Plasma-Therm tool enhances NASA's fabrication capability
Plasma-Therm's VERSALINE Deep Silicon Etch system was recently installed at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) to expand its silicon deep-etching resources.
The new etching system targets silicon-based applications that include MEMS, sensors, and resonators. JPL's Microdevices Laboratory (MDL) serves users with many different requirements, and the system's mask selectivity, uniformity, vertical profiles, sidewall smoothness, and silicon-on-insulator capabilities will be used to meet their device fabrication needs.
The tool will complement JPL's existing suite of Plasma-Therm equipment, which has been used to make mission-critical components for NASA explorations.
JPL scientists utilised Plasma-Therm systems to help fabricate sensors for the Planck and Hershel missions to map infrared and sub-millimetre cosmic radiation and the spectrometer grating installed on the moon-mapper to detect water.
Tuneable diode lasers to sense methane and other metabolic products from possible past life forms, part of the planetary exploration project involving the Mars Rover, were also made with the assistance of Plasma-Therm technology.
A recent report describes new cosmic microwave background polarization measurements, providing strong confirmation of the Big Bang theory and insight into the first moments of a rapidly expanding universe. The low-noise, superconducting and bolometer-based detectors were fabricated using Plasma-Therm systems that are part of the key process tool set at MDL.
"It is inspiring knowing that Plasma-Therm systems are used not only to develop sensors and optical devices for observing our terrestrial world, but also to contribute to the exploration of our solar system, other galaxies, and the early universe," says David Lishan, Plasma-Therm Principal Scientist and Director, Technical Marketing.
"With the installation of this Deep Silicon Etch system, we look forward to expanding our partnership with JPL and providing another means to contribute to their exciting exploration missions," Lishan continues. "We expect our technology to enable new device designs with new levels of performance."
