Applied Materials, Inc.

Chinh Dinh

Sergey G Belostotskiy

Srinivas D Nemani

Andrew Nguyen

Qingjun Zhou

Kartik Ramaswamy

Hiroji Hanawa

Sean S Kang

David T Or

Lawrence Wong

Nancy Fung

Michael G Chafin

Jeremiah T Pender

Lina Zhu

A direct (DC) voltage is applied to an electrode at a voltage value to clamp a workpiece to an electrostatic chuck in a processing chamber. The electrode is embedded into the electrostatic chuck. An electrostatic chuck current through the electrode at the DC voltage is measured. A DC self bias induced on the workpiece by a plasma is determined based on the electrostatic chuck current and the applied voltage.

Non-intrusive measurement of a wafer DC self-bias in semiconductor processing equipment

A method for etching a dielectric layer disposed on a substrate is provided. The method includes de-chucking the substrate from an electrostatic chuck in an etching processing chamber, and cyclically etching the dielectric layer while the substrate is de-chucked from the electrostatic chuck. The cyclical etching includes remotely generating a plasma in an etching gas mixture supplied into the etching processing chamber to etch the dielectric layer disposed on the substrate at a first temperature. Etching the dielectric layer generates etch byproducts. The cyclical etching also includes vertically moving the substrate towards a gas distribution plate in the etching processing chamber, and flowing a sublimation gas from the gas distribution plate towards the substrate to sublimate the etch byproducts. The sublimation is performed at a second temperature, wherein the second temperature is greater than the first temperature.

Temperature ramping using gas distribution plate heat

A method of etching silicon oxide from a trench is described which allows more homogeneous etch rates across a varying pattern on a patterned substrate. The method also provides a more rectilinear profile following the etch process. Methods include a sequential exposure of gapfill silicon oxide. The gapfill silicon oxide is exposed to a local plasma treatment prior to a remote-plasma dry etch which may produce salt by-product on the surface. The local plasma treatment has been found to condition the gapfill silicon oxide such that the etch process proceeds at a more even rate within each trench and across multiple trenches. The salt by-product may be removed by raising the temperature in a subsequent sublimation step.

Silicon oxide recess etch

Embodiments of sensor devices for characterizing magnetic fields formed in substrate processing systems and methods of use thereof are provided herein. In some embodiments, an apparatus for characterizing a magnetic field in a substrate processing system may include a carrier having a form substantially similar to a substrate to be processed in the substrate processing system. One or more magnetic sensors are disposed on the carrier for measuring a magnitude of a magnetic field formed in the processing system in an x-, y-, and z-direction. A microprocessor is coupled to the one or more magnetic sensors to sample data representative of the magnitude of the magnetic field in the x-, y-, and z-directions proximate a position of each sensor. A memory device is coupled to the microprocessor for storing the sampled data. A power source is provided to supply power to each magnetic sensor and the microprocessor.

Apparatus for characterizing a magnetic field in a magnetically enhanced substrate processing system

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San Jose, CA, United States of America

Chinh Dinh