Scaling-up PECVD system for large-sized substrate processing

— With the prevailing trend of large‐panel TFT monitors and, most recently, LCD TVs, large‐sized‐substrate processing is becoming the mainstream of TFT‐LCD production. To enable this trend of ever‐increasing large‐area processing, a multiple generations of PECVD systems for volume production has been successfully developed. This paper discusses the scaling‐up challenges from the equipment manufacturer's perspective, with the focus on process scalability, system design optimization, productivity enhancement, and cost‐of‐ownership reduction.