NNfC monthly
admin committee meeting
Dry Etch and Thin films
&
Process Integration
Jan 6th, 2015
Dry Etch– Tool status Update Dec 2014
• RIE
– AMC 2014
– Etch rate optimization post AMC
• Etch rates were same as before except SiO2 , SiO2 etch rate decreased by
20nm/min.
– Installation of Thermocouple for RIE-Cl has to be done.
– DC bias interlock is installed in RIE-Cl (Max 500V). Al2O3 and ITO recipes are
optimized accordingly. (No etch rate and profile variation)
• PECVD
– AMC 2014
– Post AMC deposition rates were checked- Same results as before with good
uniformity.
– Issue with Wafer Lift Bellow Assembly- Wafer transfer is done in manual
mode. Spare part acquired and need to be installed.
– SiO2 High deposition rate recipe optimization in process.
Tool issues – Nov-Dec 2014.
• eBeam deposition:

Issue with GOLD deposition … seeing “gold balls” on surface of
the films on the order od 1-2 microns!
 This is could be the potential cause of the failure of the RFMEMS switch for MSRIT project.
 Several other users have seen the same issue. Meeting
organized to collect all the available data and trouble-shoot the
problem. Problem seen since mid-Nov.
• Sputter tools:


Sputter2 down since early-Dec due to a faulty controller on the
Throttle valve. Problem identified as the Norcal-valve controller—
Quote received from Singapore~US$2.5k Need a strong push to
Tecport for providing the part as part of the remaining spares
money ~ US$38k.
Sputter one is up – Need to purchase Al/Cr targets. Quotations
received. P.O. requested.
3
Tool issues
• DRIE:


TOOL DOWN due to Arching in the Busbar area near the ICP
Coil.
Same problem seen in June 2014.





SPTS had serviced the machine and cleaned the “blackened”
contacts
Tool was operating under reduced power conditions to avoid such
arching
Busbar parts were ordered in October, but the process has
been slow due to strike and holidays/ICEE conference.
Need to accelerate the Annual maintenance schedule and
change the “damaged” busbar parts.
Plan to get operational again in the next couple of weeks …
provided all the “ducks” line up and the planets are aligned 
4
Equipment Utilization Chart- Nov1st-Dec15th, 2014
600
500
Total hrs
400
300
200
100
0
RFAnelvaEquip
Sputteri1- non
ng- office
office hrs
hrs
Therma
Therma
l
l
Evapor
Evapor
atoratornon
office
office
hrs
hrs
180 540
180 540
pecvdpecvdnon
office
office
hrs
hrs
DrieDrienon
office
office
hrs
hrs
rie flrie flnon
office
office
hrs
hrs
rie clrie clnon
office
office
hrs
hrs
sputtersputter
1- 1- non
office office
hrs hrs
sputtersputter
2- 2 - non
office office
hrs hrs
E-beam
E-beam
evptrevptrnonoffice
office
hrs
hrs
Total
180 540
180 540
180 540
180 540
180 540
180 540
180 540
Unavailable
81
333
81
333
81
340
81
340
80
340
80
340
80
340
0
180
0
180
Downtime
15
18
0
0
0
0
7
0
0
0
100 200
0
0
0
0
0
0
Not Used
28
184
49
193
43
188
44
176
9
129
0
0
8
168
84
360
16
360
Used
56
5
50
14
56
12
48
24
91
71
0
0
92
32
96
0
164
0
200
Equipment Utilization Chart- Last four months of 2014
PECVD
180
DRIE
RIE-F
RIE-Cl
Sputter
Coater1
Sputter
Coater2
E-beam
Evaporator
Anelva Thermal
Sputter Evap.
160
Total hrs
140
120
100
80
60
40
20
0
SepOct
Total
No De
v c
SepOct
No De
v c
SepOct
No De
v c
SepOct
No De
v c
SepOct
No De
v c
SepOct
No De
v c
SepOct
No De
v c
SepOct
No De
v c
SepOct
No De
v c
18 18 18 18
18 18 18 18
18 18 18 18
18 18 18 18
18 18 18 18
18 18 18 18
18 18 18 18
18 18 18 18
18 18 18 18
Unavailable 0 0 0 81
0 0 0 81
0 0 0 81
0 0 0 81
0 0 0 80
0 0 0 80
0 0 0 80
0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0
Downtime
0 0 52 15
54 0 0 0
0 0 27 0
12 0 28 7
16 0 0 0
0 0 16 10
0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0
Not Used
78 13 80 28
63 10 13 49
11 14 88 43
11 15 99 44
29 22 27 9
11 80 11 0
16 20 52 8
24 48 68 96
36 40 40 16
Used
10 48 48 56
63 78 47 50
70 34 65 56
56 28 53 48
13 15 15 91
62 10 54 0
16 16 12 92
15 13 11 84
14 14 14 16
MTRDC project progress
• Unit process development started in Aug.
– Key challenges in eChannel RIE, Au-seed layer, gold plating,
wafer bonding and dicing.
• Prasiddhi mask ordered to start structural learning.
Sadanand Deshpande, NNFC
7