CVC Sputterer #1

Operating and Maintenance Procedures

 

Power Down Procedure:

 

1.      On the AVC-485 Automatic Valve Controller, press the STOP pushbutton.  This should close the HiVac valve, and the HIVAC led should go out.  The STOP led will light up.

2.      On the AVC-485 Automatic Valve Controller, place the key switch in the MANUAL position.  The AUTO led should go out, and the MANUAL led should light up.

3.      On the AVC-485 Automatic Valve Controller, Close all vacuum system valves by pressing the valve pushbuttons located under the mode key switch.  The FORE, HIVAC, ROUGH, and VENT led’s should all be out.

4.      On the back of the CVC Sputterer, shut all six water supply valves.  This isolates cooling water to the chamber and all four targets.

5.      On the Electronics Console, press the EMERGENCY STOP pushbutton.  This will de-energize all remaining sources of power to the sputterer.

 

Start-Up Procedure:

 

1.      On the Electronics Console, press the TOOL START pushbutton, located just to the left of the EMERGENCY STOP pushbutton.

2.      On the AVC-485 Automatic Valve Controller, press the POWER pushbutton.  The POWER led will light up.

3.      In the Mechanical Pump Controller Section of the Electronics Console, place the MECHANICAL PUMP POWER switch in the on position.  This will start the mechanical pump.

4.      On the AVC-485 Automatic Valve Controller, place the key switch in the AUTOMATIC position.  The MANUAL led will go out, and the AUTO led will light up.

5.      Check Cryopump Temperature <25° K.  If Cryopump Temperature is < 25° K, proceed to the next step.  If Cryopump Temperature is not <25° K, perform a Cryopump Regeneration Procedure (See Summary of Maintenance Procedures, Section 1).

6.      On the AVC-485 Automatic Vacuum Controller, press the START pushbutton.  This will open the Chamber roughing valve and the sputtering chamber will start to pump down.  The roughing valve LED will be lit.

7.      On the AVC-485 Automatic Vacuum Controller, monitor vacuum gauge pressure.  When vacuum gauge pressure is approximately .1 Torr, the roughing valve shuts and its LED will go out.  After the roughing valve has been shut for 5 seconds, The Hivac valve will open, placing the sputtering chamber in Hivac.  The Hivac valve LED will now be lit.

 

Operating Procedures:

 

1.      Initial Checks

A.    Verify Cryopump temperature is <25° K.  If Cryopump Temperature is < 25° K, proceed to the next step.  If Cryopump Temperature is not <25° K, perform a Cryopump Regeneration (See Summary of Maintenance Procedures, Section 1).

B.     On the AVC-485 Automatic Valve Controller, verify the mode key switch is in the AUTO position.

C.    On the AVC-485 Automatic Valve Controller, verify HIVAC valve is open by observing the indicator light is lit.

D.    On the Granville-Phillips Series 270 Gauge Controller, verify the Auto Range Switch is in the ON (Up) position.

E.     On the Granville-Phillips Series 270 Gauge Controller, verify vacuum level is between 5 x 10-6 and 1 x 10-7 Torr.  If vacuum is not in this range, inform the module lead.

2.      Venting Procedure

A.    On the Granville-Phillips Series 270 Gauge Controller, place the Auto Range Switch in the OFF position.

B.     On the Granville-Phillips Series 270 Gauge Controller, push AUTO ON/OFF switch up until the FILAMENT led goes out.  This will turn off the Ion Gauge.

C.    On the AVC-485 Automatic Valve Controller, press the STOP pushbutton.  This will cause the HiVac valve to close, and the red led for the valve to go out.  The STOP led will come on, and the START led will go out.  Wait 5 seconds, then proceed to the next step.

D.    On the AVC-485 Automatic Valve Controller, press the VENT pushbutton.  The STOP led will go out, and the VENT led will come on.  This will cause the chamber to vent to atmosphere. 

E.     When the gauge on the AVC-485 Automatic Valve Controller reads “ATM”, place the chamber cover toggle switch in the RAISE (Up) position.  After a couple of seconds, the chamber cover should start to open.

F.      Inspect all targets.  If targets look burned, inform the module lead immediately.  If targets look dirty, clean off particles with the house vacuum system and cleanroom wipes, then perform a long pre-sputter clean with the shutter closed.

G.    Inspect shutter rotation.  Rotation should be complete when changing from one target to another.

H.    Load your wafers, and cover remaining slots with dummy wafers.

I.       Inspect Substrate rotation.  If substrate scrapes against shutter, inform the module lead immediately.

 

3.      Pumpdown Procedure

 

A.    Clean chamber O-ring and Seating surfaces with a clean room wipe to remove particles.  Loose particles in the chamber could cause vacuum and sample contamination problems.

B.     On the front panel of the sputterer, place the Chamber Cover Toggle Switch in the down position to close the chamber cover.  The chamber cover should start to close.

C.    On the AVC-485 Automatic Vacuum Controller, press the START pushbutton.  This will open the Chamber roughing valve and the sputtering chamber will start to pump down.  The roughing valve LED will be lit.

