>>> 'ptherm' problem from rnorman -- Tue Jan  3 14:12:50 1989 <<<

Problem: A funny smell was reported after opening the gate valve.

Solution: I ran an O2 plasma and from the start it was clear white;
          a good sign of no chamber leak. The smell could have came from
          the HI trap that is disconnected and bypast, due to it being
          clogged; which by the way needs to be cleaned. Until then no
          HI can be used. The ptherm is up for use other then HI.

>>> 'ptherm' problem from phillip -- Tue Jan 31 14:07:02 1989 <<<

Reset taurus connection to open "EPO" switch. This assures compliance
with taurus controls as the machine WILL NOT operate when disabled.
(Joint effort by Robert Norman and myself correcting this problem.)

>>> 'ptherm' problem from xwu -- Wed Feb 15 11:01:50 1989 <<<

the valvevoltage meter of channel 1 on the panel didn't come back
to its oringin, the other functions are all ok and the ptherm is
still up.

Xin.

>>> 'ptherm' problem from rnorman -- Wed Feb 15 13:14:59 1989 <<<

Problem: Channel 1 valve voltmeter was stuck to one side.

Solution: The problem could not be duplicated. The voltmeter will
          go to the rightside and stay there if no gas is flowing
          through the MFC; because it is not getting the flow asks
          for so it applies more voltage to open the MFC up all the way.
          The ptherm is up.

>>> 'ptherm' problem from hphlee -- Tue Feb 28 23:50:35 1989 <<<

	When the venetian valve is pressed, the base pressure of the
chamber cannot be pumped down below 1m torr. The chamber can be pumped
down to below 1m torr without pressing the venetian valve. I am not sure
if this indicates a leak in the chamber or not. ALso, Vallath said that
the sound from the pumping unit is quite irregular although I cannot tell
the difference. Does this imply something might get into the pumping unit?

Henry

>>> 'ptherm' problem from parrish -- Wed Mar  1 12:57:34 1989 <<<

problem:    system not pumping down with venetian valve on

cause:      mech-pump low in oil, because of leaking seal

solution:   filled oil to proper oil level. for immediate use, the pump will
            be replaced Friday.

>>> 'ptherm' problem from hsin -- Sat Apr  1 16:01:13 1989 <<<

Didn't use it because the white "CKTS ON" button did not work and
I can not turn on the power. Tryed for a long time and give up.
The CKTS ON button has problem.

Wei Hsin

>>> 'ptherm' problem from rnorman -- Tue Apr  4 16:35:58 1989 <<<

Problem: The "CKTS ON" button was not comming on.

Solution: The bulb was burnt out, so it was replaced. When I get
          some more time I will check the "yellow" plasma problem.
          The ptherm is up.

>>> 'ptherm' problem from hphlee -- Fri May 19 23:38:01 1989 <<<

	The flow meter #2 is not working properly. The status light is 
also in "red".
Henry

>>> 'ptherm' problem from bob -- Fri Jun  9 09:14:38 1989 <<<

hphlee reports that channel2 mfc is not working. Robert is waiting for
the Helium leak detector (part pending) to be repaired so that he can
repair this mfc and check the system over for a suspected minor
leak. In the meantime the ptherm remains operation with 2 working mfc 
channels.  The ptherm shoud be worked on the first part of net week.

>>> 'ptherm' problem from hsin -- Tue Jun 27 14:46:13 1989 <<<

Plasma can not started.  Almost half the power is reflected. 
There is no bias voltage also. System is not used. Robert Norman
is checking it.

Wei Hsin

>>> 'ptherm' problem from rnorman -- Wed Jun 28 14:53:09 1989 <<<

Problem: No plasma, high reflected power.

Cause: I high potted the lower electrode with the RF connector
       disconnected and a short was present at the lower electrode.

Solution: I slowly disconnected the grounding shields around the 
          Rf connector and the cooling line inputs to the lower
          electrode looking for the short.  The short went away after
          removing the shielding from the cooling lines, so I
          reassembled and centered the shielding away from any
          "hot" spots or the electrode. An O2 plasma was ran
           and the ptherm is up.

