New i-Line Stepper Canon FPA3030i5a operational
Newsletter 2/2022
New i-Line Stepper Canon FPA3030i5a operational
Further milestone reached in the expansion of the line to 200 mm wafers
A new optical lithography system was commissioned in the IMS clean room in June with funding from the state of Baden- Württemberg. The new i-Line stepper Canon FPA3030i5a replaces the previous Canon FPA3000i5+, which was an important part of the CMOS chip production at the IMS for more than 20 years. This new acquisition makes a state-of-the-art system available again now. This also created additional possibilities with regard to current and future activities of the IMS.
For example, the new stepper can process wafer sizes of 150 mm diameter as well as 200 mm diameter fully automatically and with a high throughput while this changeover can be done in just a few steps. For the current MEMS and GaN projects processed at the IMS in particularly, this production system was designed to provide the greatest possible flexibility with regard to the substrates that can be processed, so that, for example, the thickness of the wafers to be exposed can range from 200 μm to 1200 μm.
The Canon FPA3030i5a stepper is additionally equipped with an infrared camera system for which silicon is transparent. With this so-called “Through Silicon Alignment“ system, exposures can be adjusted and aligned with high accuracy to structures located on the back of the wafer. This is particularly important for applications in the field of MEMS.
In line with these new possibilities, a new resist track from the Osiris company was also procured with state funds, which can deposit and develop wafers with diameters of 150 mm, 200 mm and 300 mm fully automatically with photoresist. This system will also be installed before the end of the year. This was also done in order to create the greatest possible flexibility regarding the nature of the wafers to be processed.