Hughes Aircraft Company

The Perkin-elmer Corporation

Charles B Zarowin

L David Bollinger

George N Steinberg

Alan R Reinberg

Dennis F Elwell

Edward Gratrix

Keith Daniell

N Venkataramanan

Michael Borden

Matthew Magida

Passivating coatings are formed on populated electronic boards, such as a sealed chip on board electronic module, or the like, using a high density plasma deposition method that employs an electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) reactor. A populated electronic board is disposed in the electron cyclotron resonance reactor. A high density nitride plasma is generated by means of electron resonance in the reactor. The plasma is formed adjacent to a magnetic field coil where an ECR condition is established. The high density plasma forms a passivating coating that covers the populated electronic board with a silicon nitride passivating layer. To form the plasma, a mixture of silane and ammonia may be injected into the reactor to produce excited atoms that form a substantially oxygen-free nitride passivating coating. The substantially oxygen-free nitride passivating coating is deposited at a relatively low temperature, typically below 150 degrees Celsius and preferably below 100 degrees Celsius so that the components of the populated board are not damaged.

Passivation of electronic modules using high density plasmas

A plasma is used in conjunction with a plasma assisted chemical etching material removal tool 10 to rapidly and precisely polish and smooth a substrate without mechanically contacting the surface. The pressure of a process gas, which disassociates into reactive plasma species in the presence of an applied radio frequency field, is controlled so as to allow the selection of a primarily unidirectional or a primarily omnidirectional polishing and smoothing mechanism.

Method and apparatus for non-contact plasma polishing and smoothing of

A reactor 10 having a vacuum housing 30 which encloses a plasma chamber 14 is used to perform local plasma assisted chemical etching on an etchable substrate 12. The chamber 14 is movable and is sized according to the removal material footprint desired. An rf driven electrode 22 and rf driven gas diffuser 22 have the same diameter as the chamber 14. The substrate 12 is mounted on a substrate holder 44 which also acts as the other electrode. The holder 44 is mounted on an X-Y positioning table 46. A reactive gas is flowed into the chamber with rf power so as to break the reactive gas into a plasma. The plasma chamber 14 which locally confines the plasma may be scanned over the substrate surface while the gap between the chamber and the substrate is varied to yield a desired etch profile.

Methods and apparatus for confinement of a plasma etch region for

An electrode assembly (10) for use in confined plasma assisted chemical etching includes an electrode (16) having a D.C. voltage source (46) connected thereto in addition to a source (60) of R. F. voltage such that ions formed during during plasma etching process are slowed or repelled from the electrode (16) as well as from a surrounding plasma confining member (18).

Electrode assembly useful in confined plasma assisted chemical etching

A method to determine the tool path of a material removal tool which is part of a system to shape the surface of a substrate is disclosed. The method conditions initial metrology data of the substrate into a dwell time versus position on the surface for the removal tool. The dwell time array is subsequently converted into a velocity versus position array so that a position controller means may be utilized to guide the movement of the substrate with respect to the removal tool to perform precise material removal on the surface of the substrate.

Method to determine tool paths for thinning and correcting errors in

A gas, which is flowed into a plasma chamber 12 positioned 'upstream' from a etching reaction site on a substrate 20, is converted into a plasma and its active species by the application of excitation. The means for excitation may be radio frequency power or microwave power. The excitation is decoupled from the substrate so as to prevent 'print through' effects caused by electrical and geometric characteristic of the substrate. The active species are then flowed 'downstream' from the plasma chamber 12 to the surface of the substrate 20 through an outlet 16 having an interactive flange 18 attached to the terminal end. The interactive flange 18 provides a surface separate from the substrate to consume the active species. The interactive flange inhibits the etching reaction from occurring outside of the local material removal footprint. The distance between the oulet and surface of the substrate is adjustable to provide a means to control the material removal footprint and removal footprint profile.

Methods and apparatus for generating a plasma for 'downstream' rapid

A system for thinning wafers includes thickness measuring apparatus that provides information to a computer for generating a memory map of the wafer surface. The memory map is used to control a material removal apparatus that thins the wafer to a uniform thickness.

System for removing material from semiconductor wafers using a contained

A high pressure plasma is used in conjunction with a plasma assisted chemical etching material removal tool 10 to rapidly remove subsurface damage from a substrate without mechanically contacting the surface and without introducing new microscopic or atomic damage to the substrate.

Method and apparatus for removal of subsurface damage in semiconductor

A system for fabricating optical elements includes a source of optical radiation that provides an optical beam, the system includes an intensity controller in the path of the beam. The intensity controlled beam is directed toward a substrate disposed on a stage. The stage is adopted to be controllably translated in accordance with an optical intensity map.

System for fabricating micro optical elements

A process is described for the formation of high temperature superconducting materials from perovskites by inductively coupled plasma assisted oxidation. An inductively coupled plasma reactor is used to oxidize oxygen deficient perovskites in less time and at lower temperatures than previously possible. High power densities are created within the plasma reactor. This is thought to contribute to the rapid and low temperature phase change during oxidation from tetragonal to orthorhombic crystal structure apparently required for superconductivity at temperatures greater than approximately 77.degree. K. The low temperature and rapid processing time permits the application of conventional lithographic semiconductor manufacturing techniques to be applied to the potentially high temperature superconducting perovskite materials.

Plasma assisted oxidation of perovskites for forming high temperature

The present invention is directed to method and apparatus for figuring a surface by plasma assisted chemical transport by means of mounting the surface to be processed on at least one electrode of an R.F. driven reactor having two parallel plate electrodes; passing reactive gas through the reactor to establish gas discharge by the R.F. power; while controlling the ion energies of the reactive gas; and while controlling the removal rate of different areas of the surface by using a substantially smaller surface area electrode than said surface area so that varying the amount of time the small surface area electrode spends at each region shapes the surface. According to one aspect of the invention optical measurement of said surface is affected in quasi real time.

Optical figuring by plasma assisted chemical transport and etching

Improved diamond-like carbon films of improved properties are deposited on various substrates utilizing a plasma assisted chemical vapor transport process (PACVT) process in which hydrogen is employed as the reactive process feedgas and in which the deposition process is conducted in a controllably energetic ion bombardment of the surface on which the films are grown by introducing the hydrogen feedgas into the reactor volume through a porous graphite electrode into a defined plasma geometry.

Diamond-like carbon films and process for production thereof

Apparatus for plasma etching of semiconductor devices. A plasma chamber is inductively coupled to a source of A.C. power wherein the semiconductor devices are etched. Alternately, the semiconductor devices may be etched or stripped at a location downstream of the plasma chamber.

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Rowayton, CT, United States of America

Charles B Zarowin