IBM 'fab club' denies problems with high-k

Mark LaPedus, EETimes
9/27/2010 8:31 PM EDT

SAN JOSE, Calif. - Members of IBM Corp.'s technology alliance, namely GlobalFoundries Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., dismissed a report that the group is struggling with its high-k/metal-gate technology.

High-k/metal-gate ''technology enables traditional scaling of the electrical gate dielectric and reduced standby power of transistor due to a reduction in gate leakage,''said Andrew Lu, an analyst with Barclays Bank, in a report.

''There has been a recent divergence in wafer processing technology to either choose 'gate-first' or 'gate-last' for (high-k/metal-gate),'' Lu said. ''Gate-first and gate-last are terms that refer to whether the metal gate electrode is deposited on wafer before or after the high-temperature activation anneals of flow processing.''

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