ASML Availability, off hours

[Mary Tang]

Dear ASML Users --

Quite of few of you had expressed frustration about being unable to use 
the ASML system last weekend, as it went down on a Friday night (4/11) 
for a stuck wafer.  This was especially unfortunate because it occurred 
just before the scheduled two-week 3-D align upgrade. 

The system will be available this weekend for general labmember use.  In 
case of an urgent situation, call the SNF off-hours phone at 
650-521-7306.  The staff member on duty has contact info for ASML 
engineering support.  Understand that staff will not be called in to 
make a repair at 11 pm (when this stuck wafer was reported), but that a 
next morning response is more realistic.  Please also realize that ASML 
is under no obligation to offer off-hours or weekend support, and that 
SNF staff are authorized to support only a limited set of engineering 
functions. 

As I understand it, the stuck wafer in Friday night's incident was 
observed to have residual resist on the backside, thick enough to feel 
through a gloved finger.  Your training should have covered your 
responsibility to ensure that your wafers are clean on the backside and 
not warped.  Understand that although the ASML is very easy to use, this 
is a finely tuned machine built using a great deal of sophisticated 
engineering -- wafer quality which might be well-tolerated in a simpler, 
most robust tool, could seriously damage the ASML.

If your wafer quality is questionable, you are reminded to inform any of 
the engineers responsible for the ASML in advance so that they can 
ensure engineering support is on-hand to rescue the system if 
necessary.  In the case of a stuck wafer in which the responsible 
engineers were not informed, staff and ASML are directed to keep the 
wafer(s) for inspection.  If it is determined that the wafers were 
properly not inspected before being run on the system, the user will be 
disqualified from the system. 

We are fortunate to have this partnership with ASML, which allows us 
access, not only to this wonderful machine, but also to the excellent 
ASML engineering staff.  For continued access, we must use this system 
responsibly.

Thanks for your attention --

Your SNF Staff

-- 
Mary X. Tang, Ph.D.
Stanford Nanofabrication Facility
CIS Room 136, Mail Code 4070
Stanford, CA  94305
(650)723-9980
mtang at stanford.edu
http://snf.stanford.edu