Jusung Engineering’s new hybrid ALD equipment in customer testing

Jusung Engineering’s newly developed Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) equipment is being tested by a South Korean customer, the company’s CEO told TheElec on Wednesday.

The latest equipment combines time division and space division technologies, dubbed Time Spaced Divided (TSD) by the company, and is expected to be applied commercially at production lines next year, Jusung Engineering CEO Chul Joo Hwang said.

Time division method uses one nozzle to depose multiple materials. Space division uses different nozzles for different materials. Space division allows for uniform and high-quality membranes while time division has a relatively faster process speed. Jusung’s new equipment has the benefits of both methods, the company claimed.

The new ALD equipment is used during the capacitor process in DRAM production. It is used to depose high-K materials, which has its own unique electric property. The process is considered a core process during chip production, making the performance of the equipment vital. Jusung’s equipment is the world’s first to combine time division and space division methods, and will boost the productivity of its client if testing goes well.

Jusung expects its technology in ALD equipment secured during its application to semiconductor production to also be applied to thin film transistors (TFT) production. This will allow the company to secure a new revenue stream from the display industry from its ALD equipment sales. It already supplies chemical vapor deposition (CVD) equipment used in TFT and organic light emitting diode (OLED) production.

“We are innovating to dominate the market early,” said the CEO. “We are competing against companies 40 times our size.”

On the market outlook for the second half of the year, Hwang said it remained uncertain due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Jusung Engineering was founded in 1995 and supplies equipment used in both semiconductor and display productions, with each sector accounting for half of its sales. It is expanding into solar power equipment as well.