Etch: Oxford Plasma Pro 80 Reactive Ion Etcher (RIE)
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Overview
The Oxford reactive ion etcher (RIE) is an anisotropic dry etching system used in micro and nanofabrication. RIE uses a chemically reactive plasma to remove material from the surface of wafers or chips. The plasma is generated under a vacuum by an electromagnetic field and directed towards a substrate patterned with e-beam, photo resist, or a hard mask. High-energy ions from the plasma react with the material on the surface of the wafer or chip and form volatile compounds that desorb from the surface removing atoms of the target material.
Key features:
- Up to an 8 inch wafer can be inserted into the etch chamber. Smaller pieces and wafer fragments can also be placed on the platen and do not require special mounting.
- A water chilled platen allows accurate control over substrate temperatures during etching.
- RF generator: 300W, 13.56Mhz
- Open load design allows for fast wafer loading and unloading while permitting flexible sample placement and arrangement.
- 5 different gasses are plumbed into the chamber for etching a variety of materials:
- CHF3
- CF4
- Ar
- O2
- SF6
- Initially recipes will be made available for etching Silicon and Silicon Dioxide.
- An Ar or Oxygen plasma recipe can be used for cleaning substrate surfaces and removing resist.
- Recipes will be made available for etching other materials once characterized.
- We allow gold (Au) in the chamber.
Getting Started and Training Information
In order to become a qualified user of the Oxford RIE, you need to follow each of these steps in the order as listed here:
- Complete the process to become a lab member of SNSF and follow the instructions to activate a Badger account.
- Complete the process to become a Nanopatterning Cleanroom user.
- Watch the Oxford RIE Plasma Pro 80 Training Video.
- Complete the Oxford RIE User Intake Form. An email is automatically sent to staff once you have completed the form.
- Staff will reach out to schedule a one-on-one in-person training session. You may bring a sample to the training session, but it is not required.