>>> 'ptherm' problem from hsin -- Wed Jun 28 15:36:53 1989 <<<

After Robert Norman cleaned the chamber with O2 plasma for 15 min
everything seems normal.  I then start flow CF4 gas at 100 sccm and
maintain at 30 mtorr pressure.  After the R.F. power on, I observe
the plasma has a pink-reddish color!! It does not look like CF4 plasma's
color at all.  However the reflected power is good, less than 10 W.

I observe the plasma for less than one minite and find the plasma
become unstable by itself!!  All of a sudden, the plasma is OFF by itself!!
I look up the pannel and found all the power is reflected and no DC
bias voltage!  Exact the same problem happens again!!

Something very wrong is here.  I could not understand why it works well
with O2 plasma and all of a sudden goes wrong once I switch over to CF4
gas!  It seems whenever I lay my finger on the machine it goes wrong!!
Very strange thing happened this week to me.  I have no explanation at all.

Wei Hsin
.,

>>> 'ptherm' problem from hphlee -- Wed Jun 28 21:19:18 1989 <<<

The gas flow controller #1 and #2 are both not working. As a result,
some freon 23 is trapped inside the tube but cannot be pumped down.
Henry

>>> 'ptherm' problem from xwu -- Thu Jun 29 12:31:24 1989 <<<

the same problem as hphlee reported, the gas flow control panel
doesn't work, so ptherm is not usable now.
Xin

>>> 'ptherm' problem from bob -- Thu Jun 29 16:56:32 1989 <<<

Problem: Intermittent short in the RF

Cause:   The wires used to read DC bias had arced and shorted to 
         the chassis. rnorman replaced this wire and also replaced 
         the kal-rez o-rings on the lower electrode. The ptherm is
         operational and up for use. An O2 plasma was run.

>>> 'ptherm' problem from hphlee -- Sat Jul  1 00:20:25 1989 <<<

	The "process" switch cannot be turned on occasionally.
It works most of the time.
Henry

>>> 'ptherm' problem from xwu -- Thu Jul 13 12:40:50 1989 <<<

the pressure in cf4 bottle is about 100psi, does it need to change
a new one?

Xin

>>> 'ptherm' problem from hsin -- Sun Jul 16 17:37:08 1989 <<<

Ptherm seems is contaminated.  It needs a complete cleaning.
I use technique cloth wiped the chamber and top plate and
the cloth becomes dark brown.  After etch it seems some thin
film is on top of the wafer.  For critical etch, I suggest not
to use the ptherm.  May be there is some leakage or oil backstream.

Wei Hsin

>>> 'ptherm' problem from hsin -- Mon Jul 17 12:54:56 1989 <<<

We cleaned the chamber and top electrode. The top electrode is
already installed.  The chamber is still in the old lab. We are
going to lunch now and afterwards we have a research meeting with
Prof. Wang.  Could I ask a favor from Bob?  Could Bob reassemble
the chamber back and start running O2 plasma for us? Thanks.

Wei

P.S. Jay Yang should be in the lab. If Bob needs a hand, he should be 
able to help.

>>> 'ptherm' problem from jayyang -- Mon Jul 17 23:08:46 1989 <<<


CF4 cylinder runs low. 40 psi remain.

>>> 'ptherm' problem from hsin -- Tue Jul 18 13:40:43 1989 <<<

I think the CF4 plasma still looks a little bit pinkish color.
I do not know whether there is a leakage along the line or not.
I still find there is a transparent thin film on top of my wafer
after I use CF4 plasma etch away the SiNx film.  I do not know
what is that and what cause that.

The CF4 cylinder drops to 20 psi and needs to be replaced by
a new cylinder NOW.

Wei Hsin

>>> 'ptherm' problem from evan -- Tue Jul 18 15:56:09 1989 <<<

A new cylinder of CF4 has been installed.

