Dielectric Etch – SPTS Synapse

Tool description

A stand-alone, single wafer etcher with one reactor and cassette to cassette automatic wafer handling. The process module uses a high-density plasma source and is designed to etch strongly bonded materials. The process chamber is heated to 130°C to reduce the amount of by-product deposition and improve MTBC. The chamber is also surrounded by permanent magnets which result in a higher plasma density than conventional ICPs (by a factor of ~10x). Higher plasma density means higher etch rate of strongly bonded materials and the capability of running at reduced pressure. The latter extends mean free paths and leads to better directionality and less by-product ‘fencing’.

Technical information

• Materials allowed: 150 mm Si substrates, with thin films of SiO₂, Si₃N₄, Al, polySi and photoresist.
• Substrate thickness range: Minimum 300 µm, Maximum 2 mm.     
• Substrate clamping type: Electrostatic.
• Optional wafer edge protection: Non-contact wafer edge protection (WEP) rings with either 4 mm or 2 mm wafer edge overlap can be used with wafers up to 1mm thick.
• Wafer edge exclusion zone: 8 mm without WEP, 10 mm with WEP.
• Plasma source: ICP type, High frequency RF generator (13.56 MHz) with 2.2kW maximum usable power.
• Substrate bias: High frequency RF generator (13.56 MHz) with 1.2 kW maximum usable power. Pulsing of bias power is possible.
• Process gases available: C₄F₈ , CF₄ , SF₆ , O₂ , H₂ , He, Ar
• Process pressure: Up to 50 mTorr
• Substrate holder temperature range: -10 °C to +40 °C

Contact persons

Process responsible: Anand Summanwar

Senior Process Scientist

Dept. of Smart Sensors & Microsystems

SINTEF Digital

Email: Anand.Summanwar@sintef.no

Tel: +47 9823 0490

Service responsible: Tri Huu Nguyen

Senior Engineer

Dept. of Smart Sensors & Microsystems

SINTEF Digital

Email: TriHuu.Nguyen@sintef.no

Tel: +47 9162 2832