Hi Charlie,
We have a single chamber Plasma Therm system, which is heavily used for
III-Vs and SiC.  Most etching is with Cl2 or other chlorine-based gases and
SF6.  We unfortunately have to have the turbo pump rebuilt every 6 months or
so (we are not sure why it fails so frequently).

We don't ever have problems with "wafers lost inside" (how are the wafers
getting lost?  Is there some problem with the handler?) but we open the
chamber nearly every week for cleaning.  The SF6 and SiCl4 which is used
deposits lots of residue on the chamber walls and on the top electrode which
must be cleaned frequently.  We scrub the chamber and then pump down for 8
hours before using it again.

Hope this help,
Bill

-----Original Message-----
From: mems-talk-bounces@memsnet.org
[mailto:mems-talk-bounces@memsnet.org]On Behalf Of Charlie Suh
Sent: Thursday, October 07, 2004 11:59 AM
To: mems-talk@memsnet.org
Subject: [mems-talk] Plasma-Therm ICP


I was wondering if anyone else on this newsgroup uses a dual
chamber Plasma-Therm ICP.  I have a few questions for those who do.

1. How often do you have to change out your turbo pumps to be serviced?

2. What kind of restrictions do you have for each chamber?

3. How often do you have to open the chamber to remove wafers lost inside.

Thank you,

Charlie





--
Charlie Suh
Electrical Engineer II
Mircoelectronics Research Center
791 Atlantic Drive
Atlanta, Georgia 30332
Email: cs176@prism.gatech.edu

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