>>> 'ptherm' problem from rnorman -- Thu Jul 20 08:17:13 1989 <<<

Problem: Possible contamination in chamber; a thin clear film was
         on some wafers.

Cause: I removed the shielding from around the oil supply and return
       lines. I then noticed a little cloudish goo on the top of the
       back cajon fitting; most likly oil seepage.

Solution: The cajon fittings were tightened down tightly and the
          surrounding areas were cleaned. An O2 plasma was ran for 
          5 min; the plasma looked clean and white. The ptherm is up.

>>> 'ptherm' problem from gamelin -- Thu Aug 24 22:53:46 1989 <<<

It appears that there may be some contamination in the ptherm
again (possibly back-injected oil).  A thin hazy film has been
observed after CF4 etches by myself and Wei Hsin.  Oxygen plasma
does help remove some of the film, but the system should be
checked again.

Bob, could you have Robert Norman give the ptherm a check
tomorrow?

>>> 'ptherm' problem from bob -- Mon Aug 28 07:06:57 1989 <<<

hisn reports good results using the ptherm. Therefore, the 
previous problem reported by gamelin will not need to be 
investigated.

>>> 'ptherm' problem from hsin -- Wed Sep 20 15:40:45 1989 <<<

The green light on the enable box never on.  I can not turn on
the power.  The box must have some problem.  I did not use the 
ptherm.

Wei Hsin

>>> 'ptherm' problem from evan -- Wed Sep 20 16:29:25 1989 <<<

the telco connector was not plugged into the taurus box
ptherm is back up

>>> 'ptherm' problem from gamelin -- Sun Sep 24 17:45:45 1989 <<<


Gas control solenoids sometimes do not operate properly.  When
trying to activate the process line, you can hear the solenoid
trying to switch but no gas flows.  The buttons do not seem to
be stuck and the problem is sporadic.

Robert, could you have a quick look at the ptherm?  The process
line appears to work better after a few purges, but it should
not be dependent upon that.

>>> 'ptherm' problem from rnorman -- Mon Sep 25 11:56:01 1989 <<<

Problem: Gas solenoids do not always operate properly.

Solution: Could not duplicate the problem.  The next time this
          problem occurs be observant of status of the controller;
          which LEDs are on, is the analog meter at full voltage or
          low on the gauge, etc. The ptherm is up.

>>> 'ptherm' problem from parrish -- Tue Nov 14 07:50:30 1989 <<<

system down for oil change.

>>> 'ptherm' problem from parrish -- Tue Nov 14 11:08:19 1989 <<<

problem:   oil needs changing in the roughing pump

cause:     pm 

solution:  changed oil in the roughing pump and installed new oil filter
           elements. system is up.

>>> 'ptherm' problem from evan -- Fri Jan 26 16:27:17 1990 <<<

enabled in order to borrow pressure gauge.

>>> 'ptherm' problem from tom -- Wed Feb 21 11:00:17 1990 <<<

Joe Carls would like me to do some processing in the ptherm but with
H2. I would like to have some H2 hooked up in the next week or so
if possible. Thanx.

>>> 'ptherm' problem from tom -- Thu Feb 22 09:52:57 1990 <<<

Leaks at about 50 mTorr/min. Not good.

>>> 'ptherm' problem from rnorman -- Thu Feb 22 14:54:06 1990 <<<

I looked at the ptherm and isolated the leak to below the gas valve; meaning
it is located in the MFC area.  All the gas lines should be pumped out one
at a time to locate which channel the gas is leaking from; the leak could
also be in a fitting or the N2 vent.  I will continue tomorrow.

>>> 'ptherm' problem from rnorman -- Fri Feb 23 09:46:09 1990 <<<

The ptherm was leak checked with the hld and no leak was found.  I blanked
off each gas line one at a time, even the vent, and not noticeable change
was seen.  I also pumped out every gas line and capped off the vent and
no change was noticed.  It looks like we could be corrosion or heavy build
up inside the "gas mixing tube".  At this point I am up for suggestions.

>>> 'ptherm' problem from rnorman -- Fri Feb 23 10:05:28 1990 <<<

Problem: High ROR in the chamber.

