Lam Research Unveils Syndion GP to Help Chipmakers Meet Demand for Advanced Power Devices

Lam Research Corp. announced Syndion GP: a new product that provides deep silicon etch capabilities to chipmakers developing next generation power devices and power management integrated circuits used in the automotive, electric power delivery and energy industries.

As technologies in these sectors become more advanced, the need for higher power, improved performance and greater density at the chip level increases, requiring greater cross-wafer uniformity for higher aspect-ratio structures. These enhancements can be achieved by moving to an advanced device structure without sacrificing form factor. To do that, device manufacturers need a very precise and uniform deep silicon etch process.

Syndion GP is designed to support this precision manufacturing process and can be configured to manufacture devices at 200 mm and 300 mm wafer sizes, providing a simplified transition path to increased capacity. Currently, many power devices are manufactured on 200 mm diameter silicon wafers; but to support increased demand, production is migrating to 300 mm wafers.

The Syndion GP solution builds on Lam’s industry-leading deep silicon etch capabilities and extends its suite of specialty technology offerings. Specialty technologies refer to power devices, micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS), analog and mixed signal semiconductors, radio frequency IC (RF) solutions, optoelectronic devices, and CMOS image sensors (CIS) that support a broad range of consumer and industrial technologies and applications, such as electric vehicles, the internet of things and 5G.

“Demand for specialty devices continues to grow rapidly,” said Pat Lord, executive vice president of the Customer Support Business Group and Global Operations at Lam Research. “Through close collaboration with our customers, we identified the need for an accelerated path to manufacture advanced power devices using 300 mm wafers. Syndion GP can help chipmakers meet the growing demand, while supporting the continuous innovation of new specialty technology breakthroughs.”

Syndion GP expands Lam’s extensive deep silicon etch portfolio that includes the production-proven 200 mm DSiE™ platform and market-leading 300 mm Syndion GS for packaging, hybrid memory, and CMOS image sensor markets. Syndion GP offers the flexibility in meeting both the precision control and improved productivity for high volume manufacturing processes – all demonstrating the diverse range of deep silicon etch solutions required to address the next generation device challenges.