Delivering more powerful AI requires innovation beyond the transistor device. As scaling continues below 2nm, the tiny metal contacts that link each transistor to the wiring network become ever thinner, contributing significantly to the chip’s total resistance and creating a bottleneck to performance and energy efficiency. At these nanoscale dimensions, traditional tungsten contacts face challenges in their ability to efficiently conduct electrons. Molybdenum – a metal that can be made thinner while preserving efficient electron flow – has emerged as a promising alternative for next-generation contacts at angstrom nodes. The Applied Centris™ Spectral™ Molybdenum ALD* system selectively deposits monocrystalline molybdenum, reducing critical contact resistance by as much as 15 percent beyond today’s industry benchmark – the Applied Endura™ Volta™ Selective Tungsten system. Since these contacts form the smallest connections between interconnects and transistors, maintaining low resistance is critical to ensure maximum chip performance and energy efficiency. Spectral represents a new series of ALD tools that feature state-of-the-art quad reactor design with precision chemical delivery, a variety of plasma and thermal processing capabilities, and specialized hardware for both temporal and spatial ALD operation – providing the ability to create a breadth of advanced films to power advanced AI chips. The Spectral system is being adopted by leading logic chipmakers at 2nm and below process nodes. Learn more: https://www.appliedmaterials.com/us/en/product-library/centris-spectral-moly-ald.html

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