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Tergeo plasma cleaner operator’s manual
Revision: B3, Year 2020
Getting started
Once the plasma cleaner is assembled, vacuum pump and process gases are connected, user can
prepare the system for first run.
1)
Turn on the power button on the back of the plasma cleaner. Touch screen user interface will
power up.
2)
Turn on power button on the vacuum pump. Then click the “pump down” button on the touch
screen user interface (Figure 9) to pump down the chamber. If the vacuum pump has been
connected to the power outlet port for the vacuum pump on the back of the plasma cleaner,
please keep the power switch on the vacuum pump always at the ON position. The power relay
inside the plasma cleaner will then be able to turn on and off the vacuum pump.
3)
If the vacuum sensor option is purchased, the user should be able to read the vacuum level on
the user interface. Monitor the vacuum level and wait until pressure stabilizes. The minimum
requirement for the ultimate vacuum level is to reach a pressure below 150mTorr. Ideally, the
vacuum level should reach below 50mTorr. Ultimate pressure may vary with the pump
connected to the plasma cleaner. The ultimate pressure of dry pump may be higher than
150mTorr.
4)
If compressed gas bottle is used, a pressure regulator must be used to reduce the gas pressure
to below 10 psi. Connect the gas bottle and the plasma cleaner with ¼ inch PTFE Teflon gas
tubing. Then set the gas flow rate to 90sccm on the corresponding gas input channel on the
touchscreen user interface. The plasma cleaner system will evacuate the air from the input gas
tubing. Wait until the pressure in the chamber stabilizes. If the chamber pressure is more than
10-50mTorr (depending on pumping speed) higher than the pressure obtained in step 3, it may
indicate a leak in the gas input tubing or the connectors. Please follow leak check procedure in
section 10.6 to perform a thorough leak check on the gas delivery system. Once the internal gas
lines have been evacuated to vacuum condition, MFCs may show a flow rate below or above
zero. This is normal because flow sensor zero point may drift under vacuum conditions.
5)
Mass flow meter will be placed under vacuum condition in step 4. Please do not leave MFC
under vacuum condition for more than half an hour, or it may increase the noise level on the
MFCs. If the noise increases on MFC, please set input pressure to 10 psi, turn off the system
power for 10 minutes. Then power on the system again.
6)
If there is no leak detected in step 4. Click stop button to stop all the gas dosing valves.
7)
Make sure the pressure regulator knob is in closed position (all the way out). Then open the
valve on the compressed gas bottle. Rotate the pressure adjusting knob on the pressure
regulator until the output pressure reaches 5~10 psi.
