NARLabs and Taiwanese/Japanese Scholars Achieve 100% Tungsten Disulfide Coverage on 6-inch Wafers

(Central News Agency, Taipei, July 7) As the global semiconductor competition enters the atomic scale era, two-dimensional materials are seen as a key solution to extend Moore's Law. The National Applied Research Laboratories' (NARLabs) Instrument Technology Development Center (ITDC) has established "Large-Area 2D Material Fabrication Equipment and Characterization Technology" and, in collaboration with Taiwanese and Japanese scholars, has built a wafer-level 2D material fabrication and equipment R&D platform, achieving highly uniform growth of a 100% fully covered continuous film of monolayer tungsten disulfide on 6-inch wafers.

NARLabs stated in a press release today that currently, besides NARLabs' ITDC, only a team formed by imec, ASML, and TSMC has published results on 100% full coverage of large-area monolayer 2D materials on wafers.

NARLabs explained that in current integrated circuits (ICs) based on silicon, the current channels are becoming increasingly narrow, leading to "short-channel effects" and "tunnel leakage," where electrons flow uncontrollably through the current channel or move in other directions, degrading device performance and heat dissipation.

NARLabs pointed out that scientists have discovered that by depositing a special monolayer atomic planar structure (2D material), such as tungsten disulfide or molybdenum disulfide, on silicon, it is like applying an ultra-thin sticker. This can prevent electrons from straying, improve device performance, and reduce power consumption. Therefore, 2D materials are considered one of the keys to breaking the limits of Moore's Law.

NARLabs stated that since 2020, ITDC has undertaken several National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) projects, independently designing and assembling 2D material vacuum deposition systems for advanced 2D material process development and physical property research. They have successfully developed 8- to 12-inch class 2D material fabrication equipment platforms and have achieved downward compatibility for monolayer 2D material growth on 6-inch wafers, reaching a 100% coverage rate. They have also overcome common issues of material non-uniformity and defects in large-area 2D material growth, demonstrating highly uniform continuous films and process stability.

Concurrently, NARLabs' ITDC provided the 6-inch wafers with deposited 2D material continuous films to NARLabs' Semiconductor Research Center for device fabrication and testing. This successfully validated the feasibility of using the fabricated 2D material thin films in actual devices, establishing a complete technology chain of "equipment, fabrication, characterization, and devices."

NARLabs stated that ITDC, in collaboration with Taiwanese and Japanese academic and research teams on this platform, has established a comprehensive technology verification system. Professor Chang Wen-Hao of National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University used this platform for 2D material fabrication verification, confirming its epitaxial quality and uniformity, and conducted 2D material property analysis and verification. Related results were published in the top international journal "Nature Electronics," demonstrating that the 2D material characterization platform established by ITDC possesses the capability and value to support international-level advanced research.

NARLabs pointed out that Professor Junzhe Tong of the University of Tokyo used NARLabs' ITDC material characterization platform to verify the thickness, crystal structure, conductivity, and other physical properties of novel 2D boron carbon nitride materials. These properties met the characteristics of 2D materials, and related results were published in the top international journal "Nature."

NARLabs stated that ITDC's development of "Large-Area 2D Material Fabrication Equipment and Characterization Technology" not only represents a significant breakthrough for Taiwan in key 2D material equipment and fabrication technology but also, through Taiwan-Japan cooperation, deepens characterization and verification capabilities. This can help the industry enhance overall international competitiveness, strengthen chip self-sufficiency development, and ensure the security and resilience of friendly supply chains.

NARLabs explained that during the equipment development process, ITDC has facilitated multiple NSTC industry-academia collaboration projects. In the future, they will promote technology transfer of related equipment to accelerate the practical application of research results. They will also continue to optimize the 8-inch and 12-inch equipment platforms, integrating data-driven and smart manufacturing technologies to accelerate the industrialization of 2D materials in advanced logic devices, optoelectronic devices, and sensor applications, thereby building a key foundation for Taiwan's next-generation semiconductor technology. (Editor: Chang Chun-Mao) 70707)