Verify there is no wafer in the chamber

Generally, the previous user should have unloaded the wafer and left the chamber empty. However, the dummy wafer used for chamber cleaning does get left inside the chamber frequently. Look for Red Unload Wafer Icon on the Operator screen, . If this icon is present for W1 or for W2, then there is a wafer inside the chamber.

If a wafer is present, skip to Unload the Wafer and unload the wafer.

*Note: When there is a transfer fault, the control sometimes is confused about the presence of the wafer in the chamber. If you unload the wafer, and nothing comes out of the chamber, you should try to load and unload a dummy wafer to make sure there is no obstruction inside the chamber. If the dummy wafer does not return, stop and contact engineering staff support, there is likely a lost wafer inside causing interference. If successful, the empty unload cycle will clear the confused condition and return the tool to normal.

Vent the Load Lock

From the Operator Screen, press the Vent Load Lock button, .

The load lock vent sequence will pump the pressure down, then purge with N₂, thus raising the pressure.This cycling of the pressure in the Load Lock Press display, , will happen three times before fully venting the load lock. This is a purge cycle, which ensures no dangerous etch byproducts can get from the chamber during unload, and then expose the user when opening the load lock.

When the load lock is fully vented, the Load Lock Press display, , will show 750000 mTorr indicating atmospheric pressure (~760 Torr) is achieved. The lid to the load lock will sometimes open a few inches on its own, and sometimes the seal sticks enough that you have to lift it manually a bit. Lift the lid to it's full open position, it is held open with gas springs for loading and unloading the wafer.

Load your wafer into the load lock

Load the 4 inch(100 mm) wafer onto the carousel and align the wafer flat with the alignment marks on the carousel. The alignment does not need to be perfect, plus or minus 5 degrees should be sufficient. Make sure the wafer is sitting flat on the inner ledge of the carousel tray. Note the number located near the carousel tray indicating position 1 or 2.

Lower the load lock lid until it is completely closed. Pull the handle toward you to latch the lid down in preparation for pump down. Failure to do so will result in the lid springing back up a few inches with no possibility to pump down.

Note: Usually there is a dummy wafer located in the load lock in one of the two positions. This wafer is intended for you to use for running dummy processes or chamber cleans. You may leave this wafer in the load lock while performing your etch.

Note: If you bump or move the carousel out of alignment during wafer loading, this is acceptable and will not cause any problems. Simply load your wafer as described above, when you press in the next step, the carousel will be realigned as needed.

Pump down the Load Lock

With the load lock lid latched closed, and from the Operators screen, press the Pump Map button.

The load lid will be pulled down by the pressure difference, the latch will release on its own but lid will stay down, this is normal once the pump down has started. Looking through the window in the top of the load lock lid, you will see the carousel lift slightly, then rotate a couple of turns before finally coming to rest in the down position with carousel position one closest to the chamber. During this time, the tool is detecting which positions have wafers loaded onto them. It is also indexing the rotational position of the carousel to align with the chuck inside the chamber.

Note: If the Pump Map sequence does not complete and generates errors, press the reset errors button. Return to the Operator screen and press again to see if the problem will self correct. If the problem persists, please stop and contact engineering support.

Transfer the wafer to the Etch Chamber

From the operator screen, click the load button corresponding to the carousel position you loaded your sample onto. This process takes a few minutes, the load lock must be pumped down appropriately, then the transfer gate opens and you will see the carousel slide forward into the chamber. When the carousel returns to the load lock, visually check to ensure the wafer is no longer resting on the carousel tray as expected.

Edit / Load Process Recipe

Navigate to the recipe editor. Scroll down to find the recipe you wish to edit / load. If necessary, edit the recipe as required.

Select the recipe and press the load button, .

Press OK at the prompt to write specified data . You will then see a progress indicator counting up, , returning to the recipe editor screen when completed.

Press Close in the lower left corner of the screen, . The recipe that will be affected by the save prompt is indicated next to the Close button as shown. If you have made changes to the recipe, you will be presented with the traditional save prompt. Please answer NO for any standard recipes. Edits you made for time will be loaded into system memory from the step above, and your etch will run for the time you specified.

Run the Etch Process

From the Operator screen, click the blue start recipe button, to execute the recipe. The recipe name that is loaded into memory will be displayed on the button. In the example shown, the O2 Clean recipe will be executed when button is pressed. The blue recipe button will change to an Abort button, , once recipe execution has started. Use this button to stop the recipe before completion.

During recipe execution, there is a status bar that displays the current status of the tool. This displays the current recipe name above the table, status in the table, and recipe name/sample name/date:time stamp below the table.

Seq Step - The current step of the overall sequence. This will advance until recipe is complete.

Start Time - Total step time will be displayed in this cell for steps that are timer based.

Time left - Shows remaining time for steps that are timer based.

Step Name - Shows a description/name for identified sequence step.

Some of the Seq Steps you will see as the recipe progresses (no user involvement is required after starting recipe):

1 - Checking Faults: Checking the system for any faults that will prevent recipe execution.

9 - Zeroing APC: References origin of VAT pressure control valve.

10 - Checking He LUR: Checking Helium leak up rate. This is a measure of how well the wafer is sealed against the chuck. Helium provides sample critical sample cooling during the etch. High leak up rates will stop recipe execution, and will dilute the etch chemistry affecting the etch process.

14 - Pumping: A set time for pumping the chamber down to base pressure before the etch process.

