From dton at santurcorp.com Fri Jun 1 20:17:38 2001 From: dton at santurcorp.com (Dinh Ton) Date: Fri, 1 Jun 2001 20:17:38 -0700 Subject: Platinum target. Message-ID: Hi y'all. Recently I misplaced a gold and a platinum. We are in need of doing some Ti/Pt/Au deposition and wonder if anyone is kind enough for us to borrow a Pt target. Jing is willing to loan us a Gold target. Thank you very much. Regards, Dinh Ton Santur Corporation 40931 Encylopedia Circle Fremont, CA 94538 (510) 656-7130 ext 221 (510) 656-7563 (FAX) From eap at gloworm.Stanford.EDU Tue Jun 19 14:26:18 2001 From: eap at gloworm.Stanford.EDU (Eric Perozziello) Date: Tue, 19 Jun 2001 14:26:18 -0700 (PDT) Subject: Metalica problems Message-ID: <200106192126.OAA04923@gloworm.Stanford.EDU> Dear Metalica Users, Metalica has been getting "severe duty" usage levels since the innotec has taken a vacation, and I wanted to send out a message to make sure that we're all on the same page in terms of proper usage. You should know that many parts for this system are no longer supported by the manufacturers, so if we break them, we're going to be without "dirty metals." The biggest problems we've had recently (since the innotec power supply "evaporated") have been limited time and very short cryo regen cycles. I think both of these problems can be avoided with a little effort. This machine is designed for low throughput, and generally thin metal films. It has very few interlocks, so unlike many other more modern machines in the lab, it is very easy for you to break it (or it to break you!) if you're careless. It's not an automated machine. SHEDULING TIME: For the scheduling problems, we should recognize that the cryo (when operating at cryo temperatures) is running very well. Typipcal pumpdown into the minus 7's takes less than an hour after opening the gate valve. What this means, is that you only need about 2 hours for an average run. Pumping longer doesn't make prettier films. So, when scheduling your runs, try to make the reserved time less than 3 hours, especially during the day. (Of course, if you have multiple runs, it will take longer). Also, try to minimize overnight pumpdowns during this heavy use time we're in. If you must do an overnight pump, try to start it after 11 PM, and be out by 7AM. I really don't want the lab to put a user time limit on this machine like we have on the gryphon, primarily because this system is designed to be more flexible. Let's fix the scheduling problems ourselves so they don't have to! CRYO LIFE PROBLEMS: The problem with very short cryo regen cycles is two-fold. First of all, the occasional mistake happens- someone opens the vent with the cryo still open, or worse, opens the roughing valve and cryo gate valve simultaneously. This isn't the end of the world, but does take the system down for a day or two. The other problem is less clear to me. Even under heavy usage, the cryo should last longer than a week and a half. Maybe someone is doing extremely long sputter runs, or turning up the argon flow (?). Or someone might be turning on the argon valve while the MFC is off (you shouldn't allow this condition for more than a second or two, since the MFC is fully open when it's not turned on.) If you know something about this that I don't, please let Jim Hayden or me know! BROKEN PIECES: Another problem is that I keep finding broken pieces in the chamber. While I think everyone who has used this machine a lot has broken a wafer in there, it seems now that someone's wafers have dandruff. The problem that we're seeing is that these pieces get down into the gate valve and cryo pump, which may be causing some of our short regen problems. and also may contribute to some of the "arcing" problems that have been reported. If your wafers are breaking when you press "Bell Jar Up" then please ask me to show you a more gentle way to do this. OTHER: There are other things, which seem to be less frequent: * Target overheating- Metalica is a low throughput research system that was put together here primarily by Chris Storment. The sources are max 100W. (Just for reference, the Gryphon is 7500W, or 75 times higher, and the innotec, though an evaporator, was 15000W). Metalica only holds 3 wafers plus a dummy. Try to plan your process accordingly. Thick films on lots of wafers is probably a bad idea if you plan on using metalica. Use 50W max for long runs (more than 20 min per source) or pause to let it cool. Never use over 100W in any circumstance. * Targets disappearing- The lab provides non-precious metal targets for general use. Some of these have disappeared. This means that the next user will lose their run if they counted on one being available. If you need to have your own target, ask me and I'll tell you where to get them. They're generally not that expensive. One user had her personal high-purity gold target stolen from her storage box. It would really be nice to not have to keep an armed guard in the lab to store targets there! * Overtightening screws- The screws on the target clamp and anode are really just "locator pins" and do not need to be cranked in tight. Barely finger tight is plenty of torque. If you overtorque them, they can vacuum weld in place. * Pump purge- I think we've taken care of this problem by removing the valve on the pump purge line. * Burning through a target- If in doubt, don't use a marginal target for a long run! If the tagert burns through, it can damage the machine. The parts we'd have to replace are no longer made. Be careful. * "Arcing"- The plasma seems to strike, then go out, then strike...... I've found one instance where this was partly due to improper target loading. QUESTIONS? SUGGESTIONS! Please don't hesitate to talk to Jim Hayden or me. We'd all rather have you bug us with a question than to have you damage the machine! Please stick to the standard procedures, or ask before trying anything non-standard. Happy Sputtering, -Eric Trivia Question: Who named this machine, and why did they choose this name. Prize: A Gold Dummy Wafer that you can frame and hang prominently on the wall. From mrolandi at stanford.edu Wed Jun 20 17:17:47 2001 From: mrolandi at stanford.edu (Marco Rolandi) Date: Wed, 20 Jun 2001 17:17:47 -0700 (PDT) Subject: reservation (fwd) Message-ID: ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Wed, 20 Jun 2001 17:14:57 -0700 (PDT) From: Marco Rolandi To: metallica at snf.stanford.edu Subject: reservation Hi all I wont be using my reservation tonite and tomorrow morning. Sorry for the late notice Marco ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Marco Rolandi Graduate Student Department of Applied Physics Dai Group Department of Chemistry Stanford University Stanford, 94305 phone: (650) 725-9156 fax : (650) 725-9793 From eap at gloworm.Stanford.EDU Mon Jun 25 22:09:59 2001 From: eap at gloworm.Stanford.EDU (Eric Perozziello) Date: Mon, 25 Jun 2001 22:09:59 -0700 (PDT) Subject: Metalica- thermal paste Message-ID: <200106260509.WAA21735@gloworm.Stanford.EDU> Hello Metalica Users, Just a reminder- the thermal paste under the targets is not optional. Today we repaired some damage in the electrical system. I know that we are out of thermal paste, so I've placed some "goop" in the old thermal paste jar at the machine (the one that was emptied). Please use this until the lab restocks the normal paste. Again, this system has many very old and unsupported parts. You break it, and we say goodbye to "dirty" metal sputtering. Also, if you didn't read the message that was sent out a week or so ago, please read it. (I only got two responses to the trivia question, so I suspect not many people read it!) We need to address some of the usage problems with this machine. Thanks, -Eric