Vantage^® Astra^™ DSA

The Applied Vantage Astra DSA (dynamic surface anneal) system is Applied Materials' first laser-based annealing tool, offering unmatched capabilities for advanced silicidation essential for continued device scaling. It has enabled contact resistance scaling for advanced finFET devices. Building on Applied Materials’ leadership in the RTP market, the Astra DSA technology extends the company’s anneal product portfolio into the millisecond anneal segment. The Applied Vantage Astra DSA gives customers the annealing performance and control essential for multiple device generations.

Designed with productivity, compactness, and reliability in mind, the Astra DSA system provides a compelling cost of ownership advantage and delivers the expected production worthiness so critical for this type of annealing.

The system's laser heats the top few layers of atoms of the wafer surface layers to over 1000°C in less than a millisecond, a heating rate of 1 million degrees Celsius per second. This capability to ramp instantaneously from a pre-heat condition as low as 100°C to an ultra-high temperature with a similarly rapid cool-down dramatically reduces the formation of source/drain defects that pose risks of current leakage and can reduce yield.

The Vantage platform can be configured with two Astra chambers or as a hybrid combining one Astra chamber with another RTP chamber, including Radiance Plus or RadOx.