News
Samsung adopts wet ALE to enhance HBM4E hybrid bonding yields and reduce CMP costs
Wednesday, January 7, 2026 at 06:47 AM
Samsung is developing wet atomic layer etching (ALE) as a supplement to chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) for HBM4E hybrid bonding processes. This method aims to improve copper dishing precision at the 1 angstrom level and reduce reliance on expensive CMP consumables. Samsung is currently testing hybrid bonding HBM4 prototypes with customers like NVIDIA, though yields are reportedly around 10%, with a target for mass production of 16-layer HBM4E by 2028.
Context
Samsung Electronics is integrating wet atomic layer etching (ALE) into its HBM4E manufacturing to address critical yield issues. Current hybrid bonding yields for Samsung prototypes supplied to Nvidia are reportedly near 10%, primarily due to "dishing" defects from traditional chemical mechanical polishing (CMP). By utilizing wet ALE for atomic-level precision at 1 Ångström units, Samsung aims to fix surface topography without damaging insulating layers, significantly lowering the cost of expensive CMP consumables.
This shift targets the mass production of 16-layer HBM4E by 2028, as Samsung seeks to outpace SK Hynix in the next-generation AI memory market. Hybrid bonding is vital for the extreme density of future AI accelerators, but its complexity remains a bottleneck. By refining copper surfaces with ALE rather than relying solely on mechanical grinding, Samsung intends to improve process stability and secure a technical lead in the high-bandwidth memory supply chain.
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