De-installation and crating of semiconductor tools

Why de-installation sets up the whole move

Most problems found when a used tool is installed were caused when it was taken out: a cable cut instead of unplugged, a gas line left unlabelled, a robot left unlocked, a chamber vented with moist air and left open for weeks. Careful de-installation and crating is the cheapest insurance in any equipment move, and it is the step where the most information about the tool is still available.

We de-install tools we are buying, tools we are moving for you, and tools a buyer has asked us to collect.

Scope

A de-installation covers the tool and everything that belongs to it: the mainframe and chambers, the controller and racks, the RF generators, chillers, pumps and any sub-fab equipment that moves with it. Building-side utilities stay where they are. Before work starts we agree with you exactly where the tool ends and the building begins, so nothing is left behind and nothing is taken that belongs to the site.

From shutdown to closed crate

Survey and safety plan

We review the tool configuration, the materials and gases it has run, and any hazards specific to it, such as toxic gas lines, high-voltage supplies or radioactive sources in older detectors. With your safety team we agree a shutdown plan and the permits needed under your site rules.

Making the tool safe

Your facility team isolates and locks out gas and power at the source. We then purge gas lines and chambers with nitrogen, vent and clean chambers to the agreed level, and drain cooling water and chiller circuits. Tools that ran hazardous chemistry get a written decontamination record. Where deeper cleaning is needed for resale or export, we can extend this into a full decontamination.

Documenting every connection

Before anything is disconnected we photograph the tool from every side, label each cable, hose and gas line at both ends and record it in a connection list. Settings on controllers and recipes are backed up where the hardware allows. This record is what makes the later hook-up fast and correct.

Crating

Moving assemblies are locked: stages, robots, wafer handlers and pendulum valves. Vacuum chambers are closed with blank flanges and backfilled with dry nitrogen. Optics are covered and secured. Modules are mounted on skids or in crates sized for the route, with shock-absorbing supports, moisture barrier bags and desiccant. Each crate gets tilt and shock indicators and handling marks.

Typical duration

A tabletop tool such as a mask aligner or ellipsometer can be made safe and packed in a day. A single-chamber etch or deposition tool usually takes two to four days. Cluster tools, implanters and multi-tube furnaces can take one to two weeks, depending on the number of modules and the decontamination required.

What you provide

• Access to the tool and its sub-fab equipment, with a site contact for permits and escorts
• Gas and power isolation at the source by your facility team
• Process history: gases, chemistries and materials the tool has run
• Space to build crates near the tool, or a route to a staging area

Results and documentation

You receive a decontamination record, the photo record and labelled connection list, and a packing list per crate with weights, dimensions and contents. The same documents go to the rigger and carrier, and to the receiving site. Once the crates are closed, the move continues with rigging and transport.