STS Multiplex ICP Etch Surface Technology Systems - Think. Innovate. CREATE STS plc Imperial Park Newport NP10 8UJ, UK Tel: 44 1633 652400 Fax: 44 1633 652405 webenquiries@stsystems.co.uk www.stsystems.com Contact Information:   Faculty Contact:   Aaron Hawkins   Staff Contact:   Joe Bussio   Student Contact:   Yusheng Qian Maintenance Request for STS ICP Etcher

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1. General Information

   1. A relatively new method of high aspect ratio material removal is plasma etching using an inductively coupled RF source. The substrate is RF-biased independently of the inductively coupled RF plasma, which results in low ion energies and thus low ion bombardment. Consequently, an ICP system will provide high chemical etch selectivities with high etch rates. Inductively Coupled Plasma (ICP) Etch - anisotropic etch process for wide range of materials including compound semiconductors, metals, dielectrics, ferroelectrics, polymers and magnetic materials. Any NON-SILICON etches must be approved by Dr. Nordin...and this machine is worth more than your life--be careful
      
      

2. Equipment Specifications

   1. LCD Touch-screen
   2. Inficon Deposition Monitor
   3. Crystal Monitor
   4. Sightglass and Mirror Stand
   5. Chiller
   6. Rough/Turbo pumps
   7. Argon is used to vent the chamber
   8. Each crucible holder is dedicated to a specific material:
      1. Aluminum
      2. Tin Oxide
      3. Germanium
      4. Nickel
      5. Chrome
      6. Gold

3. Start-Up Procedures

   1. Make sure the chiller is on WHENEVER THE EVAPORATOR IS IN USE The chiller is located under a table to the right of the E-beam. If it is not turned on, press the START button.
   2. Never operate the high vacuum (TURBO) pump without the roughing (MECH) pump being on.
   3. Preparing the chamber
      1. Look on the LCD display screen--if the chamber is at a vacuum, press "Vent" under the "Pumps" menu and wait for the chamber to reach atmosphere.
      2. Once at atmosphere, open the chamber door and attach sample to planetary.
      3. Select the crucible you would like to use and load it into the crucible holder. Multiple crucibles may be used in a single evaporation, however, you may encounter difficulty using crucibles containing magnetic materials (i.e. nickel) as the crucible must pass beneath some very strong magnets as it rotates out of position. The magnetic material in the crucible could be pulled upward to the magnets and jam the rotation of the crucibles.
      4. Once the crucible(s) is loaded, make sure to align the mirror stand with the markings near the chamber door(see image). The mirror stand allows you to see the crucible clearly during the deposition. This is important because the Denton E-beam allows you to adjust the horizontal/vertical swing of the ion beam as it sweeps across the crucible. It is important to make sure that the beam does not sweep outside the limits of the crucible because you may begin to melt the copper plating surrounding the crucible. It could also junk up your wafer with copper.
      5. Now you are ready to close the chamber door and begin the vacuum. Go to the "Pumps" menu on the LCD screen(see image) and press "MECH". This will initialize the mechanical pump.
      6. Once the vacuum reaches 1e-2 torr, press the "TURBO" button. This will initialize the Turbo pump.
      7. Once the vacuum has "HIGH VAC", press the "ION GAUGE" button. This will initialize the Ion gauge which gives a more accurate reading of the pressure in the chamber.
      8. When the vacuum has reached 1e-5 torr, you may begin the deposition. Flip the power switch to "On" and wait 2 minutes. Now press the power button for the ion beam
      9. Increase the current SLOWLY and monitor the deposition on the deposition controller
      10. Once the deposition is complete, turn off the power to the ion beam and wait 2 min before turning off the main power.
      11. Turn off the MECH and TURBO pumps and press vent until chamber is vented

4. Shut-down Procedures

   1. It is best to leave the chamber pumped down to a low pressure when not in use.
   2. Once you have vented and removed your wafers, close the door and turn on the MECH pump until the chamber is at a vacuum
      
      

5. EXAMPLE CODE FROM KARL SUSS ALIGNER

   1. Gas Operation
      1. Open the nitrogen, compressed air, and vacuum valves at the rear of the machine.
      2. The valves are open when they are parallel to the pipes and off when they are perpendicular to the pipes.
      3. See Pictures:
         1. 
   2. Lamp Operation
      1. Press Green Button that reads CIC Power Restart.
      2. Flip the Power switch.
      3. Wait for LED screen to say "rdy."
      4. Press the Start button and the LED screen will read "COLD". It will take between 10-20 minutes for the lamp to be ready for use and the LED screen will read "274" or "275" when ready.
      5. Make sure green light is on at rear of lamp. If the green light is not on, turn Power Switch off and go call Phil Brown immediately. (2-4344)
      6. See Pictures:
         1. Click on image to see location on aligner
            
         2. Click on image to see location on aligner
            
   3. Machine Boot-Up
      1. Flip master switch to 1 position. (Computer turns on.)
      2. Press login button on touch screen and enter your username and password. (If your password is entered incorrectly the touch screen will switch back to the login screen and will be locked. You must manually turn off the machine and start over.) **To obtain a username and password you must be certified on the machine by Joe Bussio.**
      3. The machine will take a minute to boot up before you can begin to set up the Short Program.
      4. See Pictures:
         1. Click on image to see location on aligner
            
