1 DENTON DISCOVERY 550 REACTED SPUTTERED ...

DENTON DISCOVERY 550
REACTED SPUTTERED DEPOSITION
PREPARED BY: Hoc Ngo DATE 3/01/05
Assoc. Devlp. Engr.
SUPER USER:
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1.0 SCOPE
REACTED SPUTTERED DEPOSITION
This document establishes the procedures for reacted sputtered deposition of thin metal or
dielectric films on silicon, GaAs, and other substrates in the Nanoelectronics Laboratory.
2.0 APPLICABLE DOCUMENTS
Sputterer logbook and maintenance log
System Component Operation Manuals
3.0 MATERIALS AND EQUIPMENT
Denton Discovery 550 sputtering System
Tweezers
Isopropyl Alcohol
Cleanroom wiper
Various sputtering targets
4.0 GENERAL
4.1 Denton Discovery 550 Sputterer is configured for thin film deposition of
up to 4 materials sequentially without breaking the vacuum. The system is
equipped with two 3" DC target positions and two 3” RF target one. The
target number 3 is the dual power one that can run either DC or RF power.
The machine can run reactive deposition utilizing a high temperature heater
in plasma environment. It can also create alloy films by co-deposition of
the RF and DC targets.
4.2 Vacuum Integrity Maintenance Maintaining a low background pressure is
necessary to deposit quality thin films. To avoid contamination these
practices need to be followed:
4.2.1. Never touch any part(s) inside the chamber or part(s) going into the
chamber with bare hands or contaminated gloves.
4.2.2 Handle substrate table and parts going into the chamber with
gloves and/or vacuum system tools.
4.2.3 Avoid unnecessary touching/handling of chamber parts and vacuum
system tools, even with gloves on.
4.2.4 Clean any area or tool which will contact vacuum chamber parts by
wiping with lint-free wipes and isopropyl alcohol.
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4.2.5 The vacuum chamber should not be subjected to excessive
atmospheric exposure; pre-deposition preparation should be done in
a timely manner to avoid such exposure.
4.2.6 A cleanroom mask must be worn while the chamber is open.
4.2.7 Load only clean substrates and clean substrate holder/fixtures into
the vacuum chamber.
4.2.8 The system is designed to process semiconductor wafers with no
films that outgas. Any nonstandard substrate such as glass, plastics,
unbaked photoresist must not be put in the system without area
engineers approval.
4.3 Emergency Shut Off The red emergency switch is on the front of control
cabinet. Hit this switch immediately in case of emergency. This will shut
down the whole system except the cryo-pump.
4.4 Power Shut Off
4.4.1 Turn off the main circuit breaker that is located behind the control
cabinet. This cuts off all power to the system.
4.4.2 Turn off the circuit breaker on the wall behind the system.
5.0 PROCESS PREPARATION
5.1 Sputterer Standby Check List This checklist must be done before venting
the chamber.
Cooling Water:
Netlab Cooling Water is on.
Water pressure: > 60 Psi
Water temperature: < 20 oC
DENTON2 Overview Control Screen:
Chamber Idle Pressure FRI shows less than 10E-7
System Controller is in AUTO (green high light)
5.2 System Base Pressure Record on the log sheet, the base pressure of the
system as displayed on the chamber ion gauge icon. Verify that previous
user had no problem.
5.3 Sample Holder Two 4” wafers can be put face up onto the 8” substrate
table.
The high temperature reaction requests silicon carbide insert. This one has
black appearance.
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5.4 Sputterer Venting
5.4.0 Click the RECIPE icon on the OVERVIEW screen.
5.4.1 Click the EDIT/CREATE under MASTER RECIPE box
5.4.2 Open SEQUENCE TYPE by clicking on the Auto Pump line
5.4.3 Choose the AUTOVENT by clicking on it
5.4.4 Click ADD to add the Main Vent sequence to Master Sequence
List.
5.4.5 Save the recipe as A_Vent by clicking on the DOWNLOAD icon
then save it by the name A_VENT in MASTER_RECIPE file.
