Transformational Plasma Etch Technologies Enabling Ultra Fine Pitch Patterning

Over the last decades, Moore’s Law for semiconductor logic and memory devices has supported the explosive growth and proliferation of personal computing, mobile, internet of things, autonomous driving. In the foreseeable future, these devices need to be even faster, denser and more efficient to fulfill the demands of high-performance computing and artificial intelligence. Besides introduction of novel devices structure in logic, DRAM and NAND, and progress in advanced packaging, geometric scaling remains a key enabler to pack more computing power and data storage in advanced silicon chips and systems. 

Historically, lithography is the enabler for shrinking, with continuous decrease in wavelength and increase in numerical aperture (NA). As critical dimensions approach single-digit nanometer in size, plasma etch processes to transfer tightly spaced patterns to the active devices and metallization are becoming equally important. Building on over two decades of plasma etch market leadership, Lam Research introduced Akara® etch product in 2025 as a revolutionary leap forward. Akara is equipped with many transformational technologies to extend patterning performance, with higher pattern fidelity, lower feature roughness, angstrom-level uniformity and repeatability, ultra-low defectivity and higher productivity to enable ultra fine pitch patterning required by new generations of logic, DRAM and NAND devices.