From mtang at stanford.edu Sat Apr 21 17:48:48 2012 From: mtang at stanford.edu (Mary Tang) Date: Sat, 21 Apr 2012 17:48:48 -0700 Subject: STSetch2 Status and Update Message-ID: <4F935570.30503@stanford.edu> Dear STSetch2 users: As you know, the system has not been available for general use since just before shutdown in December. The estimate now is that parts are due to arrive late next week. If all is well with assembly, testing, and qualification, STSetch2 could be available the following week, the beginning of May. Please check the Daily Etch Status report for udpates (left side quick link on the SNF home page.) We acknowledge we staff have not been noting comments on Coral or communicating the situation as diligently as we should. We WILL do better. Please understand, though, that aside from waiting-for-parts, work has been pretty continuous on STSetch2 - with Cesar and Jim McV logging in weekends as Mike and Elmer work during the week. In summary, we believe we've had two problems. First was a massive vacuum chamber leak encountered during the startup. Troubleshooting required two complete teardowns/rebuilds of the vaccum system. Since STS produced very few HRM systems, documentation and spare parts are difficult to obtain. So Mike, Cesar, and Elmer had to learn quickly. We've also learned that rebuilding the chamber should be done regularly; seals/orings need to be replaced and deposition in inaccessible areas needs to be cleaned. We suspect that the leaks resulted from heating the chamber after being cold for shutdown, damaging seals and stressing film buildup. But Team Etch is confident that these leak issues were resolved as of 2 weeks ago. Second, is the RF generator problem. This was addressed in early December by replacing the generator. Preliminary tests in Dec. looked good and RF match issues appeared resolved. However, during recent process qualification, it was clear that while STSetch2 was etching, it was not performing to standard due to generator calibration. It turns out our HRM system uses a prototype DeviceNet version of RF generator (which is not supported), so although Elmer got the new generator to communicate, calibration was lost. This generator (which otherwise works) has been sent out for recalibration; the original generator (which does not) is still out for repair. A generator is due back late next week, according to the latest. These two problems are independent -- and looking back, their impact could have been reduced with more proactive measures. Some lessons learned: 1. Chamber rebuild should be part of a regular (annual?) preventive maintenance schedule. 2. Spares should be at the ready -- functional, and completely compatible, with repair history. 3. We need to make better use of Coral and daily reports for communicating tool status. There are ongoing efforts to establish preventive maintenance checklists and manage spares on other, higher-utilized etch tools. Given these problems, attention will now be focused on STSetch2 and RF generators. We regret the problems that STSetch2 downtime has posed for your research and ask for your patience as we work through these problems. Team Etch From elmere at stanford.edu Wed Apr 25 18:23:11 2012 From: elmere at stanford.edu (Elmer Enriquez) Date: Wed, 25 Apr 2012 18:23:11 -0700 Subject: STSetch2 rF generator update Message-ID: <4F98A37F.2090808@stanford.edu> Great news. One of the generators has been repaired and is ready for shipment. Before MKS can ship the unit, they wanted and email from Stanford procurement which states that it is OK to send an invoice that is less than the PO amount. Mary sent an email today to MKS. If all goes well, the generator will ship out tomorrow from NY and be here on Monday. It will take about 4-6 hours to install. -Elmer