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Strip Comparison Table

Equipment		Plasma Asher 1	Plasma Asher 2	III-V Plasma Asher	Acetone Strip	Lift-off
Purpose		All purposes	Clean wafers only, no metal	III-V materials only	Resist strip, no metal	Resist strip or lift-off
Method		Plasma ashing	Plasma ashing	Plasma ashing	Solvent and ultra sound	Solvent and ultra sound
Process parameters	Process gasses	O₂ (0 - 400 sccm) N₂ CF₄	O₂ (0 - 400 sccm) N₂	O₂ (flow unknown)	NA	NA
	Max. process power	1000 W	1000 W	100% (power unknown)	NA	NA
	Solvent	NA	NA	NA	Acetone	Acetone NMP (Remover 1165)
Substrates	Batch size	1 small sample 1 50 mm wafer 1 - 30 100 mm wafers 1 - 25 150 mm wafers	1 small sample 1 50 mm wafer 1 - 30 100 mm wafers 1 - 25 150 mm wafers	1 small sample 1 50 mm wafer 1 100 mm wafer	1 - 25 100 mm wafers	1 - 25 100 mm wafers
	Allowed materials	Silicon, glass, and polymer substrates Film or pattern of all but Type IV	No metal! Silicon, glass, and polymer substrates Film or pattern of photoresist/polymer	Silicon, III-V, and glass substrates Film or pattern of all but Type IV	No metal! Silicon, glass, and polymer substrates Film or pattern of photoresist/polymer	Silicon and glass substrates Film or pattern of all but Type IV

Plasma ashing

	Photoresist stripping	Descum after lithography	Surface treatment of plastic, ceramic and metal	Ashing of organic material
Process pressure	0.8- 1.0mbar		0.5- 1.0mbar	0.8-1.5mbar
Process gases	O₂ (400 sccm) N₂ (0-70 sccm)	O₂ (70-201 sccm) N₂ (0-70 sccm)	O₂, CF₄, N₂ or their mixtures	O₂
Process power	600-1000W	150-300W	150-300W	1000W or less for heat- sensitive materials
Process time	5-60min, depending of photoresist thickness	a few minutes	a few seconds to a few minutes	Between 0.5 and 20 hours, depending on the material
Batch size	1-30	1-10	1 wafer at a time	1 wafer at a time, use a container, e.g Petri dish

A typical process time for stripping of 1.5 µm AZ5214e resist is 15-25 min and for stripping of 9.5 µm AZ4562 resist is 20-35 min with the process parameters: 210ml O $_{2}$ /min or mixture of 210ml O $_{2}$ /min and 70ml N $_{2}$ /min, power 1000W.

Plasma Asher 1

The Plasma Asher1( 300 auto load model) can be used for the following process:

Photoresist stripping
Surface cleaning after storage
Surface cleaning after processes using oil pump or diffusion pump vacuum
Surface cleaning as part of photolithography after wet developing of lacquer structures prior to wet or plasma etching
Stripping of photoresist layers after etching, including after being exposed to high temperatures as after implantation, ion etching, sputter etching, RIE
Removal of organic passivating layers and masks
Etching of glass and ceramic
Etching of SiO $_{2}$ , Si $_{3}$ N $_{4}$ , Si
Removal of polyimide layers

The machine can be used for almost every materials, but if you have any doubt about your materials are compatible with the plasma process it is better to ask photolithography group at Danchip.

Process Information

SiO2 etch using Plasma Asher 1

Plasma Asher 2

The Plasma Asher 2 is the same as Plasma Asher 1 but has another loading system which is more convenient for batch loading of 6inch substrates.

In this machine, only O2 and N2 gases are used for processes (in PlasmaAsher1, CF4 is used as well).

The typical process parameters when operating the equipment:

Photeresist stripping

Pressure: 0.8 - 1.0 mbar

Gas: O2

Power: 600 - 1000 watts

Time: 5 -30 min., depending on photoresist type and thickness

A typical process time for stripping of 1.5 um AZ5214e resist is 25 min for 6 wafers load in a boat, recipe 1.

A Descum process in manuel mode:O2:70, N2:70, power:150W, time:10min Be sure to wait for cooling if the mashine has been used at 1000W right before. At a load at 2 Fused silicawafers resist removed 0.01-01,5um

The other materials have not been tested yet.

III-V Plasma Asher

Acetone Strip

This acetone strip is only for wafers without metal and SU-8.

There are two acetone bath: one rough for stripping the most of the resist from the surface and one fine with a ultrasound for cleaning the resists remains.

Here are the main rules for acetone strip use:

Place the wafers in a wafer holder and put them in the first bath for 2-5 min, this time is depending how much resist you have on the surface.
After the rough strip place your wafers directly in the final bath, switch on for the ultra sound and strip them for 2-3 min.
Rinse your wafers for 4-5 min. in running water after stripping .

Overview of acetone benches

	Acetone strip	Lift-off
General description	wet stripping of resist	lift-off process
Chemical solution	CH₃COCH₃	CH₃COCH₃
Process temperature	20 ^oC	20 ^oC
Batch size	1-25 wafers at a time	1-25 wafer at a time
Size of substrate	4" wafers	4" wafers
Allowed materials	Silicon Silicon Oxide Silicon Nitride Silicon Oxynitride	All metals