Sintering/Annealing is a very simple step consisting only of a heat cycle. This step is used to help the aluminum adhere to the silicon substrate and to heal any substrate damage caused by plasma etching.
Before the Sinter/Anneal procedure is begun, verify that the gases flowing through the furnaces are in the IDLE CONFIGURATION.
Note: In the idle configuration, nitrogen gas is flowing through all three furnaces.
Set temp to furnace controller marked sintering / anneal at 400 degrees C.
Remove quartz boat from mouth of the funace using sinter push rod.
Carefully slide boat onto boat carrier and place on table under laminar hood.
Mount all wafers that are to be annealed.
Slide wafer carrier carefully back into the mouth of the furnace.
Wait 1 minute for wafers to adjust to furnace temp.
Slide boat using quartz rod up to marked line. This will place the wafer carrier in the center of the quartz tube.
Set timer for 30 minutes.
When time is up, slide quartz boat back to mouth of the furnace.
Wait for the wafers to cool in the mouth of the furnace 1 minute.
Carefully remove wafer carrier and unload wafers.