A worldwide record in capacitance density

In less than two years, CEA-Leti and IPDiA, within the PRIIM project funded by OSEO, are successfully developing a new process based on deposition of atomic medium-K dielectric layers into the aggressive architectures of IPDiA’s 3D dimensional metal-insulator-metal capacitors. The atomic layer deposition (ALD) is a key process technology to enable conformal coating of high aspect ratio surfaces and to enable exact thickness control on atomic level. A capacitance density of 550nF/mm² has been obtained by keeping leakage current and parasitic levels as low as in the 250nF/mm² PICS3 product. The “PICS” high-density capacitors are using the third dimension to substantially increase the capacitor surface and thus its capacitance without increasing the capacitor footprint. This technology demonstrates inherent good performance with very high stability (temperature, voltage, ageing), superior reliability and very low parasitic elements (ESR, ESL). It is an alternative to discrete component (MLCC and tantalum capacitors) as it shows better performance in a much smaller volume. IPDiA and CEA-Leti are continuing their developments to stabilize the process and to fasten the market deployment; the next step is now to achieve the ambitious 1μF/mm².