Tokyo Electron Limited and Tanaka Kikinzoku Kogyo K.K. have signed a joint development contract to create a recycling process for CVD-Ruthenium material (Ruthenium precursor), which will be used in next generation semiconductors to achieve further miniaturization. This innovative method is expected to reduce the cost of consumables (CoC) for the CVD-Ru (Ruthenium) process.

In semiconductor fabrication, there are many challenges for scaling, such as improving the copper filling performance in narrow interconnect. Tokyo Electron has proposed an improvement in copper filling performance by utilizing a ruthenium liner film with excellent adhesion and lower resistivity .

With the goal of lowering overall cost and ensuring a stable supply of Ruthenium precursor, Tokyo Electron and Tanaka Kikinzoku Kogyo agreed to jointly develop a recycling process with Tanaka Kikinzoku Kogyo’s recycling technology. This recycling process will save almost 20% of the Ruthenium precursor cost and significantly lower the CoC.

Mr. Hidemasa Tanaka, Director of Tanaka Kikinzoku Kogyo, commented, “ The combined effort between Tokyo Electron’s CVD-Ru Equipment Technology group and technical division in Tanaka Kikinzoku Kogyo will produce a high performance recycling technology that will ultimately lead to a significant cost reduction and a novel contribution for the next semiconductor generation.”

Mr.Takeshi Okubo, General Manager of Tokyo Electron Limited added, ”The high efficiency recycling system produced through the partnership will open the way to the widespread use of our CVD- Ru Cu (Copper) barrier/seed. That is, the new recycling system will provide the benefit of low CoC, which, along with the other indispensable features of low line resistance and good filling, allows the CVD-Ru to be the most competitive process option in the mass production for 2X nm and beyond.”

■About Ruthenium
Ruthenium is produced primarily in South Africa and is found in platinum ore in amounts of about 10-20%. The annual output of ruthenium worldwide is approximately 30 tons. It is estimated that ruthenium reserve quantities are nearly 6,000 tons.

Tanaka Kikinzoku Kogyo is engaged in business with the mining company Anglo Platinum Inc., which has over 40 percent of world market share in the PGM*1 metals.
*1 PGM（Platinum Group Metals）：Platinum、Palladium, Rhodium, Iridium, Ruthenium, Osmium

Atomic Number:	44	Chemical stability:
Melting Point    :	2,250 deg.C	－No dissolution in the plating bus.
Resistivity        :	7.6μΩcm	－Neither diffusion nor the alloy are in Cu.
	－Ru Oxide is electroconductive.
Lattice parameter:	Ru(002) 2.14 A
	－near Cu , Cu(111) 2.09A

■About Tanaka Kikinzoku Kogyo K.K.
Headquarters: TOKYO BUILDING, 7-3, Marunouchi 2-chome, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo Japan
Established: 1918
Sales: 829 billions of yen (FY 2009)
Number of employees: 1,653 (as of April 1, 2009)
Representative Director, President & CEO: Hideya Okamoto
Activities: Sales of precious metals (Platinum, Gold, Silver, and Others). Manufacture, sales, import and export of various types of industrial precious metals products. Refining and recycling of precious metals.

Tanaka Kikinzoku Kogyo was the first company in Japan to be certified gold melter on the London market in 1978 following the liberalization of import and export and trade in gold in Japan. In 2003, Tanaka Kikinzoku Kogyo became the only company in Japan and one of five in the world recognized and registered as a Good Delivery Referee for gold and silver by the London Bullion Market Association.