Modified SMIF pod openers

Customer Request: A small systems company developed and sold lower cost wafer etch systems for wafer fabs where SMIF pod capability was not required. Our customer needed to outfit these etch-instruments with SMIF pod openers that would work with the existing wafer transfer and loadlock system.

Provided: The existing Versaport SMIF pod opening system provided by Asyst Technologies was modified by Transfer Engineering to allow the pod to be opened using the existing control system. To accomplish this, a rotational table and lift and protection arms were added to match the operation of non-SMIF compatible system. All motions are pneumatically driven and cleanliness of operation is key. These modified openers were installed on high duty cycle production tools delivered to a wafer fab in the Far East.

UHV linear guides

Designed as a part of the TEAM-Mate Loadlock system, this is a UHV linear guide that is bakeable, and clean. It can be used as a guide for stages or any other linear motion in a vacuum system. Other high vacuum, linear guides are available but this is a guide that is UHV compatible.

Custom chamber with X, Y and rotational stage

Customer Request: Addition to an existing deposition system for raster and rotation of a sample holder that holds 4" wafers and allow mounting of an existing heater.

Provided: The sample faces downward in this "sputter up" geometry system that was added to the top of an existing vacuum deposition system. The chamber contains a very robust XY and rotational stage which rasters and rotates a sample holder for 4" wafers. The stages are all motor driven through the wall with magnetically-coupled manipulators. The system was designed to allow the mounting of an existing heater and power and thermocouple feedthroughs and lines were provided for power and to monitor the temperature during heating.

Vacuum "suitcase" transports sample maintaining vacuum

Customer Request: A customer with several PHI XPS/AES systems wanted to analyze a sample on one PHI instrument and then transport it to another instrument keeping the sample under vacuum.

Provided: Transfer Engineering provided a "vacuum suitcase" that attaches to the existing loadlock chamber in place of the standard 'cap'. This vacuum suitcase consists of a valve, small chamber with a viewport and short manipulator. To operate, with the vacuum suitcase installed and the loadlock/suitcase pumped down, the sample puck is withdrawn into the loadlock after analysis as usual. The manipulator on the suitcase is then lowered to engage the sample puck and lift the puck above the suitcase valve. Close the valve and the puck is under vacuum. Once the loadlock is backfilled, the suitcase can be removed and taken to another instrument with the same loadlock 'cap' or the puck can be stored under vacuum. For longer term storage, a small holding pump could be added to the chamber to maintain vacuum.

Sample Wheel and Translation Stage for JPLs 2007 Phoenix Mission to Mars

Customer Request: JPL required an instrument to hold many substrates to test adhesion of dirt. These samples would be taken from the surface of Mars by robotic arms as a part of the Mars Surveyor Program. Samples would then be analyzed by optical and atomic force microscopes.

Provided: Transfer Engineering designed, developed and delivered the Sample Wheel/Translation Stage (SW/TS) as a part of JPL’s Microscopy, Electrochemistry and Conductivity Analyzer (MECA). The rotary/linear drive and sample wheel of the SW/TS would allow high resolution positioning of a series of dust and soil samples of a variety of substrates to both optical and atomic force microscopes. This would allow MECA, to image particle morphology, hardness, adhesion and abrasion. After the original 2001 Mars Surveyor Lander was cancelled, the Sample Wheel/Translation Stage is now a part of the NASA Scout program, Phoenix, that is scheduled for the next Mars mission to launch in 2007. Additional information on the Phoenix Mission to Mars is available at
http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/future/phoenix.html

5-Axis, motoried, goniometer with heating and cooling

Customer Request: A customer with an MBE system (molecular beam epitaxy) needed to maneuver and position a platen in five directions to monitor surface growth and structure during MBE processes. The unit was to be motorized and high precision was required. The unit must also have heating and cooling capability.

Provided: This goniometer system was designed for very high precision motion in all five axes (X, Y, Z, azimuthal rotation and polar rotation) and has a wide temperature range of 90°K to 800°C. The unique part about this goniometer in comparison to the typical manufacturers unit is that most systems handle little chips of materials. This unit handles an entire 2 inch substrate.

Vacuum head for the Nevada Shocker

Customer Request: A large vacuum chamber with stand was to be added to the UNLV Electromagnetics Laboratory and Pulsed Power Laboratory to be used for research studies on electromagnetic phenomena

Provided: The vacuum chamber with stand on the Nevada Shocker, a 50 ns 540 kV 5 kJ (upgraded to 1 MV 15.6 kJ) pulse power device housed at the University of Nevada Las Vegas in the EMITION Center contained in the College of Engineering, was built and in part designed by Transfer Engineering. The 2’ diameter 1’ long vacuum head supports 14 vacuum ports on the cylindrical side and four unique ports on the end. Transfer Engineering was instrumental in designing the structure to support a 1000 lb air cylinder attached to the vacuum chamber end which applies a force to the anode electrode. A flexible bellows allows for maintenance of vacuum integrity in the chamber. A number of small gas and fiber optics ports exist in the chamber end as well. With suitable pumps, vacuums as low as the upper 10-8 Torr have been reached. The stand supporting the vacuum chamber with cryogenic vacuum pumps offers variability in chamber positioning to the extent that a single person may attach and relocate the chamber with little effort. Transfer Engineering is solely responsible for the design of the stand.

Nevada Shocker

Trolley tube allows transfer from system-to-system while under vacuum

Customer Request: Capability to load and move samples between a variety of surface analysis and deposition systems while keeping the sample under ultra-high vacuum (UHV).

Provided: A UHV magnetically-coupled trolley and delivery system that can position a loaded cassette of five sample holders for insertion into a multitude of different analysis and process chambers. The samples can be loaded onto the trolley following insertion into the loadlock from a glovebox. The loaded trolley can then be manually positioned near any instrument requiring delivery of a sample holder. The individual sections can be isolated with gate valves and additional sections can be added as necessary. Transfer Engineering has provided similar trolley tube transfer systems for MBE applications, but this system was designed around Physical Electronics sample holders (pucks) and surface analysis tools. The system is completely UHV compatible.