Microlab Lab Members Update

13 August 2004

(In lieu of a Lab Members Meeting)

Citris II Update (New lab)

The following is a summary of the CITRIS2 construction schedule.

1.      The CITRIS building project has been divided into 2 phases. Phase 1:  abatement and demolition of Davis Hall North followed by site excavation; Phase2: construction of the new CITRIS building and CITRIS Nanofabrication Center (the new Microlab).

2.      Bids have been reviewed and Phase 1 has been awarded. CITRIS construction has officially started! Abatement of Davis Hall North is underway; demolition will begin soon. The Construction site fence will be installed prior to the start of the Fall semester to enable students to adjust to the new pedestrian traffic patterns. The access path between Cory Hall and Davis Hall North and the Hearst Avenue sidewalk from Cory Hall to the School of Journalism will be closed for the duration of the project.

3.     Bids have been received for Phase 2 and are over budget. Bids for all building components, not just lab related systems, are more than anticipated. All building and laboratory components are undergoing additional review to identify cost savings. The project will be sent for re-bid within the next 4 months and a Spring, 2005 start of new construction is still planned.

Process Updates

1.             Six -inch pocket wafers are available as a  stock item for novellus and p5000. You can buy them in the office, so please do not attempt making them yourself. If you need a large quantity, staff can be consulted on the process steps, also available in our lab manual.

2.             Six-inch dummies shall be used  in Lam1,2,3 and 5, even when you are  processing 4" wafers. Staff will continue providing 4" etch rate data on these tools, until everyone has moved to 6". Please keep in mind that just about all our processes are now available on 6" substrates, including deep silicon etch.

3.             Manuals are on line for Applied Material Centura  (oxide/nitride etch recipes in MXP+,  and Deep silicon etch in the DPS-DT chamber), as well as TEOS oxide PECVD deposition in  p5000. Please take advantage of these advanced processes on 6" wafers.

4.             The new six-inch I-line stepper GCAWS6 will soon be characterized and released by process staff. Meanwhile, you are welcome to work on your mask layout and by consulting with Attila Horvath/Sia Parsa who will provide you the frame required on your mask for mask alignment purposes. This will be available in GDS and CIF format, as well as format compatible with L-edit.

5.             cmp: Changes between 6” and 4” tooling will now be done on Thursdays, 1X/week. The size for the current setup can be found in the equipment enable message cmp: WAND/e Equipment/E Read enable message. Standard recipes are available for both 4” and 6” substrates and will be monitored by Microlab staff. Slurry usage has become excessive by several members. It is suspected that members increased slurry rate to compensate for poor table pad performance. CMP table pad and pad conditioning wheel have been reviewed and updated and members are requested to return to standard recipes. If excessive slurry use continues, slurry tank will be monitored and members recharged for slurry cost. If you have a special cmp process need, discuss with Eunice Kim

6.             tystar15 (lpcvd SiC):  released for use. See Chapter 5.15 for instructions.

Equipment Updates

Upgrades

     Flexus: has been networked. Data files may now be transferred via ftp rather than transported via 3.5” floppy. The flexus manual will be updated with instructions for file transfers.

     gcaws2: relocated in a dedicated environmental chamber. The schedule for baseline corrections is every Monday, Thursday and by request. To request a baseline correction e-mail gcaws2 at silicon.

     sink8/sink9/srdsink8 drain: an additional drain has been added to increase throughput. This should put an end to “high plenum” alarms for this equipment cluster.

New equipment

     aln: aluminum nitride system slated for arrival the last week of August. A site has been prepared in Gl2  and utilities are in place. Install time should be ~ 1week.

     amst: delivery expected 9/04. Molecular vapor deposition system manufactured by Applied Microstructures, to be located in 432B Cory. amst will enable controlled coating of released MEMS parts with organo-silane monolayers for antistiction and wear resistance. amst is also suitable for cleaning and chemical derivitization of surfaces for BioMEMS applications.

     centura (DPS): 6” deep-silicon etcher released for use. See Lab Manual; Chapter 7.14 for information. 

     centura-mxp: 6” oxide etcher is released for use. A Lab Manual chapter is in preparation.

     gcaws6: sighted in Y3, under process testing. GCA model 8500 I-line 6” 5X wafer stepper with .35 n.a. and 22mm field size and automated reticle management. Gcaws6 supports 6” substrates and is one of the final components in the Microlab 6” upgrade. GCAWS6 replaces gcaws, the Microlab 10X I-line wafer stepper that was limited to 4” substrates.

     gfaas: new equipment, graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrophotometer. This tool is suitable for measuring metal contaminants on wafers at sub ppb levels. A setup location and date for this equipment has not been set. E-mail Bill Flounders (bill at eecs) if you have interest in this equipment. 

     svgcoat3: 6” thick-resist coat track sighted in Y1. Startup date is 17 August 2004.

     vacoven: new equipment name “vacoven” has been created. Vacoven was formerly installed in 432B and grouped under equipment name “oven”. It has been renamed “vacoven” and will be installed in 188 Cory Hall.

Equipment Moves

Equipment in 155, 161 and 163 Cory must be moved to accommodate new faculty. The following moves will be made:

     to 145 Cory Hall:  leo, memsview wkyo

     to 188 Cory Hall: mrc8600, parylene, vacoven

 Utilities

A replacement air compressor was installed in the basement of Cory Hall by Campus Services. This replacement compressor follows a hard-won battle to replace an aging and unreliable unit. So far the new compressor has provided compressed air at or above the needed quantity and pressure. We look forward to improved reliability for Microlab air pressure.

Safety & Etiquette

A labmember suffered a chemical burn from a piranha solution in sink432a. This occurred when piranha solution was  splashed while using the aspirator. This injury was treated at the scene following protocols in the Microlab Chemical Hygiene Plan and follow-up care was provided at Alta Bates. The injury occurred to the upper forearm. To prevent future incidents, aprons in 432 areas will be “long-sleeved” only. This accident serves to illustrate the necessity of safe chemical handling procedures, the importance of our buddy system and the effectiveness of injury report follow up.

Acid-waste neutralization system: reviewed by EH&S 7/29. This system is working well. Lab members are reminded this system can handle a finite volume of acid waste. Piranha changes at the sinks are managed and scheduled by the Microlab Process Engineering Group.