16 - Stabilization: Etch gas flows are activated, automatic pressure control activates, and stabilizes the chamber pressure at the recipe strike pressure setting.

17 - (Recipe Name): Execution of the etch recipe that was specified to be run. The full etch time should be displayed in the Start Time field, while a count down to completion is shown in the Time Left field.

Transfer the wafer from the Etch Chamber to the load lock

From the operator screen, click the unload button corresponding to the carousel position that was loaded into the chamber.  This process takes a few minutes, the load lock must be pumped down appropriately, then the transfer gate opens and you will see the carousel slide forward into the chamber. When the carousel returns to the load lock, visually check to ensure the wafer is resting on the carousel tray as expected.

1. Load a dummy wafer into the chamber.
2. Load and start the CHAMBER CLEAN recipe.
3. When the recipe reaches step 17, the etch recipe step, take note of the APC/Process pressure. A dirty chamber will have an APC pressure around 30 mTorr under initial conditions.
   1. 
   2. From the Operator screen, this pressure is shown as below
      1. 
   3. From the Main screen, this pressure is shown as below
      1. 
4. As this recipe runs and the chamber is cleaned, the APC/Process pressure will decrease. This pressure will decrease to about 15 mTorr indicating the process was successful. This should take no more than 30 minutes.
5. Following a chamber clean, a short 5 minute conditioning run, with the process conditions, is necessary to stabilize the chamber conditions for your process.

Recipe Editor Screen

Process parameters are listed across the top of the recipe table columns. Each table row is a separate recipe.

• RECIPETYPE - Selecting this cell will highlight the entire row, selecting the entire recipe. This parameter cannot be edited.
• R RECIPENAME - The name of the process recipe.
  • If you are creating a new recipe, please select an unused row, indicated by "New" in R RECIPENAME column.
    • 
    • Use the following naming convention: Etch Mask Alias
    • Example: "SiO2 PR JSHEPAR" (Silicon oxide etch with photo resist mask for Jerry Shepard)
• CONTINUOUSPROCESS - Recommend OFF. Disables the recipe timer so the process runs indefinitely.

  • Setting this to ON requires a manual stop by the user!

• APC AUTO S1 - Recommended setting ON. Enables/disables pressure control.

• S1 DESCRIPTION - Step 1 process description.
  • If you are creating a new recipe use this field as you see fit.
• Total Step 1 Etch Time = MINUTES S1 + SECONDS S1
  • MINUTES S1 - Minutes of etching time, or plasma on time, for step 1.
  • SECONDS S1 - Seconds of etching time for step 1.
• COIL LOAD CAP S1 - Recommended 60. Starting position for coil load capacitor, range 0 to 100.
• COIL TUNE CAP S1 - Recommended 70. Starting position for coil tune capacitor, range 0 to 100.
• PLATEN LOAD CAP S1 - Recommended 50. Starting position for platen load capacitor, range 0 to 100.
• PLATEN TUNE CAP S1 - Recommended 50. Starting position for platen tune capacitor, range 0 to 100.
• STRIKE PRESS S1 - Recommend same a PRESS S1. Pressure at which plasma will be lit, in mTorr. Some plasma chemistries can be difficult to lite at low pressures, this setting can help overcome that problem. If different than PRESS S1 setting, system will stabilize on this pressure, then apply power to lite the plasma, and a few seconds later the system will move to PRESS S1 setting.
• PRESS S1 - Process pressure in the chamber during the etch, in mTorr.
• Position S1 - Default 0. Sets position of throttle valve when APC AUTO S1 is Off, otherwise not applicable, Range 0 to 100.
• COIL RF S1 - Maximum 3000. Process power for the plasma source, in Watts.
• PLATENRF S1 - Maximum 1200. Process power for the plasma bias, in Watts.
• C4F8 LO S1, O2 S1, CF4 S1, HE S1, C4F8 HI S1, SF6 S1, AR S1 - Gas flow settings for plasma source chemistry. See Available Chemistry here for more detail.

Note: If you continue to scroll to the right in the recipe table you will find the same set of columns as above, but all with be labeled with S2 instead of S1. Continuing to the right will repeat again up to S6. These are sequential process steps. So S1 will be executed in its entirety, then S2, and so on. Most people do not use these, and would simply create multiple one step recipes and then just manually execute them in order. This feature is geared toward repetitive, complex production type etch processes that we typically do not use.

Recipe Editor Screen Navigation Panel

In the lower right corner of the Recipe Editor screen you should see a navigation panel as shown to the right. If you do not see this panel, click the panel expand button, in the lower right corner of the screen.

• - This button will load your selected recipe into system memory so it can be ran by the tool. You must first select the entire recipe to activate this button. Do this by selecting the cell in the first column of the recipe table, . The entire table row should be highlighted and the load button will turn red.

• - Enter edit mode by clicking on the edit button. In order to change recipe values in the table cells, you must enter edit mode. When edit mode is active, the button will turn white, . While edit mode is active, any click on the table cells will activate a pop up window for user input. If you have done this by accident, press the cancel button. Pressing Enter will change the value in the field to that displayed in the pop. Those values may or may not be the same.

• - These buttons will increase and decrease the size of the font shown in the table cells. Useful if the full label is too long to be displayed in the cell.

• - This button adjusts the grid pattern color scheme and progresses through a repeat cycle with multiple presses.

• - Show or hide commas in large numbers.

• - Page Up / Down / Left / Right on the recipe table.

• - Scroll Up / Down / Left / Right on the recipe table.