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Rapid Thermal Annealer

RTA_resized.jpg

Heatpulse 610 Rapid Thermal Annealer

Contact Information

Total Fab SolutionsFaculty Contact: Aaron Hawkins
Maintenance RequestStaff Contact: Jim Fraser
Student Contact: none
    General Information
    Equipment Specifications
    Operating Procedure

    The Heatpulse 610 RTP (Rapid Thermal Processsor) is used to heat a silicon wafer to a sufficiently high temperature so that the silicon lattice is reformed. Rapid heating and cooling of the wafer also minimizes the effects of particle diffusion. By varying time and temperature settings on the RTA, dopant diffusion can be controlled in order to move dopants to a specific depth.

    The wafer is sealed inside the quartz chamber where it is heated by 21 tungsten halogen lamps. Nitrogen air is circulated around the wafer during heating to prevent it from oxidizing in the heating cycles. Wafers are annealed in a process called a recipe. Recipes entail the duration and intensity of heating to properly anneal the wafer and move the dopant to specified depths in the wafer. Each recipe is broken up into three time blocks; the delay block, ramp block, and steady-state block. The delay block is the time before and after heating when nitrogen gas is circulated around the wafer to minimize the amount of air particles that will oxidize to the wafer during high temperature blocks. The duration of the starting delay block will affect the purity of the wafer since short delay times will not allow the inert gasses sufficient time to displace the air in the chamber. The duration of the ending delay block needs be long enough to ensure that inert gasses circulate around the wafer until it has cooled and is no longer apt to oxidization. The ramp block determines how quickly the chamber will be heated and cooled and thus affects the amount of particle diffusion that occurs before annealing. Lastly, the steady-state block determines how long the wafer is annealed.

    • C controller
    • Peak temperature 1350°C
    • Recommended steady state temp. 400°C to 1150°C
    • Capable of being configured for substrates up to 150 mm
    • Requires a quartz tray for each size
    • Heating rate controllable, max. 200°C per second
    • 208V, 1 Ph, 60 Hz

    Gas Operation

    1. Open the nitrogen valve.(Pressure will drop from 10 psi to 0 psi)
    2. Turn on Gas Safety Monitor for hydrogen. This is done by rotating the red knob clockwise (knob will pop out when rotated) and then pressing start.
    3. See Pictures:

    Chiller Operation

      1. Turn on small chiller underneath RTA by flipping switch upwards. Make sure temperature is set at 17 degrees Celsius and "DO NOT OPERATE" RTA until that temperature is reached on water temperature monitor.
      2. Turn on large chiller by flipping switch upwards.
      3. "DO NOT TURN OFF" chillers until 10 minutes after recipe has completed.
      4. See Pictures:

      Power Operation

      1. Look to see if bottom wall breaker lever is pushed upwards. If not, push lever upwards. This lever should always be up unless maintenance is being done to the machine.
      2. Make sure the "POWER" switch on RTA is turned to the off position.
      3. Remove any wafers from the oven. Close the oven door securely.
      4. Set the Pyro/TC switch to Pyro.
      5. Turn on the computer underneath the RTA. When the screen that says "Heatpulse P-CAT" appears, press any key to go into the main menu.
      6. Now flip the "POWER" switch on the RTA to the "ON" position. A green LED should light up and you should hear a sound as the contactor connects. If the green LED does not light up, call the staff or student contact.
      7. See Pictures:

      Creating A Recipe