At a glance
| Booth | Q6158 |
| Country | CA |
| Website | meaglow.com/products |
Company profile
Meaglow Ltd produces a range of plasma sources, including custom plasma sources, based on its patented hollow cathode technology, and it supplies hollow cathode plasma sources to the semiconductor industry with particular emphasis on the Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) sector. The company reports that it has sold more than 190 units to 16 different countries and that sales to original equipment manufacturers are growing, giving its plasma-source business an international installed base. Named customers include the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, LAM Research, and US Naval Research, and Meaglow Ltd also states that it works closely with customers to find solutions to their specific process problems. Legacy ICP and microwave plasma sources use dielectric windows, often quartz or sapphire, that can be etched and become a source of oxygen contamination in non-oxide films; Meaglow Ltd's hollow cathodes are all metal and therefore remove that particular window-related contamination source. When customer requirements call for nonstandard hardware, Meaglow Ltd can develop custom plasma-source solutions tailored to the specific process need. Meaglow Ltd has also built custom-made ALD systems when customer needs arise, extending its customer-specific engineering work beyond standalone plasma-source products.
Exhibits
Meaglow Ltd's product range includes the Series 50 Hollow Cathode, UHV Series Hollow Cathode, Large Area Hollow Cathode, Thermal Hollow Cathode solutions for thermal ALD systems, the Meaglow ALD/CVD Research Reactor, and the Series 16 Hollow Cathode. The Series 50 is described as one of the company's most popular hollow cathode plasma sources and is commonly used for ALD as well as oxidation and PECVD applications. Meaglow Ltd has developed and implemented larger-area hollow-cathode designs, expanding the plasma-source format beyond the standard Series 50 configuration for applications that require a larger active area. For installed thermal ALD equipment, Meaglow Ltd has developed multiple solutions intended to economically convert thermal ALD systems to plasma-assisted ALD rather than requiring an entirely new processing platform. Its ALD/CVD Research Reactor is based on Meaglow's patented breakthroughs in ALD plasma technology and CVD pulse deposition, providing a research platform alongside the standalone plasma-source products. The Series 16 Mini Plasma source resulted from a mini plasma source developed for NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, linking the product line to a named customer development project. For semiconductor deposition, hollow cathode plasma technology is presented as a solution for high-quality nitride layers, and Meaglow Ltd states that its hollow cathode plasma sources substantially reduce oxygen contamination. Many customer requirements are custom, so numerous Meaglow plasma sources are made to order, while standard offerings remain available for recurring configurations and applications. The standard Series 50 is mounted on an NW-50 flange, and an equivalent conflat arrangement is also available, giving users more than one mechanical interface option for integrating the plasma unit. Conversions of existing systems are also possible, and the company provides documentation for common conversion approaches rather than limiting its offering to new-system installations. The largest source developed by Meaglow Ltd to the stated date was for a 12″, 3000 watt system, and the company also reports having consulted on larger systems. The technical rationale presented for hollow-cathode adoption in ALD includes lower oxygen contamination in nitride materials, and the company also reports higher growth rates, lower plasma-damage levels, and a simple system design that can be cost effective for additional materials including oxides. Meaglow Ltd describes hollow cathode plasma sources as an alternative to ICP and CCP sources for newer ALD materials and states that its simpler designs have enabled successful adoption of hollow cathodes in ALD systems while overcoming some limitations of older technologies. Its ALD comparison discussion attributes greater growth per cycle after direct replacement of an ICP source with a hollow cathode source to lower plasma damage, lower oxygen contamination, or a combination of those effects depending on the material. Meaglow Ltd also supports customer-specific development beyond the catalog range, including made-to-order plasma sources and custom-made ALD systems when customer needs arise.
Capabilities and products
- hollow cathode plasma sources for ALD
- custom hollow cathode plasma sources
- UHV hollow cathode plasma sources
- large-area hollow cathode plasma sources
- thermal-ALD to plasma-ALD conversion
- ALD/CVD research reactors
- custom ALD systems
- hollow cathode plasma for ALD, oxidation, and PECVD