Vacuum Equipment
10/01/1999
Aluminum UHV flanges
Aluminum UHV systems can now be reliably sealed using stainless steel (SS) knife-edge flanges. The Atlas Flange is made of a laminate of 6061 T-6 aluminum and 316L SS and is qualified to <10-10 torr. It can be repeatedly baked to 250°C and is compatible with standard CF flanges. Aluminum chambers have 5x the thermal conductivity and 21x the thermal diffusivity of SS. They are lightweight and have vacuum properties that meet and exceed those made of SS. Atlas Technologies, Port Townsend, WA; ph 360/385-3123, fax 360/379-5220, e-mail [email protected], www.atlasbimetal.com.
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Ultrahigh-vacuum windows
These UHV windows permit the use of optical pyrometry, ellipsometry, light scattering, and reflectance-difference spectroscopy to obtain data in real time during molecular beam epitaxy operations. The Re-Entrant UHV window, unlike conventional windows, extends inside the vacuum chamber, saving space and giving protection to the window during UHV operations. The flange is 4.5 in., the tube is 2.25 in. outside dia., and the depth of the unit is 4.5 in. The conventional UHV window extends outside the vacuum chamber, is available in 1.5 and 2 in. flange sizes, and can be protected by a stainless steel shield for both sizes. Bomco Inc., Gloucester, MA; ph 978/283-9000, fax 978/283-2882, e-mail [email protected], www.bomco.com.
Process Equipment
Plasma etcher
The PTSA-ICP Plasma Etcher SI 500 is designed for high-rate, low-damage homogeneous etching in III/V and Si technology. Core elements are the PlanarTriple SpiralAntenna PTSA-ICP source and the height-adjustable substrate electrode. The tool has a small footprint and can be installed through-the-wall to minimize the use of cleanroom space. By adding a vacuum transfer chamber and a C to C loading station, the SI 500 can be upgraded to a full-size cluster tool of up to three reaction chambers.Sentech Instruments GmbH, Berlin, Germany; ph 49/30-6392-5520, fax 49/30-6392-5522, e-mail [email protected], www.sentech.de.
Isotropic etching
The Tru-Etch 3000 isotropic etching system eliminates backside wafer damage and provides a cosmetically smooth, stress-free surface for wafers with bumps. It operates at ambient pressure and does not require costly frontside wafer protection. The system is based on this company's proprietary Atmospheric Downstream Plasma (ADP) etching and noncontact wafer-handling technologies. ADP is a highly repeatable isotropic etch process that removes a uniform layer of silicon from the wafer. The technology has high etch rates for common materials present on the backside of processed wafers, including silicon, silicon oxide, silicon nitride, poly-silicon, and BPSG. Tru-Si Technologies, Sunnyvale, CA; ph 408/720-3333, fax 408/720-3334.
Metrology
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Scanning probe microscope
AutoProbe CP Research microscope offers atomic-scale resolution, as well as scanning capacitance, force modulation, phase, and scanning thermal imaging. These imaging modes are particularly useful in semiconductor process development, detecting buried defects and visualizing dopant distributions. All imaging modes are available without changing the microcope's scanning head. Doubled signal processing bandwidth and redesigned ergonomics contribute to throughput and productivity. ThermoMicroscopes, Sunnyvale, CA; ph 408/747-1600, fax 408/747-1601, e-mail [email protected], www.thermomicro.com.
Particle size analyzer
In order to avoid scratching the wafer surface during CMP, the particle size distribution of the polishing slurry must be carefully controlled. As a result of their high concentrations, the slurries have a tendency to aggregate over time. Mastersizer 2000 is a laser diffraction-based particle size analyzer that measures particles down to 20nm, and when used with diluted samples of CMP slurries, it clearly distinguishes the presence of large material. Slurries can then be exchanged before the aggregate concentration becomes too high and interferes with the polishing process. Malvern Instruments Ltd., Malvern, UK; ph 44/1684-892456, fax 44/1684-892789, e-mail [email protected], www.malvern.co.uk.
Materials
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High-purity polyimide
Pyropel HD is a high-purity thermoset polyimide machining stock suitable for the manufacture of parts subjected to high temperatures or chemical attack. With temperature resistance to 550°F, it exceeds the upper limits of engineering-grade thermo plastics such as PEEK and Torlon and is comparable to other thermoset polyimides such as Vespel, Duratron and Sintimid, while costing considerably less. As well as providing good thermal and chemical resistance, Pyropel HD meets the outgassing and ionic purity standards required of engineering materials used in semiconductor manufacturing; it is available from stock in standard 12 x 12 in. plates in thicknesses up to 1 in. Typical applications include exhaust and clamp rings; soldering fixtures; high-pressure thermal spacers; rotor and vane tips for gas turbines; and valve parts, seals and manifolds for chemical and fluid handling pumps and equipment. Albany International High Performance Materials, Mansfield, MA; ph 508/337-3008, fax 508/337-8550, www.pyropel.com.
