Material growth equipment for
MEMS research includes a gas source molecular beam epitaxy system
for growing III-V semiconductor heterostructures and a rapid thermal
epitaxy system for growing IV-IV heterostructures. The facility
and process equipment are maintained by a staff of five technicians
and eight student interns.
For photolitography, the optical
tools include two Karl Suss Contact/Proximity aligners with 0.5
micron resolution and a 0.7 micron G-line GCA 6300 projection
wafer stepper system. An optical pattern generator is capable
of making masks with 2 micrometer features. Our modified SEM is
capable of direct electron beam writing at feature sizes less
than 500 angstroms.
The hot process area includes
eight automated furnace tubes, set up for four inch wafers, for
oxidation, diffusion and annealing, three automated low pressure
chemical vapor deposition (LPCVD) tubes for the deposition of
doped polysilicon, silicon nitride, and low temperature silicon
dioxide (doped with boron and/or phosphorus), and two rapid thermal
reactors.
Process support equipment includes wet chemical
processing benches, photo-resist spinners, line width, film thickness
and stress measurement tools and optical microscopes. The facility
also has a separate, well equiped characterization laboratory
that includes equipment for ellipsometry, automated I-V and C-V
measurements, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), DLTS, Hall Effect
measurements and photoluminescence (PL).
A variety of plasma processing
systems are available, including sputter deposition systems, plasma-enhanced
chemical vapor deposition systems, reactive ion etchers, including
several load-locked systems, a chemically-assisted ion beam etching
system (CAIBE), and an ion mill.