From lwchang at stanford.edu Fri Aug 1 15:03:30 2008 From: lwchang at stanford.edu (Li-Wen Chang) Date: Fri, 1 Aug 2008 15:03:30 -0700 Subject: Extend fluorine gas usage for 1 week after PQuest is up? Message-ID: <8ab79e460808011503pc254709ka66d1b5b0d41adfb@mail.gmail.com> Dear PQuest users, You have reservations for PQuest throughout next week. I'm writing to see if it's okay with you to extend fluorine gas etch in the chamber for 1 week (or at least a few more days) since we have passed the last week of July while Cesar, Elmer, John and Jim were working very hard to bring this system up. I'd really appreciate if you all consent to extend the usage of fluorine gas in the etcher, but if there is major conflict please let me know. Thank you very much, Li-Wen -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From shabbir_bashar at yahoo.com Fri Aug 1 15:05:47 2008 From: shabbir_bashar at yahoo.com (Shabbir A. Bashar, Ph.D.) Date: Fri, 1 Aug 2008 22:05:47 +0000 Subject: Extend fluorine gas usage for 1 week after PQuest is up? Message-ID: <122653832-1217628403-cardhu_decombobulator_blackberry.rim.net-665340482-@bxe126.bisx.prod.on.blackberry> What material are you etching? Shabbir ------Original Message------ From: Li-Wen Chang Sender: lwchangmse at gmail.com To: faraon at stanford.edu To: Shabbir A. Bashar To: kdegreve at stanford.edu To: Jim Kruger Cc: pquest at snf.stanford.edu Cc: John Shott Cc: Mary Tang Cc: Cesar Baxter Cc: eenriquez at stanford.edu Sent: Aug 1, 2008 3:03 PM Subject: Extend fluorine gas usage for 1 week after PQuest is up? Dear PQuest users, You have reservations for PQuest throughout next week. I'm writing to see if it's okay with you to extend fluorine gas etch in the chamber for 1 week (or at least a few more days) since we have passed the last week of July while Cesar, Elmer, John and Jim were working very hard to bring this system up. I'd really appreciate if you all consent to extend the usage of fluorine gas in the etcher, but if there is major conflict please let me know. Thank you very much, Li-Wen =============== Shabbir A. Bashar, PhD Cell/SMS: +1 510 386 7304 E-mail: Shabbir_Bashar at yahoo.com From lwchang at stanford.edu Fri Aug 1 15:08:07 2008 From: lwchang at stanford.edu (Li-Wen Chang) Date: Fri, 1 Aug 2008 15:08:07 -0700 Subject: Extend fluorine gas usage for 1 week after PQuest is up? In-Reply-To: <122653832-1217628403-cardhu_decombobulator_blackberry.rim.net-665340482-@bxe126.bisx.prod.on.blackberry> References: <122653832-1217628403-cardhu_decombobulator_blackberry.rim.net-665340482-@bxe126.bisx.prod.on.blackberry> Message-ID: <8ab79e460808011508r28578c75p6c8912d317b11fc6@mail.gmail.com> I'll be etching LTO. Li-Wen On Fri, Aug 1, 2008 at 3:05 PM, Shabbir A. Bashar, Ph.D. < shabbir_bashar at yahoo.com> wrote: > What material are you etching? > > Shabbir > ------Original Message------ > From: Li-Wen Chang > Sender: lwchangmse at gmail.com > To: faraon at stanford.edu > To: Shabbir A. Bashar > To: kdegreve at stanford.edu > To: Jim Kruger > Cc: pquest at snf.stanford.edu > Cc: John Shott > Cc: Mary Tang > Cc: Cesar Baxter > Cc: eenriquez at stanford.edu > Sent: Aug 1, 2008 3:03 PM > Subject: Extend fluorine gas usage for 1 week after PQuest is up? > > Dear PQuest users, > You have reservations for PQuest throughout next week. > I'm writing to see if it's okay with you to extend fluorine gas etch in the > chamber for 1 week (or at least a few more days) since we have passed the > last week of July while Cesar, Elmer, John and Jim were working very hard to > bring this system up. > I'd really appreciate if you all consent to extend the usage of fluorine > gas in the etcher, but if there is major conflict please let me know. > > Thank you very much, > Li-Wen > > > =============== > Shabbir A. Bashar, PhD > Cell/SMS: +1 510 386 7304 > E-mail: Shabbir_Bashar at yahoo.