PIE Tergeo-EM User manual

1 Tergeo plasma cleaner operator’s manual
Revision: B3, Year 2020
Operator’s Manual
Tergeo plasma cleaner
PIE SCIENTIFIC LLC
Address:
3209 Whipple Road
Union City, CA, 94587, U.S.A.
Tel: [phone].
Email: [e-mail]

2 Tergeo plasma cleaner operator’s manual
Revision: B3, Year 2020
Chapter 1 Legal notice:
This document is copyrighted with all rights reserved. Under the copyright laws, this document
may not be copied in whole or in part or reproduced in any other media without the express
written permission of PIE Scientific LLC. Permitted copies must carry the same proprietary and
copyright notices as were affixed to the original. This exception does not allow copies to be
made for others, whether or not sold, but all the material purchased may be sold, given or
loaned to another person. Under the law, copying includes translation into another language.
PIE Scientific, the PIE Scientific Logo, and Tergeo are registered trademarks of PIE Scientific
LLC.
Every effort has been made to ensure that the data given in this document is accurate. The
information, figures, tables, specifications and schematics contained herein are subject to
change without notice. PIE Scientific makes no warranty or representation, either expressed or
implied on this document. In no event will PIE Scientific be liable for any direct, indirect, special,
incidental or consequential damages resulting from any defects in its documentation.
Chapter 2 Safety compliance symbols used in this manual
This symbol is intended to alert the operator to the presence
of important operating and maintenance instructions.
This symbol is intended to alert the operator to the presence
of dangerous voltages within the product enclosure that may
be of sufficient magnitude to constitute a risk of electric shock.
This symbol is regarding the lifting and handling precautions
due to the weight of the equipment.

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Chapter 3 Table of contents
Operator’s Manual........................................................................................................................................ 1
Tergeo plasma cleaner.................................................................................................................................. 1
Chapter 1 Legal notice: ................................................................................................................................. 2
Chapter 2 Safety compliance symbols used in this manual.......................................................................... 2
Chapter 3 Table of contents.......................................................................................................................... 3
Chapter 4 List of figures ................................................................................................................................ 6
Chapter 5 Operation safety........................................................................................................................... 7
5.1 Intended use of the equipment .......................................................................................................... 7
5.2 Safety precautions .............................................................................................................................. 7
5.3 Electrical ratings.................................................................................................................................. 8
5.4 Environmental conditions ................................................................................................................... 9
5.5 IEC 61010-1:2010 electrical safety conformity certificate................................................................ 10
5.6 UL/CSA 61010-1 conformance certificate from TUV Rheinland. ...................................................... 11
5.7 UL Japan rf emission conformity certificate ..................................................................................... 12
Chapter 6 Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 13
6.1 Introduction to plasma ..................................................................................................................... 13
6.2 Introduction to system................................................................................................................ 13
6.3 Immersion/direct cleaning and remote/downstream cleaning ....................................................... 14
6.4 Pulsed operation mode..................................................................................................................... 15
6.5 Plasma sensor ................................................................................................................................... 16
Chapter 7 Installation.................................................................................................................................. 17
Step 1, preparation ................................................................................................................................. 17
Step 2, prepare the vacuum pump ......................................................................................................... 17
Step 3, set up the plasma cleaner........................................................................................................... 19

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Getting familiar with the system ........................................................................................................ 19
Assembly procedure ........................................................................................................................... 21
Getting started.................................................................................................................................... 23
Chapter 8 Operation ................................................................................................................................... 25
8.1 General guidance. ............................................................................................................................. 25
8.2 Sequence of operation...................................................................................................................... 25
8.3 Understand the main screen layout ................................................................................................. 26
8.4 Manual operation ............................................................................................................................. 27
8.4.1 Pumping down the chamber...................................................................................................... 27
8.4.2 Set the gas flow rate .................................................................................................................. 27
8.4.3 Set up the timer ......................................................................................................................... 27
8.4.4 Change the cleaning mode ........................................................................................................ 27
8.4.5 Set up the rf power supply......................................................................................................... 27
8.4.6 Stop the process manually......................................................................................................... 28
8.4.7 Vent the chamber. ..................................................................................................................... 28
8.5 Set up recipes in recipe library.......................................................................................................... 28
8.6 Run a cleaning recipe ........................................................................................................................ 30
8.6.1 Load a recipe to the main screen............................................................................................... 30
8.6.2 Turn on the vacuum pump......................................................................................................... 30
8.6.3 Execute the recipe ..................................................................................................................... 30
8.6.4 Execute a job sequence ............................................................................................................. 32
8.7 Tune the impedance ......................................................................................................................... 32
8.8 What to do after plasma cleaning finishes. ...................................................................................... 32
8.9 How to reduce the pumping down time and achieve better vacuum level? ................................... 33
8.10 How to reduce the venting time? ................................................................................................... 34

