《Lam3 Aluminum RIE Etcher》.pdf

Lam3 Aluminum RIE Etcher (lam3) 1.0 1.0 Title Lam3 Aluminum RIE Etcher 2.0 2.0 Purpose Lam3 is an automatic, cassette-to-cassette, single wafer RIE etcher for aluminum film etching. 3.0 3.0 Scope This document describes the general operation of Lam3. It also covers the recipe loading/modifying procedures and how to set up the automatic endpoint detection. 4.0 4.0 Applicable Documents 4.1 Chapter 7.0 of the Microlab Manual (Lam Etchers Overview) 4.2 AutoEtch Plasma Etch System, Operation and Maintenance Manual, Lam Research, 1989. (There is a copy in the Microlab office.) 5.0 5.0 Definitions Process Terminology 5.1 5.1 RIE Etcher: An etcher that uses the radical gas atoms/molecules, generated by plasma, as the main etchants to remove the thin film material on a substrate or the substrate itself. In addition, the process wafers sits on the RF powered electrode, hence a large electrical bias will attract positive charged ion in the plasma to bombard the wafer surface. The added ion bombardment will increase the etch rate and make etch byproduct more volatile. 5.2 5.2 Powered Load Lock (PLL): Lam3 used the exit load lock to passivate the etched aluminum surface. It uses CF / O plasma to replace the Cl residue on the 4 2 etch surface and in the photo-resist. It also results in a protective film on the aluminum surface. 5.3 5.3 Etch Rate (ER): The rate of the thin film being etched away, usually in A/minute. 5.4 5.4 Etch Non-Uniformity: A measure of the etch uniformity. It is defined as (max ER – min ER)/(2 X average ER), usually in %. 5.5 5.