The Auto Gapping System from CyberOptics Semiconductors is a new edition of its legacy gapping technology that needed 10 hours to determine how far the chamber’s gas showerhead was from the wafer pedestal for consistent film deposition, especially with new dielectric films.
CyberOptics' Auto Gapping System
Besides delivering inaccurate measurements, it was also hazardous and exposed particles to pollution since users continuously opened and closed the heated PECVD compartment.
The AGS is a secure and accurate gapping technique that minimizes time needed for the process. It has been configured with three capacitive detectors in a wafer-thin footprint. It determines the distance to a conductive electrode at three spots on the showerhead and transmits rapid gap calculations to a GUI. Additional software helps transmit data as a CSV file.
It eliminates exposure to pollutants and helps the technicians determine multiple potential gaps and pre-fixed gaps accurately up to a thousandth of an inch for compact film deposition and manufacture tolerances at 300mm fab. Having tested the wireless gapping technique over a two month period, the scientists established that the wireless technique with its time-efficient maintenance of the PECVD chamber’s gap settings, reduced it from 10 to 4 hours or less, a lessening of 60%.
Source: http://www.CyberOpticsSemi.com