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Revision: B3, Year 2020
8.11 How to set the right gas flow rate for hydrogen gas. ..................................................................... 34
8.12 How to create extremely weak oxygen plasma for some critical biopolymer processing
applications ............................................................................................................................................. 34
8.13 How to improve the gas purity for some critical applications........................................................ 35
8.14 How to use plasma emission sensor reading as the end-point indicator for oxygen plasma ashing
process .................................................................................................................................................... 35
8.14 Process uniformity in the chamber................................................................................................. 36
Chapter 9 System settings .......................................................................................................................... 37
Chapter 10 Service and troubleshooting .................................................................................................... 40
10.1. The vacuum in the chamber gets worse and worse over time. How to improve the vacuum level?
................................................................................................................................................................ 40
10.2 Fail to start touchscreen user interface. ......................................................................................... 40
10.3 Plasma fails to ignite. ...................................................................................................................... 41
10.4 Auto impedance tuning fails ........................................................................................................... 41
10.5 Recipe execution stuck in the pumping down state....................................................................... 42
10.6 Gas flow rate can’t reaching the set value...................................................................................... 42
10.7 Flow controller oscillate at the set point. ....................................................................................... 42
10.8 How to check the leak rate on the gas delivery system ................................................................. 42
10.9 Replace the quartz chamber........................................................................................................... 43
10.10 Why pure oxygen plasma emission intensity is so low compared with argon and nitrogen plasma?
How to set up a recipe for oxygen plasma?............................................................................................ 43
10.11 Why sample chamber may be bright when remote plasma source is activated?........................ 43
10.12 Why plasma intensity gradually increase or decrease during cleaning? ...................................... 43
10.13 If the plasma is too weak to be detected by the plasma sensor (value is below 2), how to let the
timer start counting down and run a recipe? ......................................................................................... 44
10.14 Clean and replace the front cap o-ring ......................................................................................... 44
10.15 Why the plasma intensity value doesn’t change when it reaches a value of 800 or 1000?......... 45

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10.16 What to do if the plasma intensity sensor fails. ........................................................................... 45
10.17 What to do if the pressure readings stays at atmospheric pressure? .......................................... 45
10.18 How to use the plasma cleaner if the pressure sensor fails? ....................................................... 45
10.19 How to replace the pressure sensor if the filament burned out? ................................................ 46
Chapter 4 List of figures
Figure 1, Tergeo series plasma cleaner....................................................................................................... 13
Figure 2, immersion mode plasma cleaning ............................................................................................... 14
Figure 3, downstream/remote plasma cleaning mode .............................................................................. 15
Figure 4, pulsed operation mode............................................................................................................... 15
Figure 5, Front view of Tergeo plasma cleaner........................................................................................... 19
Figure 6, sample chamber assembly........................................................................................................... 19
Figure 7, Front cap for sample chamber..................................................................................................... 20
Figure 8, backside of the Tergeo plasma cleaner ....................................................................................... 20
Figure 9, Touch screen user interface......................................................................................................... 24
Figure 10, main screen of the user interface .............................................................................................. 26
Figure 11, rf power control ......................................................................................................................... 28
Figure 12, Recipe library ............................................................................................................................. 29
Figure 13, edit recipe window, left: the recipe can be edited by the user. Right: the recipe has been
locked to prevent unintended modification............................................................................................... 29
Figure 14, Job sequence.............................................................................................................................. 32
Figure 15, system setting screen ................................................................................................................ 37
Figure 16, How to change the fuse ............................................................................................................. 40
Figure 17, How to replace the pressure sensor. ......................................................................................... 46

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Chapter 5 Operation safety
5.1 Intended use of the equipment
Tergeo series plasma equipment are designed to generate low pressure plasma using non-toxic
gases. The ions and neutral radicals generated inside the plasma source can then be used to
etch or remove a thin layer of materials from the surface of the samples placed inside the
plasma chamber. It can be used to change surface energy of the samples, ash organic materials,
remove oxide from metal surface, etch silicon, silicon nitride and silicon oxide materials.
Equipment should be placed on a stable table far away from heat source and flammable
materials. Any unintended usage outside the scope of this manual can results in damage of the
equipment or cause harm to the operator. PIE Scientific LLC is not liable for damage or personal
injury for any unintended usage of equipment.
5.2 Safety precautions
The user should read through the following safety precautions before operating the plasma
cleaner.
1) If the chamber is filled with high concentration oxygen, please do not use hydrocarbon
oil pump to pump down the plasma chamber. Hydrocarbon oil pump can be used to
pump oxygen mixture with oxygen concentration level lower than 25%. To pump highly
concentrated oxygen, inert PFPE pump oil such as Krytox or Fomblin should be used
instead. The oil-free dry pump is also compatible with concentrated oxygen.
2) If combustible gasses are used in the system, explosion-proof vacuum pump must be
used. The exhaust gas should not be vented directly to the lab space.
3) No toxic gas is allowed at the input port. If toxic gasses will be generated inside the
plasma chamber using gases such as CF4, SF4 or NF3, the pump exhaust gasses can not
be vented directly into the lab space. Toxic exhaust gas must be handled according to
appropriate safety guideline.
4) If toxic gas can be generated inside the plasma chamber, please enable the purging step
in the recipe setting to flush the chamber clean before opening the plasma chamber.
5) Maximum pressure at the gas inlet port is 15 psi. Recommended gas inlet pressure
during operation should not exceed 10 psi. For explosive gasses such as hydrogen,
suggested gas inlet pressure should be about 5 psi.
6) If hydrogen gas is connected to the plasma system, always close the output valve on the
hydrogen compressed gas bottle if the hydrogen gas will not be used within the next
hour. Also keep the front door of the plasma chamber open so that the hydrogen gas
will not be confined inside the small plasma chamber even if there is a leak in the MFC.

