Applied Materials, Inc.

Alan Hiroshi Ouye

Ling Chen

Vincent W Ku

Dien-Yeh Wu

Hua Chung

Mei Yin Chang

Seshadri Ganguli

Christophe Marcadal

Jenny Lin

Norman M Nakashima

Ajay Kumar

Madhavi R Chandrachood

Richard Lewington

Sheeba J Panayil

Darin Bivens

Amitabh Sabharwal

Alexander N Lerner

Michael N Grimbergen

Graeme Jamieson Scott

Thorsten B Lill

Pravin K Narwankar

Valentin Nikolov Todorow

Son Truong Nguyen

James Matthew Holden

Kenric T Choi

Shreyas Kher

Aparna Iyer

Paul L Deaton

Irena H Wysok

Nelson A Yee

Xiaozhou Che

Khai Ngo

Keven Kaisheng Yu

Richard Gustav Hagborg

Paul Chhabra

Dien-Yeh (Daniel) Wu

Madhavi R Chandraachood

Methods and systems for monitoring film thickness using a sensor assembly include a process chamber having a chamber body, a substrate support disposed in the chamber body, a lid disposed over the chamber body, and a sensor assembly coupled to the chamber body at a lower portion of the sensor assembly. The sensor assembly is coupled to the lid at an upper portion of the sensor assembly. The sensor assembly includes one or more apertures disposed through one or more sides of the sensor assembly, and the one or more sensors are disposed in the sensor assembly through the one or more of the apertures.

Sensor assembly and methods of vapor monitoring in process chambers

Methods of and carriers for dicing semiconductor wafers, each wafer having a plurality of integrated circuits, are described. In an example, a cover ring for protecting a carrier and substrate assembly during an etch process includes an inner opening having a diameter smaller than the diameter of a substrate of the carrier and substrate assembly. An outer frame surrounds the inner opening. The outer frame has a bevel for accommodating an outermost portion of the substrate of the carrier and substrate assembly.

Proximity contact cover ring for plasma dicing

Embodiments of the invention generally provide a lid heater for a plasma processing chamber. In one embodiment, a lid heater assembly is provided that includes a thermally conductive base. The thermally conductive base has a planar ring shape defining an inner opening. The lid heater assembly further includes a heating element disposed on the thermally conductive base, and an insulated center core disposed across the inner opening of the thermally conductive base.

Chamber lid heater ring assembly

Methods of and apparatuses for dicing semiconductor wafers, each wafer having a plurality of integrated circuits, are described. In an example, a shadow ring assembly for a plasma processing chamber includes an annular body including a thermally conductive material. The annular body includes a top surface to face an interior of the plasma chamber, and a bottom surface to face a substrate carrier in the plasma chamber. A plurality of posts are attached to the annular body and positioned substantially below the bottom surface of the annular body. Each of the plurality of posts includes an inner core of thermal pyrolytic graphite (TPG). The shadow ring assembly also includes a plasma resistant coating on the annular body and the plurality of posts.

Thermal pyrolytic graphite shadow ring assembly for heat dissipation in plasma chamber

Embodiments of the present invention generally provide an inductively coupled plasma (ICP) reactor having a substrate RF bias that is capable of control of the RF phase difference between the ICP source (a first RF source) and the substrate bias (a second RF source) for plasma processing reactors used in the semiconductor industry. Control of the RF phase difference provides a powerful knob for fine process tuning. For example, control of the RF phase difference may be used to control one or more of average etch rate, etch rate uniformity, etch rate skew, critical dimension (CD) uniformity, and CD skew, CD range, self DC bias control, and chamber matching.

Inductively coupled plasma reactor having RF phase control and methods of use thereof

Methods of and apparatuses for dicing semiconductor wafers, each wafer having a plurality of integrated circuits, are described. In an example, a plasma thermal shield for a plasma processing chamber includes an annular ring body having an inner opening. A plasma-facing surface of the annular ring body has a general topography. A bottom surface of the annular ring body reciprocates the general topography with recessed regions disposed therein, providing one or more protruding regions at the bottom surface of the annular ring body.

