Nanoquest II Ion Mill

Nanoquest II Ion Mill
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Equipment Details
Manufacturer	Intlvac Thin Film
Model	Nanoquest II
Technology	Ion milling
Materials Restriction	Metals
Sample Size	100 mm, 150 mm
Gases Used	Ar, O2, N2
Equipment Manual
Overview	System Overview
Operating Procedure	not released
Supported Processes	Supported Processes
User Processes	User Processes
Maintenance	Maintenance

The Nanoquest II Ion Mill is an ion beam etching (ion milling) system manufactured by Intlvac Thin Film Corporation. It is used for non-reactive, anisotropic etching of thin films particularly for difficult to etch materials. It is capable of etch rates from 2 to 40 nm per minute (material dependent).

Capabilities

• Etch rates of < 2 nm/min up to > 40 nm/min for a wide variety of materials

System overview

Hardware details

• Source Gases
  • Ar - 50 sccm
  • O₂ - 50 sccm
  • N₂ - 50 sccm
• Gas Ring
  • O₂ - 50 sccm
  • N₂ - 50 sccm

Each gas can be delivered to either the source or gas ring, but not both

• Pressure
  • Ebara EMT3300MK turbo pump
  • Base pressure < 10^-7
• Actively cooled platen with Dri-chuck mounting system
  • 100 mm and 150 mm chucks available
  • 5°C - 40°C range
• KRI RFICP220 gridded ion source
  • Beam current up to 1500 mA
  • Beam voltage up to 1000 V
• 3" dia RF magnetron sputter cathode

Substrate requirements

• 100 mm or 150 mm wafers
  • Smaller samples may be mounted to a carrier wafer at the sample mounting station
  • 3 mm max height

Material restrictions

The Nanoquest II Ion Mill is designated as a Metals class tool. Below is a list of approved materials for the tool. Approved means the material is allowed in the tool under normal circumstances. If a material is not listed, please create a helpdesk ticket or email info@lnf.umich.edu for any material requests or questions.

Approved materials

Supported processes

Main article: Nanoquest II Ion Mill/Processes

Initial characterization data for several recipes provided by the vendor are shown in the table below. Data is for thermal oxide and SPR 220. Uniformity data is from the thermal oxide measurement on 150 mm wafers with 10 mm edge exclusion.

Recipe Name	Oxide Etch Rate (nm/min)	SPR 220 Etch Rate (nm/min)	Uniformity (10 mm EE)
LNF_200VB_165IB_40VA	3.4	1.8	4.1%
LNF_300VB_320IB_60VA	8.9		4.5%
LNF_400VB_510IB_80VA	16.6	14.2	3.9%
LNF_500VB_740IB_100VA	27.2	21.7	4.9%
LNF_600VB_500IB_120VA	23.2	18.6	1.5%
LNF_600VB_990IB_120VA	40.2	35.1	3.1%
LNF_800VB_500IB_160VA	25.4		3.9%

For all process questions, fill out the process request form and create a helpdesk ticket.

Standard Operating Procedure

This SOP is still currently a draft. Please use caution when using the tool and take note of any additional information or changes provided by the tool engineer.

• Standard Operating Procedure

Checkout procedure

1. Complete the sample mounting course. If you have already completed this for another tool, you do not need to complete it again.
2. Practice on the tool with your mentor
3. Read through the SOP above.
4. Complete the process request form.
5. Schedule a time for a training session
   1. Find an available time for training here
   2. Verify that the tool is available in the LNF Online Services at the time you are requesting.
   3. After confirmation that the event is scheduled in Calendly, invite the staff member assigned to your event to a Staff Support reservation at that time.
6. Create a Helpdesk Ticket requesting training.
7. Work with the tool engineer to get checked out on the tool to obtain authorization on the tool.

Qualification

As part of the maintenance performed on the tool a 6" SiO₂ wafer is etched with LNF_600VB_500IB_120VA for 10min. The etch rate is measured at 25 sites, the average of this is shown below.