Applied Materials, Inc.

Be Van Vo

Salvador P Umotoy

Lawrence Chung-Lai Lei

Avi Tepman

Chien-Teh Kao

Joel M Huston

Anh Ngoc Nguyen

Sergio Edelstein

Kenneth Tsai

Son Trinh

Steve H Chiao

James J Chen

An improved plasma applicator for remotely generating a plasma for use in semiconductor manufacturing is provided. In one embodiment, a plasma applicator is comprised of a chamber assembly, a removable waveguide adapter and a circular clamp which secures the adapter to the chamber assembly. The chamber assembly includes an aperture plate, a microwave transparent window, a chamber body and a microwave sensor which is mounted on the chamber body. The chamber body has a proximate end opening adapted to admit microwave energy into the cavity and a distal end disposed generally on the opposite side of the cavity from the proximate end opening. The chamber body further has a gas outlet port adapted to permit the flow of an excited gas out of the cavity and a gas inlet port adapted to admit a precursor gas into the cavity. The gas inlet port has a center axis which is disposed between the proximate end opening of the chamber body and the midpoint between the proximate end opening and the distal end of the body.

Resonant chamber applicator for remote plasma source

An apparatus for wafer processing, which comprises a chamber body and a heated liner which are thermally isolated from each other by isolating pins. During wafer processing, e.g., deposition of titanium nitride film by thermal reaction between titanium tetrachloride and ammonia, a wafer substrate is heated to a reaction temperature in the range of 600-700&deg; C. by a heated support pedestal. The chamber liner and the interior chamber walls are maintained at a temperature between 150-250&deg; C. to prevent deposition of undesirable by-products inside the chamber. This facilitates the chamber cleaning procedure, which can be performed using an in-situ chlorine-based process. The excellent thermal isolation between the heated liner and the chamber body allows the chamber exterior to be maintained at a safe operating temperature of 60-65&deg; C. A heated exhaust assembly is also used in conjunction with the process chamber to remove exhaust gases and reaction by-products. External heaters are used to maintain the exhaust assembly at a temperature of about 150-200&deg; C. to minimize undesirable deposits on the interior surfaces of the exhaust assembly.

High temperature chemical vapor deposition chamber

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Santa Clara, CA, United States of America

Be Van Vo