Solution: No leak was found and it seems to be outgassing of
         the "gas mixing tube".  See previous problem for
         details.  I also noticed that the longer the chamber
         and gas mixing tube was pumped on the ROR decreased.
         The ptherm is operational.

>>> 'ptherm' problem from xwu -- Sun Feb 25 12:57:50 1990 <<<

ptherm line 1 doesn't go through the flow meter, the pressure is always
about 170 mTorr, and the purge gas has very low pressure, about 15 mTorr,
could someone come to check if these two lines have some thing wrong 
there?

I don't think ptherm is usable now.

Xin
(xwu@argon)

>>> 'ptherm' problem from rnorman -- Mon Feb 26 07:28:11 1990 <<<

Problem: Line 1 no flow and the purge gas is flow is very low.

Cause: The line 1 MFC connector was loose, and the purge gas
       needle valve was not set open enough for more flow.

Solution: The line 1 MFC connector was push on tightly and
          the purge needle valve was opened more.  The
          randex is up.

>>> 'ptherm' problem from rnorman -- Tue Feb 27 14:00:45 1990 <<<

The ptherm still has a high ROR.

>>> 'ptherm' problem from rnorman -- Tue Feb 27 14:51:58 1990 <<<

After closely looking at the ptherm I found some small leaks at
all 4 gas channels, some more then others. I begin
repairing/replaceing the valve controllers on each channel tomorrow.
The ptherm is down.

>>> 'ptherm' problem from rnorman -- Wed Feb 28 14:41:48 1990 <<<

I have rebuild all valve controllers and cleaned the gas mixing tube
of corrosion.  Tomorrow I will continue to reassemble the MFC's and
test the ROR.  The ptherm is still down.

>>> 'ptherm' problem from rnorman -- Thu Mar  1 08:25:55 1990 <<<

Problem: The ROR was in excess of 50 mt/min. with in the gas mixing
         tube; the chamber, with the gas valve shut-off, ROR was less
         then 4 mt/min.

Cause: Each of the 4 gas channels were leaking, some more then others.
       The gas mixing tube was also corroded with iodine when it was 
       used in Hydrogen Iodine. (The iodine affected the Stainless
       tube and caused heavy rust inside the tube.)

Solution: The main three gas control valves, Channel 1,2 &3, were removed
        cleaned and rebuilt (replacing o-rings and bad seats where applicable.)
        Channel 4, HI, was blanked off entil thorough cleaning.
        The gas mixing tube was also removed and cleaned with HF and
        Nitric to remove the internal rust, the tube was then
        passivated in Nitric; after which it was rinsed in DI and then
        in methanol.  Each line was tested for ROR and did not exceed
        4mt/min; with the chamber ROR being 1mt/min.  The ptherm
        is now up for use.

>>> 'ptherm' problem from liang -- Thu Mar  1 17:35:19 1990 <<<

There is a problem with flow volve #1. It dose not open at all.
Another problem is that I use same flow rate (1.5 reading on 
display) as I used before, but the pressure in the chamber is
much higher than before with veiner fully opened (5mTorr 
compared to 200mTorr now ). I don't think the pump rate has been
changed recently and it must be some problem with volve calibration.
The third problem I noticed is that it seems the vernier volve 
does not oper properly. When I open the venier, the chamber
pressure does not go down. Please look into it.

>>> 'ptherm' problem from rnorman -- Fri Mar  2 09:39:15 1990 <<<

Problem: Channel 1 does not open, also the throttle valve is
         not working properly.

Cause: The channel 1 MFC case was broken, this caused the connector
       to the MFC to unplug.  The throttle valve was sticking.

Solution: The case to MFC 1 was replaced, also all the fittings on that
          line were tighted; I did find a couple loose VCR fittings.
          A ROR test was then done and was 5mt/min.  The throttle
          valve pneumatic cylinder was lubricated and the air exaust
          valves were adjusted to increase movement of the throttle
          valve.  The ptherm was tested and up for use.