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From shott at snf.stanford.edu Fri Aug 1 22:44:29 2008 From: shott at snf.stanford.edu (John Shott) Date: Fri, 01 Aug 2008 22:44:29 -0700 Subject: pquest update .... Message-ID: <4893F43D.4060103@snf.stanford.edu> Pquest community: As of Friday evening, we are not yet able to release the pguest for use. With guidance from Elmer and Mike, Jim Kruger and I tried to get a nice 70 durometer installed in hopes that it would give us good backside sealing and yet not stick to the wafer. While we thought that we were very close to success, by the end of the evening we were still experiencing enough sticking to be a concern. We have passed what we did and learned to Cesar in hopes that he will be able to resolve this in the morning. We know that there is high-demand for this machine and that it has been down for an extended time but we are having a tough time finding the "sweet spot" of good backside cooling with acceptable helium leakage coupled with trouble-free loading and unloading. We'll provide a more detailed report .... with, hopefully better news, after Cesar works on it in the morning. Thanks, John From shott at stanford.edu Mon Aug 4 18:42:09 2008 From: shott at stanford.edu (John Shott) Date: Mon, 04 Aug 2008 18:42:09 -0700 Subject: Update .... Message-ID: <4897AFF1.2040306@stanford.edu> Pquest community: I know that a number of you are anxiously awaiting the return of the Plasma Quest. Sadly, as of this evening, I still cannot report that the tool is ready for use .... despite much effort, we have been unable to find the sweet spot that clamp hard enough to get reasonable backside helium cooling and yet does not break wafers. It sees that every time we think that we've just about got it, we end up with a broken wafer. Cesar and Elmer have both spent a lot of time fussing with it and Jim Kruger has also spent a lot of time working with us, helping us to reason through our step-by-step alignment .... but until we can honestly report that it is behaving properly, I'm afraid of releasing the tool to you. One of us will try to send out a daily update .... We apologize for the delays and inconvenience. John From shott at stanford.edu Tue Aug 5 16:17:59 2008 From: shott at stanford.edu (John Shott) Date: Tue, 05 Aug 2008 16:17:59 -0700 Subject: Pquest up for some cautious testing .... Message-ID: <4898DFA7.9000701@stanford.edu> Plasma Quest community: After some careful alignment, Elmer has finally cleared the shutdown on the pquest. We believe that we are ready for some cautious testing .... let me explain a bit more about what was done to the machine so that you understand why we need to proceed with caution. We are now using a clamp plate that holds the wafer completely around the perimeter rather than simply pressing down at 5 points. This clamp, however, will likely affect etch rates particularly near the edge of the wafer which is one of our causes of recommending cautious testing before you commit any valuable wafers. Elmer has carefully aligned this clamp and has also reduced the overall clamping pressure in hopes that we will see fewer broken wafers. However, because we are not clamping with great force, the helium leakage that we see to maintain a backside pressure of 10 Torr is higher somewhat than we would like. We felt, however, that erring on the side of less clamping pressure was better than trying to clamp harder only to break wafers. Thus far, we have test loaded/clamped/unloaded a number of wafers and have also run them under oxygen plasma. We have not yet had time to actually do process testing. However, I know that a number of you .... particularly Li-Wen and Shabbir and probably others ..... are anxious to begin to test. I also know that there has been discussion of the fluorine vs chlorine status of the machine. While I do not know where that discussion ended, I trust that Li-Wen, Shabbir and other anxious users will be able to resolve this