Plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition tool

• Subject Area: Electrical Engineering and Information Technology ; Materials Engineering
• Term: Funded in 2023
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 520256500

In the clean room of the Institute of Microwave Technology and Photonics, semiconductor samples and microwave components have been successfully produced for several decades. The cleanroom area (yellow light area, wet chemistry, electroplating) was renovated and put back into operation in 2021. Now some technology systems are to be brought up to date. Within the scope of this application, a plasma-activated chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) tool for the deposition of various dielectrics, especially silicon nitride (SiN), silicon carbide (SiC) and silicon oxide (SiO), possibly also mixtures, as well as amorphous silicon shall be purchased. The tension of the layers should be adjustable, which requires a system with ICP (inductively coupled plasma) and RF generator. Background: The clean room of the Institute of Microwave Technology and Photonics (IMP) at TU Darmstadt currently has an approximately 18-year-old plasma deposition system. Due to its age, regularly necessary repairs and the unavailability of spare parts, a replacement device shall be purchased. An upgrade or modernization of the old equipment is uneconomical. The PECVD system is a core element of cleanroom technology and is required for most processing sequences, so that a large number of projects depend on the functionality of the system. For example, anti-reflection coatings are deposited with the system (optical and photonic components), insulators are grown (photonic and electronic components), micromechanically adjustable mirrors are manufactured (micromechanics), and layers with low heat conduction are used as part of temperature-regulating elements. Furthermore, hard masks for etching of semiconductor materials can be deposited with the system. The main person in charge for the system will be the main applicant, Sascha Preu. The cleanroom and including the PECVD is jointly operated and used by several departments (FG) of the Department of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology, namely FG Microwave Technology (Jakoby), FG Terahertz Components and Terahertz Systems (Preu) as well as the FG New Materials for Electronics (Meinert). The technology is also supported and shared by the FG Integrated Micro-Nanosystems (Burg). Shared use outside of electrical engineering department is explicitly desired. Co-applicant Bernhard Urbaszek (Hybrid Quantum Systems, Department of Physics, since September 2022) is a first example of this.

• DFG Programme: Major Research Instrumentation
• Major Instrumentation: Plasmaaktivierte chemische Gasabscheideanlage
• Instrumentation Group: 0920 Atom- und Molekularstrahl-Apparaturen
• Applicant Institution: Technische Universität Darmstadt
• Leader: Professor Dr. Sascha Preu