Plasma process equipment maker Plasma-Therm LLC of St Petersburg, FL, USA has acquired a High Density Radical Flux plasma technology that enables low-temperature Bosch polymer removal.
High Density Radical Flux (HDRF) was developed by Nanoplas France as a plasma process for low-temperature removal of photoresists and organic polymer residues - capabilities that are especially important for device fabrication steps in the micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS), light-emitting diodes (LED), and advanced packaging markets, says Plasma-Therm.
Plasma-Therm is integrating HDRF technology into its existing suite of plasma etching, deposition, and wafer-dicing products. The Nanoplas-developed HDRF low-temperature photoresist stripping capability is also applicable to Bosch polymer removal after DRIE (deep reactive ion etch) processing.
"HDRF fits very well into our etch and deposition product line, because this will allow Plasma-Therm to provide multi-step solutions to specialized device manufacturers for both R&D and production use," says says Ed Ostan, Plasma-Therm's VP of marketing.
Plasma-Therm will also offer ongoing support to Nanoplas customers, which include global companies using the systems in volume production, as well as R&D and pilot line facilities. The Nanoplas installed base is primarily made up of DSB 6000 and DSB 9000 HDRF systems. Nanoplas introduced the semi-automatic DSB 6000 system in 2008, followed in 2011 by the fully automatic 200mm DSB 9000 system (which accommodates one or two process modules). Both systems are capable of chemical downstream etching, stripping and cleaning applications. The firm also designed the HDRF300 system for advanced cleans for 3D-IC fabrication.
HDRF enables removal of photoresist, as well as organic polymers left on trench sidewalls following DRIE processes (applications that are sought for advanced packaging, MEMS, and power devices). The systems incorporate a multi-zone, remote, inductively coupled plasma (ICP) source, which produces up to 1000 times greater chemical concentration than a conventional ICP source. HDRF is said to provide better performance than wet processing and regular plasma processing in terms of selectivity, low damage, flexibility, and high-aspect-ratio efficiency. It is also claimed to yield superior polymer removal efficiency for high-aspect-ratio (greater than 50:1) structures. With operating temperatures lower than 80°C, and with high selectivity to TiN, Al, Au, SiO2 and Si3N4, HDRF provides damage-free residue removal for ultra-sensitive devices, the firm adds.
