Maintenance and upgrades
Keeping legacy semiconductor tools running when parts go obsolete
Old controllers, discontinued boards and lost manuals retire most legacy tools. How to plan spares, backups and retrofits before a failure forces it.
Blog
Notes on buying, running and moving process tools
Buying guides, process comparisons, maintenance checklists and export notes for people who choose and run semiconductor equipment.
Process know-how
Ellipsometer or reflectometer: choosing a film thickness tool
Reflectometers measure routine films quickly and cheaply. Ellipsometers handle very thin films, unknown materials and stacks. How to choose for your lab.
Logistics and compliance
Export controls and used semiconductor equipment, an overview
Why a second-hand etcher or furnace can need an export licence, which rules usually apply in the EU, and what buyers and sellers should prepare before shipping.
Process know-how
The Bosch process explained: deep reactive ion etching in practice
How the Bosch process alternates etch and passivation to cut deep, vertical features in silicon, what limits it, and what to check on a used DRIE tool.
Process know-how
Thermal vs plasma ALD: what a research lab needs
Thermal ALD gives the best conformality and the simplest tool. Plasma ALD adds lower temperatures and more materials. How to choose for a shared research lab.
Logistics and compliance
Moving a semiconductor tool between cleanrooms, step by step
Decontamination, de-installation, crating, transport and hook-up. How to plan a semiconductor tool move so it arrives intact and runs again quickly.
Process know-how
PECVD vs LPCVD silicon nitride: which film for which job
Temperature, stress, hydrogen content and etch resistance separate PECVD and LPCVD nitride. How to choose the process, and the tool, for your device.
Maintenance and upgrades
Converting oil-sealed pumps to dry pumps on older process tools
When a dry pump conversion pays off on an etcher, CVD tool or evaporator, how to size the replacement and what changes in facilities and interlocks.
Buying guides
150 mm or 200 mm: choosing a wafer size for a pilot line
Substrates, tool availability, automation and facilities all change between 150 and 200 mm. How to pick a wafer size for a pilot line built on used tools.
Maintenance and upgrades
A preventive maintenance checklist for plasma etch tools
Daily, weekly, monthly and yearly checks that keep an RIE or ICP etcher stable, and the log entries that warn you before a run goes wrong.
Buying guides
Budgeting for a used sputter system: the cost drivers
Pumps, power supplies, source count, targets and installation shape the real cost of a used sputter tool. What to put in the budget before you ask for quotes.
Process know-how
E-beam evaporation vs sputtering for lift-off metallisation
Why lift-off favours a directional e-beam evaporator, when sputtering still works, and what to check on a used tool before you rely on it for metal patterns.