Outlook and Evolution
Area Selective Deposition - ASD

The ASD process is undoubtedly the third process in the family of atomic-scale processes (Atomic Scale Processing, ASP) to be developed by equipment manufacturers in the semiconductor industry, following deposition (ALD) and etching (ALE) processes. It offers the advantage of simplifying integration schemes, reducing manufacturing costs, minimizing placement errors, and minimizing the environmental impact of integrated circuits.

Among the various techniques we describe, it appears that inhibition-based ASD is currently the most industrially mature strategy. Nevertheless, for large-scale integration, it remains necessary to understand and control the behavior of inhibitors over time and with temperature, to optimize process uniformity, and to minimize defects as much as possible. Certain issues, such as mushrooming—that is, the lateral spread of the selective deposit—remain major obstacles...