450PB-HV

A vacuum cure oven is a thermal processing tool used to heat wafers or packaged device components in a controlled low pressure environment. Vacuum cure ovens are generally used when a process must drive off volatile species, limit oxidation, and control the thermal history of sensitive films or assemblies. In semiconductor and microsystems manufacturing, this class of equipment is commonly used for curing, baking, annealing, and dehydration steps after coating, deposition, bonding, or packaging operations.

The YES 450PB Series uses a coalescing condensate trap assembly to control the accumulation and disposal of solvent condensates from evaporated wafer-film vapors. The YES 450PB Series uses vertical laminar airflow and a cooling package for chamber cooling. The YES 450PB Series directs airflow from the top of the system to the bottom to reduce turbulence and carry particulates away from wafers. The YES 450PB Series cooling package supports faster chamber cooling, temperature uniformity control, and control of ramp-down rates within the tool specifications. The YES 450PB Series cooling package uses air rather than water.^[1]

The YES 450PB-HV uses high temperature and high vacuum to achieve moisture removal. The YES 450PB-HV is designed for complete and permanent moisture and hydrogen removal using high vacuum of 10^-6 and temperatures up to 450°C. The YES 450PB-HV uses a nitrogen purge before process preparation.^[1][2]

Vacuum cure ovens are typically placed after film application or deposition steps that leave residual solvent, moisture, or other volatile content in the material stack. Vacuum cure ovens are also used after assembly operations when package parts or internal cavities must be degassed before final sealing or subsequent integration. In a fab or microsystems line, this class of tool usually sits between material formation steps and later packaging, bonding, or reliability critical operations.

The 450PB Series is applied to polyimide bake, BCB bake, copper anneal, low-k dielectric cure, copper oxide removal, and aluminum anneal. The YES 450PB-HV provides a degas and moisture abatement process for devices and getters or lids in a single tool. The YES 450PB-HV is used for complete moisture removal and moisture prevention in high-reliability MEMS packaging.^[1][2]