Photodefinable polyimide
Meeting or exceeding the lithographic requirements of all contemporary semiconductor target applications, HD-8000 photodefinable polyimide is a positive tone system engineered to be imaged with i-line phototools and developed on standard positive resist developer tracks using common TMAH developers. It has a fully aromatic polyimide backbone structure with corresponding high-performance thermal and mechanical properties. Inherent resistance to dry etch processing chemicals makes HD-8000 ideal for "single mask" stress buffer applications. HD MicroSystems, Wilmington, DE; ph 800/346-5656, www.hdmicrosystems.com.
Wet processing equipment material
Corzan 4910 post-chlorinated polyvinyl chloride (CPVC) White Sheet Material meets FM 4910 criteria for fire propagation and smoke damage and can be used for the manufacture of cleanroom tools without additional fire detection and suppression equipment. It has high strength and rigidity, and reduced material cost - a 0.5-in.-thick sheet of CPVC would be as rigid as a 1-in.-thick sheet of PP. Tests by International Sematech show that Corzan has very good resistance to outgassing when heated to 100°C, and low extractables in 85°C ultrapure water and ozonated ultrapure water at ambient temperature. BFGoodrich Co., Cleveland, OH; ph 800/331-1144, e-mail [email protected].
Software
Yield improvement software
With Q-YIELD Version 4.0 yield improvement software, each analysis automatically produces a detailed report at the push of a button. It places no limits on data file size and uses a combination of artificial intelligence and statistics to unlock answers from huge amounts of production data. The program: supports all high-level data types, such as parametric measurements or equipment IDs; runs analyses in batches or one by one; improves yields by quickly finding previously hidden relationships; commands line interface for rapid analysis; visualizes results with frequency, line, and scatter plots; and has zoomable graphics. Quadrillion Corp., Kanata, Canada; ph 613/832-3393, e-mail [email protected], www.quadrillion.com.
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Inspection and analysis software
The Advanced Image Processor (AIP) is a fully integrated inspection and analysis software package for real-time inspection and failure analysis. It is integrated into most of this company's X-ray systems and can be used in interactive (live image viewing) mode or standalone (previously captured image viewing) mode. The AIP facilitates image enhancement and/or analysis of acquired X-ray images to determine defects and design analysis of chip packaging and surface mount technology. It is well suited to inspection and verification of boards using BGAs, flip chips, µBGAs, and other high-density packages. Nicolet Imaging Systems, San Diego, CA; ph 619/635-8600, fax 619/695-9902, e-mail [email protected], www.nicimg.com.
Object-oriented MES
SiView Standard is an object-oriented manufacturing execution system (MES) for chipmakers that is compliant with Sematech CIM Framework and Object Management Group standards. Its toolset allows users quickly and easily to transform their plant floor operations to meet changing conditions, including the switch to 300mm wafers. SiView retrofits with no impact on production and allows operation immediately after installation. It provides a complete, open, multiplatform environment with rich functionality and a large range of MES applications, including material management, equipment and process management, schedule management, process control, and factory automation. IBM Global Electronics, Somers, NY; ph 800/426-7777, e-mail [email protected].
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Facility monitoring software
The Facility-View software package provides a comprehensive account of all environmental conditions within a cleanroom. It is a Windows-based program that enables the user to view simultaneously tabular displays, real-time or retrieval time plots, 3-D histograms, status conditions, event logs, and a facility map for every monitoring instrument. Networking capabilities are available and allow communications with other computers using the TCP/IP protocol to distribute data among many users. Each instrument can have user-defined sample intervals and be grouped to an alarm device. The program also has a paging function that uses a modem for sending numerical codes to specified pagers for notification of alarm events or other occurrences. Particle Measuring Systems Inc., Boulder, CO; ph 303/443-7100, fax 303/449-6870.
Lithography
Bump process lithography tool
The Saturn Spectrum 3 wafer stepper is designed specifically for bump (flip chip) process applications. The system uses new broadband ghi-line optics technology and is capable of processing any g or i-line photosensitive film from 1.0 to >100µm thick on the same stepper. With 2.0µm resolution and a usable depth-of-focus >5.0µm, the system provides a high degree of process latitude. It is equipped with a fully automatic wafer-size change feature that allows back-to-back processing of wafers ranging in diameter from 4 to 8 in. High wafer-plane irradiance results in low exposure times and high throughput at high dose exposures. Ultratech Stepper Inc., San Jose, CA; ph 408/321-8835, fax 408/577-3379, e-mail [email protected], www.ultratech.com.
