Dual Chamber RIE: Silicon, III-V Material & Organics Etcher

Dual Chamber RIE Instrument Type Etching Techniques Silicon and compound semiconductor Reactive Ion Etching Staff Manager Nathan S. Lee Staff Email nathslee@caltech.edu Staff Phone 626-395-1319 Reserve time on LabRunr Request training by email Lab Location B235 Steele Lab Phone 626-395-1532 Manufacturer Plasma-Therm Model SLR 720

Description

The Plasma-Therm SLR 720 is a dual-chamber reactive ion etching (RIE) system with a load-lock. It is designated for etching silicon and III-V compound semiconductors with a traditional RIE process.

Applications

• Silicon Etching
• III-V Material Etching
• Organic Material Etching

Allowed Material in RIE

• Si, Si_xN_y, SiO₂, Ge
• PMMA/ZEP/SPR/AZ/maN resists, SiO_x/Al₂O₃ hard masks
• Buried/backside metal ok if never exposed (not an etch stop)

RIE Gas List

• SF₆
• CHF₃
• CF₄
• O₂
• Ar
• He
• H₂

Resources

SOPs & Troubleshooting

• KNI SOP
• Etcher toxic gas handling SOP

Process Documents

• Process Standards

Review Articles

• Guidelines for Etching Silicon MEMS Structures
• Etch rates for MEMS Processing - Part I
• Etch Rates for MEMS Processing - Part II
• Dry Etching of Electronic Oxides, Polymers, and Semiconductors
• Alumina etch masks for fabrication of high-aspect-ratio silicon micropillars and nanopillars

Manufacturer Manuals

• Oxford Plasmalab System 100 DRIE Manual
• Edwards QDP 80 dry vacuum pump Manual

Specifications

Manufacturer Specifications

• Manufacturer System Configuration

System Features

• Universal base console which houses the electronic sub systems, control units, pneumatics, and turbomolecular pump
• PC 2000 Operating system
• ICP process chamber with 200 mm pumping port, view port and end-point-detection ports for optical emission spectrometer and laser interferometer
• Variable height 240 mm Cryo RIE electrode
• Parameter ramping software
• 100 mTorr, temperature-stabilized capacitance manometer for process control with an active penning gauge for base pressure measurement
• 200 mm pumping port is fitted with a 200 mm variable gate valve for chamber isolation and process pressure control
• Close-coupled gas pod to ICP for two digital non-toxic mass-flow-controlled gas lines (SF₆, and C₄F₈)
• Six line gas pod with 3 non-toxic digital mass-flow-controlled gas lines
• Alcatel 1300 l/s MAGLEV turbo pump
• Single-wafer automatic insertion load lock with soft pump option
• Single user license for Anisotropic Silicon Etch Process (Bosch)

System Specifications

• Chamber wall heating 80 °C
• Cryo table range -150 to 400 °C
• ICP 380mm remote high-density plasma source with 8 kW RF generator and automatic matching unit close-coupled to the source.
• Substrate bias control by 30 / 300 W RIE source
• Helium back-side wafer cooling