Applied Materials, Inc.

Ajit Balakrishna

Andrew Nguyen

Shahid Rauf

Kenneth S Collins

James D Carducci

Kartik Ramaswamy

Douglas A Buchberger, Jr

Zhigang Chen

Hamid Tavassoli

Leonid Dorf

Richard Charles Fovell

Ankur Agarwal

Dean C Jennings

Martin Jeffrey Salinas

Michael C Kutney

Imad Yousif

Jason Andrew Kenney

Michael D Willwerth

James P Cruse

Walter R Merry

Brian L Haas

Ying Rui

Hiroji Hanawa

Sanjeev Baluja

Abhilash J Mayur

Amit Kumar Bansal

Valentin Nikolov Todorow

Wolfgang R Aderhold

Mark Yam

Chunlei Zhang

Upendra V Ummethala

Yogananda Sarode Vishwanath

Ezra Robert Gold

Sundar Ramamurthy

Tejas Ulavi

Nancy Fung

Tao Zhang

Benjamin B Bierman

Bradley J Howard

Anand Kumar

Anchel Sheyner

Ryan C Boas

Michael Robert Rice

Rajinder Dhindsa

Jennifer Y Sun

Joseph Michael Ranish

Juan Carlos Rocha-Alvarez

Aaron Muir Hunter

Deenesh Padhi

Stephen Moffatt

Kallol Bera

Jianhua Zhou

Tom K Cho

Hamid Noorbakhsh

Ren-Guan Duan

Swaminathan T Srinivasan

Praket Prakash Jha

Sergio Fukuda Shoji

Kalyanjit Ghosh

Matthew James Busche

David Palagashvili

Jong Mun Kim

Tom K Choi

Mayur G Kulkarni

Paul G Carey

Valentin N Todorov

Kaushik Comandoor Alayavalli

Gary Leray

Nitin Pathak

Nipun Misra

Gerhard M Schneider

William Schaffer

Venkata Ravishankar Kasibhotla

Wei Min Chan

Michael Nichols

Sanggyum Kim

Tina Dhekial-Phukan

Lei Guo

Jason Della Rosa

Ming-Feng Wu

Gregory Siu

Methods and systems for processing substrates are provided. The system can include: a processing chamber configured to process a substrate based on a recipe; a plurality of sub-systems in operable communication with the processing chamber for controlling corresponding parameters associated with processing the substrate; and a controller in operable communication with the processing chamber and each of the plurality of sub-systems and configured to control each of the plurality of sub-systems and the processing chamber using information included in the recipe and feedback provided by at least one of the plurality of sub-systems. The controller is configured to compare information included in the recipe and feedback provided by at least one of the plurality of sub-systems with stored empirical information relating to the recipe and each of the plurality of sub-systems, and adjust at least one of the corresponding parameters associated with processing the substrate based on a determined comparison.

Method and apparatus for controlling a processing reactor

A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium stores instructions, which when executed by a processing device of a diagnostic server, cause the processing device to perform certain operations. The operations include receiving, from a processing chamber, (i) measurement values of a combined signal that is based on an injection of an alternating signal wave onto a first output signal of a controller of the processing chamber, and (ii) measurement values of a second output signal of the controller that incorporates feedback from the processing chamber. The operations further include generating, based on the measurement values of the combined signal and the measurement values of the second output signal of the controller, a baseline bode fingerprint pertaining to a state associated with the processing chamber. The operations further include storing, in computer storage, the baseline bode fingerprint to be used in performing diagnostics of the processing chamber.

Bode fingerprinting for characterizations and failure detections in processing chamber

Embodiments of the present invention provide a plasma chamber design that allows extremely symmetrical electrical, thermal, and gas flow conductance through the chamber. By providing such symmetry, plasma formed within the chamber naturally has improved uniformity across the surface of a substrate disposed in a processing region of the chamber. Further, other chamber additions, such as providing the ability to manipulate the gap between upper and lower electrodes as well as between a gas inlet and a substrate being processed, allows better control of plasma processing and uniformity as compared to conventional systems.

Symmetric plasma process chamber

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to apparatus for improving quality of films deposited on a substrate by a CVD process. More specifically, a branched gas feed assembly uniformly distributes a process gas entering an annular plenum. Each conduit of a first plurality of conduits having substantially equal flow conductance is in fluid communication with one or more conduits of a second plurality of conduits having substantially equal flow conductance. Each conduit of the second plurality of conduits terminates at one of a plurality of outlets. Each outlet of the plurality of outlets is in fluid communication with one or more inlet ports of a plurality of inlet ports formed in the annular plenum. Each inlet port of the plurality of inlet ports is spaced equidistant about a central axis of the annular plenum.

Gas box for CVD chamber

Implementations of the disclosure generally relate to a semiconductor processing chamber and, more specifically, a heated support pedestal for a semiconductor processing chamber. In one implementation, a pedestal assembly is disclosed and includes a substrate support comprising a dielectric material and having a support surface for receiving a substrate, a resistive heater encapsulated within the substrate support, a hollow shaft coupled to a support member of the substrate support at a first end of the shaft, and a thermally conductive material disposed at an interface between the support member and the first end of the shaft.

Heater pedestal assembly for wide range temperature control

Embodiments of the present disclosure generally provide various apparatus and methods for reducing particles in a semiconductor processing chamber. One embodiment of present disclosure provides a vacuum screen assembly disposed over a vacuum port to prevent particles generated by the vacuum pump from entering substrate processing regions. Another embodiment of the present disclosure provides a perforated chamber liner around a processing region of the substrate. Another embodiment of the present disclosure provides a gas distributing chamber liner for distributing a cleaning gas around the substrate support under the substrate supporting surface.

Apparatus and methods for reducing particles in semiconductor process chambers

Embodiments disclosed herein generally relate to systems and methods to prevent free radical damage to sensitive components in a process chamber and optimizing flow profiles. The processing chamber utilizes a cover substrate on lift pins and an inert bottom purge flow to shield the substrate support from halogen reactants. During a clean process, the cover substrate and the purge flow restricts halogen reactants from contacting the substrate support. The method of cleaning includes placing a cover substrate on a plurality of lift pins that extend through a substrate support in a processing chamber, raising the cover substrate via the lift pins to expose a space between the cover substrate and the substrate support, supplying a halogen containing gas into the processing chamber, supplying a second gas through an opening in the processing chamber, and flowing the second gas through the space between the cover substrate and the substrate support.

Method and system for high temperature clean

A plasma reactor for processing a workpiece includes a reactor chamber having a ceiling and a sidewall and a workpiece support facing the ceiling and defining a processing region, and a pair of concentric independently excited RF coil antennas overlying the ceiling and a side RF coil concentric with the side wall and facing the side wall below the ceiling, and being excited independently.

Inductively coupled plasma source with top coil over a ceiling and an independent side coil and independent air flow

Embodiments of the present invention provide apparatus and methods for reducing non-uniformity and/or skews during substrate processing. One embodiment of the present invention provides a flow equalizer assembly for disposing between a vacuum port and a processing volume in a processing chamber. The flow equalizing assembly includes a first plate having at least one first opening, and a second plate having two or more second openings. The first and second plates define a flow redistributing volume therebetween, and the at least one first opening and the two or more second openings are staggered.

Recursive pumping for symmetrical gas exhaust to control critical dimension uniformity in plasma reactors

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Sunnyvale, CA, United States of America

Ajit Balakrishna