Etch.
A very short word for a hugely important technology, without which there would be no microchips. Etch is the process by which images of circuit features printed on a silicon wafer are engraved into the films below. Put another way, etch makes circuits real.
Last week, I blogged about how our latest innovations in plasma etch technology can help chipmakers construct 3D Flash memory arrays. In fact, etch has been solving cutting-edge problems for more than three decades.
In this video, Shahid Rauf, senior plasma etch technology manager in Applied’s Etch Business Unit, reaches back in time. Shahid explores the innovations that have moved plasma etch from “ball lightning in a can” to today’s sophisticated systems that can create a trillion nanoscale features on a silicon wafer, matched to within just a few atoms – one of the keys to fabricating high-performance, power-efficient chips.