   4. Lithography
      1. Short Program (To be used when processing a few wafers at a time)
         1. Setting up the Short Program (All steps on the touch screen)
            1. Press the System button.
            2. Press the Short Program button.
            3. Press the Change Program button.
            4. Press the Edit button.
            5. Press the Change Type button and choose Proximity, Soft or Hard Contact. (Vacuum contact is only available with the 3 inch chuck.)
            6. Now press Page 1 and adjust values according to what you want.
            7. Press the Return button when finished.
            8. Next press Page 2 and adjust values according to what you want. Make sure you choose either First Mask or Align Mask for your option. The Flood Exposure option will not be used here.
            9. Press the Return button when finished.
            10. Press the Continue Button.
            11. Finally press the Return button 2 times more to exit out of the Change Program. It is now time to run the Short Program.
         2. Running the Short Program
            1. Press the Start Button (on touch screen).
            2. Press the Continue Button (on touch screen) and the "Load Mask And Clamp Controller" screen appears.
            3. Make sure the panel is pushed all the way in and press the Clamping: Off Button. Should now read Clamping: On.
            4. Now press the Continue Button. The chuck will raise up through the hole in the panel and the Load Wafer screen will appear.
            5. Loading the Wafer
               1. Load the wafer onto the chuck.
               2. Press the "Vacuum: off" button. Should now say "Vacuum: on".
               3. Press the Continue Button and the chuck will lower and the "Load Mask And Clamp Controller" screen appears.
               4. See the pictures: (shows how to put the wafer on the chuck)
               5. Click on image to see location on aligner
                  
            6. Loading the Mask
               1. Load the mask onto the panel.
               2. Press the Vacuum: Off and Clamping: Off Buttons. Should both now read “ “: On.
               3. Press the Continue Button. If the First Mask option was chosen during Setup then there will be a short delay time and the wafer will be exposed. Skip steps 7 and 8 and move on to the next section. If the Align Mask option was chosen, proceed to steps 7 and 8.
               4. See the pictures: (shows how to put the mask on the panel)
               5. Click on image to see location on aligner
                  
               6. Align the mask and wafer using the joysticks
               7. Picture of the joysticks
               8. Click on image to see location on aligner
                  
               9. Buttons on joysticks allow either the microscope or mask to be moved or both simultaneously. The movement can be continuous or in steps.)
               10. When alignment is complete, turn buttons on the joysticks off. (The red lights by the buttons will go out.
               11. Press the Exposure button. The wafer will then be exposed.
               12. Click on image to see location on aligner
                   
            7. Removing Wafer and Resetting Machine (all buttons on touch screen)
               1. Now unload the mask and wafer by following the instructions on the screen. It is basically the opposite of what you did before in steps 5 and 6.
               2. After wafer is unloaded you can continue to process more wafers is you choose to do so. If so, start at step 5 of Running the Short Program and follow the instructions. If not, press the Cancel button.
               3. Now press the Exit Short Program button (on the touch screen).
               4. Press the Logout/Shutdown button (on the touch screen).
               5. If the Logout button is chosen, it will bring up the Login screen again. This is good if someone wants to use the machine right after you.
               6. If the Shutdown button is chosen, wait until the message appears saying it is ok to shutdown the computer.(Only shut down the machine if it will not be used for the next 3 hours.)
      2. Long Program (To be used when processing multiple wafers)
         1. Running the Long Program
            1. Loading wafers
               1. Load wafers into ma150's specially-made boat.
               2. Place boat into position on aligner.
               3. See the picture:
               4. Click on image to see location on aligner
                  
            2. Loading the Mask
               1. Press the mask button on the touchscreen.
               2. Load the mask.
               3. Press button to turn mask vacuum on.
               4. Press button to enable clamping of mask.
               5. See the pictures:
               6. Click on image to see location on aligner
                  
            3. Press the start button.
               1. See the picture: (the button will be blinking)
               2. Click on image to see location on aligner
                  
            4. After the start button is pressed, the machine will proceed to automatically load a wafer onto the wafer chuck for processing. The wafer is aligned and the machine loads another wafer onto a temporary storage unit for faster processing of the wafers. Also, the microscope is lowered into place for aligning. The machine assumes that the mask you are using is not the first mask.
            5. If alignment is needed then align the wafer and mask using the joystick and then press the button on the joystick that is lit up. If alignment is not needed then just press the button on the joystick that is lit up.
               1. See the picture:
               2. Click on image to see location on aligner
                  
            6. The microscope will then raise and the expose button will light up.
            7. Now press the exposure button on the machine. The wafer will be exposed to light and unloaded to the ma150's specially-made boat. Congratulations! You have just completed your first wafer.
            8. After you have finished processing all of your wafers, remove them from the ma150's specially-made boat on the left side of machine.
               1. See the picture:
               2. Click on image to see location on aligner
                  
            9. Now press the Logout/Shutdown button (on the touch screen).
            10. If the Logout button is chosen, it will bring up the Login screen again. This is good if someone wants to use the machine right after you.
            11. If the Shutdown button is chosen, wait until the message appears saying it is ok to shutdown the computer.(Only shut down the machine if it will not be used for the next 3 hours.)
   5. Shutting Down
      1. Now flip the master switch to the 0 position, turn off the power switch to the lamp, and close the nitrogen, compressed air, and vacuum valves. You are done!