Minerals and Materials Engineering Building (M&M) 431
The etching and characterization room contains a suite of tools for dry etching and characterization of samples. This includes three dry etchers with a range of capabilities, while characterization tools include an ellipsometer, FTIR, and wafer curvature system. This room also has the following resources:
- Safety glasses
- Gloves
- Cleanroom wipes
- Dry nitrogen gun
- Fume hood
Dry Etch Systems
Trion Technology Phantom II
The Trion ICP/RIE Etch PHTII-4301 (TRION) is a reactive ion etcher with the addition of a inductively coupled plasma to achieve a high density plasma for enhanced anisotropic etching. This system is limited to non-metal samples and currently is used for the etching of silicon oxide, silicon and descumming samples before metal deposition. It can process wafers up to 10 inches.
Available Gases
- Oxygen
- Trifluoromethane (CHF3)
- Tetrafluoromethane (CF4)
- Sulfur Hexafluoride (SF6)
March Jupiter II RIE
The March Jupiter II is a reactive ion etcher. Samples containing metals can be etched in this system.
Available Gases
- Argon
- Oxygen
- Trifluoromethane (CHF3)
- Tetrafluoromethane (CF4)
- Sulfur Hexafluoride (SF6)
Characterization Systems
J.A. Woollam VASE Ellipsometer
Ellipsometry is a sensitive measurement system that helps to characterize the microstructure of a thin film or a bulk material. The ellipsometer is also used to measure the thickness and optical constant of a material.
Possible Measurements
- Optical constant
- Thin film thickness
- Doping concentration
- Surface roughness
- Alloy ratio
- Crystallinity
- Optical anisotropy
- Depth profile of material properties
- Growth or etch rate
Wafer Curvature System (Non-calibrated)
The wafer curvature system uses a laser to scan the reflection angle of the surface to determine the curvature of the wafer. This system can measure wafers up to 8 inches.
Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR)
FTIR is used to obtain an infrared spectrum of absorption or emission from a sample. This can give information about the surface termination or contamination that may be present on a silicon wafer.