Spatial Atomic Layer Deposition (Spatial ALD) delivers a form-following high-quality coating at the atomic level. Compared with conventional ALD, this ingenious technology stacks atomic layers many times faster.
Highest throughput and coating quality at the lowest costs are the key added values Spatial ALD brings. Our in-depth expertise in Spatial ALD technology, combined with our unique ability to swiftly transfer your application from lab to fab, offers you exciting and groundbreaking opportunities in today’s growth markets.
Maximum throughput
Lowest costs
Efficient use of material
Highest quality coatings
Roll-to-roll and sheet-to-sheet compatible
Continuous atmospheric process
The differences
Temporal ALD vs Spatial ALD
Temporal ALD
High-quality 3D layers and suitable for porous substrates.
Limited deposition speed
Parasitic backside deposition
Batch process
Vacuum chamber and pumps needed
High cost per substrate
Spatial ALD
High-quality 3D layers and suitable for porous substrates.
100-300 times faster deposition speed by our spatial technology in combination with plasma enhanced deposition
Continuous S2S and R2R process
Atmospheric pressure deposition
Scalable to large areas & flexible substrates
Industrially proven, cost-efficient mass production.
SALD Technology
How does Spatial Atomic Layer Deposition operate?
Atmospheric pressure Spatial ALD operates by simultaneously delivering precursor and co-reactant gases spatially separated by a gas curtain onto a substrate which moves through the different gas zones. In the gas zones the gasses react on the substrate surface in a self-limiting manner. This unique self-limited growth mechanism ensures precise control over film thickness and composition making Spatial ALD ideal for (large scale) industrial applications requiring uniform coatings on complex substrates. We have developed the deposition technology making it compatible with sheet-to-sheet (S2S) and roll-to-roll (R2R) processing.
ALD: In ALD, precursor gases are sequentially pulsed into a reaction chamber, where they react with the substrate surface in a self-limiting manner, forming a monolayer of material.
Spatial ALD, utilizes spatial separation of precursor sources and substrate, allowing for simultaneous exposure of the substrate to multiple precursor gases without the need for sequential pulsing.
Higher throughput and scalability. Spatial ALD is potentially more scalable for large-area coating applications due to its higher throughput and simple integration in production lines.
By eliminating the need for sequential pulsing, a time-intensive process, Spatial ALD reduces cycle times for deposition leading to higher throughput. For example, for ALD of Al2O3 the deposition rate can increase from 100-300 nm per hour to 60 nm per minute when employing Spatial ALD.