amongst yourselves .... and will let others know which mode is in use. Now, here is my offer: if anyone is willing to do some testing of this tool that will help us to check out etch rates, adequate clamping, and adequate cooling, and proper unloading ..... ideally on expendable test wafers in case something goes amiss .... I will make sure that you do not get charged for that equipment time as long as you communicate your findings to us and the rest of this community. I apologize for the extended downtime that this tool has experienced, but am hopeful that some cautious testing of both clamping and etching characteristics are now in order and that we will soon be getting useful etch results out of this tool. Let us know if you encounter any problems. Thanks, John From shott at stanford.edu Thu Aug 7 19:10:10 2008 From: shott at stanford.edu (John Shott) Date: Thu, 07 Aug 2008 19:10:10 -0700 Subject: Plasma quest update .... Message-ID: <489BAB02.90409@stanford.edu> Plasma Quest Community: Elmer did some more fine tuning of the clamp assembly today and it is behaving pretty well. In particular, he did 2 key things: 1. He discovered and adjusted the "holding wedge" underneath the up/down mechanism at the left of the chamber. Proper adjustment of this seems to prevent the clamp from sliding to the left under higher clamping loads. 2. He also recuced the clamping force by reducing the spring preload at each corner of the clamp assembly by loosening the allen scred by 2 1/2 turns on each corner. Testing under Jim Kruger's oxygen3 program showed a helium "blow by" of roughly 4.0-5.5 sccm to maintain the 10 Torr backside pressure and 600 watts of power (I think) resulted in a backside bias of about 67-68 volts. At this point we are releasing it again for cautious use subject to the following conditions: 1. Because this is the full-clamp ring rather than the "finger style" clamp ring, anyone needing to etch close to the ring should check etch rates carefully ... this clamp will likely affect etch characteristics nearby. 2. Please be observant when loading and unloading to be on the lookout for any problems. 3. Please check your etch rates carefully before committing critical samples. 4. Remember that we are in fluorine chemistry mode for a few more days. If you get good results, please say thank you to Elmer, Cesar, and to Jim Kruger ..... they've each made important contributions and been quite diligent in resolving these issues. If you encounter problems .... send them to me. Best of luck, John From faraon at stanford.edu Thu Aug 7 19:26:04 2008 From: faraon at stanford.edu (Andrei Faraon) Date: Thu, 7 Aug 2008 19:26:04 -0700 Subject: pquest free tonight Message-ID: <28d3ece90808071926k2d9acfbetb2a8504606b08d72@mail.gmail.com> Sorry for the late notice. I can not start testing/etching now. -- Andrei Faraon Stanford University, Applied Physics 316 Via Pueblo Mall Stanford, CA, 94305 Mobile: 650 714 7881 Office: 650 723 2279 www.stanford.edu/~faraon -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From mtang at stanford.edu Fri Aug 8 18:08:31 2008 From: mtang at stanford.edu (Mary Tang) Date: Fri, 08 Aug 2008 18:08:31 -0700 Subject: Fluorine week, 8/9-8/15/08 Message-ID: <489CEE0F.3070606@stanford.edu> Hi all -- There has been a request to have one week of fluorine processing to accommodate research deadline needs of fluorine users. As we understand it, concerns brought up in the previous email to pquest users have been addressed and no objections have been made. So, starting today and ending next Friday, 8/15, it's fluorine week on the pquest. Please let us know of any issues. Mary -- 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 From tdo at stanford.edu Fri Aug 8 18:10:24 2008 From: tdo at stanford.edu (Thomas O'Sullivan) Date: Sat, 09 Aug 2008 10:10:24 +0900 Subject: Fluorine week, 8/9-8/15/08 In-Reply-To: <489CEE0F.3070606@stanford.edu> References: <489CEE0F.3070606@stanford.edu> Message-ID: <489CEE80.9060608@stanford.edu> No objection here, as long as the wet clean is done PROMPTLY Monday morning or Friday afternoon/evening. Thanks, Tom Mary Tang wrote: > Hi all -- > > There has been a request to have one week of fluorine processing to > accommodate research deadline needs of fluorine users. As we > understand it, concerns brought up in the previous email to pquest > users have been addressed and no objections have been made. So, > starting today and ending next Friday, 8/15, it's fluorine week on the > pquest. Please let us know of any issues. > > Mary > From tdo at stanford.edu Thu Aug 21 13:23:13 2008 From: tdo at stanford.edu (Thomas O'Sullivan) Date: Thu, 21 Aug 2008 13:23:13 -0700 Subject: my pquest experience this morning Message-ID: <48ADCEB1.1080106@stanford.edu> I was able to do 2 successful runs (plus 1 dummy), but noticed 2 minor glitches: 1) After the first clampdown, the sensor did not sense the clamp was down 2) When unloading every wafer, I noticed that it still "pops" out of the groove, but fortunately, not enough to push it off the pins. Suggest users watch every unloading process carefully because the wafer could still fall off the pins Good luck, Tom From tdo at stanford.edu Thu Aug 21 15:58:37 2008 From: tdo at stanford.edu (Thomas O'Sullivan) Date: Thu, 21 Aug 2008 15:58:37 -0700 Subject: pquest reservation released this evening Message-ID: <48ADF31D.3020305@stanford.edu> 7-11pm released From lwchang at stanford.edu Thu Aug 21 23:54:47 2008 From: lwchang at stanford.edu (Li-Wen Chang) Date: Thu, 21 Aug 2008 23:54:47 -0700 Subject: my pquest experience this morning In-Reply-To: <48ADCEB1.1080106@stanford.edu> References: <48ADCEB1.1080106@stanford.edu> Message-ID: <8ab79e460808212354k716422fcre60eaedfc9e33f9d@mail.gmail.com> I've encountered the sensor problem not sensing clamp down on almost every run (1 dummy + 4 wafers.) Good thing is the unloading problem didn't appear to happen again...I ran high temp etching (chuck temp. 80-140C) but I always cooled down the chuck temp to ~50C to start unloading. Li-Wen On Thu, Aug 21, 2008 at 1:23 PM, Thomas O'Sullivan wrote: > I was able to do 2 successful runs (plus 1 dummy), but noticed 2 minor > glitches: > 1) After the first clampdown, the sensor did not sense the clamp was down > 2) When unloading every wafer, I noticed that it still "pops" out of the > groove, but fortunately, not enough to push it off the pins. Suggest users > watch every unloading process carefully because the wafer could still fall > off the pins > > Good luck, > Tom > > > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From kai-mei.fu at hp.com Fri Aug 22 10:16:49 2008 From: kai-mei.fu at hp.com (Fu, Kai-Mei) Date: Fri, 22 Aug 2008 17:16:49 +0000 Subject: my pquest experience this morning In-Reply-To: <8ab79e460808212354k716422fcre60eaedfc9e33f9d@mail.gmail.com> References: <48ADCEB1.1080106@stanford.edu> <8ab79e460808212354k716422fcre60eaedfc9e33f9d@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <194B8BFEA1B72D45B3EE8FCBBB327F2D36C68C129C@GVW0442EXB.americas.hpqcorp.net> When I tried to run this morning I found that the backside He flow was high (11 sccm), my DC bias was ~1/3 what it normally is, and when I unloaded the test wafer it was rotated on the holder. I didn't run my real sample. Elmer said he will work on the clamp springs now. ________________________________ From: lwchangmse at gmail.com [mailto:lwchangmse at gmail.com] On Behalf Of Li-Wen Chang Sent: Thursday, August 21, 2008 11:55 PM To: Thomas O'Sullivan Cc: pquest at snf.stanford.edu Subject: Re: my pquest experience this morning I've encountered the sensor problem not sensing clamp down on almost every run (1 dummy + 4 wafers.) Good thing is the unloading problem didn't appear to happen again...I ran high temp etching (chuck temp. 80-140C) but I always cooled down the chuck temp