Applied Materials, Inc.

Lam Research Corporation

Other

Rotoflex, Inc.

Appiled Materials, Inc.

Arnold Kholodenko

Shamouil Shamouilian

Alexander M Veytser

Dennis Stanley Grimard

Wing Lau Cheng

Cheng-Yu (Sean) Lin

Ananda H Kumar

Semyon L Kats

You Wang

Kadthala Ramaya Narendrnath

Anwar Husain

Surinder S Bedi

Kenneth S Collins

Peter K Loewenhardt

Senh Thach

Gregory A Tomasch

Leon Ginzburg

Dan Maydan

Brian C Lue

Semyon Sherstinsky

Dan Katz

Robert J Steger

Timothy S Dyer

Arik Donde

Edwin Charles Weldon

Russell Martin

Mark Mandelboym

Dmitry Lubomirsky

Gerald Z Yin

Katrina Mikhaylichenko

Robert J O'Donnell

Mark Henry Wilcoxson

Mark Naoshi Kawaguchi

Michael G Chafin

Chii Guang Lee

Liang-Guo Wang

Efrain Quiles

Calvin R Augason

Jon T Clinton

Leonel Arturo Zuniga

Guang-Jye Shiau

Maya Shendon

Helen Cheng, Legal Representative

Brian Simmons

Vijay D Parkhe

Joseph Yudovsky

Avi Tepman

Jun Zhao

Hamid Noorbakhsh

Maitreyee Mahajani

Diana Xiaobing Ma

Robert Z Bachrach

Steve G Ghanayem

Siamak Salimian

Hongching Shan

Peter I Porshnev

Donald J K Olgado

Talex Sajoto

Cheng-Yu Lin

Syed Hasan Askari

Christopher Kimball

Tony Kaushal

Jonathan David Mohn

Leonid Selyutin

Yeuk-Fai Edwin Mok

Kwok Manus Wong

Steve S Mak

Gerhard M Schneider

Ke Ling Lee

Tai T Ngo

George Khait

Samuel C Wilson

James E Sammons, Iii

Alvin Lau

Gary C Hsueh

John W Rasnick

Michael Phillips

Hong Chin Shan

Liang Guo Wang

Michael S Rivkin

Leonid G Zeltser

Gregrory A Tomasch

Leonid Ginzburg

Anwer Husain

Alex Veytser

Shamouil Shamoulian

An optimized plasma processing chamber configured to provide a current path is provided. The optimized plasma processing chamber includes at least an upper electrode, a powered lower electrode, a heating plate, a cooling plate, a plasma chamber lid, and clamp ring. Both the heating plate and the cooling plate are disposed above the upper electrode whereas the heating plate is configured to heat the upper electrode while the cooling plate is configured to cool the upper electrode. The clamp ring is configured to secure the upper electrode to a plasma chamber lid and to provide a current path from the upper electrode to the plasma chamber lid. A pocket may be formed between the clamp ring and the upper electrode to hold at least the heater plate, wherein the pocket is configured to allow longitudinal and lateral tolerances for thermal expansion of the heater plate from repetitive thermal cycling.

Plasma processing chamber with a grounded electrode assembly

A proximity head defined by a body having a length. The body includes a main bore defined therein and extending along the length. A resistor bore is defined in the body and extends along the length. The resistor bore defined below the main bore. A first plurality of bores defined between the main bore and the resistor bore and a second plurality of bores defined between the resistor bore and an exterior surface of the body. The exterior surface of the body defining a proximity surface of the proximity head.

Proximity head having a fluid resistor

A first application of a cleaning material is made to a surface of a substrate. The cleaning material includes one or more viscoelastic materials for entrapping contaminants present on the surface of the substrate. A first application of a rinsing fluid is made to the surface of the substrate so as to rinse the cleaning material from the surface of the substrate. The first application of the rinsing fluid is also performed to leave a residual thin film of the rinsing fluid on the surface of the substrate. A second application of the cleaning material is made to the surface of the substrate having the residual thin film of rinsing fluid present thereon. A second application of the rinsing fluid is then made to the surface of the substrate so as to rinse the cleaning material from the surface of the substrate.

Multi-stage substrate cleaning method and apparatus

In an example embodiment, a linear wet system includes a carrier and a proximity head in a chamber. The proximity head includes three sections in a linear arrangement. The first section suctions liquid from the upper surface of a semiconductor wafer as the wafer is transported by the carrier under the proximity head. The second section is configured to cause a film (or meniscus) of cleaning foam which is a non-Newtonian fluid to flow onto the upper surface of the wafer. The third section is configured to cause a film of rinsing fluid to flow onto the upper surface of the wafer as the wafer is carried under the proximity head. The third section is defined partially around the second section and up to the first section, so that the third section and the first section create a confinement of the cleaning foam with respect to the chamber.

Confinement of foam delivered by a proximity head

A head for dispensing a thin film over a substrate is disclosed. The head includes a body assembly that extends between a first and a second end that is at least a width of the substrate. The body includes a main bore that is defined between the first and the second ends, the main bore connected to an upper side of a reservoir through a plurality of feeds that are defined between the main bore and the reservoir. The body also includes a plurality of outlets connected to a lower side of the reservoir and extend to an output slot. The plurality of feeds have a larger cross-sectional area than the plurality of outlets and the plurality of feeds are fewer than the plurality of outlets. Wherein fluid is configured to flow through the main bore, through the plurality of feeds along the bore and fill the reservoir up to at least the threshold level before fluid is evenly output as a film out of the output slot onto the substrate.

