Overview

The memsstar Orbis Alpha vapour HF etcher provides gas-phase (dry) etching of sacrificial oxides, enabling stiction-free release of devices for MEMS, Si photonics/optomechanics, and other applications which previously had to rely on HF-based wet etching followed by critical point drying. The in situ NDIR sensor allows for robust process monitoring and endpoint detection, for excellent run-to-run reproducibility.

LMACS Name

Vapour HF Etcher (memsstar Orbis Alpha)

Confluence Labelmemsstar-vapour-hf-etcher
Process Area

Plasma Etch

ModelOrbis Alpha
Vendormemsstar
Team

Aaron Hryciw Scott Munro Devin Fortier





System Features

1

Large process window to optimize process for any structure

2Selectively etch different sacrificial oxides (thermal oxide, TEOS, SOI bonded oxide, quartz, PECVD oxide, spin-on oxide, low-temperature spin-on glass) without attacking other layers.
3Accommodates substrates ranging from small pieces up to 200 mm wafers
4Backside gas protection for 100 mm and 150 mm wafers: oxide on wafer backside is not etched inside a ~3 mm edge exclusion region
5Excellent selectivity with silicon nitride (<5%)
6High etch rates for undercut and blanket SiO2‚‚ (>200 nm/min)
7Excellent uniformity and repeatability (<5%)
8Unique endpoint capability via NDIR process monitor

Documents

Operating Procedure

memsstar Vapour HF Etcher SOP

Hazard Assessment

memsstar Vapour HF Etching System Hazard Assessment - HA

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