Spts Technologies Limited

Anthony Paul Wilby

Stephen Robert Burgess

Ian Moncrieff

Clive Luca Widdicks

Rhonda Hyndman

Steve Burgess

Scott Haymore

Paul Rich

Amit Rastogi

Mark Ian Carruthers

Adrian Thomas

Nicholas Rimmer

Paul Densley

P Densley

A method and apparatus are for controlling stress variation in a material layer formed via pulsed DC physical vapour deposition. The method includes the steps of providing a chamber having a target from which the material layer is formed and a substrate upon which the material layer is formable, and subsequently introducing a gas within the chamber. The method further includes generating a plasma within the chamber and applying a first magnetic field proximate the target to substantially localise the plasma adjacent the target. An RF bias is applied to the substrate to attract gas ions from the plasma toward the substrate and a second magnetic field is applied proximate the substrate to steer gas ions from the plasma to selective regions upon the material layer formed on the substrate.

Method and apparatus for controlling stress variation in a material layer formed via pulsed DC physical vapor deposition

A method is for cleaning a plasma etching apparatus of the type used to etch a substrate and having at least one chamber. The method includes sputtering a metallic material from an electrically conductive coil which is positioned within the at least one chamber onto an interior surface of the at least one chamber to perform a cleaning function.

Plasma etching apparatus

A plasma etching apparatus is for etching a substrate and includes at least one chamber, a substrate support positioned within the at least one chamber, and a plasma production device for producing a plasma for use in etching the substrate. The plasma production device comprises an electrically conductive coil which is positioned within the at least one chamber, and the coil is formed from a metallic material which can be sputtered onto an interior surface of the at least one chamber.

An ICP plasma etching apparatus for etching a substrate includes at least one chamber, a substrate support positioned within the chamber, a plasma production device for producing a plasma for use in etching the substrate, and a protective structure which surrounds the substrate support so that, in use, a peripheral portion of the substrate is protected from unwanted deposition of material. The protective structure is arranged to be electrically biased and is formed from a metallic material so that metallic material can be sputtered from the protective structure onto an interior surface of the chamber to adhere particulate material to the interior surface.

A method of degassing semiconductor substrates includes sequentially loading a plurality of semiconductor substrates into a degas apparatus, and degassing the semiconductor substrates in parallel, the degassing of each semiconductor substrate commencing at a different time related to the time at which the semiconductor substrate was loaded into the degas apparatus. The method further includes unloading a semiconductor substrate from the degas apparatus when the semiconductor substrate has been degassed, while semiconductor substrates which were loaded later in the sequence are still being degassed. The degassing of the semiconductor substrates is performed at pressure of less than 10Torr, and the degas apparatus is pumped continuously during the degassing of the semiconductor substrates.

Method of degassing

A method of processing a semiconductor workpiece includes placing a back surface of the workpiece on a workpiece support in a chamber so that the front surface of the workpiece faces into the chamber for processing, and the back surface is in fluid communication with a back region having an associated back gas pressure. The method further includes performing a workpiece processing step at a first chamber pressure Pand a first back pressure P, wherein Pand Pgive rise to a pressure differential, P&#x2212;P, and performing a workpiece cooling step at a second chamber pressure Pand a second back pressure P, wherein Pand Pare higher than Pand P, respectively.

Method and apparatus for processing a semiconductor workpiece

A method of depositing an amorphous layer of AlON includes providing an aluminum sputter target in a chamber, exposing the target and chamber to Oto saturate the exposed surfaces with oxygen, introducing a substrate into the chamber in an atmosphere containing at least nitrogen and oxygen, and sputtering the target in the nitrogen and oxygen atmosphere to deposit an amorphous AlON film.

Method of depositing amorphus aluminium oxynitride layer by reactive sputtering of an aluminium target in a nitrogen/oxygen atmosphere

A method induces plasma vapor deposition of metal into a recess in a workpiece. The method achieves re-sputtering of the metal at the base of the recess with a sputter gas by utilizing a mixture of Ar and He and/or Ne as the sputter gas with a ratio of He and/or Ne:Ar of at least about 10:1.

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Anthony Paul Wilby