LPCVD vs PECVD vs ALD: Which Used Deposition Tool Should You Buy?

This guide is for: The process engineer or fab manager choosing between used LPCVD, PECVD, and ALD systems who needs a straight answer on which technology fits their process — and what each one actually costs to own.

A MEMS company in Minnesota asked me to source a deposition tool in 2022. They needed conformal silicon nitride at 800°C for a passivation layer. They'd been quoted $380K for a used PECVD system. I told them to buy an LPCVD tube furnace for $65K instead. Their process required high-temperature conformality — exactly what LPCVD does and PECVD doesn't. They would have spent $315K extra for a tool that couldn't run their process without compromise.

Choosing the wrong deposition technology wastes $100K-$500K. And the ongoing maintenance costs diverge even further. Here's how to decide.

Start With Your Process, Not the Tool

This isn't a platform comparison — it's a process decision. Each technology serves fundamentally different requirements.

LPCVD deposits films at 600-800°C in a low-pressure tube furnace. It produces highly conformal, dense, stoichiometric films — poly-silicon, silicon nitride (Si3N4), and thermal oxide. Batch processing (100-200 wafers at once) makes per-wafer cost extremely low. The trade-off: high temperature limits what substrates and underlayers survive the process.

PECVD uses plasma to enable deposition at 200-400°C. It handles TEOS oxide, silicon oxynitride (SiON), silicon nitride (at lower quality than LPCVD), and amorphous silicon. Single-wafer or small-batch processing. The films are less dense and less conformal than LPCVD, but the low temperature means you can deposit on metals and temperature-sensitive structures.

ALD deposits films one atomic layer at a time at 100-400°C. It produces ultra-thin, highly conformal films with angstrom-level thickness control. High-k dielectrics (HfO2, Al2O3), metal gates (TiN, TaN), and barrier layers below 2nm. The trade-off: extremely slow deposition rates make it uneconomical for thick films.

If you need >100nm of conformal film at high temperature: LPCVD. If you need >50nm at low temperature: PECVD. If you need <10nm with atomic-level conformality: ALD. If you're confused about which you need, the answer is probably PECVD — it's the most versatile, which is why there are more of them.

Used Market Pricing Breakdown

LPCVD tube furnaces: $30K-$150K used. Tystar, Tempress, Centrotherm, and older ASM models are common. The low end ($30K-$50K) gets you a basic horizontal tube furnace suitable for research. The high end ($100K-$150K) gets a production-grade vertical furnace with automated wafer handling.

PECVD systems: $80K-$400K used. The AMAT P5000 PECVD runs $50K-$100K and is the best value on the market — but it's a 200mm, single-chamber tool. For 300mm, Novellus Sequel/Vector systems trade at $150K-$300K. AMAT Producer SE configurations go for $200K-$400K.

ALD systems: $150K-$800K used. ASM Pulsar/Eagle series ($300K-$800K for 300mm), Beneq TFS systems ($150K-$350K for research-grade), and Cambridge NanoTech/Veeco Fiji ($80K-$200K for R&D). Production-grade 300mm ALD tools hold value because demand exceeds supply.

The Maintenance Trap: Know Your Ongoing Costs

This is where buyers get blindsided. The purchase price is one-time. Maintenance is forever.

LPCVD maintenance is cheap. Tube cleans (HF vapor or wet etch) run $2K-$4K each, needed every 3-6 months depending on deposition thickness and film type. Quartz tube replacement costs $3K-$8K every 1-3 years. Heater element replacement runs $5K-$12K but tubes last 5-10 years typically. Total annual maintenance: $8K-$20K. This is the cheapest deposition platform to own.

PECVD maintenance is moderate to expensive. Showerhead replacement runs $8K-$20K every 500-800 RF hours. On a production tool running 16 hours a day, that's every 4-6 weeks. Electrode kits cost $3K-$8K. Chamber cleans (NF3 or CF4 plasma) are required every 1,000-2,000 wafers. RF generator rebuilds run $5K-$15K every 2-3 years. Total annual maintenance: $30K-$80K for a production tool. The showerhead alone can consume $100K per year at high utilization.

ALD maintenance is specialized and expensive. Precursor delivery valve replacement costs $3K-$8K per valve, and a typical ALD system has 4-8 valves. These fail unpredictably — some last 50,000 cycles, others 200,000. Precursor source refurbishment runs $5K-$15K per source. Chamber conditioning after maintenance takes 100-200 wafers. Total annual maintenance: $25K-$60K, plus the precursor chemicals themselves ($500-$5,000 per kilogram depending on chemistry).

Common Purchase Mistakes

Buying PECVD for a high-temperature conformal process. PECVD nitride at 300°C is not the same film as LPCVD nitride at 780°C. If your process requires stoichiometric Si3N4 with low hydrogen content, PECVD can't get there. You'll spend months tweaking recipes before admitting you need LPCVD.

Buying ALD for films thicker than 20nm. ALD deposits at 0.5-2Å per cycle. A 100nm film takes 500-2,000 cycles. That's 2-8 hours per wafer for a single layer. At production volumes, this is economically insane. Use PECVD or LPCVD for thick films and ALD only where atomic-level control and extreme conformality are required.

Ignoring the showerhead replacement cadence on PECVD. I've sold PECVD tools to buyers who budgeted zero for showerheads. Within three months they're calling me for emergency showerhead sourcing at premium prices. Stock two spare showerheads before you start production. A $15K showerhead is cheap compared to a week of downtime waiting for one.

Buying a 300mm ALD tool for a 200mm process. ALD is one of the few technologies where 200mm tools are genuinely harder to find than 300mm. If you run 200mm, look at research-grade systems from Beneq or Cambridge NanoTech rather than trying to adapt a production 300mm platform.

What to Do Right Now

Define your film requirements: material, thickness, conformality, temperature limit, and throughput. That determines your technology. Then price the used market for that specific technology, adding 12 months of projected maintenance costs to the purchase price. The cheapest tool to buy is sometimes the most expensive to own.

FAQ

What's the cheapest used deposition tool for a startup fab? LPCVD tube furnaces start at $30K used. If your process allows high temperature, LPCVD has the lowest acquisition and maintenance costs by far.

How much does PECVD showerhead replacement cost? $8K-$20K per showerhead, needed every 500-800 RF hours. At full production utilization, this is the single largest maintenance cost on a PECVD system.

When should I choose ALD over PECVD? When you need films thinner than 10nm with angstrom-level thickness control and extreme conformality (>95% step coverage in high-aspect-ratio features). For everything else, PECVD is faster and cheaper.

Can I use PECVD instead of LPCVD for silicon nitride? Yes, but the film properties differ significantly. PECVD nitride has higher hydrogen content, lower density, and lower conformality. If your process can tolerate these differences, PECVD works at lower temperature. If it can't, you need LPCVD.

What does ALD maintenance cost annually? $25K-$60K for valve replacements, source refurbishment, and chamber conditioning, plus $10K-$50K in precursor chemicals depending on throughput and chemistry.

Which deposition tool has the best used market availability? PECVD, by a wide margin. AMAT P5000, Novellus Sequel/Vector, and AMAT Producer platforms are abundant on the secondary market.

Page last reviewed July 2026. Pricing and availability reflect current 2026 secondary market conditions.