Tegal
The Tegal 421 is a barrel-type photoresist asher. The Tegal 421 uses oxygen plasma to strip photoresist. The Tegal 421 is also known as the Plasmaline 421.[1][2][3]
Barrel ashers are a class of dry-etch equipment that use a cylindrical reactor chamber to generate a plasma for removing organic films from substrates. The Tegal 421 is a barrel-type oxygen plasma asher designed for photoresist stripping.
The Tegal 421 uses an oxygen plasma and heat to ash organic films. The tool is pumped down to a base pressure below 0.150 Torr before oxygen is introduced. The RF power is set to approximately 100 Watts and then increased to around 200 Watts, with reflected power minimized to under 10 Watts by adjusting a tuning capacitor. Process time is controlled by a channel timer. The system also supports the use of argon gas in addition to oxygen.[2][3]
Barrel ashers are used in semiconductor fabrication after lithography and pattern transfer to remove photoresist masks. The ashing step is typically performed before subsequent thin-film deposition, thermal processing, or characterization. The Tegal 421 is specifically dedicated to photoresist stripping only, as part of the dry-etch capability in a nanofabrication facility.[4][5]
The primary application of the Tegal 421 is the removal of organic films, particularly photoresist, from semiconductor substrates. The oxygen plasma ashing process is used to clean wafers after lithography, leaving the surface free of organic residues for subsequent processing steps.[4][5][3]
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The following facts about the 421 are absent from this record as of this revision. First-hand knowledge or a citation closes a gap; every submission is reviewed before publication.
No publicly documented production dates or lifecycle milestones (introduction, end of production, EOL) for the 421 are on record.
Answerable by: OEM historical records or a trade-press announcement
No publicly documented variants, configuration options, or revision breakpoints of the 421 are on record.
Answerable by: an OEM product catalog or an engineer who ordered or specified the tool
The control-system platform and OS era of the 421 are not on record.
Answerable by: an engineer who operated it or OEM installation records
No publicly documented failure modes or field errata for the 421 are on record.
Answerable by: a field service engineer, process engineer, or maintenance technician
The process node or technology generation of the 421 is not on record.
Answerable by: an OEM datasheet or a fab qualification report
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Last updated Aug 13, 2026.