Plasma thermal shield for heat dissipation in plasma chamber

Methods of and apparatuses for dicing semiconductor wafers, each wafer having a plurality of integrated circuits, are described. In an example, a tape frame lift assembly for a plasma processing chamber includes a capture single ring having an upper surface for supporting a tape frame of a substrate support and for cooling the tape frame. The tape frame lift assembly also includes one or more capture lift arms for moving the capture single ring to and from transfer and processing positions. The tape frame assembly also includes one or more captured lift plate portions, one captured lift plate portion corresponding to one capture lift arm, the one or more captured lift plate portions for coupling the one or more capture lift arms to the capture single ring.

Cooled tape frame lift and low contact shadow ring for plasma heat isolation

Apparatus and method for forming thin layers on a substrate are provided. A processing chamber has a gas delivery assembly that comprises a lid with a cap portion and a covering member that together define an expanding channel at a central portion of the lid, the covering member having a tapered bottom surface extending from the expanding channel to a peripheral portion of the covering member. Gas conduits are coupled to the expanding channel and positioned at an angle from a center of the expanding channel to form a circular gas flow through the expanding channel. The bottom surface of the chamber lid is shaped and sized to substantially cover the substrate receiving surface. One or more valves are coupled to the passageway, and one or more gas sources are coupled to each valve. A choke is disposed on the chamber lid adjacent a perimeter of the tapered bottom surface.

Gas delivery apparatus and method for atomic layer deposition

A method and apparatus for etching photomasks is provided herein. In one embodiment, the apparatus comprises a process chamber having a support pedestal adapted for receiving a photomask. An ion-neutral shield is disposed above the pedestal and a deflector plate assembly is provided above the ion-neutral shield. The deflector plate assembly defines a gas flow direction for process gases towards the ion-neutral shield, while the ion-neutral shield is used to establish a desired distribution of ion and neutral species in a plasma for etching the photomask.

Method and apparatus for photomask plasma etching

Embodiments described herein are directed to an apparatus for generating a precursor for a semiconductor processing system. In one embodiment, an apparatus for generating a precursor gas during a vapor deposition process is described. The apparatus includes a canister containing an interior volume between a lid and a bottom, a gaseous inlet and a gaseous outlet disposed on the lid, a plurality of silos coupled to the bottom and extending from a lower region to an upper region of the interior volume, and a tantalum precursor having a chlorine concentration of about 5 ppm or less contained within the lower region of the canister.

Method and apparatus for generating a precursor for a semiconductor processing system

A method and apparatus for etching photomasks are provided herein. The apparatus includes a process chamber with a shield above a substrate support. The shield comprises a plate with apertures, and the plate has two zones with at least one characteristic, such as material or potential bias, that is different from each other. The method provides for etching a photomask substrate with a distribution of ions and neutral species that pass through the shield.

An apparatus and method for performing a cyclical layer deposition process, such as atomic layer deposition is provided. In one aspect, the apparatus includes a substrate support having a substrate receiving surface, and a chamber lid comprising a tapered passageway extending from a central portion of the chamber lid and a bottom surface extending from the passageway to a peripheral portion of the chamber lid, the bottom surface shaped and sized to substantially cover the substrate receiving surface. The apparatus also includes one or more valves coupled to the gradually expanding channel, and one or more gas sources coupled to each valve.

Gas delivery apparatus for atomic layer deposition

Apparatus and method for forming thin layers on a substrate are provided. A processing chamber has a gas delivery assembly that comprises a lid with a cap portion and a covering member that together define an expanding channel at a central portion of the lid, the covering member having a tapered bottom surface extending from the expanding channel to a peripheral portion of the covering member. Gas conduits are coupled to the expanding channel and positioned at an angle from a center of the expanding channel to form a circular gas flow through the expanding channel, The bottom surface of the chamber lid is shaped and sized to substantially cover the substrate receiving surface. One or more valves are coupled to the passageway, and one or more gas sources are coupled to each valve. A choke is disposed on the chamber lid adjacent a perimeter of the tapered bottom surface.

Growing community of inventors

San Mateo, CA, United States of America

Alan Hiroshi Ouye