SENTECH Instruments has developed the advanced PTSA (planar triple spiral antenna) inductively coupled plasma source which provides the core plasma technology used in the ICP plasma etcher for low damage and high rate etching, and which is used in the ICPECVD low temperature deposition systems.
SENTECHS SI 500 D in Erlangen
Only recently SENTECH Instruments expanded its ICPECVD processing by ALD and plasma enhanced ALD systems to be able to deposit highly conformal and dense thin metal oxide and metal layers.
The Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Systems and Device Technology in Erlangen (Fraunhofer IISB) purchased a flexible, multifunctional, fully automatic SENTECH ICPECVD system to process a rather large variety of substrates out of cassettes such as Si wafers of different diameters, thin wafers and thick wafers.
The computer controlled deposition system is buildup of a vacuum cassette loading station, a 4 port vacuum transfer chamber and a SI 500 D ICP deposition module leaving 2 ports available for future expansion. The large variety of substrate types was a real challenge as it required a system of special cassettes and carriers.
Furthermore the guarantied processes not only included the deposition of Silicon oxide and Silicon nitride and Oxy-nitride layers but included the deposition of low temperature (e.g. 130°C) high quality TEOS-SiO2. Therefor the SI 500 D ICP module was extended by a TEOS box to supply the liquid precursor.
In addition, the deposition cluster was set up to deposit p- and n-type doped thin αSi layers as well.
The ICPECVD system SI 500 D offers deposition which feature low damage coating of high quality thin films even at low temperatures of less than 100 °C. The SI 500 D at Fraunhofer IISB allows depositions of SiO2, Si3N4, SiC, doped and undoped amorphous silicon films. By implementing an additional liquid TEOS precursor supply system into the standard system configuration the deposition of low temperature TEOS based SiO2 films was successfully setup.
The SI 500 D was purchased for scientific development and the expansion of coating technology services by the Department of Technology, which is headed by Dr. Anton Bauer. Quoting Dr. Bauer; “Fraunhofer IISB has been very satisfied with the rapid and efficient setup work, the large functionality of the system and the technical results of the SI 500 D plasma deposition system being demonstrated.”
Especially the new low temperature deposition of TEOS based SiO2 is a high advancement for the work of this department. The Fraunhofer IISB has agreed to pursue a close technological cooperation in ICP deposition technology with SENTECH Instruments in the future.
SENTECH Instruments is a leading supplier of plasma process technology equipment for etching and deposition and thin film metrology instruments based on ellipsometry.