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DUV excimer laser
The G20K is a 248nm, KrF 2000Hz excimer laser light source. Arc-free discharge, which involves a newly designed electric circuit and gas flow system, makes possible a doubling of the life expectancy of the light chamber to 10 billion pulses. The system is modular - components are not only mod ularized but removable from the front end - making preventive maintenance easier and maximizing uptime. Compared with its predecessor, the G20K has a 14% smaller footprint and is 18% smaller in volume. A new solid-state pulsed power module has lowered power consumption by 20%. An RF ionizer coupled with the power module greatly improves the oscillation stabilization and durability of the light source. Energy dose stability is specified at <±0.4%, allowing accurate dose control, especially for scanners. The narrow spectral bandwidth (<0.6 pm) achieves very good resolution with high NA (0.7) lens steppers or scanners. Komatsu Ltd., Tokyo, Japan; ph 81/285-28-8410.
Wafers/Wafer Handling
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300mm dummy wafers
These 300mm dummy wafers (borosilicate) are used for design, testing, setup, and cycling of 300mm processing and handling equipment. They are available at a much lower cost than silicon and meet or exceed Semi M8-0997 Class C. An optical CVD coating is available for use with most sensor technologies (chromium with silicon dioxide overcoat). Specifications include: wafer diameter of 300mm, ±0.25mm; wafer thickness of 0.775mm, ±0.05mm; and notch depth of 1.00mm, ±0.5mm. Clean Air Solutions, McCall, ID; ph 208/634-4219, fax 208/634-7554, e-mail [email protected], www.mccall.net/cleanair.
Gases/Gas Handling
Gas and pump line heating systems
These systems combine thermal components that optimize CVD, metal etch process performance, and process yields while reducing condensation, particle buildup, and maintenance-related downtime. Constructed from heaters, sensors, and controllers that meet UL, CE, NEC and Semi S2-93 safety requirements, the systems (used in conjunction with this company's communication software) offer engineers a very effective solution for improving and monitoring overall process performance. The systems are highly suitable for such gas delivery line applications as boron tri-chloride, chlorine-trifloride, dichlorsilane, tetra ethyl orthosilicate, TI nitride, tungsten, and water vapor. They can also be used in pump lines for CVD and metal etch applications involving LPCVD, plasma-enhanced CVD, aluminum etch, tungsten etch, and copper etch. Watlow Electric Manufacturing Co., St. Louis, MO; ph 314/878-4600, fax 877/893-1005, e-mail [email protected], www.watlow.com.
Packaging/Assembly/Test
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Pick-and-place system
Suitable for small-lot production such as ASICs and low-yield production lots, the DE35-NSC pick-and-place system uses an edge contact principle for handling die, rather than the vacuum or collet-style surface contact vacuum pickup used by conventional systems. It first pushes the die out of the wafer mounted of adhesive tape. The die is then gently gripped at the edges with about 10 grams of force by conductive polymer fingers. There is no contact with the top of the die, eliminating the surface scratching or dust formation often associated with surface contact pickup tips or tungsten carbide die collets. After being picked up, the die is placed conventionally in waffle packs or gelpacks. The machine can handle die sizes from 0.060 to >0.75 in.2 at a production rate of abour 1000 die/hour. Royce Instruments Inc., Napa, CA; ph 707/255-9078, fax 707/255-9079, www.royceinstruments.com.
Contamination Control
Bulk microdefect analyzer
The automated SIRM-300 bulk microdefect analyzer is designed for manual and automatic operation for wafers up to 300mm. It provides a noncontact, nondestructive method for complete characterization of bulk microdefects <20nm in size. The edge-gripping design of the wafer handler makes it possible to measure two-side polished wafers automatically, suiting SIRM-300 to both laboratory and production environments. Applications include detecting and analyzing oxygen and metal precipitates, as well as D defects and stacking faults, determining denuded zone depth, and BMD size distribution. Semilab Semiconductor Physics Laboratory, Budapest, Hungary; ph 36/(1)233-2544, fax 36/(1)233-2818, e-mail [email protected].
Zeta potential analyzer
Wafer scratching can be caused by aggregation of CMP polishing slurry particles of low zeta potential. Using the electrokinetic sonic amplitude (ESA) technique, the ESA-9800 measures the zeta potential (surface electric charge) of CMP slurries without sample dilution. The 20-sec measurement can be performed by a handheld probe, stationary measurement cell, or flow-through cell. Dispersant concentration, pH (iso-electric point), and time effect measurements are performed automatically. Matec Applied Sciences, Northborough, MA; ph 508/393-0155 ext 317, fax 508/393-5476, e-mail [email protected], www.matec.com.
Hardware/Accessories
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Corrosion-free Vacuum/pressure pumps
These pumps deliver vacuum to 20 in. Hg, pressure to 18 psig, and free air capacity to 1.1 cfm. The versatile vacuum (or) pressure pumps feature a variety of chemical-resistant diaphragms, a Valox body, and Norprene valves, as well as UL recognized AC and DC motors. The self-contained corrosion-resistant vacuum/pressure stations combine a single head pump with a vacuum/pressure gauge and independent stainless regulating valves for controlling vacuum or pressure. Barnant Co., Barrington, IL; ph 800/637-3739, fax 847/381-7053, e-mail [email protected], www.barnant.com.