>>> 'ptherm' problem from rnorman -- Thu Mar 15 07:39:07 1990 <<<

Later this morning I will be removing channel 2 MFM and control
solenoid to install a Unit MFC.  I found that the channel 2 MFM
is calibrated for 200 sccm and its solenoid is calibrated for 
2000 sccm.  This mismatch can cause flow control problems.

Let me know if the ptherm being down for most of today will
cause problem for anyone.

>>> 'ptherm' problem from rnorman -- Thu Mar 15 14:43:41 1990 <<<

ptherm channel 2 has been disconnected for modifications.  A new
Unit MFC will be installed after re-wiring the 0-20 volt solenoid
into pot, which will inturn go to the MFC.  Channel 1 and 3 are
operational if you wish to use it tonight.  The ptherm will
be down in the morning to continue the work.

>>> 'ptherm' problem from rnorman -- Fri Mar 16 08:43:05 1990 <<<

Problem: Channel 2 was not regulating the H2 well, not at all.

Cause: Looking at the flow control hook-up it was found that the
       Tylan MFM was calibrated for 0-200 sccm and the flow control
       solenoid was calibrated for 0-2000 sccm; which may have contributed
       to the problem.  Tylan MFM and MFC admittedly do not control
       H2 or He well.

Solution: The old tylan MFM and the Brooks Flow Control Solenoid were
          removed and a new Unit MFC was install, which is calibrated
          to 0-200 sccm of N2.  A potentiometer was install to drop the
          0-20Vdc set-point voltage to 0-5Vdc for the Unit MFC.  Another
          gas regulator was also installed on the H2 bottle that is 
          30" to -30" Hg.  The voltage on the pot was set to 5.00Vdc
          and was tested.  The H2 bottle is close and the gas line is
          pumped out to the Unit MFC.  The ptherm is up.

>>> 'ptherm' problem from parrish -- Tue Mar 27 10:26:00 1990 <<<

system down for maintainance on the roughing-pump, and the roots blower
should be back up by noon.

>>> 'ptherm' problem from parrish -- Tue Mar 27 14:07:04 1990 <<<

no problem to report, the oil in the blower and the roughing-pump has
been changed.

>>> 'ptherm' problem from liang -- Fri Apr 13 18:08:54 1990 <<<


the gas flow through mass flow regulator #1 stops during 
plasma etching. It seems the regulator does not work properly.
chunlin

>>> 'ptherm' fix from rnorman -- Wed Apr 18 13:09:02 1990 <<<

Problem: Gas flow on MFC #1 stops during etching.

Solution: After about 15 minutes of running a plasma to problem
        occurred with channel 1 or any other MFC.  The ptherm is up.

>>> 'ptherm' problem from gtdu -- Tue May  8 15:59:18 1990 <<<

At the beginning , the channel 1 did't work , no CF4 gas flow passed through,
30 minutrs late , the gas channel  opened automatically , but the flow was
unstable.

guotong du

>>> 'ptherm' fix from rnorman -- Wed May  9 07:42:45 1990 <<<

Problem: Channel 1 not working and when it was the flow was unstable.

Solution: I could not duplicate the problem. Ptherm is up.

>>> 'ptherm' problem from xwu -- Mon May 14 14:57:28 1990 <<<


the channel 1 of gas flow control panel seems has some problem:

the status light keep red when gas in stable flow;

the flow adjestment is quite different than it was before (was when 0.50
the gas flew reads 50, but now needs 1.30 for the same flow reading), and
the flow is unstable, it gradually slowly drop.

I think the circuit inside might need to be checked.

the ptherm is still up.

Xin

>>> 'ptherm' fix from rnorman -- Tue May 15 11:31:29 1990 <<<

Problem: Problem with channel 1 flow.

Cause: Other then finding the calibrate knob off I could not find a problem;
       the "cal" knob was set at 1.42, should be set at 0.42 for CF4.

Solution: I could not duplicate the problem, it ran good for me.  This 
          could be an intermittent problem or just operator error.
          The ptherm is up.
