Engineering Research Equipment: Reactive Ion Etcher and Annealer

9622134伯杰电气工程系在特拉华州的大学建议购买反应离子蚀刻和快速热退火设备，将致力于支持工程研究。 这些设备将用于多个研究项目，特别是： 1. 光电子器件制造。 2. Si-Ge-C半导体合金结构， 3. 超大规模集成电路金属化， 4. 太赫兹电子电路， 5. 微机械近场扫描尖端。 这些研究项目很重要，因为同事们认为它们即将取得技术突破，这将促进基础知识和建立国家工程基础设施。 反应离子蚀刻机（RIE）是一种“干法加工”仪器，用于制造比我们目前使用的“湿法化学”（酸和溶剂）分辨率更高的更小器件。 快速热退火机（RTA）是一种快速、受控的加热器，可使欧姆接触合金化并快速退火晶体损伤（来自先前的工艺步骤），从而使掺杂剂和不同成分的区域没有时间相互扩散。 目前，我们使用的是一种反应时间慢的炉管，它是由液相外延设备改造而来的。 该设备正在成为行业标准。 例如，最近IBM公司与我们部门联系，为熟悉RIE仪器的学生提供职位空缺。 不幸的是，我们的学生处于不利地位，因为我们在校园里缺乏RIE。 这些新仪器将使我们有能力吸引资金用于先进设备和电路的研究，并允许用于培训学生及时处理技术。 ***

9622134 Berger The Department of Electrical Engineering at the University of Delaware propose the purchase Reactive Ion Etching and Rapid Thermal Annealing equipment which will be dedicated to support research in engineering. The equipment will be used for several research project including in particular: 1. Optoelectronic device fabrication. 2. Si-Ge-C semiconductor alloy structures, 3. VLSI circuit metallization, 4. Terahertz electronic circuits, 5. Micromachined near-field scanning tips. These research projects are important because they are considered by colleagues to be on the verge of technical breakthroughs which will promote basic knowledge and build the national engineering infrastructure. The Reactive Ion Etcher (RIE) is a "dry processing" instrument for the fabrication of smaller devices with higher resolution than with the "wet chemistry" (acids and solvents) that we presently use. The Rapid Thermal Annealer (RTA) is a fast, controlled heater to alloy ohmic contacts and anneal crystal damage (from prior process steps) quickly so that dopants and regions of different composition will not have time to interdiffuse. Presently we use a furnace tube with a slow response time which was modified from liquid phase epitaxy equipment. This equipment is becoming an industry standard. For example, recently IBM Corp. approached our Department with job openings for students familiar with RIE instruments. Unfortunately, our students stand at a disadvantage because we lack an RIE on-campus. These new instruments will give us the capability to attract funding for research on advanced devices and circuits, and allow use to train students on timely processing techniques. ***