Powering the Next Generation of Semiconductor Innovation
The manufacturing inflection is here.
Are your process and products keeping up?
At sub-3nm logic nodes, inside increasing 3D NAND stacks, across the transition to vertical DRAM architectures, and throughout the growing silicon photonics market, conventional reactive ion etch is hitting its limits.
The common thread is not the device type. It is the precision requirement. At each of these inflection points, the etch step that determines yield is one that demands atomic-scale control — and ALE adoption is accelerating, with intensity expected to grow 20X over the next several years.
Four device types. One platform.
AAT's ALE platform is built to serve the etch requirements of each of four device types requiring angstrom level control. The same core technology — decoupled modification and removal steps, real-time AI process control, production-worthy cycle times — addresses the manufacturing challenges in each application.
Advanced Logic
Gate-all-around nanosheet architectures require selective removal of sacrificial layers with sub angstrom precision. Conventional RIE cannot do this without damaging the channel. ALE is the enabling process.
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3D NAND
As stack heights climb past 300 layers, precision finishing at the etch step — damage removal, selective recess, staircase cleanup — becomes yield-critical. RIE handles bulk removal; AAT handles the atomic precision finishing.
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DRAM
The transition from planar to vertical channel architectures is driving a step-change in process complexity. Capacitor trench uniformity, gate recess control, and buried bitline formation all require etch precision that RIE cannot reliably deliver at the tolerances the new architectures demand.
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Silicon Photonics
Waveguide sidewall roughness is the primary performance limiter in silicon photonics fabrication. ALE smooths those surfaces to a degree RIE cannot achieve — directly reducing optical insertion loss and improving device yield.
Explore the segment →Proven performance.
AAT's platform has been independently validated at SPIE Advanced Lithography + Patterning, demonstrating true self-limiting ALE behavior across two operating modes:
- Synergy Factor>90%
- Linearity (R²)>0.9997
- Cycle Time~2 seconds
- Synergy Factor>80%
- Linearity (R²)>0.9947
- Cycle Time~2 seconds