Market and Technology Trends

Atomic Layer Deposition Equipment for More than Moore 2021

By Yole Intelligence — Nov 2021

ALD equipment market surging with 12% CAGR to reach $680M in 2026, penetrating all More-than-Moore applications.

ATOMIC LAYER DEPOSITION (ALD) EQUIPMENT PLAYS AN ACTIVE ROLE IN DEVICE PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENT

ALD has historically been the scaling enabler for mainstream devices such as memory and logic. During the past 20 years of high-volume manufacturing (HVM), 300mm ALD platforms have evolved to address the high throughput needs of mainstream devices despite the intrinsic-to-ALD low growth rate. Regarding More-than-Moore (MtM) devices, CMOS Image Sensors and some Si power applications closely follow logic and memory device production approaches and use similar 300mm ALD platforms. Other MtM devices require 200mm ALD platforms capable of delivering acceptable throughput for smaller batch sizes or single wafer reactors. These deposit excellent quality thin films, often on non-Si materials such as compound semiconductors (GaN, SiC, GaAs), piezoelectrics, or ferroelectrics, among others. The MtM applications considered here are MEMS and sensors, power devices, and RF devices, as well as photonics (including mini-LED, micro-LED, and VCSEL applications). Amongst other processes, ALD is used for surface and sidewall passivation, trench coatings and gate dielectrics, optical coatings, processing layers, and hermetic sealing. Suitable 200mm ALD platforms have been unveiled during the past few years and are now truly entering MtM HVM, propelled by wafer production volume increase.

WORLDWIDE FAB CAPACITY EXPANSION ACCELERATES INDUSTRIAL ADOPTION OF ALD EQUIPMENT

The ALD equipment market dedicated to MtM device manufacturing totaled $345M in 2020 and was dominated by CIS (47%). In the coming years, the ALD equipment market is expected to increase with a 12% compound annual growth rate (CAGR2020-2026), reaching $680M in 2026. Two main reasons can be given for such high growth. Firstly, manufacturing sites are gearing up for the production of MtM devices that are gaining importance across all the megatrends: for example, compound semiconductorbased power devices (in particular GaN and SiC), as well as photonic devices (miniLED and MicroLED). Their manufacturing is just rocketing for automotive and consumer applications, with impressive ALD equipment sales expected to increase with 12% and 30% CAGR2020-2026, respectively. The growth is further strengthened by the high wafer production volume of CIS devices, Si power electronics, and Advanced Packaging – mainly Wafer Level Encapsulation – used across all MtM applications. Secondly, the global semiconductor market is favorable. Chip shortages across all markets and MtM devices have pushed manufacturers to announce fab capacity expansion worldwide. This is an excellent opportunity to deploy new materials and processes that improve device performance. The ALD ecosystem and supply chain actors, traditionally tightly interrelated, now collaborate even more to accelerate ALD adoption. These include ALD process developers such as academic and R&D institutes, precursor suppliers (off-shelf and customized), equipment subpart providers, as well as inspection and metrology system providers. Moreover, fab expansions concern not only the leading manufacturing players, but also smaller production sites giving emerging ALD equipment vendors a growth opportunity.

ALD EQUIPMENT MARKET IS HIGHLY FRAGMENTED, NEW PLAYERS ARE EMERGING

The 2020 ALD equipment market, totaling $345M, is led by 300mm platforms, i.e. ASM International (30%), TEL (18%), and NAURA, all offering 300mm platforms with high average selling price as well as high throughput. Even though these players also provide 200mm platforms, Picosun generated the highest market revenue from this platform (10%). The company is, however, closely followed by Optorun, Beneq, Plasma-Therm, Oxford instruments, and Veeco, among others. Moreover, equipment vendors previously active only in ALD research are now developing their machines for volume production in response to the chip and equipment shortages. The ongoing global semiconductor market upside gives an optimistic prospect for MtM ALD equipment vendors’ revenue. Nevertheless, the ALD market is competitive, and market shares can change greatly in the coming years. On the one hand, players such as Beneq, Veeco, Oxford Instruments, and SkyTech, will develop 300mm cluster tools dedicated to increasing the MtM device wafer size. On the other hand, 300mm players will adapt their 200mm batch systems for compound semiconductor processing. Finally, other CVD or PVD deposition system providers may start to enter the ALD arena.

Key Features:

ALD process requirements and trends for More-than-Moore devices
ALD equipment benchmarks, including technology, reactor architecture, and average selling price
ALD supply chain and ecosystem analysis
2020 market size analysis with breakdown by market share, wafer size, and device application
2020-2026 ALD equipment market forecast with breakdown by device application: MEMS and sensors, power, RF, CIS devices, photonics including mini-LED and micro-LED, and advanced packaging, mainly wafer level encapsulation

Objectives of the report:

To provide information on the status of ALD industrial adoption for More-than-Moore device production
- Comparison with CVD and PVD
- ALD process
To provide an overview of ALD equipment
- Technology
- Reactor Architecture
To provide an overview of the ALD supply chain and ecosystem
- Precursor suppliers
- Equipment Vendors (ALD, subparts, inspection, and metrology)
- Process developers (from academia to IDMs)
- Potential ALD equipment clients
To estimate and forecast the future penetration of ALD process into compound semiconductor-based power, RF and LED applications
To provide 2020-2026 forecast metrics for the ALD equipment market

To provide information on the status of ALD industrial adoption for More-than-Moore device production

Comparison with CVD and PVD
ALD process

Comparison with CVD and PVD
ALD process

To provide an overview of ALD equipment

Technology
Reactor Architecture

Technology
Reactor Architecture

To provide an overview of the ALD supply chain and ecosystem

Precursor suppliers
Equipment Vendors (ALD, subparts, inspection, and metrology)
Process developers (from academia to IDMs)
Potential ALD equipment clients

Precursor suppliers
Equipment Vendors (ALD, subparts, inspection, and metrology)
Process developers (from academia to IDMs)
Potential ALD equipment clients

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