Single substrate processing head for particle removal using low viscosity fluid

A system for cleaning a substrate with a foam performs a method for generating a cleaning foam. In the first operation of the method, the system pumps a fluid into a premix chamber. The premix chamber is a component of a male plug which fits into a female housing in the system. Then the system injects a gas into the premix chamber to initiate generation of the foam from the fluid. The foam flows from the premix chamber into a sealed helical channel formed by a helical indentation on an outside surface of the male plug and an inner surface of the female housing to allow the foam to reach a desired state along a length of the sealed helical channel. In the last operation of the method, the foam outputs from an exit end of the helical channel through the male plug to a component of the system.

Method for using generator for foam to clean substrate

Conditioning fluid flow into a proximity head is provided for fluid delivery to a wafer surface. An upper plenum connected to a plurality of down flow bores is supplied by a main bore. The down flow bores provide fluid into the upper plenum, and a resistor bore is connected to the upper plenum. The resistor bore receives a resistor having a shape so as to limit flow of the fluid through the resistor bore. A lower plenum connected to the resistor bore is configured to receive fluid from the resistor bore as limited by the resistor for flow to a plurality of outlet ports extending between the lower plenum and surfaces of the head surface. Fluid flowing through the upper plenum, the resistor bore with the resistor and the lower plenum is substantially conditioned to define a substantially uniform fluid outflow from the plurality of outlet ports, across the width of the proximity head.

Apparatus for substantially uniform fluid flow rates relative to a proximity head in processing of a wafer surface by a meniscus

A system and method of forming and using a proximity head. The proximity head includes a head surface including a first zone, a second zone and an inner return zone. The first zone including a first flat surface region and multiple first discrete holes connected to a corresponding first conduit and arranged in a first row. The second zone including a second flat region and multiple second discrete holes connected to a corresponding second conduit. The inner return zone being disposed between and adjacent to the first zone and the second zone and including multiple inner return discrete holes connected to a corresponding inner return conduit and arranged in an inner return row. The first row and the inner return row are parallel. A portion of an edge of each of the inner return discrete holes is recessed into the head surface.

System, method and apparatus for maintaining separation of liquids in a controlled meniscus

A carrier structure for supporting a substrate when being processed by passing the carrier through a meniscus formed by upper and lower proximity heads is described. A method of manufacturing the carrier further described. The method includes forming a composite frame having a carbon fiber core, a top sheet, a bottom sheet, a layer of aramid fabric between the top sheet and the core and a second layer of aramid fabric between the bottom sheet and the core. The top sheet and the bottom are each formed from a polymer material. The method further includes forming an opening sized for receiving a substrate and providing a plurality of support pins extending into the opening for supporting the substrate within the opening. The opening is formed slightly larger than the substrate such that a gap exists between the substrate and the opening.

Method for manufacturing a hybrid composite wafer carrier for wet clean equipment

A drive rail includes a sealed interior cavity and an exterior drive surface that extends along a length of the drive rail. A first magnetic member is disposed within the interior cavity and adjacent to a surface of the interior cavity that is immediately opposite the exterior drive surface. A drive mechanism is disposed within the interior cavity and in connection with the first magnetic member, and is configured to move the first magnetic member within the interior cavity along the length of the drive rail, such that the first magnetic member remains immediately opposite the exterior drive surface. The first magnetic member is configured to magnetically couple through the exterior drive surface to a wafer carrier disposed adjacent to the exterior drive surface. Movement of the first magnetic member within the interior cavity along the drive rail causes corresponding movement of the wafer carrier along the exterior drive surface.

Wafer carrier drive apparatus and method for operating the same

In an example embodiment, a wet system delivers a flow of cleaning foam through a channel in a proximity head to a meniscus interfacing with a semiconductor wafer. The wet system diverts a sample of the flow from the channel through a transparent cell that is connected to the channel by an input passage that leads from the channel to the transparent cell and by an output passage that leads from the transparent cell back to the channel. The wet system illuminates the sample in the transparent cell with an LED from the top or the back and captures an image of the illuminated sample with a CCD camera. The image shows a morphological attribute of the cleaning foam such as bubble diameter or spacing. The wet system generates a statistical characterization from the morphological attribute and adjusts other attributes of the cleaning foam based on the statistical characterization.

In situ morphological characterization of foam for a proximity head

In an example embodiment, a device for generating a cleaning foam includes a female housing and a male plug. The plug includes an aperture into which a fluid flows from another component of the cleaning system. The plug includes a premix chamber which receives the fluid from the aperture and into which a gas is injected to form a foam. In an example embodiment, the chamber is a hollow cylinder and the gas is injected into the cylinder through channels which are tangential to the cylinder. The plug also includes a solid cylinder with a continuous helical indentation on the outside of the solid cylinder. When the male plug is inserted into the female housing, the continuous helical indentation and the inner surface of the housing form a helical channel through which the foam flows and is further mixed on its way back into the cleaning system.

Generator for foam to clean substrate

A carrier structure for supporting a substrate when being processed by passing the carrier through a meniscus formed by upper and lower proximity heads is described. The carrier includes a frame having an opening sized for receiving a substrate and a plurality of support pins for supporting the substrate within the opening, the opening being slightly larger than the substrate such that a gap exists between the substrate and the opening. The frame comprises a composite core, a top sheet, a bottom sheet, a layer of aramid fabric between the top sheet and the core and a second layer of aramid fabric between the bottom sheet and the core. The top sheet and the bottom sheet being formed from a polymer material. A method of manufacture is also described.

Hybrid composite wafer carrier for wet clean equipment

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San Francisco, CA, United States of America

Arnold Kholodenko