The Oxford Instruments’ PlasmaPro 80 reactive ion etch (RIE) is a compact, small-footprint system providing adaptable etch and deposition solutions with comfortable open loading. It is simple to site and user-friendly without compromising on process quality.
The open load design enables quick wafer loading and unloading, making it ideal for research, prototyping, and low-volume production. It allows high-performance processes with the help of improved electrode cooling and outstanding substrate temperature control.
Highlights
- Open load design enables quick wafer loading and unloading
- Low cost of ownership
- Built to Semi S2/S8 standards
- Outstanding etch control and rate determination
- Outstanding wafer temperature uniformity
- Up to 200 mm wafers
System Features
- Compact footprint — Simple to site
- Optimized electrode cooling — Substrate temperature control
- High-conductance radial (axially symmetric) pumping configuration — Improved process uniformity and rates guaranteed
- Addition of <500-millisecond data logging — Traceability and history of chamber and process conditions
- X20 control system — Increases data retrieval and offers quicker and more repeatable matching
- Clear ease of access to key components — Enhanced serviceability and maintenance
- Laser end-point detection using interferometry — Quantify etch depth in transparent materials on reflective surfaces (for instance, oxides on Si) or reflectometry for non-transparent materials (like metals) to identify layer boundaries
- Close-coupled turbo pump — High pumping speed and outstanding base pressure
- Optical emission spectrometry (OES) for huge sample or batch process end-pointing — Identifying changes in etch by-products or depletion of reactive gas species, and for chamber clean end-pointing
- Fault and tool diagnostics via front-end software — Quick fault diagnosis
Applications
- III-V etch processes
- Hard mask etch for high-brightness LED production
- Silicon Bosch and cryo-etch processes
- Diamond-Like Carbon (DLC) deposition
- SiO2 and quartz etch
- Failure analysis dry etch de-processing utilizing the specially configured PlasmaPro FA tools ranging from packaged chip and die to etch via full 200 mm wafer etch
RIE of InP waveguide. Image Credit: Oxford Instruments Plasma Technology
7 μm polyimide feature RIE. Image Credit: Oxford Instruments Plasma Technology