High Temperature (HT™) Crystals for Self-Cleaning & Sealed Sensors
For processes that operate at temperatures above 100°C, standard quartz crystals are extremely noisy. This noise prevents accurate and stable fi lm thickness measurements. For this reason, Colnatec invented two types of monitor crystals that operate stably above 100°C, are stress insensitive, and can operate in plasmas–the HT™ quartz crystal, good to 300°C, and SuperQuartz™ (SQ™), a revolutionary crystalline material good to 500°C+. Both crystals now enable measurement of ALD, CVD, OVPD, high temperature PVD and thin fi lm furnace processes such as selenization and indiff usion.
As an added benefi t, the HT™ crystal will not show a rate spike when the deposition source shutter is opened, or exposed to plasmas. Typically, this action causes a frequency shift of up to 100 Hz, which translates to rate changes of 50 angstroms or more for fi lms such as aluminum. Further, the noise associated with the intense energy of impinging atoms in sputtering is dramatically reduced, owing to the stress insensitivity of the crystal. These are very real advantages in the measurement of nanometer films used in the manufacture of OLEDs, precision optical interference fi lms, or next generation electronic devices (including solar cells).
HT™ crystals can be used in place of standard AT-cut quartz in all commercially available fi lm thickness monitors and controllers, and they are specially designed and cut for Colnatec high temperature sensor heads. They are available in 5 or 6 MHz versions, with gold or aluminum electrodes, sized in 14mm and 12.5mm diameters.
For additional information, refer to the following datasheets:
High Temperature (HT™) Crystals Datasheet
Eon™ Datasheet
To place an order for quartz crystal film thickness monitors, please contact sales@colnatec.com or call +1 480-634-1449.