5.4.6 Close the Master Recipe Builder window.
5.4.7 Click OVERVIEW icon to access the DENTON2 Main Control
Screen.
5.4.8 Verify the A_Vent.dat appears in Recipe Name box
5.4.9 Click Start to activate the vent recipe. The high vacuum valve
would close then the chamber vent valve opens. The vented
chamber would be notified by a string of beeps sound and the “
Auto Process End OK” flashing alarm
NOTE: At this point you must be wearing clean gloves and a face
mask.
5.5 Substrate Loading
5.5.1 Load sample onto the substrate table, the deposition side face up
5.5.2 Remove the substrate table from the heater carrier if needed then
replace it back into the chamber after sample loading.
5.6 Closing Chamber Door
6.0 PROCEDURE
5.6.1 Check the chamber o-ring for debris/particles. If needed, wipe the
circumference of the o-ring with isopropyl alcohol and cleanroom
wipers
5.6.2 Close the chamber door with the lock
6.1 Create the recipe
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6.1.1 Create the recipe by clicking on RECIPE icon to open RECIPE
SCREEN
6.1.2 Click the EDIT/CREATE in AUTOMATIC SEQUENCE
CONFIGURATION box
6.1.3 Click OPEN to access the recipe list in Deposition file
6.1.4 Pick the designated recipe by double clicking on its name
6.1.5 Change the parameters such as time/substrate temperature in
deposition step then save the change by clicking SAVE.
6.1.6 Click Close to close the Recipe
6.2 Create the sequence. The sequence should contain three steps: AUTO
PUMP, AUTO DEPOSITIION, and AUTO VENT. Each step will be
added to the sequence one by one.
6.2.1 Click the EDIT/CREAT under MASTER RECIPE box.
6.2.2 Click on AUTO PUMP under SEQUENCE TYPE to pull down the
list of action
6.2.3 High light Auto Pump under Sequence Type.
6.2.4 Add APump.dat to the Master Sequence List by clicking on ADD
icon
6.2.5 Pull down the Sequence Type then high light Auto Deposition
6.2.6 Pull down the list of deposition recipe by click on any recipe name
under USER DEFINE SEQUENCE
6.2.7 Add the designed recipe to the Master Sequence List by click on
ADD icon after high lighting recipe name.
6.2.8 Add Auto Vent sequence to the recipe by open Sequence Type,
choose Auto Vent then add it to Master Sequence List as MainVent.
6.2.9 Click DOWNLOAD to load the created recipe
6.2.10 Save the recipe by an appropriate name to the Master Recipe.
6.2.11 Exit the recipe by click on close.
6.2.12 Verify the Sequence Appearance in the Active Recipe box on
Recipe Screen
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6.2.13 Go to Over view
6.2.14 Click Start to start the process.
The system is going to pump down the chamber, deposit the requested film than vent the
chamber automatically
Warning: Do not use Auto Regen in any case
6.3 Deposition Completion
The process completion will be notified by a string of beeping sound and
the “Auto Process End OK” flashing alarm. It is safe to open the chamber
door and remove the sample.
6.4 Chamber Pump down
6.4.1 Close and lock the chamber door with the hook
6.4.2 Click the RECIPE icon to open RECIPE SCREEN
6.4.3 Click EDIT/ CREATE under MASTER RECIPE to open Master
Recipe Builder window
6.4.4 Click Auto Pump under Sequence Type to pull down the list of
sequence
6.4.5 Click the Auto Pump to high light it
6.4.6 Add APump.dat to the Master Sequence List by click on ADD icon
6.4.7 Load the Auto Pump sequence to Master Recipe by clicking on
DOWNLOAD then save the recipe by the name A_Pump1
6.4.8 Close the Master Recipe Builder window by clicking CLOSE
6.4.9 Click the OVERVIEW icon to enter the main controller window.
6.4.10 Start to pumping down the chamber by clicking the START
6.4.11 Complete filling in the log book. Enter any thickness data if
available. Note any problems under comments.
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