umi’s blog

Current procedure to apply for a new UKM student matriculation card (in case of missing, stolen, etc.):

1. Make a police report

• Balai Polis Sg. Tangkas is the nearest police station to UKM. It's situated very near the commuter station. Turn left after you enter the commuter junction, it's about 0.5km after you pass under the bridge. The building is on the left side right next to the road and has two blue stripes that is easily sighted from afar.
• You need to bring your IC (Malaysian), or passport (non-Malaysian)

Therefore, take care of your matriculation card and don't ever, ever, ever let it out of your sight!

P/S: I'm not sure about the procedure for staff card, but probably it's the same.

Method 1

A method using NH₄ OH/H₂ O₂ and HCL/H₂ O₂ solutions, commonly called RCA cleaning, has been used for cleaning particulates and other chemical residues from silicon wafers for many years. A discussion of the RCA technique may be found in Wolf, S. and Tauber, R. N., "Silicon Processing for the VLSI Era", Vol. 1, Lattice Press, Sunset Beach, Calif., (1986), p516ff. The first ammoniacal solution(SC-1), when used in concert with the application of ultrasonic or megasonic agitation, is effective for removing organic residues and particulates while the second acidic solution(SC-2) is effective in removing metallic contaminants. The abbreviations SC-1 and SC-2 are commonly used and refer to standard clean 1 and 2. A dilute HF treatment is often added between SC-1 and SC-2 to remove silicon oxide.

The RCA method may also be used to remove of residues left as a result of laser ablation during the formation of wafer identification marks. A current procedure applies SC-1 in a megasonic bath followed by three quick-dump rinses in un-heated DI (de-ionized) water. This is then followed by a dip in 1% HF followed by a second SC-1 and an SC-2 treatment. The megasonic SC-1 treatment is found to be effective in removing the particulates but chemical residues remain and must be removed by the SC-2 treatment.

Li, U.S. Pat. No. 5,681,397 teaches a method of rinsing and drying silicon wafers after their surfaces have been treated by aqueous HF. The method comprises immersing the wafers in a boiling hydrochloric acid solution and drawing the wafers out to dry in ambient air. Experiment found that the surface roughness is less with boiling HCL than with boiling water alone.

Method 2

The cleaning method consists of first immersing the wafers in a heated ammoniacal/hydrogen peroxide RCA-SC-1 cleaning solution in the presence of megasonic agitation. This is followed by a immersion rinse in de-ionized water heated to at least 50° C. Finally the wafers are subjected to at least three quick-dump rinses in room temperature de-ionized water and dried. It is found that the hot de-ionized water rinse provides adequate removal of chemical residues remaining after the particle dislodging action of the megasonically agitated RCA SC-1 solution to eliminate the need for application of the acidic/hydrogen peroxide RCA SC-2 treatment.

Method 3

After dicing, a cleaning step occurs in the same integrated chamber to remove the coating
and any suspended debris. Less than 1 litre of factory-supplied DI water cleans the wafer
resulting in a simple and cost-effective process step. Figure 2 shows the cleanliness of a diced
wafer, before and after wash. This demonstrates the removal of the coating and any suspended
debris generated during the dicing step.

Megasonic Cleaning is a type of Acoustic cleaning, related to Ultrasonic cleaning. It is a gentler cleaning mechanism, less likely to cause damage, and is currently used in wafer cleaning.

Similar to Ultrasonic cleaning, megasonics utilizes a transducer, usually composed of Piezoelectric Crystals to create megasonic energy. Megasonic energy is of a higher frequency (800–2000 kHz) than typical ultrasonic cleaners (<100 kHz). As a result, the cavitation that occurs is gentler and on a much smaller scale. Megasonics are currently used mainly in the silicon industry.

Megasonics cleaning compared to ultrasonic cleaning - The difference between ultrasonic cleaning and megasonics cleaning lies in the frequency that is used to generate the acoustic waves. Ultrasonic cleaning uses lower frequencies; it produces random cavitation. Megasonics cleaning uses higher frequencies at 1000 kHz; it produces controlled cavitation.

An important distinction between the two methods is that the higher megasonic frequencies do not cause the violent cavitation effects found with ultrasonic frequencies. This significantly reduces or eliminates cavitation erosion and the likelihood of surface damage to the product being cleaned. Parts that would be damaged by ultrasonic frequencies or cavitation effects can often be cleaned without damage in a megasonic bath using the same solution.

With ultrasonics, cavitation occurs throughout the tank, and all sides of submerged parts are cleaned. With megasonics, only the side of the part that is facing the transducer(s) is cleaned.

BetterExplained | Learn Right, Not Rote

http://betterexplained.com/

I found this website that has made understanding some hear-tearing concepts an enjoyable ride. I want to share it with others too...

