Vapor HF (Hydrogen Fluoride) Etcher

This procurement is made on behalf of the Quantum Technology (QT) laboratory at the department

of Microtechnology and Nanoscience (MC2), Chalmers University of Technology.

The Vapor HF (Hydrogen Fluoride) Etcher that is intended to be procured, will be installed in the NFL

cleanroom at MC2. The System is intended to help with the selective removal of the native oxide of

the silicon substrate. The purchase is supported by WACQT, but other researchers are welcome to

use the tool for applications requiring the isotropic removal of silicon oxide. The System is meant to

operate on single wafers for university R&D.

This procurement covers one (1) Vapor HF (Hydrogen Fluoride) Etcher, as specified in section 5.

Specification of requirements.

In a large group of devices fabricated by the quantum technology lab, aluminum is used as the

primary superconducting material. The vapor HF tool must help selectively remove the substrate

(silicon) native oxide without damaging the main superconducting layer (aluminum). The use of

vapor HF should not increase the thickness of the native aluminum oxide layer or leave other compounds, such as aluminum fluoride, on the surface.

Preliminary tests with liquid HF have shown that removing the native oxide layer of silicon is helpful.

However, liquid HF attacks aluminum, and the goal is to obtain more consistent and controllable

results with vapor HF.