Applied Materials, Inc.

Silicon Valley Group, Inc.

Dale Robert Du Bois

Juan Carlos Rocha-Alvarez

Ganesh Balasubramanian

Thomas E Nowak

Sanjeev Baluja

Jianhua Zhou

Amit Kumar Bansal

Karthik Janakiraman

Ramprakash Sankarakrishnan

Hari K Ponnekanti

Jeongmin Lee

David K Carlson

Visweswaren Sivaramakrishnan

Hichem M'Saad

Mohamad A Ayoub

Mark A Fodor

Scott A Hendrickson

Paul Dennis Connors

Tuan Anh Nguyen

Kwangduk Douglas Lee

Tom K Cho

Prashant Kumar Kulshreshtha

Kalyanjit Ghosh

Dustin Wenpin Ho

Robert Kim

Venkatanarayana Shankaramurthy

Andrzei Kaszuba

Karthik Thimmavajjula Narasimha

Mohsin Waqar

Saptarshi Basu

Liliya Krivulina

Brett Berens

Hiroyuki Ogiso

Rick Gilbert

Lipyeow Yap

Mehdi Vaez-Iravani

Deenesh Padhi

Todd J Egan

Paul B Comita

Edward W Budiarto

Terrance Y Lee

Norma B Riley

Chiu Chan

Khokan Chandra Paul

Bozhi Yang

Kirby Hane Floyd

Prajeeth Wilton

Mei Yin Chang

Karl Anthony Littau

Paul Benjamin Reuter

Semyon Sherstinsky

Arthur J Learn

Kien Nai Chuc

Hang Yu

John Joseph Mazzocco

Juan Carlos Rocha

Eller Y Juco

Patrick Reilly

Shahid Shaikh

Siu Fai Cheng

Susan G Telford

Ronald Lloyd Rose

Meng Chu Tseng

Binh Nguyen

Nicholas E Miller

Richard A Seilheimer

Charles C Harris

James F Roberts

JuanCarlos Rocha-Alvarez

Jeffrey B Robinson

A method and apparatus for positioning and heating a substrate in a chamber are provided. In one embodiment, the apparatus comprises a substrate support assembly having a support surface adapted to receive the substrate and a plurality of centering fingers for supporting the substrate at a distance parallel to the support surface and for centering the substrate relative to a reference axis substantially perpendicular to the support surface. The plurality of the centering fingers are movably disposed along a periphery of the support surface, and each of the plurality of centering fingers comprises a first end portion for either contacting or supporting a peripheral edge of the substrate.

Dual temperature heater

Implementations disclosed herein describe a bevel etch apparatus within a loadlock bevel etch chamber and methods of using the same. The bevel etch apparatus has a mask assembly within the loadlock bevel etch chamber. During an etch process, the mask assembly delivers a gas flow to control bevel etch without the use of a shadow frame. As such, the edge exclusion at the bevel edge can be reduced, thus increasing product yield.

Loadlock integrated bevel etcher system

Embodiments described herein provide an apparatus for improving deposition uniformity by improving plasma profile using a tri-cut chamber liner. The apparatus also includes a lid assembly having a split process stack for reducing downtime and a bottom heater support for more efficient heating of chamber walls.

Chamber design for semiconductor processing

An apparatus and method are provided for controlling the intensity and distribution of a plasma discharge in a plasma chamber. In one embodiment, a shaped electrode is embedded in a substrate support to provide an electric field with radial and axial components inside the chamber. In another embodiment, the face plate electrode of the showerhead assembly is divided into zones by isolators, enabling different voltages to be applied to the different zones. Additionally, one or more electrodes may be embedded in the chamber side walls.

Tunable ground planes in plasma chambers

Embodiments of the present disclosure generally provide apparatus and methods for monitoring one or more process parameters, such as temperature of substrate support, at various locations. One embodiment of the present disclosure provides a sensor column for measuring one or more parameters in a processing chamber. The sensor column includes a tip for contacting a chamber component being measured, a protective tube having an inner volume extending from a first end and second end, wherein the tip is attached to the first end of the protective tube and seals the protective tube at the first end, and a sensor disposed near the tip. The inner volume of the protective tube houses connectors of the sensor, and the tip is positioned in the processing chamber through an opening of the processing chamber during operation.

