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Specific Process Knowledge/Lithography/Descum

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Plasma Asher 1

Plasma asher 1 was decommissioned 2024-12-02.

Information about decommissioned tool can be found here.

Plasma Asher 2

Plasma asher 2 was decommissioned 2024-12-02.

Information about decommissioned tool can be found here.

Plasma Asher 3: Descum

The user manual(s), quality control procedure(s) and results and contact information can be found in LabManager - requires login

Plasma Asher 3 is specifically used for controlled descum process after lithography. Please note that you only can process a single 100 mm wafer, or one small sample, at a time. The plasma asher is equipped with 2 gaslines: oxygen and nitrogen, but all standard processes use only oxygen (as recommended by Diener).


Ashing of AZ MiR701 resist:
You can use two different descum process developments: you can either change power settings or processing chamber pressure.


Testing different power settings:

Descum results for different power settings

Recipe settings:

  • O2 flow: 5 sccm
  • N2 flow: 0
  • Pressure: 0.2 mbar
  • Power: Varied


Experiment parameters:

FW/REV C2/C1 Power
recipe 1 50/0 52/31 50%
recipe 2 100/0 53/31 100%
recipe 3 20/0 51/34 20%



Testing different pressure settings:

Descum results for different pressure settings

Recipe settings:

  • O2 flow: varied
  • N2 flow: 0
  • Pressure: varied
  • Power: V100% (100 W)


Experiment parameters:

FW/REV C2/C1 Oxygen Pressure
recipe 1 100/0 53/31 5 0,2
recipe 2 100/0 37/38 45 0,8


Ashing of AZ5214E resist:

Descum results for different pressure settings


Recipe settings:

  • O2 flow: varied
  • N2 flow: 0
  • Pressure: varied
  • Power: V100% (100 W)


Experiment parameters:

FW/REV C2/C1 Oxygen Pressure
recipe 1 100/0 53/31 17 0,4
recipe 2 100/0 37/39 45 0,8


Plasma Asher 4

Descum processing in plasma asher 4 & 5

Ashing amount and ashing rate when processing a single 100 mm wafer.
Ashing amount and ashing rate when processing multiple 100 mm wafers. Test measured on the center of 3 wafers.

Descum of AZ 5214E on 100 mm wafers. The descum process was tested for single substrates, as well as 3 substrates, placed vertically in the glass boat. For the 3 substrates only the center substrate was used for testing, the front and back wafers were used as dummy wafers.

The user manual, risk assessment, and contact information can be found in LabManager - requires login

Test setup Single substrate Center of 3 substrates
Test results Ashing rate: 5.7 ±2.1 µm/min
Non-uniformity: 0.6 ±0.4%
Ashing rate: 3.8 ±1.6 µm/min
Non-uniformity: 0.4 ±0.2%
Wafers 1 3
Wafer size 100 mm 100 mm
Boat position Center of chamber Center of chamber
Test wafer position Center of boat Center of boat
Total gas flow rate 200 sccm 200 sccm
Gas mix ratio 50% N2 50% N2
Chamber pressure 1.3 mbar 1.3 mbar
Power 200 W 200 W
Test processing time Tested parameter Tested parameter
Test average temperature 33°C 33°C


Plasma Asher 5

Coming soon