LAB EQUIPMENT

ETCHING

Reactive Ion Etcher (RIE): Trion Minilock III

KEY FEATURES:

Generates plasma for dry etching of a wide range of materials

An ICP source allows higher density plasma to increase etch rate and anisotropy

A load lock allows users to exchange samples without venting the chamber, increasing safety and decreasing the chance of contamination

The system is fitted for 100 mm wafers, but can accommodate smaller samples mounted on a 100 mm wafer or up to 200 mm wafers with a simple modification

Process gases include argon, oxygen, chlorine, boron trichloride, carbon tetrafluoride, and sulfur hexafluoride

KEY APPLICATIONS

Etching silicon-based materials (e.g., silicon oxide, silicon nitride, polysilicon), metal films (e.g., aluminum), and other substrate materials (e.g. gallium arsenide)

Using a photoresist or hard etch mask, can transfer an etched pattern to the substrate

Stripping resist or other organic material using oxygen plasma

Plasma Cleaner: Plasmatic Systems Plasma-Preen

KEY FEATURES:

Generates oxygen plasma with variable power (50-700 W)

Timing and microwaves for generating plasma provided by a conventional microwave oven

Water cooled

KEY APPLICATIONS:

Plasma removes organic material from surface

Typical for cleaning a substrate prior to, or following, fabrication steps to ensure proper deposition, bonding, etc.

Reactive Ion Etcher (RIE): Trion Minilock III

Video

Plasma Cleaner: Plasmatic Systems Plasma-Preen

LITHOGRAPHY

Electron Beam Lithography System: Raith Pioneer

KEY FEATURES:

Beam size (resolution) ≤ 2.5 nm (≤ 1.6 nm)
Minimum feature size ≤ 20 nm
Field stitching ≤ 50 nm (mean+2σ)
Overlay accuracy (alignment) ≤ 50 nm (mean+2σ)
Laserstage travel range 50x50x25 mm
High-resolution SEM imaging

KEY APPLICATIONS:

Quantum physics, e.g. transport measurement of nanostructures

Nanoelectronics, e.g. spintronics

Nanophotonics & integrated optics, e.g. defect mode photonic crystals and quantum cascade laser

Plasmonics

Metamaterials

NEMS/MEMS

Nanofluidics

Nanobiotechnological or nanomedical devices, e.g. sensors, diagnostics, lab-on-a-chip

Electron Beam Lithography System: Raith Pioneer

Maskless Lithographic System: Intelligent Micro-Patterning SF-100 XPress

KEY FEATURES:

Mercury arc lamp with 6-position filter wheel provides 365 nm or 434 nm exposure for compatibility with most commercial photoresists, polyimides, and SU-8

Integrated CCD camera for standard optical functions and autofocussing

Fully automated XYZ stage

Labwindows™-based software integrates all system functions

Rapid prototyping of new designs and ideas without the need for costly photomasks

0.5 μm feature size in high-resolution mode, 3 μm feature size in low-resolution mode

KEY APPLICATIONS:

Patterning sub-micron features

Standard lithography processes

Photolithography on non-standard or uneven substrates

Maskless Lithographic System: Intelligent Micro-Patterning SF-100 XPress

Photolithography Mask Aligner: Neutronix-Quintel NxQ4006

KEY FEATURES:

A 350 W UV lamp (Hg arc) exposes photoresist on a substrate through a standard glass mask down to sub-micron resolution

Accepts 100 mm wafers, 50 mm wafers, or smaller pieces (including glass slides) down to 2 mm

Accepts 5” square masks (can accommodate larger masks, but not larger substrates), and a custom modification allows printed Mylar masks

Can expose in pressure contact, vacuum contact (thin substrates only), or separation (proximity) modes

Semi-automated sample loading brings the substrate into contact with the mask and self-levels with the push of a button

Lamp power can be adjusted to control light intensity

Dual monitors allow easy alignment of mask and substrate

KEY APPLICATIONS:

Patterning photoresists with sensitivity in the g-, h-, and i-lines (365-436 nm), which includes most common types (e.g. Shipley 1800 series, AZ nLOF2000 series, and SU-8 series)

Photolithography Mask Aligner: Neutronix-Quintel NxQ4006

Video

Lithography Sample Preparation: laminar flow hood, spin coater, and baking plates

KEY FEATURES:

The Design Filtration Inc. Laminar Flow Hood houses a Polos SPIN150i Table Top Spin Coater, a PMC Dataplate digital hot plate, and optionally a Torrey Pines Echotherm HS61A Programmable hot plate

Laminar flow hood:

6-ft hood with overhead HEPA filter and modular deck plates

Nitrogen spray gun in deck

Deionized water from faucet

Spin coater:

Unlimited number of programs with unlimited steps

1-12,000 rpm in 1 rpm steps, ± 0.1 rpm accuracy

CW or CCW spin direction

30,000 rpm/s max spin acceleration

Polypropylene body with full-size touchscreen display, drain, and air purge

Up to 160 mm diameter or 100 mm x 100 mm square substrate

PMC hot plate:

