School of Physics & Astronomy: Inductively Coupled Plasma Reactive-Ion Etching System

Descriptions

We require an Inductively Coupled Plasma Reactive-Ion Etching (ICP-RIE) system for high quality etching (high etch rates, side wall angle control and low sidewall roughness) of - silicon, - silicon compounds (e.g. SiC, Si3N4), - compound III-V & compound II-VI semiconductors (e.g. AlGaInP, InGaP, AlGaAs, InP, GaAs, GaN, etc.), - dielectrics (e.g. ZnO2, TiO, ITO, Al2O3, ZrO2, etc.), - metals (e.g. Cr, Al, Ti, Au, W, Pt, etc.) and - organics (e.g. resists like SU8, S1818, etc and polymers like parylene, PS etc) containing an inductively coupled plasma (ICP) source for the generation of plasmas with high ion density, low ion energy and narrow energy distribution (ion energy and ion density are separately controllable via an included bias generator). The ICP-RIE etcher should be fully clean room-compatible. Wafers should be loaded into the etching chamber via a vacuum load lock for process stability, short process cycle times and safety issues. The substrate electrode should be He back-side cooled for dynamic, direct and very efficient temperature control of the substrate in a range of -20 °C to 150 °C, which may require the attachment of an external chiller (to be included in quotation). The etcher should be equipped with a laser interferometer to allow for live detection of the etching progress, and optionally also with an optical emission spectrometer for monitoring of chamber condition. The etcher should be compatible with fluorinated and chlorinated gases. The entire system should be operated from a PC (to be included in delivery).