performs its new job in one of the competence center’s new clean rooms and uses two chemical depots next to the system and additional tanks on the first floor. Each chamber has its own fume extraction system and a separate drain for chemicals, which facilitates the reprocessing and recycling of waste products. The Multiwet Tool enables the individual optimization of the photoresist dry film development and copper flash etching processes that already exist at AT&S as well as of the completely new titanium flash etching, liquid resist development and liquid resist stripping processes. All methods can be flexibly applied to the small-scale manufacturing that is typical for research purposes. The machine will enable engineers to process around 25 substrates measuring 510x515mm per day.

Important step for Europe’s industry and research

“With new processes and materials, we can reach the next level of miniaturization of conductor tracks. The structures that we create on the IC substrates will only be five to two micrometers wide and the distances between them will be on the same scale. The substrates rotate in the Multiwet Tool, which allows maximum precision even with minimal use of chemicals. This opens up completely new possibilities for research and also allows us to apply the optimizations that we develop here to other machines and process chains in mass production,” says AT&S engineer Alva Durian, whose work on the Multiwet Tool is partly organized within the framework of the IPCEI ME/CT.

The versatility and precision of the new system allows the researchers and developers at AT&S to advance into new technical dimensions. The high-performance microchips that our world needs for the further development of sustainable energy concepts, AI technologies and green transport and data networks are dependent on ultra-miniaturized IC substrates. With the new competence center and the Multiwet Tool in Leoben, AT&S is making an important contribution to building an independent European microelectronics ecosystem and strengthening European projects such as the IPCEI ME/CT. The new processes developed and optimized here will not only benefit the next generation of cutting-edge technology, but will be made available as a service to AT&S customers and partners as well.