Gelest, Inc has commercialized diiodosilane to meet the global demand of the semiconductor industry for next-generation semiconductor chips. Gelest’s dedicated diiodosilane plant in Morrisville, PA (USA) is fully operational and can produce commercial quantities of diiodosilane with purity in excess of 99.9%.

Diiodosilane is a key chemical precursor used by semiconductor companies worldwide in the development and scale-up of next-generation semiconductor chips that require high throughput, highly conformal silicon nitride thin films.  Diiodosilane is typically deposited by plasma-enhanced atomic layer deposition (PEALD) to create the silicon nitride thin film.  Gelest sees a significant increase in demand for high purity diiodosilane driven by development and production of semiconductor chips requiring silicon nitride thin films at low thermal budgets.

“Diiodosilane is a critical material that enables further miniaturization of semiconductor chips,” said Dr. Jeffrey T. DePinto, Business Manager Silanes & Metal Organics.  “Our expertise in high purity silicon precursors for the semiconductor industry has allowed us to optimize the synthesis and scale-up of diiodosilane with the highest possible purity and lowest cost.”

Furthermore, Gelest has been developing iodosilane precursors for silicon nitride thin films for many years.  The company has been granted a key patent, “Silicon-based Films Formed From Iodosilane Precursors and Method of Making the Same,” that claims a method for depositing silicon nitride thin films using iodosilane precursors.