Atomic layer deposition enabling next generation of electronics by SEMI

25 Nov 2025

I thank SEMI for organising an informative online session on atomic layer deposition inviting speakers from Beneq— the biggest ALD company in the world today having presence in Asia,EU and Americas.

Since its experimental demonstration in the 60s in the soviet union atomic layer deposition technique has been developed to cover almost all of the elements of the periodic table barring noble gasses.

ALD today is a critical process in microelectronics for growth of high k dielectric films as well as in barriers and protective layers enabling 3D structures on chip. ALD has found applications in fields beyond microelectronics & has become indispensable in optics,energy and filtration industries.

It was insightful to learn about some of the challenges in ALD which include maintaining vacuum ,precursor flow precision , temperature control and of course precursor synthesis which are usually complex organometallic compounds.

Yet despite these challenges thickness control at the atomic level, uniformity and low temp compatibility often make it preferred over CVD or plasma based processes.

The EU has been a significant player in the semiconductor industry. ASML's contributions to lithography are well known but before its acquisition by Chinese company SRI intellectual in 2018, Beneq represented the EU's leadership in the ALD technology.

A lot has changed since then. Both the EU & the USA have decided to focus more on maintaining technological sovereignty through their respective CHIPS acts.

This raises an interesting question: what would the future of ALD technology look like in the future given the current geopolitical environment, especially as shrinking feature sizes place more demands in ALD tools? It's hard to predict the future but one thing is for sure: ALD will play a key role in future electronics.

Akshat Jiwan Sharma

Strategy Consultant--Innovation/ Materials science/International relations/Telecommunications/Digital Transformation/Partnerships

Mobile/whatsapp:+919654119771

email:getellobed@gmail.com

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Notes by Akshat Jiwan Sharma

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