to ~50C to start unloading. Li-Wen On Thu, Aug 21, 2008 at 1:23 PM, Thomas O'Sullivan > wrote: I was able to do 2 successful runs (plus 1 dummy), but noticed 2 minor glitches: 1) After the first clampdown, the sensor did not sense the clamp was down 2) When unloading every wafer, I noticed that it still "pops" out of the groove, but fortunately, not enough to push it off the pins. Suggest users watch every unloading process carefully because the wafer could still fall off the pins Good luck, Tom -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From faraon at stanford.edu Fri Aug 22 11:55:33 2008 From: faraon at stanford.edu (Andrei Faraon) Date: Fri, 22 Aug 2008 11:55:33 -0700 Subject: my pquest experience this morning In-Reply-To: <8ab79e460808212354k716422fcre60eaedfc9e33f9d@mail.gmail.com> References: <48ADCEB1.1080106@stanford.edu> <8ab79e460808212354k716422fcre60eaedfc9e33f9d@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <28d3ece90808221155w78e24a3fw3cbab6c01568ec2d@mail.gmail.com> I also etched yesterday and everything went well. There was some redeposition on the chip but I suppose that was there because the chamber was not cleaned after fluorine etching. Andrei On Thu, Aug 21, 2008 at 11:54 PM, Li-Wen Chang wrote: > I've encountered the sensor problem not sensing clamp down on almost every > run (1 dummy + 4 wafers.) > Good thing is the unloading problem didn't appear to happen again...I ran > high temp etching (chuck temp. 80-140C) but I always cooled down the chuck > temp to ~50C to start unloading. > > Li-Wen > > > On Thu, Aug 21, 2008 at 1:23 PM, Thomas O'Sullivan wrote: > >> I was able to do 2 successful runs (plus 1 dummy), but noticed 2 minor >> glitches: >> 1) After the first clampdown, the sensor did not sense the clamp was down >> 2) When unloading every wafer, I noticed that it still "pops" out of the >> groove, but fortunately, not enough to push it off the pins. Suggest users >> watch every unloading process carefully because the wafer could still fall >> off the pins >> >> Good luck, >> Tom >> >> >> > -- Andrei Faraon Stanford University, Applied Physics 316 Via Pueblo Mall Stanford, CA, 94305 Mobile: 650 714 7881 Office: 650 723 2279 www.stanford.edu/~faraon -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From shott at stanford.edu Fri Aug 22 15:44:37 2008 From: shott at stanford.edu (John Shott) Date: Fri, 22 Aug 2008 15:44:37 -0700 Subject: Plasma Quest update ... Message-ID: <48AF4155.3070001@stanford.edu> Plasma Quest community: This afternoon Elmer and I spent some time trying to resolve some of the outstanding issues on the Plasma Quest. In particular, we changed the clamping springs to a weaker set that, we believe, still clamp hard limit helium blow by, but won't clamp so hard that we break wafers. We also worked to treat the O-ring in an oxygen plasma in hopes that this will tend to limit wafer sticking to the O-ring and the subsequent drop off the pins. We have put everything back together and a releasing things for the weekend with the following cautions: 1. Please keep an eye on your wafers during load and unload to watch for wafers falling off pins and other things that might result in wafer breakage. 2. Please try to note helium flow to maintain 10 Torr backside pressure and the bias observed during your process. While we think that the helium flow is behaving pretty well, bias may still be somewhat low. 3. If you run into problems and get a trapped wafer, send me email. I should be available many times during the weekend to extract wafers, etc. Note: if the oxygen-plasma-treated O-ring doesn't reduce sticking problems, I've also got a couple of spare O-rings that I can try Elmer's special bead-blasting-to-reduce-sticking treatment. So best of luck this weekend .... and let me know if you encounter problems. John From lwchang at stanford.edu Fri Aug 22 18:38:19 2008 From: lwchang at stanford.edu (Li-Wen Chang) Date: Fri, 22 Aug 2008 18:38:19 -0700 Subject: Plasma Quest update ... In-Reply-To: <48AF4155.3070001@stanford.edu> References: <48AF4155.3070001@stanford.edu> Message-ID: <8ab79e460808221838v78550fefw55635f62a502edd@mail.gmail.com> I have ran two wafers (1 dummy + 1 carrier wafer with sample) at 100C chuck temp. Still the clamp down sensor did not work properly. For the dummy wafer everything looked fine (3sccm backside He for 10Torr, Bias -61.5V for oxygen3 and -48.3V for my rcp, which is notmal.) However for my 2nd carrier wafer the bias was very low ~ -15.6V.