Implant Refurbishment

Rheology

Refurbishment
Under normal operating conditions, ion implanter process wheels are subject to considerable wear, damage and particulate contamination. To ensure optimal performance and yield, these tools require a regimen of scheduled maintenance. At STS, the refurbishment process for these tools include complete disassembly, decontamination, repair, replacement of worn parts and broken components, reassembly and extensive functional testing.

Decontamination
Each wheel undergoes careful initial inspection for damaged parts as well as for overall wheel condition. The decontamination process includes hydrohoning each wheel, heat sink and part with a low-pressure abrasive slurry. All components are then meticulously refinished using a highly specialized process to improve surface quality.

Coating & Repair
Refurbishment includes a complex process in which each heat sink is coated with a thin layer of elastomer, specifically formulated for a finely tuned rheology. This material is designed to create a more effective thermal interface for the wafer. All replacement parts are manufactured onsite in our CNC-equipped machine shop. Prior to assembly, components undergo an ultrasonic cleaning plus two DI rinses in our class 1,000 cleanroom. Extensive testing takes place at each step of reassembly to insure precise tolerances. After final assembly, each wheel is checked again for functionality and balanced to +/- 1 gram or less at operating speed. Prior to delivery, wheels are double bagged in class 100 packaging. At the customers option, special gas filled "clean" shipping containers are available.