EDITION 2
HP OPTICS From small batch to true mass production manufacturing solutions for a diverse market EXTRACTS FROM LAYERS 2016
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HP OPTICS
High Precision Optics There is a reason why we call the 21st century the century of the photon. Widely used in recent decades, photonics offers an incredible potential for the years to come. The capability to generate, transmit and utilize light or other electromagnetic radiation enables countless applications in Health, Communication, Information, Security, Mobility, and Energy.
Maurus Tschirky, Senior Manager Product Marketing
At the heart of all this is Optics, and in particular optical coatings. Despite being modest in appearance, they are indispensable and to be found everywhere. The very origins of optical coatings go back to the Germany of the 19th century but in 1946, a new hotspot was added to the global landscape. The village of Balzers in the Principality of Liechtenstein became synonymous with competence in coating. Evatec embraces new innovations in traditional freeform optics, but our expertise in microelectronics means we are also well prepared for new challenges. Today’s markets require a convergence of optics and microelectronics, where optical coatings are integrated on silicon wafers. Evatec’s Optical Toolbox offers the means to master these challenges with its Broadband Optical Monitoring, Plasma Emission Control and “in situ” Reoptimisation Algorithms. With our Batch, Cluster or Inline tools and the availability of both evaporation and sputtering, Evatec is well positioned to write new chapters in the story started just across the Rhine in Balzers over 70 years ago.
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Optical Interference Coatings
Where Semiconductor meets Precision Optics Optical Interference Coatings are the enablers in many of todays mass market applications. Dr. Silvia Schwyn Thoeny explains how the challenge of achieving high precision and high throughput using sputter can now be solved with the latest developments in cathode and control technologies but why offering different handling approaches on tools like MSP and RADIANCE is still essential.
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COMPETENCES IN HP OPTICS
A WORLD FULL OF OPTICAL INTERFERENCE COATINGS (OICS) From the Head Up Displays (HUD) in our cars, to the high resolution cameras and proximity sensors in our smart phones, we live in a world reliant on the cost effective mass production of high precision optical coatings. But whether its for transparent current carriers and mirror coatings on HBLEDs, or the large area AR coatings for satellite communications, the thin film deposition tool architecture including handling and substrate tracking needs to fit the rest of the production line. In some cases this means adopting the batch approach traditional in many optical applications but in others it means delivering optical layer qualities on cluster platform architectures compliant with semiconductor standards.
CATHODE TECHNOLOGIES FOR OICS
COMPETENCE IN OPTICAL SPUTTER IS THE FOUNDATION Whichever platform fits the fab concept, dedicated cathode technologies combined with Evatec’s Advanced Process Control Techniques for optical layers is the starting point for achieving the precision and yield required in volume production.
PLASMA EMISSION MONITORING
BROADBAND IN SITU OPTICAL MONTORING RE-OPTIMISATION Process Start
1. Layer deposition
The reoptimisation loop
2. Check spectrum
3. Recalculate remaining layers or continue without changes
High uniformity deposition across 8 inch in sputter down mode Elimination of shapers for reduced particles and higher rates
High uniformity vertical sputter deposition Elimination of shapers for reduced particles and higher rates
Perfect film stoichiometry Highest deposition rate for reactive sputter processes
Correct layer thicknesses in complex optical stacks Direct substrate measurement in reflection
Automatic tuning of the thin film recipe during deposition Narrower process tolerances and higher yields
BATCH OR CLUSTER? Where manual handling and batch processing fits the production philosopy or where large substrate handling is required, the MSP batch coater with its drum architecture is the tool of choice- handling individual substrates up to 560X380mm. The system is perfect too where “large area coat and cut” is the preferred route and its flexible tooling systems also make for simple low cost conversion between different substrate sizes and thicknesses on a regular basis. Integrated plasma source technology enables the implementation of hard ( DLC) or antismudge coating processes required to protect the screens on our tablet and
Process End
smart phone displays or the deposition of thicker coatings with good surface quality and controlled stress in some of the most complex optical stack designs. In new wafer level approaches for optoelectronics however, fabs want to coat directly on the silicon wafer rather than on glass. The overall manufacturing process can be simplified and costs driven down by elimination of cleaning, alignment and glass/ wafer bonding steps but processes need to run on “semi” standard equipment like RADIANCE with automated wafer handling and tracking.