(Backside He was 3sccm) The RF wattage was stable, though (fwd/rev:44W/0W). Again I've noticed wafer popping out the pings despite cooling the chuck temp to 50C before unloading. Li-Wen On Fri, Aug 22, 2008 at 3:44 PM, John Shott wrote: > > Plasma Quest community: > > This afternoon Elmer and I spent some time trying to resolve some of the outstanding issues on the Plasma Quest. > > In particular, we changed the clamping springs to a weaker set that, we believe, still clamp hard limit helium blow by, but won't clamp so hard that we break wafers. > > We also worked to treat the O-ring in an oxygen plasma in hopes that this will tend to limit wafer sticking to the O-ring and the subsequent drop off the pins. > > We have put everything back together and a releasing things for the weekend with the following cautions: > > 1. Please keep an eye on your wafers during load and unload to watch for wafers falling off pins and other things that might result in wafer breakage. > > 2. Please try to note helium flow to maintain 10 Torr backside pressure and the bias observed during your process. While we think that the helium flow is behaving pretty well, bias may still be somewhat low. > > 3. If you run into problems and get a trapped wafer, send me email. I should be available many times during the weekend to extract wafers, etc. > > Note: if the oxygen-plasma-treated O-ring doesn't reduce sticking problems, I've also got a couple of spare O-rings that I can try Elmer's special bead-blasting-to-reduce-sticking treatment. > > So best of luck this weekend .... and let me know if you encounter problems. > > John > From krivoire at stanford.edu Sat Aug 23 17:29:08 2008 From: krivoire at stanford.edu (Kelley Rivoire) Date: Sat, 23 Aug 2008 17:29:08 -0700 Subject: pquest shut down; wafer falling off pins during unloading Message-ID: <18d3aabd0808231729j1f8f630dl306f0e728f1d67f7@mail.gmail.com> Hi, The first wafer I tried to unload during my afternoon run slipped off the pins. I have not been able to reach John Shott in the couple of hours since this occurred, so I am reluctantly shutting down the tool. (Currently, the robot arm is in between the home position and the chamber.) Apparently, this also happened during one of the previous user's runs earlier today; however, John Shott was able to come by then and recover the wafer. Kelley From faraon at stanford.edu Mon Aug 25 16:17:47 2008 From: faraon at stanford.edu (Andrei Faraon) Date: Mon, 25 Aug 2008 16:17:47 -0700 Subject: Pquest free today from 5:30pm Message-ID: <28d3ece90808251617g217e2d87ldcdebc39e0f3cb3d@mail.gmail.com> -- Andrei Faraon Stanford University, Applied Physics 316 Via Pueblo Mall Stanford, CA, 94305 Mobile: 650 714 7881 Office: 650 723 2279 www.stanford.edu/~faraon -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tdo at stanford.edu Tue Aug 26 13:14:43 2008 From: tdo at stanford.edu (Thomas O'Sullivan) Date: Tue, 26 Aug 2008 13:14:43 -0700 Subject: pquest available NOW Message-ID: <48B46433.4020906@stanford.edu> sorry, i just realized that my samples were not quite ready. my apologies. From jiazhu at stanford.edu Tue Aug 26 17:35:48 2008 From: jiazhu at stanford.edu (Jia Zhu) Date: Tue, 26 Aug 2008 17:35:48 -0700 (PDT) Subject: release 5:30-6:30pm Message-ID: <220589665.691841219797348900.JavaMail.root@zm01.stanford.edu> done earlier