<azonenberg>
So I'm making progress toward identifying the source of my contaminant
<azonenberg>
Going to do several more careful experiments tonight, trying even harder to minimize particulates
<azonenberg>
And, more importantly, imaging samples after each step
<azonenberg>
to determine where the contaminant comes from
<azonenberg>
I'll start with an acetone rinse followed by an RCA clean
<azonenberg>
All glassware was triple rinsed in water followed by one acetone rinse, i'll do one last rinse to remove any dust that might be inside before starting work
<azonenberg>
Spin coat Tantalumfilm on bare silicon
<azonenberg>
Another die, spin coat photoresist, then tantalumfilm (but don't develop the PR)
<azonenberg>
Next one, resist + develop + tantalumfilm
<azonenberg>
And see which step causes it to start getting bumpy
<azonenberg>
Then, when my latest parts order comes in, I'll run the offending solution through an 0.2um filter and see if the problem goes away
<azonenberg>
O_o
<azonenberg>
I forgot that my test dies all this time were surplus wafers :P
<azonenberg>
Upon closer inspection they show visible particulate contamination
<azonenberg>
We'll see if an RCA clean takes it off, if not i'll start using my new wafers lol
<CIA-67>
homecmos r97 | trunk/lithography-tests/labnotes/azonenberg_labnotes.txt | Updated lab notes for last week's experiments
<CIA-67>
homecmos r98 | trunk/lithography-tests/default/ (65 files in 65 dirs) | Pushing old edits to lithography-tests default library (obsolete)
<azonenberg>
In other news, glade 4.0.57 fixed the OpenGL bug on Debian-based distros that was annoying me so much
<azonenberg>
before, i had to fall back to non-accelerated rendering (and the accompanying horrible performance) because when i used GL half of the dialog boxes turned blank
<azonenberg>
next step, design a test mask suitable for my current process
<azonenberg>
And hope i can actually get somewhere :)
<azonenberg_lab>
so the next question is, how to remove them
<azonenberg_lab>
And it looks like i have my answer
<azonenberg_lab>
Swab with 70% IPA followed by RCA clean
<azonenberg_lab>
wolfspraul: Getting better results finally, i'm halfway through an experiment that if successful will give me 20um features in <100> Si
<azonenberg_lab>
My mystery contaminant is almost 100% identified as silicon particles from dicing
<wolfspraul>
he :-)
<azonenberg_lab>
I was wondering why spectroscopy didnt show anything but hardmask and silicon
<wolfspraul>
good news is so powerful, keep it coming and good luck!
<azonenberg_lab>
Turns out, thats all i had :P
<azonenberg_lab>
But said silicon wasnt entirely flat
<azonenberg_lab>
i need to explore ways of removing it, sonication is a possibility
<azonenberg_lab>
right now i'm just rubbing with a swab, it got off most but there are still a few little bits
<azonenberg_lab>
But in any case, this experiment i'm about to run should give me feedback as to whether i reduced particle counts successfully or not
<azonenberg_lab>
Even if it doesnt work entirely
<azonenberg_lab>
First die was overdeveloped, second one didnt resolve the entire pattern but is good for a first try
<azonenberg_lab>
No visible cracking in the important parts
<azonenberg_lab>
going to pop it in the oven in a few mins to bake for an hour, then KOH etch