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Fig 2: Production of NIR bandpass filters for 3D Sensing & Gesture Recognition applications Bandpassuniformity uniformity Bandpass
Evatec’s 20 layer design SiO2/aSi
100.00
Normalized thickness [%]
99.80 99.60 99.40 99.20 99.00
Uniformity <±0.25%
98.80 98.60
edge 1 x-axis
98.40 98.20 98.00 0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
180
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Position on wafer [mm]
Fig. 1 shows the typical characteristics of the MSP with its manual handling approach and the RADIANCE with its cluster architecture. For the next generation of smart devices too incorporating new 3D Sensing & Gesture Recognition technologies the mass production capabilities that automated cassette to cassette tools offer are a must. Thin 8 inch glass substrates have to be handled, coated and flipped without operator intervention. The combination of a cluster architectures with automated and batch processing capability using dedicated high rate sputter sources on RADIANCE sputter cluster offers the layer qualities and repeatabilities required to meet the yield targets for deposition of high performance NIR bandpass filters. Fig. 2 shows the typical uniformity expectations across an 8 inch wafer to be achieved in mass production.
Fig 1:
MSP
RADIANCE
ARCHITECTURE
Batch processing Manual Loading
Cluster architecture Cassette to cassette handling
SUBSTRATE CAPABILITIES
Carrier system for wafers, glass
Direct wafer up to 8inch including auto alignment Carriers for minbatches Edge grip or full face deposition
SOURCE TECHNOLOGIES
Up to 6 DC Sputter Plasma source for preclean or PIAD
Up to 4 DC, RF, Mixed Sputter sources Plasma source for preclean Multisource for codeposition
PROCESS CAPABILITIES
TCOs, metals, dielectrics
TCOs, metals, dielectrics
KEY FEATURES
Low temperature processing Substrates up to 560mm x 380mm
Low or high temperature processing up to 800ºC Auto wafer flip for double sided processes without vacuum break In situ metrology e.g. stress Pre and post treatment including vacuum anneal and cool
Gesture recognition technology is coming to our mobile devices soon
COMPETENCES IN HP OPTICS
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RADIANCE batch module with up to 5 sources
THE MARKET FOR OICS GROWS AND GROWS While we cant be sure if it’s for 3D imaging in our next generation smart phones or for headup display technology in tomorrow’s spectacles, the one thing we can be sure of is that the demand for efficient mass production of high quality optical interference coatings will continue to grow.
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Innovation in small batch manufacturing Optical coating manufacturers face two opposing trends. On one hand, coated optics for consumer products demand highest throughput and the largest area coated in a short time. On the other hand, the need for small batch processing is also growing for special filters, lenses that go into lab applications, rapid prototyping, or for coating small substrates like microscope objective lenses or endoscope optics. Senior Scientist Dr. Stephan Waldner talks about highly flexible, efficient coating solutions for small batch sizes. NEW IDEAS FOR THE BAK EVAPORATOR Today’s precision optics coating tools are usually equipped with two e-guns to rapidly switch between high- and low-index material. This avoids the coating material cooling down and having to melt it again for the next layer. An ion source for plasma ion assisted deposition has also become a standard to obtain excellent layer properties without the need for high temperatures. Furthermore an optical monitor is essential to reproducibly realize optical coatings within tight tolerances. All these components limit the possibility of miniaturizing the coating chamber and often only a small portion of the available area on the calotte is loaded with substrates for small batch size products. In cooperation with a customer Evatec followed a different approach: A BAK761 box coater was equipped with a dome and a special moveable mask. This mask covers up to 7/8 of the dome and therefore exposes only a part of the substrates to the coating process. When this process is finished, the mask is moved automatically to a different position such that another part of the substrates is coated in the next process run. Furthermore the dome holds flip tooling segments which allows for double-sided coating processes. In this way, a sequence of up to 8 batches of different double-sided coating processes can be run without venting the coating chamber. This eliminates the time needed for venting, pump-down, handling and – depending on the process – also heating and cool-down. For coatings with only a few
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COMPETENCES IN HP OPTICS
layers like anti-reflective coatings this time-saving is considerable.
Fig. 1
RADIANCE SPM OPTICS The second tool targeted at small batch size production is the RADIANCE SPM Optics sputter tool. It is equipped with 2 or 3 sputter sources, a load lock, direct broadband optical monitoring in reflectance or transmittance mode as well as plasma emission monitoring (PEM). This PEM ensures that reactive sputtering is performed with very low absorption and at high deposition rates at the same time. The rotating substrate holder allows placement of a 200mm carrier, which can be flexibly designed to hold a broad variety of substrate geometries.