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7) If potentially dangerous gas will be used to generate plasma, please check the leak rate
of the gas delivery system following the procedure in section 10.6.
8) Tergeo series plasma system is an electrical equipment. To avoid electric shock, please
follow all standard electrical safety precautions.
9) Tergeo plasma system is grounded through the input power cord. The input power cord
must have the line, the neutral and the ground cables. The power cord can only be
inserted to a grounded outlet.
10) Do not use power cord that doesn’t meet the electrical ratings specified in Section 5.3.
11) RF high voltage exists inside the equipment enclosure. Do not open the equipment
cover when the rf output is on.
12) Do not plug a vacuum pump that uses more than 7 amps of current into the pump
power plug on the back of the Tergeo plasma equipment. There is no fuse protection for
the vacuum pump power control circuit inside the plasma machine. The connected
vacuum pump or the facility power supply must have over current protection capability
in case of electrical short event inside the vacuum pump.
13) Do not overtight the front door of the vacuum chamber. The front door will seal
automatically during pumping down even if it feels loose.
14) Do not open the front door if the chamber is still under the vacuum.
15) Equipment can be heavier than 40lbs. Two persons are required to lift the equipment to
avoid back injury or dropping the equipment to the ground and causing personal injury.
16) The power switch is located at the back of the machine. Please make sure the power
switch can be easily accessed by the users. Do not position the system that the user
can’t access the power switch. User should be able to deenergize the equipment easily.
17) The cooling fan and the venting holes for the cooling air flow are both located at the
back of the plasma machine. Do not block the entrance of the fan and the venting holes
on the back of the machine. The distance between the plasma machine and the wall
should be larger than one foot.
5.3 Electrical ratings
1) Input power for plasma machine: 100V-230V AC, 50~60Hz, maximum power: 300Watt,
connector type: IEC 320 C13.
2) Fuse for the plasma machine: Size: IEC 5X20mm; Type: Slow blown; Current: 3 amp for
220~230V AC; 5 amp for 100~110VAC.
3) The input AC voltage and frequency for the vacuum pump power inlet port must meet the
requirements of the vacuum pump connected to the Tergeo plasma system.
4) Vacuum pump power inlet port on the plasma machine: Type: IEC 320 C13, Rating: 10A, 250VAC.

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5) Vacuum pump power outlet port on the plasma machine: For North America and Japan, type:
NEMA 5-15; Rating: 15A, 125VAC. For regions that use 220V to 230VAC, Type: IEC 320 C13,
Rating: 10A, 250VAC.
6) The maximum current for the vacuum pump connected to the pump power outlet should be
less than 7 amps.
7) Compatible power cord for both the plasma system and the vacuum pump: For countries and
regions use 100~110VAC, voltage rating on the power cord must be higher than 110VAC, current
rating should be equal or higher than 10 amps; For countries and regions uses 220~230VAC,
voltage ratings on the power cord should be higher than 230VAC, current rating should be equal
or higher than 10amps.
5.4 Environmental conditions
1. The recommended condition for operation: temperature range is 0-30C, humidity: 10% -
70% RH.
2. The recommended conditions for transportation and storage: temperature range is -20-
60C, humidity: 10% - 90% RH.
RF high voltage exists within controller and plasma source
enclosure. Please do not open the enclosure whenever RF
output is ON.
Read this manual carefully before operating the plasma
cleaner for the first time. Failure to follow the safety
precautions may result in serious damage to the system or
may cause personal injury. PIE Scientific LLC is not liable
and will not honor the warranty if the applicable safety
precautions are ignored by the users.
The equipment and the vacuum pump could weight more than
40 lbs. Two persons are required to lift the equipment to avoid
back injury or dropping the equipment to the ground and
causing personal injury.

10 Tergeo plasma cleaner operator’s manual
Revision: B3, Year 2020
5.5 IEC 61010-1:2010 electrical safety conformity certificate