On October 22, AMEC announced that the world's first Primo Domingo gas-phase high-selectivity etch system has shipped to a major domestic integrated circuit R&D and manufacturing customer.
3D chip architectures are becoming the core path to continued scaling. As planar scaling nears physical limits, GAA transistors, 3D NAND layer stacking, and 3D DRAM vertical structures all require high-precision selective removal of different materials in tiny spaces. The challenge of high-selectivity etching is removing target materials while barely damaging adjacent ones, while ensuring high uniformity and process repeatability across the wafer.
The Primo Domingo is designed around this need. It uses a fully symmetric chamber structure and optimized flow field design, integrating gas injection, temperature control, and pressure regulation for high uniformity and repeatability. Its integrated gas cabinet shortens gas injection distance for faster pulsed gas precision control. Inside, high-corrosion-resistant tubing and special coatings handle highly reactive etch gases for long-term reliability. The system features dual cooling/dual heating wafer pedestals for wide-range precise temperature control, and adopts AMEC's mass-produced Primo C6V3 transfer system, flexibly pairing main etch chambers and auxiliary anneal chambers.
AMEC's etch equipment now covers applications from 65nm to 3nm and beyond, including various ultra-high aspect ratio etch scenarios in memory. Dielectric etch reaches 60:1 and 90:1 extreme aspect ratios, and silicon etch reaches 140:1, at international leading levels. Its pioneering dual-reaction-station ICP etch technology reaches 0.2nm single-atom precision. As of end-June 2026, AMEC has developed 54 high-end semiconductor equipment types, with over 8,800 reaction stations in mass production across 220+ production lines in China and abroad.
Cong Hai, AMEC senior vice president, said its etch equipment meets customers' high standards in performance and stability, covering most domestic etch needs. Over the next five years, AMEC plans organic growth and external expansion to broaden its product matrix, covering over 60% of the high-end semiconductor equipment market and over 70% of the advanced packaging equipment market.
ICgoodFind Summary: 3D chip architectures are shifting etch requirements from "etching deep" to "etching precisely without damaging neighbors"—exactly where Primo Domingo's high selectivity lands. AMEC's etch equipment already covers 3nm and beyond, and this new system fills the material-selective removal link under 3D architectures.
