Used PECVD vs LPCVD Equipment: Match Your Process
Choosing used PECVD or LPCVD equipment? Compare process requirements, configuration evidence and film acceptance tests before requesting a quote.
Choose a used deposition tool by the film and process you need to qualify. Start with a written requirements sheet, then ask the seller to demonstrate the proposed configuration against it. Do not select a tool using an unsourced price range or a universal aspect-ratio rule.
PECVD vs LPCVD: start with the deposition process
For silicon nitride, Rogue Valley Microdevices describes LPCVD as a thermally driven process in a low-pressure hot-wall furnace and PECVD as a lower-temperature process using an RF plasma reactor. This is a silicon-nitride process comparison, not a guarantee of any used system's recipe capability.
Ask your process engineer to evaluate the thermal budget, film properties, substrate stack, and coverage requirements for your application. Require evidence for the intended film and recipe rather than extrapolating from a different material or tool configuration.
What to match before comparing offers
| Requirement | Evidence to request |
|---|---|
| Film and substrate | Target material, substrate dimensions and stack, intended recipe, and representative process results. |
| Thermal budget | Required temperature exposure and a documented operating envelope for the offered configuration. |
| Film quality | Agreed thickness, uniformity, stress, coverage, and other application-specific targets with measurement methods. |
| Production plan | Proposed loading arrangement, recipe cycle, maintenance assumptions, and a witnessed throughput demonstration. |
| Facility fit | Utility drawings, footprint, gas and exhaust requirements, and review by the responsible facilities team. |
Use the used CVD buying guide to organize the inquiry. If evaluating an AMAT P5000 CVD system, request its chamber-level configuration; do not assume a family name establishes a recipe match.
Inspect the configuration you would receive
Request nameplate and chamber photos, an accessory inventory, maintenance history, contamination history, and dated operating records. Ask the seller to identify missing or substituted assemblies and explain which tests have actually been performed.
Have your engineer specify the inspections appropriate to the offered technology and hardware. Use the CVD inspection guide as a planning aid, with acceptance limits taken from your approved specification.
Agree a film acceptance run before purchase
Define the sample wafers, recipe, measurement locations, metrology method, and pass/fail limits in writing. Include the number of runs and repeatability checks your process team needs. For any claimed production rate, state what the timed interval includes.
Require the test report to identify the tool, chamber, configuration, date, and recipe. Decide in advance what happens if the results miss a requirement, and distinguish pre-shipment testing from installation qualification at your site.
Compare installed cost, not an isolated asking price
Request an itemized proposal for the equipment, included accessories, refurbishment scope, testing, packing, freight, installation, and qualification support. Have your team add site-preparation and operating assumptions using its own data.
Request a deposition-equipment quote with the target film, substrate requirements, process acceptance criteria, facility location, and desired project schedule.
Related Parts
Caladan stocks used and refurbished parts referenced in this article — tested, inspected, and ready to ship.