Commissioning and acceptance testing at your site

Where the move ends and the tool starts working

Commissioning is the point where an installation either closes cleanly or turns into weeks of open issues. A tool that ran well before it was moved can still arrive with a loose connector, a shifted alignment or a gauge that drifted in transport. Methodical commissioning finds those issues in an order that keeps the tool and the people around it safe, and acceptance testing gives you a clear, measured point at which the tool is yours to run.

Agree acceptance before shipping

We agree the acceptance criteria with you before the tool leaves the old site, not after it arrives. For tools we sell, the starting point is the inspection report or the Certified test results, depending on the grade, and our test and certification work. The acceptance protocol states each test, how it is measured and the limit that counts as a pass.

A typical protocol covers:

• Base pressure and rate of rise or helium leak rate
• Gas flow on each line at set points
• RF forward and reflected power, or heater ramp and stability
• Motion, handling and alignment functions
• Safety interlocks and emergency off
• Optionally, a test process with a measured result such as deposition rate, etch rate, uniformity or exposure dose

Staged power-up

After hook-up, we bring the tool up in stages. Control power and safety circuits come first, with every interlock and emergency off tested before any process function is enabled. Then cooling water, pneumatics and vacuum: pumps are started, the chamber pumped down and leak checked. Gases are introduced line by line once the vacuum is tight. RF, heaters and high-voltage supplies follow last.

Each stage is checked against the specification and recorded on a check sheet. Problems found early, such as a reversed phase or a leaking fitting, are fixed before they can damage something further down the line.

Running acceptance

Once every subsystem is working, we run the acceptance tests with your team present. Results are recorded side by side with the values measured before shipping, so any change caused by the move is visible. If the protocol includes a test process, we run it on wafers and measurement tools agreed in advance.

A test that fails is investigated and repeated after the fix. Anything that cannot be closed during the visit goes on an open items list with an owner and a date, and the handover record says which items remain.

Typical duration

Commissioning a tabletop tool usually takes one or two days. A single-chamber process tool with gases and RF typically takes several days to a week. Cluster tools, implanters and furnaces can take longer, especially when a test process with metrology is part of acceptance.

What you provide

• Facilities installed and checked to the agreed specification
• Process gases, wafers and consumables for the agreed tests
• Access to the metrology needed for process acceptance
• Your team's presence for acceptance and for sign-off

Results and documentation

You receive the acceptance protocol, commissioning check sheets, test results compared with the pre-shipment values, any open items and a signed handover record. These documents also form the baseline for later maintenance. Handover is usually followed directly by operator training on the commissioned tool.