Decreasing Beam Auto Tuning Interruption Events with In-Situ Chemical Cleaning on Axcelis GSD

Ion beam auto tuning time and success rate are often major factors in the utilization and productivity of ion implanters. Tuning software frequently fails to meet specified setup times or recipe parameters, causing production stoppages and requiring manual intervention. Build-up of conductive deposits in the arc chamber and extraction gap can be one of the main causes of auto tuning problems. The deposits cause glitching and ion beam instabilities, which lead to errors in the software optimization routines. Infineon Regensburg has been testing use of XeF2, an in-situ chemical cleaning reagent, with positive results in reducing auto tuning interruption events.