Semes, a semiconductor equipment manufacturer, announced on the 21st that it has developed and mass-produced Korea’s first plasma-type semiconductor dry cleaning equipment called PURITAS. As semiconductor patterns become smaller and more integrated, the traditional wet cleaning method faces limitations in processing. This equipment, adopting a dry cleaning method, uses remote plasma instead of direct plasma on wafers, enabling highly selective cleaning and etching of various films, which, according to the company, significantly enhances productivity.
By avoiding the use of ion technology that could damage substrates and instead using radicals (neutral particles) for chemical reactions, this equipment is able to achieve highly selective side etching. It is expected to be essential for the production of next-generation devices, such as 3D-DRAM, CFET, and GAA modules. Currently, other leading equipment manufacturers produce gas-type dry cleaning equipment.
CTO Choi Gil-hyun stated, “With the shipment of the first mass production unit starting this year, we expect demand to increase as products transition to 3D (memory and logic). We aim to secure a leading position in the dry cleaning market.”