This is his old site.. but it has some stuff that's not in the new one and I think it's still getting edited, updated and upgraded.. so it's worth checking out too: Intuitive explanations.

To be held on Monday (25/05/09), 9am at the usual meeting room (Inovasi 2). All my supervisors are invited.

EDIT:

I have been given the permission to go to Indonesia to process my wafer. Some notes:

• One PTJ can use the MoU that another PTJ has in place with another institution
• All designs to be processed outside of the UKM fasiliti need to be accompanied by NDA. Template can be obtained from CRIM. NDA is an agreement between the individuals involved, it's not at university level

Application to go oversea can be carried out immediately.

Venue: Hospitality Lounge 1, KL Convention Center (KLCC)
Time: 2.30 - 4.30 pm

Speaker: Mr. Teo Bong Kwang (Partner in Won Jin Nee & Teo)
Topic: Career in IP Environment

Highlights for me
Suggested careers for those with technical background but without legal qualification:

• patent agents,
  
• scientific advisors (in legal firms or other science and technology corporation),
  
• tech-transfer specialist in a university or R& D corporation (work with law firms to commercialize the results of R & D - patenting and licensing)

Highlights for me

• Ensure the confidentiality of failed research results because they may have value as a different product than the one intended, e.g. glue used for Post-It notes
• Copyright is a non-registrable right
• Exploitation of IP rights are subject to 2 limitations: fixed duration (20 years) after which they will enter public domain and territorial in scope where no protection/rights is available in countries that do not grant IP rights (patents registered in the US are not protected in Malaysia, and vice versa)
• We can identify the key inventors and bring in those people to work on the products in our countries
• Questions and Answers session:
• Q1= If patents filed in the US is not protected in Malaysia, why are patents filed being subjected to global search? A: Conditions for newly filed patents - new, not obvious to the people involved in the field, industrially applicable
• Q2 = If a product has several features that have been patented in the US, can we file patents on the product and export it to the US? A: Yes, provided that the new patents are filed on the new/additional features of the product that have not been filed in the US yet.
• Q3 = If we lack the fund but have ideas for some inventions, how do we go about getting the product out there? A: Identify the technology/property value of the design -> design the product -> get a 3rd party: Non-Disclosure Agreement -> register patent under the inventors' name or the 3rd party's name according to what has been agreed on -> licensing

The event was held in the Royal Bintang Hotel, Seremban (formerly known as Royal Adelphi).

In order to fulfill the KPI requirement for a Research University, the Chemical & Process Engineering Dept (Eng. Faculty) has organised this workshop to encourage and push its researchers and staff to publish more scientific papers. The motto for this mission, as the Head of Department (PM Dr. Sobri Takriff) said in his opening speech, is "Publish or Perish". Somehow, the mood of the entire program reflects that determination. Very scary people.. uhuh.

I have pledged 2 papers for this year and 4 papers overall in my entire PhD career. It's a daunting task, am I up to it? Tomorrow I will head back to Perlis to continue the work I left there in UNIMAP. I will post my Gannt Chart regarding my cell fabrication work there next week *sets it in her mobile reminder*. I've also got an idea of the testing set I should get ready by the time I'm ready to test my cell (the light bulb went 'pling' in my head when I looked at the the one they have in Shah's lab). Have to get that ready in AutoCAD and send it to ...someone... who can hopefully finish it early (pls, other than En. Rahim.. dun we have anyone else who can do this job??)

And my modeling equations too... *grabs her head in distress*

Okay.. so here are the Perlis plans:

1. Gannt Chart on fabrication work and writing assignment
2. Overview paper
3. Fabrication work (factorial design)
4. Modeling structure
5. AutoCAD drawing of test set

25th Feb 2008

Visa approved: 3pm

Check in time: 10pm

Flight time: 11.35pm

Touch down: 7.10am

Custom clearance: 8.30am

Arrived at hotel via route: Narita - Tokyo - Osaki (JR LINE), then Osaki - Shinagawa Seaside (Rinkai （JR LINE）, then Osaki - Shinagawa Seaside (RINKAI LINE). Exit C

26th Feb 2008

To expo location via route?

I've cleaned up the previous post since I've more or less completed all the procedures for application.

For those who want to refer to the procedures, you can open this document. Any comments, corrections, questions are welcomed. Happy traveling~~

29 Jan 08

Literature review and discussion on lab activity

New mask based on previous design for characterisation purpose

30 Jan 08

Oxidation

Lithography exercise on new mask

31 Jan 08

Plan for next lab using Design of Experiment

01 Feb 08

Cleaning + measuring native oxide thickness of 6 wafer ~ 3hr

02 Feb 08

Wet oxidation process: 8am - 9.30pm