Grinder

Characteristics of the system

We seek to acquire an automated wafer surface grinding system with ancillary equipment to enhance the University of Southampton's optical and semiconductor materials processing capabilities for a number of high-impact projects in the major engineering themes of; Quantum Technologies and Photonics. This system will be integrated into existing lab facilities in the Optoelectronics Research Centre at the University of Southampton and will be used to expand the breadth of our manufacturing capabilities to stimulate new research ties across academia and industry via the EPSRC Quantum Hub initiative. The acquisition of this system will enable university researchers to manufacture new combinations of micron-scale-thickness optical and semiconductor material layers to tackle fundamental research in quantum light-matter interactions, quantum sensors, and telecommunications.

Purpose of the Equipment

Planarisation and thinning of optical and semiconductor wafer materials to dimensions and surface roughness suitable for optical applications. The first example application will be thinning of carrier-bonded lithium niobate crystal wafers to layer thicknesses of 10 microns or less with a surface finish suitable for optical propagation (<3nm roughness Sa). Other applications include replanarisation of commercially available lithium niobate wafers to improve parallelism and surface finish. Other applications include grinding partial areas of wafers to create wafer-rim supported thin-film membranes.

Planarisation and thinning of a wide range of optical and semiconductor materials are envisaged, including but not limited to; lithium niobate, silicon, silica-on-silicon, silica, and sapphire as well as composites of the above. To ensure compatibility with existing University of Southampton facilities and a broad range of material types, the system is required to support standard wafer formats from 75 mm to 150 mm diameter as well as single die.

Primary Hardware

System to incorporate automated grinding capabilities in a single unit. The system must be capable of thinning wafer sizes up to 150 mm diameter with total thickness variation of ±2μm with average variation in thickness removal of less than 1μm wafer-to-wafer. The system must be able to achieve surface roughness less than 3nm (Sa) on lithium niobate. The system must offer the capability for grinding partial areas of wafers to create wafer-supported thin-film membranes as standard or via system upgrade. System to include either a universal mounting chuck for 75 mm, 100 mm, and 150 mm wafers or separate user swappable chucks for this purpose as well as mounting capability for thin substrates and single die. The system must be designed to allow unattended operation without operator intervention. A grinding system that does not require the use and disposal of chemical slurries is preferred.

Under no circumstances whatsoever will...

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