Temperature measurement in multi-zone heater

Embodiments of the present invention provide apparatus and methods for performing UV treatment and chemical treatment and/or deposition in the same chamber. One embodiment of the present invention provides a processing chamber including a UV transparent gas distribution showerhead disposed above a substrate support located in an inner volume of the processing chamber, a UV transparent window disposed above the UV transparent gas distribution showerhead, and a UV unit disposed outside the inner volume. The UV unit is configured to direct UV lights towards the substrate support through the UV transparent window and the UV transparent gas distribution showerhead.

Apparatus and method for UV treatment, chemical treatment, and deposition

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to apparatus and methods for forming films having uniformity of thickness on substrates. Embodiments of the present disclosure may be used to measure thickness or other properties of films being deposited on a substrate without knowing beforehand the surface properties of the substrate. Embodiments of the present disclosure may be used to measure thickness or other properties of a plurality of layers being formed. For example, embodiments of the present disclosure may be used in measuring thickness of vertical memory stacks.

In-situ metrology method for thickness measurement during PECVD processes

The present disclosure generally relates to semiconductor process equipment used to transfer semiconductor substrates between process chambers. More specifically, embodiments described herein are related to systems and methods used to transfer, or swap, semiconductor substrates between process chambers using a transport device that employs at least two blades for the concurrent transfer of substrates between processing chambers.

Wafer swapper

Methods and apparatus for forming thin films are described. A semiconductor processing chamber includes a substrate support, an electrode opposite the substrate support, the electrode having a gas inlet in a peripheral region thereof, and an edge ring disposed around a peripheral region of the substrate support, the edge ring having a first barrier and a second barrier, wherein each of the first barrier and the second barrier mates with a recess in the electrode. The edge ring provides a gas flow path through a processing zone between the substrate support and the electrode that is substantially parallel to the upper surface of the substrate support. The electrode may be powered to enhance formation of a film on a substrate.

PEALD apparatus to enable rapid cycling

A method and apparatus for heating a substrate in a chamber are provided. an apparatus for positioning a substrate in a processing chamber. In one embodiment, the apparatus comprises a substrate support assembly having a support surface adapted to receive the substrate and a plurality of centering members for supporting the substrate at a distance parallel to the support surface and for centering the substrate relative to a reference axis substantially perpendicular to the support surface. The plurality of the centering members are movably disposed along a periphery of the support surface, and each of the plurality of centering members comprises a first end portion for either contacting or supporting a peripheral edge of the substrate.

Implementations described herein generally relate to a method and apparatus for depositing material on a substrate. In one implementation, a processing chamber for processing a substrate includes a chamber body and a substrate support disposed within the chamber body and adapted to support the substrate thereon. The processing chamber includes a plurality of gas inlets positioned above the substrate support to direct a process gas above the substrate support. A movable diffuser is pivotally mounted adjacent the substrate support via a pivoting mount. The movable diffuser includes a deposition head having a plurality of inlet openings for directing process gas toward the substrate support and a plurality of exhaust openings for providing an exhaust to process gas disposed above the substrate support by the movable diffuser.

Gas distribution apparatus for processing chambers

Embodiments of the invention contemplate a shadow ring that provides increased or decreased and more uniform deposition on the edge of a wafer. By removing material from the top and/or bottom surfaces of the shadow ring, increased edge deposition and bevel coverage can be realized. In one embodiment, the material on the bottom surface is reduced by providing a recessed slot on the bottom surface. By increasing the amount of material of the shadow ring, the edge deposition and bevel coverage is reduced. Another approach to adjusting the deposition at the edge of the wafer includes increasing or decreasing the inner diameter of the shadow ring. The material forming the shadow ring may also be varied to change the amount of deposition at the edge of the wafer.

Shadow ring for modifying wafer edge and bevel deposition

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Los Gatos, CA, United States of America

Dale Robert Du Bois