PVD E-Beam Evaporator - Contact Metal Sources

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General Description

This is a PVD e-beam evaporator (PVD E-Beam Evaporator – Contact Metal Sources), which is mainly used for contact metal deposition. The system can accommodate substrates up to 6-inch wafers. It is equipped with a load lock for fast sample loading, as well as a 15-crucible-pocket electron-beam source, which reduces the need to frequently vent and pump down the main chamber, thereby improving vacuum and reduce contamination. The materials that can be deposited using this tool are the same as those available on CHA#1 and CHA#2.

Specifications

• Main chamber base pressure: low 10⁻⁸ Torr range

• Load lock base pressure: mid 10⁻7 Torr range

• Substrates supported: 2”, 4”, and 6” wafers, as well as coupons

• Power supply: 10 kW (e-beam up to 1000 mA)

• Water cooled sample stage

Sample Requirements and Preparation

• Substrates must undergo the standard three-step solvent cleaning process using toluene, acetone, and IPA.

• Users are required to discuss their substrates with a staff member prior to use, including details of any materials or layers present on the substrate, to determine whether the substrate is compatible with the system. Toxic materials, high-vapor-pressure materials, and materials with outgassing are not allowed in the system.

• Compatible substrates include Si substrate, fused silica substrate and GaAs substrate.

• For photoresist and e-beam resist processes, only thin resist layers (<10 µm) are permitted. Examples include AZ1518, AZ4620, AZ10XT, S1800 series, LOR, PMMA, and ZEP resists. PDMS and SU-8 are not permitted in the system.

Source Materials

Unlike other e-beam evaporators in the Evaporation and Sputtering Core, which have 4 to 6 crucible pockets, and staff members will install and remove source materials as requested by user. This system (PVD E-Beam Evaporator – Contact Metal Sources) is equipped with 15 crucible pockets, all allowed source materials are permanently loaded into the tool. See the table below for the list of available materials. However, for thick depositions (>300 nm), users are still required to contact a staff member before using the tool to ensure that sufficient source material is available.

Standard Operating Procedure

Reservation and Billing Policy

This instrument is billed per use based on 2-hour reservation blocks.

• Example 1: A user completes all work within a single usage session. Once the sample is unloaded from the system and the system is pumped down again, the reservation is considered complete, and the user will be billed for one reservation block.

• Example 2: If the usage time exceeds the initial 2-hour reservation block by any amount (for example, 10 minutes), the user will be billed for two reservation blocks.