PICS · Development of innovative ALD materials and tools for high density 3D integrated capacitors

With the fast development of applications based on smart and miniaturized sensors in aerospace, medical or automotive domains, requirements on electronic modules are more and more linked to size, stability, reliability and performances.Capacitors are key components of electronic modules to deliver power with the right voltages to different functions from a single power source (such as a battery) or to protect them against voltage jumps.IPDiA has developed for many years a technology of integrated capacitors (called PICS) which overcomes current technologies (e.g. tantalum capacities) and which can be a solution to build highly integrated and high performances electronic modules.The goal of the PICS project is to go further and to bring a technological gap to get higher densities of capacitors and higher breakdown voltage. It will open the way to new markets by offering even more integration level and miniaturization (in order to increase the functionality combination and the complexity within a single package) and higher performances (in order to ensure long life operations and be able to place the sensors as close as possible to the “hottest” areas for efficient monitoring).The innovation will be based on the use of a specific technology called atomic layer deposition, or ALD, that will enable to obtain an impressive quality of dielectric. Besides technical goals, the PICS project aims also to set-up a cost effective industrial solution.Three SMEs, IPDiA, Sentech and Picosun, join forces with two research institutes, Fraunhofer and CEA, to response to these challenges. The first targeted markets are the high-end integrated capacitors for medical applications and the future DRAM market.