Texas Instruments & ATMI: Close collaboration results in quick response and a critical solution
ATMI scientists and technologists have worked with customer and semiconductor industry leader Texas Instruments for many years; ATMI regularly appears high on TI's vendor scorecard for chemical and gas supply. During their relationship, the two companies have jointly developed targeted solutions that address TI's needs in developing semiconductor-based communication solutions for wireless and broadband access, as well as consumer goods such as digital cameras and digital audio.
The Problem: Quickly meeting product yield and performance goals
In 1999 TI was struggling to find a viable cleaning chemistry that "fit" their existing toolset. It was imperative that a solution be found quickly that met product yield and performance goals in order for the company to go forward with production release of the related new technology node. Ideally, the supplier-partner would be able to develop chemistry for subsequent technology nodes.
The Solution: A chemistry that allowed TI to move to a new technology node
ATMI partnered with TI to develop a chemical solution that met TI's stringent requirements for product yield and performance and allowed them to go forward with production release of the new technology node. Through close collaboration, a solution was qualified for the unique, existing toolset, which helped to reduce the development time and save millions in new equipment expenditures. Upon implementation, the solution was found to provide the additional benefit of extending to other processes within their overall production flow.
Based on the above solution, ATMI worked with TI to develop a solution for the following technology node with a focus on reducing the cost of ownership of the related process and addressing the challenges of the new technology. The new cost-effective solution was quickly developed and implemented on a new tool set. Combined with the fact that several of the processes previously introduced were extendable to the new technology node, TI was able to move to the new technology node with much greater efficiency than their peers in the marketplace.
The Result: Extendable solutions that could be implemented immediately
Three critical hurdles within TI's process development were cleared through ATMI: defects, poor drying characteristics of films, and corrosion. ATMI solutions proved to be extendable to other emerging and critical surface preparation steps.
Allowing immediate implementation of these new processes eliminated the need for new chemical evaluations, supplier qualification and chemical delivery system procurement. The end result was faster and more efficient transitions between device technologies. This same approach is being implemented for technology nodes that are currently in development.
ATMI and TI continue to expand their collaboration. Continuous improvement programs are in place, either jointly or internally at ATMI with a focus on TI requirements. These enabling technologies, while originally tailored to TI's specific needs, are available for adaptation by ATMI's customers.