Fig. 2
Pumpdown / heating
N-BK7 glass Frontside AR
Flip
N-BK7 glass Move Backside AR mask
N-SF5 glass Frontside AR
Flip
N-SF5 glass Backside AR
Fig. 3
Colldown / vent
The basic version of the SPM is equipped with a manually operated load-lock. Still, the chambers loading slot is the same as on the larger RADIANCE Batch Process Module (BPM) chambers. This means that the SPM can also easily be combined with an automatic robot and cassette handling system, allowing for scheduling a series of process runs. This makes it possible to run the tool around the clock without the presence of an operator. This compact sputter tool was exhibited and running at the Laser – World of Photonics 2015 fair in Munich, producing Nb2O5/SiO2 coatings with excellent reproducibility even under the conditions of a crowded exhibition hall.
GSM1101 BROADBAND OPTICAL MONITORING IS KEY A key component for both small batch systems is the broadband optical monitor GSM1101. While light source, spectrometer, and electronics are integrated in a rack-mounted unit, fiber optic cables bring the light to and from the coating chamber. This allows for flexible and space-saving integration in different chamber geometries.
Fig. 4
The Advanced endpoint detection algorithms, the seamless integration with the coating controller and the optional in situ reoptimization of the coating design allow for a fast setup of new coating recipes as well as a safe and reproducible switching between existing recipes without any test runs.
“Small batch processing can be efficient too” Fig. 1: A BAK761 evaporator equipped with flip tooling and a moveable mask. Up to 8 double-sided coating processes can be run without venting the chamber.
Fig. 2: With the flip tooling and movable mask, different coatings can be deposited in a sequence without intermediate venting of the chamber. The example process flow shows front-and backside coatings on two different glass types.
Fig. 3: Transmission measurement of three coating runs of a 31 layer green filter, deposited on the RADIANCE SPM Optic
Fig. 4: The GSM1101 broadband optical monitor: light source, spectrometer and electronics are integrated in a compact unit. Optical fibers connect the GSM with the coating chamber which yields maximum flexibility.
LAYERS2016
ContactUs GLOBAL HEADQUARTERS
EUROPEAN HUB
AMERICAN HUB
Evatec AG Hauptstrasse 1a, CH-9477 Trübbach, SWITZERLAND T: +41 81 403 80 00 E: info@evatecnet.com www.evatecnet.com
Evatec Europe GmbH Karl Hammerschmidt Str. 34, DE-85609 Aschheim Dornach, GERMANY T: +49 89 75 505 100 E: info@evatecnet.com
Evatec NA inc. 780 Carillon Parkway, Suite 150 St Petersburg, Florida 33716 USA T: +1 727 201 4313 E: infoNA@evatecnet.com
EUROPE Austria, Benelux, France, Germany, Ireland Portugal, Spain, U.K Evatec Europe GmbH, GERMANY T: +49 89 75 505 100 E: info@evatecnet.com
Italy
Liechtenstein, Switzerland
Russia/CIS
Scandinavia
Evatec Italia S.r.l, ITALY T: +39 02 93 25 7447 E: info@evatecitalia.com TBS, RUSSIAN FEDERATION T: +7 495 287 8577 E: infos@tbs-semi.ru
Evatec (LIECHTENSTEIN) AG T: +423 388 19 10 E: info@evatec.li
United Vacuum & Materials AB, SWEDEN T: +46 31 681 772 E: info@uvmab.com
AMERICAS North America
Evatec NA inc., USA T: +1 727 201 4313 E: infoNA@evatecnet.com
South America
RE9 Commercio e Servicos Limitado, BRASIL T: +55 11 5097 6450 E: re9.comercio@terra.com.br
ASIA China
Japan
Taiwan
India
DKSH (China) Co Ltd., P. R. CHINA T: +86 21 5383 8811 E: cn.spe@dksh.com DKSH Taiwan Ltd., TAIWAN T: +886 3 657 8788 Ext 110 E: henfy.su@evatecnet.com
South Korea
Canon Marketing Japan Inc., JAPAN T: +81 3 6719 9111 E: yanai.norio@canon-mj.co.jp Toshniwal Instruments (Madras) Pvt. Ltd. INDIA T: +91 44 2644 8983/8558 E: sales@toshniwal.net
Evatec SE Asia
Evatec SEA Pte. Ltd. SINGAPORE T: +65 3157 5839 E: infoSEA@evatecnet.com Evatec SEA (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd MALAYSIA T: +60 04 6192658 E: infoSEA@evatecnet.com
Evatec Korea Ltd, KOREA T: +82 31 205 5872 E: rachel.lee@evatecnet.com
AFRICA, AUSTRALASIA, MIDDLE EAST South Africa
Labotec (PTY) Ltd, SOUTH AFRICA T: +27 11 315 5434 E: louish@labotec.co.za
Australia
Scitek Australia PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA T: +61 (0)2 9420 0477 E: contact@scitek.com.au
Israel
Picotech Ltd., ISRAEL T: +972 3 6356650 E: nitzan@picotech.co.il
CONTACTS
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