As AI Strains Memory Supply, FlowDaptor and PhantaField Open NanoGalaxy Wafer Trials in Japan and ASEAN
As AI demand strains the world's memory supply, PhantaField and FlowDaptor are opening 300 mm wafer trials of a process that grows the semiconductor layers for memory directly on top of finished chips. PhantaField develops the NanoGalaxy™ plasma-photon MOCVD platform; FlowDaptor is an authorised NanoGalaxy distributor for Japan and ASEAN.
Through the NanoGalaxy Wafer Trial Programme, selected semiconductor manufacturers, research institutes and universities in Japan and the ASEAN member states can send in their own 300 mm wafers, including fully processed CMOS. The wafers come back with a wafer-scale 2D semiconductor layer grown on top. Learn more about the platform at https://flowdaptor.ai/nanogalaxy/.
Why this matters now
Memory makers expect supply of DRAM and high-bandwidth memory (HBM) to stay tight through 2027 and 2028, with some warnings that the shortage could last past 2030. HBM, the stacked memory packaged beside AI processors, uses far more wafers than ordinary DRAM for the same capacity. Building memory tiers directly on top of logic is a different, longer-term route to more capacity.
Two-dimensional semiconductors such as molybdenum disulfide (MoS₂) are only a few atoms thick, and are a leading candidate for scaling chips beyond the limits of silicon. The obstacle has been heat. Conventional chemical vapour deposition needs around 750 °C to grow a usable monolayer — hot enough to damage the transistors and wiring underneath.
NanoGalaxy pairs a high-density inductively coupled plasma, which activates the precursors at low temperature, with in-situ ultraviolet light that repairs defects while the film grows. The result is uniform monolayer growth below 450 °C, within the back-end-of-line thermal budget of a finished chip.
What participants receive
- A full growth cycle on their own 300 mm wafer lot, in MoS₂, WS₂, MoSe₂ or WSe₂
- Characterisation data and a results review with PhantaField process engineers
- A BEOL thermal-budget and facility-requirements review for their line
- Budgetary pricing, with delivery and installation timelines, for teams that want to bring the process in-house
The first round has a limited number of places. Application deadlines, trial dates and location will be confirmed with accepted applicants. Participant wafers and data are handled under NDA.
The trials run on the same production-class platform customers can install. NanoGalaxy processes 300 mm wafers in four independent chambers in parallel, at up to 60 wafers per hour. A rotary susceptor and six-zone heating are built for continuous fab operation.
What the partners say
“Memory is scarce partly because of how it is made: on separate chips that are stacked, bonded and packaged beside the processor. Growing memory directly on top of a finished chip skips the bonding. We would rather engineers in Japan and Southeast Asia judge that on their own wafers than on our slides.”
— Dr. Xuejun (Sheldon) Xie, CEO and co-founder of PhantaField
“The quickest way for a process team to judge a new deposition technology is to see it on its own wafers. This programme gives teams across Japan and ASEAN that first step, with a local point of contact from the first trial through installation.”
— Chong Chee Shoong, CEO and co-founder of FlowDaptor
How to apply
Applications are open now at flowdaptor.ai/nanogalaxy. Teams can also book a video briefing with PhantaField's process engineers by emailing enterprise@flowdaptor.com.
About PhantaField
PhantaField, based in Santa Clara, California, develops low-temperature growth of two-dimensional transition-metal dichalcogenide (TMD) semiconductors and the monolithic 3D chip technologies they enable. Its NanoGalaxy™ PPMOCVD platform grows wafer-scale 2D TMD monolayers on 300 mm wafers within the back-end-of-line thermal budget. PhantaField's early backers include Prof. Chenming Hu, widely known as the father of the FinFET. Visit www.phantafield.com.
About FlowDaptor
FlowDaptor Pte. Ltd. is a Singapore-based technology company. It is an authorised distributor of PhantaField's NanoGalaxy equipment, including upgrades, spare parts and services, in Japan and the ASEAN member states. Visit www.flowdaptor.com.
Media contacts
FlowDaptor: enterprise@flowdaptor.com
PhantaField: info@phantafield.com
NanoGalaxy™ and PhantaField™ are trademarks of PhantaField. Other names may be trademarks of their respective owners.