Standard Operating Procedure

Intlvac Ion Mill Manual

Contents

Operations

Login

Vent

Loading

Pump Down

Process

Finish

Using small devices:

Trouble Shooting

Contact:

About this document

Operations

Login

  1. Enable ion mill on Badger.
  2. Log on button on ion mill become active → log on.

Vent

  1. Press “vent chamber” on touchscreen.
    Wait until vent is complete.
  2. Open door.
  3. Check if the neutralizer wire is intact!

Loading

  1. Remove metal ring holding dummy wafer in place.
  2. Press “Process Advance” (physical button).
  3. Connect drychuck tube, if port is not accessible, press “move platen” on touchscreen.
    Switch on “DC vent” on touchscreen, the wafer should be released after a few seconds.
    If the wafer does not come off by itself, very carefully loosen it with a pair of tweezers or similar. Do not scratch the stage!
  4. Place your process wafer on the drychuck, switch off “DC vent” and switch on “DC pump”.
    The wafer should now be stuck to the stage.
  5. While pumping, place metal ring on stage, don’t tighten bolts too much.
    Make sure the ring is aligned with the wafer to avoid exposure of the drychuck to the ion beam.
  6. Pump for 5-10min, switch off “DC pump” and disconnect the drychuck tube (the longer the pump time, the better the thermal contact of the drychuck.

Pump Down

  1. Hold door closed and push “Process Advance” button until pump starts (have to push repeatedly for some reason).
    Stay by the tool until pressure has dropped to <5E+2 Torr.
    If the door does not seal, press “vent chamber” to stop the pump. Then close the door with provided clamps, repeat pump down start procedure.
  2. Wait for chamber to reach processing pressure (~5min).
  3. Turbo Pump normal operating speed is 30,000 RPM.
  4. Chamber should reach 4E-6 Torr before you start your process.

Process

  1. Upload profile:
    Go to “Profile” tab.
    Enter your settings.
    Press “Upload profile”.
    (You can also save your settings with the “Save As” button and recover with the “Open” button).
  2. Go back to “Chamber“ tab Press “Start Profile”.
    You will be prompted to adjust the neutralizer emission:
    - Switch the KRI Source Controller to “Local” by pressing the white button.
    - Set the neutralizer emission current to 110% of the beam current in your profile by turning the
  3. “Setpoint Adjust” knob while holding down the white “Emission” button.
    - Switch back to “Remote” and press the “Process Advance” button.
    (If the controller is left in local mode, an alarm will sound. Switch to “Remote” and press the “Process Advance” button again).
  4. Check through the window if the stage has moved to the desired angle and is rotating.
  5. Wait for process to complete.
    The process can be interrupted at any time by pressing the “Abort Process” button.
  6. Once the process is finished, wait about 10min for system to cool down.

Finish

  1. Vent (Sect. 2.).
  2. Remove your wafer (Sect. 3.).
    Always put the dummy wafer back in place.
  3. Start pump down (Sect. 4.)
    Make sure the door is sealed and the system is pumping before you leave.
  4. Log off, disable on Badger

Using small devices:

  1. Attach your chips at the center of a 4 inch wafer with silver paste (provided in drawer below control monitor).
  2. Mount and remove wafer with the same procedure as a process wafer.
    The silver paste can be cleaned off with IPA.

Trouble Shooting

If encountering a problem, report it on Badger and send an email to the ion mill list.

Contact:

Cliff Knollenberg /
Ion mill user email list /

We encourage everyone to contribute to this document. Please follow these steps to integrate your comments/additions/suggestions:

  • Save this file to your computer
  • Turn on the “track-changes” feature in Word
  • Make your comments/additions/suggestions and save the file
  • Email the finished document to the contact indicated above

About this document

1.0 / 5/11/2016 / Feifei Lian, Cliff Knollenberg / Initial Document

Intlvac Ion Millv1.05/11/2016