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Tergeo plasma cleaner operator’s manual
Revision: B3, Year 2020
Chapter 5
Operation safety
5.1 Intended use of the equipment
Tergeo series plasma equipment are designed to generate low pressure plasma using non-toxic
gases. The ions and neutral radicals generated inside the plasma source can then be used to
etch or remove a thin layer of materials from the surface of the samples placed inside the
plasma chamber. It can be used to change surface energy of the samples, ash organic materials,
remove oxide from metal surface, etch silicon, silicon nitride and silicon oxide materials.
Equipment should be placed on a stable table far away from heat source and flammable
materials. Any unintended usage outside the scope of this manual can results in damage of the
equipment or cause harm to the operator. PIE Scientific LLC is not liable for damage or personal
injury for any unintended usage of equipment.
5.2 Safety precautions
The user should read through the following safety precautions before operating the plasma
cleaner.
1)
If the chamber is filled with high concentration oxygen, please do not use hydrocarbon
oil pump to pump down the plasma chamber. Hydrocarbon oil pump can be used to
pump oxygen mixture with oxygen concentration level lower than 25%. To pump highly
concentrated oxygen, inert PFPE pump oil such as Krytox or Fomblin should be used
instead. The oil-free dry pump is also compatible with concentrated oxygen.
2)
If combustible gasses are used in the system, explosion-proof vacuum pump must be
used. The exhaust gas should not be vented directly to the lab space.
3)
No toxic gas is allowed at the input port. If toxic gasses will be generated inside the
plasma chamber using gases such as CF4, SF4 or NF3, the pump exhaust gasses can not
be vented directly into the lab space. Toxic exhaust gas must be handled according to
appropriate safety guideline.
4)
If toxic gas can be generated inside the plasma chamber, please enable the purging step
in the recipe setting to flush the chamber clean before opening the plasma chamber.
5)
Maximum pressure at the gas inlet port is 15 psi. Recommended gas inlet pressure
during operation should not exceed 10 psi.
For explosive gasses such as hydrogen,
suggested gas inlet pressure should be about 5 psi
.
6)
If hydrogen gas is connected to the plasma system, always close the output valve on the
hydrogen compressed gas bottle if the hydrogen gas will not be used within the next
hour. Also keep the front door of the plasma chamber open so that the hydrogen gas
will not be confined inside the small plasma chamber even if there is a leak in the MFC.
