Samsung develops 2D material for insulation dram and nand interconnects

Samsung reports that it has developed two-dimensional amorphous boron nitride with properties that make the material suitable as an insulator for chip interconnects. A layer of the material could effectively counteract electrical disturbance of interconnects.

In its research, Samsung has demonstrated the good insulation properties of two-dimensional amorphous boron nitride and also demonstrated that the material can be grown on a wafer scale at a relatively low temperature of 400 degrees Celsius. The company believes that the material will therefore be widely used for dram and nand, although the company recognizes that there are still challenges for its application in semiconductor manufacturing processes.

The research is important for the further reduction of chip structures and especially for a further reduction in the size of the interconnects. These are the metal lines that connect the different parts on a chip surface. For efficient transmission of the signal, the interconnects must be shielded against electrical disturbance from the outside.

The IEEE International Roadmap for Devices and Systems for the semiconductor industry states that material with a dielectric value of less than 2 will be required by 2028. This is the only way to keep the interconnects in line with the miniaturization of electronics. Samsung reports that its amorphous boron nitride has a dielectric value of 1.78.

Samsung reports making amorphous boron nitride with a thickness of 3 nanometers based on ‘white graphene’. White graphene is also a two-dimensional material of boron and nitrogen atoms, but in this material they are arranged in a hexagonal or honeycomb structure. Samsung’s 2d material is amorphous, in other words without a crystalline structure.

Samsung’s Advanced Institute of Technology publishes its research in the scientific journal Nature under the title Ultralow-dielectric-constant amorphous boron nitride.