D.    On the AVC-485 Automatic Vacuum Controller, monitor vacuum gauge pressure.  When vacuum gauge pressure is approximately .1 Torr, the roughing valve shuts and its LED will go out.  After the roughing valve has been shut for 5 seconds, The Hivac valve will open, placing the sputtering chamber in Hivac.  The Hivac valve LED will now be lit.

E.     On the Granville-Phillips Series 270 Gauge Controller, place the Auto Range Switch in the ON (Up) position, and push the AUTO ON/OFF switch up until the FILAMENT led is on.  This will turn on the Ion Gauge.

F.      On the Granville-Phillips Series 270 Gauge Controller, monitor vacuum level as pressure drops.  When sputterer chamber vacuum is 5 x 10-5 or better, you may proceed to the next step.

G.    Log into the logbook, and leave an IN USE sign on the sputterer.  You may leave the MCR while pump down is in progress.  Pump down takes approximately 2-3 hours..

 

4.      Advanced Energy MDX-052 Power Supply Programming

 

A.    Turn Power Source Key Switch from OFF to PROGRAM position.

B.     Acknowledge alarm by pressing the OFF pushbutton (flashing red)

C.    In the regulation section, select power or current mode by pressing the POWER or CURRENT pushbutton.  For voltage mode, press the POWER and CURRENT pushbuttons simultaneously (Note:  Most sputtering processes are done in the power mode).

D.    Press the LEVEL pushbutton and keep it depressed.  Rotate the MODIFY knob to set the desired value.  Release the LEVEL pushbutton once the desired value is set.

E.     To set the ramp time (the time it takes for the output power to reach the desired value), press the RAMP pushbutton and keep it depressed.  Rotate the MODIFY knob to set the desired value.  Release the RAMP pushbutton once the desired value is set.

F.      Set the sputtering time by pressing the RAMP and SET PT pushbuttons simultaneously.  Release the SET PT pushbutton (set point light will flashing), but keep the RAMP pushbutton depressed.  Rotate the MODIFY knob to set the desired sputtering time (Note:  include a 3 minute pre-sputter time to clean the target surface).  Release the RAMP pushbutton.  If necessary, press the VERNIER pushbutton and rotate the MODIFY knob to set the sputtering time accurately to 0.01 sec increments.

G.    If necessary, toggle the DISPLAY pushbutton to view appropriate mode (Note:  ACTUAL light should be lit while monitoring values).

 

5.      Preparation for Sputtering

 

A.    On the back of the sputterer, place all six water isolation valves in the OPEN (vertical) position.  This will supply cooling water to all four sputter targets, and the sputter chamber.

B.     On the Electronics Console, in the Motor Speed Control Section, press the POWER button.  It should light up, indicating motor power is on.

C.    On the Electronics Console, rotate the motor speed control knob slowly to the #10 position.  This will start to rotate the sputtering sample wafers.

D.    On the Granville-Phillips Series 270 Gauge Controller, place the Auto Range Switch in the OFF(Down) position, and push the AUTO ON/OFF switch up until the FILAMENT led is off.  This will turn off the ion gauge.

E.     On the front panel of the sputterer, place the Pressure Control Valve Switch in the CLOSE position.  This will prevent the cryopump cold head from being overloaded once argon gas is admitted to the chamber.

F.      On the front panel of the sputterer, just to the right of the chamber cover toggle switch, open the green Argon Gas Inlet Valve fully.  This will supply the ionizing gas to the sputtering chamber.

G.    In the GP-310 Pirani Gauge section of the Electronics Console, place the Pressure Gauge Range Select Switch in the 100 (mTorr) position.  If necessary, set desired Argon pressure by adjusting the needle valve located directly above the green Argon gas inlet valve.  Adjust needle valve so pressure gauge reads approximately 7 – 8 mTorr Argon pressure.  This insures gas pressure is optimum for sputtering.

H.    Verify cooling water valves on the back of the sputterer are still open.

I.       Place Target Selector Switch in the desired target position and press the Target POWER button. This connects the output of the power supply to the selected target.

J.       Make sure shutter position is pointing to the correct target as follows:

 

1)      Target #1 – Shutter position 1 or 3

2)      Target #2 – Shutter position 2 or 4

3)      Target #3 – Shutter position 1 or 3

4)      Target #4 – Shutter position 2 or 4

 

If the selector switch is in Position #1, then the shutter is closed for target #1, and so on. Note:  Shutter Position Selector Switch must ALWAYS be switched in order (1 – 2, 2 – 3, 3 – 4, 4 – 1).  This is to prevent damage to the shutter mechanism.