7”x7” aluminum plate

Up to 1500 rpm magnetic stirring

Up to 375 ˚C plate temperature

Digital display

Torrey Pines hot plate:

12”x12” aluminum plate

Up to 1500 rpm magnetic stirring

Up to 400 ˚C plate temperature

Built-in timer with alarm and auto shut-off

Fully programmable with multiple steps and temperature ramping

Digital display

KEY APPLICATIONS:

Coating of substrates with resist for photolithography or e-beam lithography

Coating of devices with dielectric or insulating materials

Chemical cleaning of devices (e.g. RCA-1 clean)

Heat drying of samples

Lithography Sample Preparation: laminar flow hood, spin coater, and baking plates

DEPOSITION

Physical Vapour Deposition (Sputter): Lesker PVD 75

KEY FEATURES:

Two DC and one RF sputter sources up to 300 W each can deposit up to three different materials without losing vacuum

Argon and/or oxygen process gases

Turbo pump can bring the chamber down to <1 μTorr (<100 μPa)

Deposits thin films (~5-1000 nm, depending on application) on a substrate

Substrate heater up to 350 ˚C

KEY APPLICATIONS:

Depositing conductive materials for multilayer microchip fabrication, microelectronic circuits, MEMS, etc.

Depositing composites to form thin layers of functional materials

Common materials are aluminum, chromium, nickel, and titanium, but a wide variety of metallic and non-metallic materials are possible

Physical Vapour Deposition (Sputter): Lesker PVD 75

Video

Physical Vapour Deposition (Evaporator): Thermionics 3 kW Linear e-Gun

KEY FEATURES:

3 kW electron beam source

Cryogenic pump can bring the environment to <1 μTorr (<100 μPa)

Evenly deposits thin films (~5-1000 nm, depending on application) on a substrate

Accepts 100 mm wafers or smaller fragments

Individually addressable crucibles for depositing up to three different materials without losing vacuum

KEY APPLICATIONS:

Depositing conductive materials for multilayer microchip fabrication, microeletronic circuits, MEMS/NEMS, etc.

Common materials deposited are aluminum, gold, and chromium, but a wide variety of metallic and non-Metallic materials with appropriate vapour pressure are possible

Physical Vapour Deposition (Evaporator): Thermionics 3 kW Linear e-Gun

Chemical Printing System: Sonoplot/GIX Microplotter II Nanoliter Printer

KEY FEATURES:

Noncontact deposition

Feature size down to 5 μm

Viscosities up to 450 cP

True contiguous lines, arcs, and bends

Consistent spot size and shape, within 10%

3-axis positional with 5 μm resolution

Integrated digital video capture

Automated surface calibration

Software for full automation and control

CAD layout tool

KEY APPLICATIONS:

Printed electronics

Rapid prototyping

Graphene/carbon nanotube printing

Additive repair

Polymer microstructure fabrication

Chemical Printing System: Sonoplot/GIX Microplotter II Nanoliter Printer

MICROMACHINING

Picosecond Laser Micromachining System: Oxford Lasers A Series

KEY FEATURES:

Diode-pumped solid-state laser, 355 nm, 400 Hz, 6 ps pulse

Class 1 laser enclosure

150 x 150 mm motorized travel XY stage

10 μm resolution X & Y

50 mm manual travel Z stage

10-15 μm spot size

KEY APPLICATIONS:

Laser cutting, drilling, and ablation on a variety of materials, such as semiconductors, glass, metal, polymer, and ceramic

Rapid prototyping for MEMS and microfluidic devices

Post-processing microelectronic and optical components

Picosecond Laser Micromachining System: Oxford Lasers A Series

CHARACTERIZATION

Stylus Profilometer: Bruker DektakXT

KEY FEATURES:

Diamond-tipped stylus with user-programmed scan length, speed, and force

Step height reproducibility of < 1 nm

100 mm x 100 mm manual stage with up to 55 mm scan length

Accommodates samples up to 50 mm thick

Digital camera aids in alignment of stylus

Vision64 software aids in surface profile characterization

KEY APPLICATIONS:

Measuring height of resist on a substrate

Measuring thickness of material deposited by physical vapour deposition

Measuring the depth of etching by RIE or wet chemical etching

Measuring the roughness of a surface

Stylus Profilometer: Bruker DektakXT

Optical Microscope: Carl Zeiss Axio Imager A1m

KEY FEATURES:

Fitted with 10x eyepieces and 5x-100x objectives (50-1000x magnification)

Brightfield, darkfield, polarization contrast, and differential interference contrast (in circularly polarized light) techniques in a reflected light configuration

Camera and associated software allows photo capture and calibrated measurement

KEY APPLICATIONS:

Examining substrates and deposited coatings

Imaging designs written on a substrate by laser micromachining, photolithography, or e-beam lithography

Optical Microscope: Carl Zeiss Axio Imager A1m