MERIE P5000

 Operators of this machine need to be aware of the following:

• The Emergency Manual Off (EMO) is a large red button located at the top right hand side of the machine when standing in front of the cassette loading bays. Press this button in case of fire, water leaks, evacuation.
• In case of evacuation, leave the lab immediately through the red doors located to the left of the machine into the loading dock area and wait for further instructions.
• There is an emergency shower and eye wash located to the left of the machine.
• In case of personal injury, inform any available lab technician and contact McGill Security (phone number 3000)  for appropriate medical attention.

Editing a recipe

Recipes are called process programs in the AMAT P5000. 

Edit/view

To edit/view a program, go to Programs > Process Program. This will give you a list of the available recipes. Choose the desired recipe and verify parameters are correct, or change existing parameters. Any changes made are written to the recipe on the hard disk, so be sure to verify the recipe parameters, everytime you load the recipe. Do not expect the previous user to leave recipe parameters at default values.

Each step in a recipe has the following parameters:

• Step number name
• Chamber Selection: defines which chamber is used for the program
• Step end control: defines which method is used to end a step. It's always set to By Time as we do not have a endpoint capability installed.
• Maximum step time: defines the total duration of the step in seconds
• End Point Selection: set to No EndPoint
• Pressure: defines the wanted pressure in the chamber in mT.
  
• Pressure Ramp Rate: could be use to ramp the pressure. Usually no necessary
• RF Power, Match Mode: input here the RF power wanted for the etch. Match mode should be set to B to B
• RF tune Setpoint: should be set to 0.0V
• DC Bias Limit: should be set to -1000 to 0 Volt
• Magnetic field: defines the amplitude of the magnetic field that increases the plasma density [in Gauss]
• Magnet Modulation: set to Prgrm
• Process Position: Set to Process
• Gas Name, Flow: defines the gas used and its flow in sccm. Not all gas are available in all chambers. Check table at this end of the document.
• Temperature Cathode: set to 20°C
• Temperature Walls: set to 45°C
• BackSide He Cooling: set to 8mT

The main parameters to edit should be during the etch step:

DESCRIPTION      RECOMMENDED RANGE (MIN/MAX)      UNITS

STEP TIME                                                                         seconds

PRESSURE                                                                          Torr

RF POWER                                                                          Watts

GASES & FLOWS                                                                 sccm

A recipe is usually made of minimum of 3 steps:

1. Stabilization where the gas are flown in the chamber and a time is waited for the throttle valve to stabilize the pressure at the setpoint.
2. Etch: the actual etch step where the gas flow stay the same as for step 1 but the RF power is turned ON
3. A Residues EVAC step where the plasma RF power is turned down to 50-100W to sustain the plasma but the throttle valve is fully opened to evacuated all gases and residues in suspension in the plasma. Shutting down the plasma abruptly might allow those particles to fall down on the sample being processed.

Processing a wafer

• Load your wafer(s) in a blue cassette and make sure the flat is oriented upward. For small samples, use Crystalbond555 water soluble wax to bond the sample onto a 6inch carrier. Make sure to remember the slots in which the to-be-processed wafers have been placed.
• Load the cassette in either carousel A or B. By default the A is at the loading position. to bring the carousel B at loading position, go to MONITOR WAFER > Shuffle carousel (bottom of the screen)

Manual operation

• Go to SYSTEM > CONTROL SYSTEM and choose MANUAL from the first menu
• Select program to process by clicking on the corresponding chamber and selecting the wanted recipe
• Go to WAFER > MONITOR WAFER and clamp the cassette by going to RELEASE A and choosing CLAMP A and Ack.
• The tool now thinks the cassette is full of 25 wafers. Select the first wafer to process and choose SOURCE FOR MOVE
• Click the dash mark in the chosen chamber and choose DESTINATION FOR MOVE.

WARNING: BE EXTREMELY CAREFUL TO NEVER SEND WAFER WITH RESIST IN CHAMBER D AS THE CHAMBER IS @ 300°C AND WILL BURN THE RESIST CAUSING CHAMBER DOWNTIME FOR CLEANING.

• The tool will pick up the wafer from the cassette and load it in the specified chamber
• once the wafer is loaded, go to SYSTEM > CONTROL SYSTEM and click RUN and confirm
• The tool will now process your wafer as programmed in the recipe
• When done, unload the wafer by clicking on the wafer and selecting SOURCE FOR MOVE and click on the empty slot left by the wafer in the cassette  and select DESTINATION FOR MOVE.
• the wafer will now be unloaded into the cassette.
• To etch another wafer repeat the procedure
• to examine the wafer, unload the cassette by going to WAFER > MONITOR WAFER and click on CLAMP A selectRELEASE A.
• pick up the cassette and remove your wafer. If a small sample was processed, unbond it on hotplate and rinse under DI water.

 Automatic operation

• Go to SYSTEM > CONTROL SYSTEM and choose AUTOMATIC from the first menu
• Got to PROGRAM > LOT/SEQUENCE Control
• At the ADD NEW LOT NAME line, insert any title you want. ( this title is   what appears on the WAFER HISTORIESpage, so use a name that reflects your experiment for easier tracking later)
• The title appears at the left hand side of the page under LOT NAMES.
• Move the cursor to the line across from the title and click the light pen.
• The pull down that appears is the sequence page. Click on your sequence and click again when it appears on the line across from your title.
• At the bottom of the page, click on the WAFER LOT NAMES. Select either CASSETTE A or CASSETTE B side.
• Click on the line beside FOR WHOLE CASSETTE. The pull down that appears is the LOT NAME
  page. Select your title and click again when it appears on the line.
• At the bottom of the page, click on MONITOR WAFERS.
• Place the wafer(s) with the flat at the top of the cassette making sure not to cross slot the wafer(s).
• The cassette stage has 2 platforms identified as Cassette A on the left side and Cassette B on the right.
• Place the cassette on the same side as that which you selected on the WAFER LOT NAMES page. If the platform is not in front of the door, press the load button on the panel to the right of the door.
• Place the cassette so that it seats in the guide cut outs of the platform.
• Press the START button on the right side of the bezel. 
• When wafers are finished, press the UNLOAD button on the right hand side of the bezel. Remove the cassette when the door opens and the cassette unclamps.
• The machine will alarm and display on the screen ALL PROCESSING OF WAFERS IS COMPLET. Using the light pen, click on this line to silence the machine. 
   

Process gases and maximum flow