 

6.      Sputtering Procedure

 

A.    Ensure the shutter is closed for the appropriate target as listed below:

 

1)            Target #1 – Position 1 or 3

2)            Target #2 – Position 2 or 4

3)            Target #3 – Position 1 or 3

4)            Target #4 – Position 2 or 4

 

B.     On the Advanced Energy MDX-052 Power Supply, press the OUTPUT ON pushbutton.  This step will turn on the plasma.

C.    After 2.95 minutes of Pre-Sputter, place the Shutter Position Selector Switch in the appropriate position to expose the target to the wafers as follows:

 

1)            Target #1 – Position 2 or 4

2)            Target #2 – Position 1 or 3

3)            Target #3 – Position 2 or 4

4)            Target #4 – Position 1 or 3

 

D.    During Sputtering, verify all 6 cooling water valves on the back of the CVC are still open.  Do not leave the MCR for any reason while a sputtering run is in progress.  Users shall monitor their run every 3 – 5 minutes.  Runs requiring more than 20 minutes have to be broken up into smaller runs, to prevent overheating of the targets (For example, a 40 minute run should be broken up into two 20 minute runs with a 10 minute cooling break between runs).

E.     Enter the run parameters into the logbook.

 

7.      Post-Sputter

 

A.    On the Advanced Energy MDX-52 Power Supply, acknowledge the alarm and turn the Power Source Key Switch to the OFF position.

B.     On the Target Source Selector Panel, press the Target POWER button.  This will turn off power to the selected target.

C.    On the CVC Sputterer front cover, close the Argon Gas Inlet Valve.  This will remove the ionizing gas from the sputtering chamber.

D.    On the CVC Sputterer front cover, place the Pressure Control Valve in the OPEN position.  This will allow the chamber to return to a HiVac state.

E.     On the Electronics Console, place the Pirani Gauge Selector Switch in the OFF position.

F.      Wait approximately 5 minutes to allow targets to cool down. Longer sputtering runs will require longer cooldown periods.

G.    On the back of the CVC Sputterer, shut all cooling water valves.  This will isolate cooling water to the sputtering chamber and all targets.

H.    On the AVC-485 Automatic Vacuum Controller, press the STOP pushbutton to close the HiVac valve.  The STOP led will light up and the HIVAC led will go out.

I.       Wait 5 seconds, then press the VENT pushbutton.  The VENT led will light up and the VENT valve will open to vent the chamber.

J.       When the AVC-485 Vacuum Gauge reads “ATM”, place the Chamber Cover Toggle Switch in the RAISE (Up) position.  After a few seconds the chamber cover will start to open.

K.    On the Electronics Console, turn the Motor Speed Control to “O” and press the Motor Speed POWER button to turn off power to the motor.  This will stop the rotation of the carousel containing the process wafers.

L.     Unload Wafers

M.  Follow pump down procedure, and post a “NOT IN USE” sign on the sputterer.

 

Maintenance Procedures:

 

1.      Cryopump Regeneration Procedure:

A.    On the AVC-485 Automatic Valve Controller, verify the Mode Selector Switch is in the AUTO position.

B.     On the AVC-485 Automatic Valve Controller, press the STOP pushbutton.  This will cause the HiVac Valve to close and it’s red LED to go out.

C.    On the Model 8001 Cryocompressor Controller, place the power switch in the OFF (Down) position.  This will turn off power to the compressor, which will cause the cryopump cold head to start warming up.

D.    On the right side of the CVC Sputterer, place the Cryopump Nitrogen Supply Valve in the OPEN position.  Nitrogen will begin flowing to the cryopump cold head.

E.     Allow nitrogen to flow to the cryopump cold head for a minimum of 2 – 3 hours.  This insures the cryopump cold head warms up to room temperature, and releases any contaminants from the cold head assembly.

F.      On the right side of the CVC Sputterer, place the Cryopump Nitrogen Supply Valve in the CLOSED position.  Nitrogen will stop flowing to the cryopump cold head.

G.    On the AVC-485 Automatic Valve Controller, place the Mode Selector Switch in the Manual Position.

H.    On the AVC-485 Automatic Valve Controller, press the FORELINE pushbutton (located under the mode selector switch).  This will open the foreline valve, and start pumping out the cryopump cold head.

I.       On the AVC-485 Automatic Valve Controller, under the Vacuum Gauge, press the FORELINE pushbutton (located under the vacuum gauge) to monitor foreline pressure.  Pressure in the pump foreline should start to drop.

J.       When foreline pressure reaches < 50mTorr, press the FORELINE pushbutton  (located under the mode selector switch) to shut the foreline valve.

K.    Monitor foreline pressure.  If pressure rises above 100 mTorr, repeat steps H through J until foreline pressure is stable between 50 – 80 mTorr.  When foreline pressure is stable between 50 – 80 mTorr, proceed to the next step.

L.     On the Model 8001 Cryocompressor Controller, place the power switch in the ON (Up) position.  This will turn on power to the compressor, which will cause the cryopump cold head to start cooling down.

M.  Monitor Cryopump temperature.  Once Cryopump temperature is <25° K, place AVC-485 Automatic Valve Controller Mode Selector Switch in the AUTO position.

N.    Place the CVC Sputtere in HiVac in accordance with the Summary of Operating procedures, Section 2 on Page 6 of this hardware summary.