Used wet processing and CMP equipment, refurbished

Cleaning, stripping and planarisation tools

Wet steps sit between almost every other step in a process flow: clean before furnaces, develop and strip around lithography, rinse and dry after etching. Planarisation by CMP adds a mechanical step where a film needs to be flat for the next layer. The tools are less glamorous than etchers or steppers, but a wafer that leaves a wet step with particles or residue ruins whatever comes next.

We sell used and refurbished wet processing and CMP equipment, and we service installed tools, from rotors and seals to dispense systems and controllers.

Which tool does which job

Spin rinse dryers such as the Semitool PSC-101 rinse a cassette of wafers in deionised water and spin them dry in nitrogen. They follow wet benches and are among the most reliable tools in a fab, provided the rotor, bearings and resistivity monitoring are kept in order.

Single-wafer spray processors like the SSEC 3300 series process one wafer at a time with chemistry dispensed onto a spinning wafer. They suit resist strip, develop, lift-off and post-CMP clean, especially where the chemistry or the substrate changes often.

CMP systems remove topography with a slurry, a pad and controlled pressure. The Applied Materials Mirra is a 200 mm production platform with several polishing heads; the Strasbaugh 6EC is a smaller tool frequently found in research and development. Both need good slurry handling and pad conditioning to give stable removal rates. Plan time after installation to qualify pads, slurries and conditioner discs, because removal rate and within-wafer uniformity depend as much on these consumables as on the tool.

Lapping and polishing systems such as the Logitech PM5 thin and polish wafers and samples. They are standard in compound semiconductor, optics and materials labs, where substrates are small, brittle or unusual.

What our inspection covers

• rotors, spindles, bearings and motors: run-out, vibration and speed accuracy
• fluid path: valves, pumps, filters, flow meters and the condition of wetted materials
• leak checks on chemical, DI water and drain lines
• heaters and temperature control of baths or dispense
• DI water resistivity monitoring on rinse tools
• on CMP: head pressure control, platen flatness, pad conditioner, slurry delivery and endpoint
• on lapping machines: plate flatness, jig condition and load control
• exhaust and drain interlocks, leak sensors and emergency stops

Refurbishment and upgrades

Wet tools wear at their seals and bearings, and corrode where chemistry finds a way out. Refurbishment usually means rebuilding the rotor or spindle, renewing seals, valves and tubing, and testing the fluid path under pressure. On CMP tools the heads, membranes and platen drives get most of the attention, followed by slurry delivery.

When a tool keeps stopping on interlocks that nobody can trace, repair and troubleshooting gets to the root cause before parts are swapped. Older controllers can be replaced with modern recipe control where spares have run out.

Before you buy a wet or CMP tool

• Chemistry list. Tell us every chemical the tool will see. Seal and tubing materials must match, and some chemicals cannot share a tool.
• Facilities. DI water quality and flow, nitrogen, compressed air, exhaust and drains. CMP adds slurry supply and slurry waste handling.
• Waste. Check how your site collects acid, solvent and slurry waste; separate drains may be required.
• Wafer size and carriers. Rotors, chucks and polishing heads are size-specific. Budget for conversion parts if you change sizes.
• Footprint and access. Wet tools need service access to plumbing; CMP tools add a slurry cabinet nearby.

Send us your process flow and chemistry, and we will match the tools and the hook-up to your facility.