Applied Materials, Inc.

Lam Research Corporation

Solyndra, LLC

Dan A Marohl

Avi Tepman

Phillip R Sommer

Phillip A Criminale

Timothy Joseph Franklin

Vijay D Parkhe

Ratson Morad

Konstantin Makhratchev

Steven E Babayan

Zhiqiang Guo

Ho Seon Shin

Steve E Babayan

Scott Edmonson

Thomas Joseph Banholzer

Chris Blank

Yezdi N Dordi

Robin W Cheung

Ashok K Sinha

Michael N Sugarman

Donald J Olgado

Joseph Stevens

Donald M Mintz

Mark Robert Denome

Ming-Kuei Tseng

Peter W Hey

Younes Achkire

Dan Carl

George Birkmaier

Eugene Ravinovich

Ivo Johannes Raaijmakers

Joseph Yudovsky

Hui W Chen

Steve G Ghanayem

Sergio Fukuda Shoji

Kenny King-tai Ngan

Gary C Ettinger

Brad L Mays

Alexander S Polyak

Justin Phi

Mark Lloyd

Jeff Brodine

Shen Peng

Haochuan Zhang

Kenneth Reese Reynolds

Craig Rosslee

Valentin Nikolov Todorow

Tza-Jing Gung

Andras Kuthi

Samer Banna

Sunil Kapoor

Vladimir Knyazik

Kyle Tantiwong

Kenny King-Tai Ngan

Jeffrey Allen Brodine

Michael Rosenstein

David M Schaefer

Julia S Svirchevski

Stephen Yuen

Tamarak Pandhumsoporn

Oscar Lopez

Chin-Yi Liu

David Setton

Gordon Peng

Tony P Schiavo, Jr

Tony Schiavo

Anna Marie Lloyd, Legal Representative

Alexander James Walker

Heng Liu

Niraj Vaghela

Jiawei Zhao

Kamesh Venkata Gadepally

Vitali Brand

Zachary Jake Blum

Jessica Jeana Kim

Matthew Christopher Clark

Nathan D Stein

Anthony Nguyen

A selected reject band non-RF-coupling tile includes a ground plate disposed on a first side of a printed circuit board. The selected reject band non-RF-coupling tile also includes a planar inductor disposed on a second side of the printed circuit board. The selected reject band non-RF-coupling tile also includes a conductive via structure extending through the printed circuit board. The conductive via structure electrically connects to both the ground plate and the planar inductor at a location near an interior end of the planar inductor. The selected reject band non-RF-coupling tile is used to shield enclosure walls and/or other electrical circuitry from RF fields. The selected reject band non-RF-coupling tile is also used to encapsulate an RF carrying component to block RF fields that emanate from the RF carrying component.

Selected reject band non-radiofrequency-coupling tile and associated methods and systems

A gas distribution device for a substrate processing system includes an upper plate including a first hole and a plurality of second holes and a lower plate. The lower plate includes a recessed region formed in one of an upper surface of the lower plate and a lower surface of the upper plate. The recessed region defines a plenum volume between the upper plate and the lower plate. The lower plate further includes a raised fence located within the recessed region. The fence separates the plenum volume into a first plenum and a second plenum, the first plenum is in fluid communication with the first hole, and the second plenum is in fluid communication with the plurality of second holes.

Multizone gas distribution plate for trench profile optimization

Implementations described herein provide a substrate support assembly which enables both lateral and azimuthal tuning of the heat transfer between an electrostatic chuck and a heating assembly. The substrate support assembly comprises a body having a substrate support surface and a lower surface, one or more main resistive heaters disposed in the body, a plurality of spatially tunable heaters disposed in the body, and a spatially tunable heater controller coupled to the plurality of spatially tunable heaters, the spatially tunable heater controller configured to independently control an output one of the plurality of spatially tunable heaters relative to another of the plurality of spatially tunable heaters.

Tunable temperature controlled substrate support assembly

A robot system for servicing a semiconductor tool includes a cart frame. An arm support frame is fixed to the cart frame and is coupled to a robot arm. An arm frame is connected by hinges to the arm support frame at a first end and to a fixture connect interface at a second end. The fixture connect interface connects to a docking fixture of the semiconductor tool. An arm locking mechanism is attached to the arm support frame for locking the arm frame, when rotated, to an extended position or a folded position. The fixture connect interface connects the cart frame to the semiconductor tool, when the arm frame is locked in the extended position.

Collaborative robot system on a mobile cart with a chamber docking system

A substrate processing system includes a processing chamber including a dielectric window and a substrate support arranged therein to support a substrate. A coil is arranged outside of the processing chamber adjacent to the dielectric window. A Faraday shield is arranged between the coil and the dielectric window. An RF generator is configured to supply RF power to the coil. The coil is coupled by stray capacitance and/or directly coupled to the Faraday shield. A capacitor is connected to one of the coil and the Faraday shield to adjust a position of a voltage standing wave along the coil.

Substrate processing system including coil with RF powered faraday shield

A method includes generating, external to a radio frequency (RF) environment and based on a process recipe, a first signal and a second signal. The method further includes converting the first signal into an alternative signal and transmitting, over a non-conductive communication link, the alternative signal to a converter within the RF environment within a processing chamber of a substrate processing system. The method further includes converting the alternative signal into a third signal by the converter inside the RF environment within the processing chamber. The method further includes controlling a first plurality of elements disposed within the RF environment within the processing chamber via one or more first devices disposed within the RF environment within the processing chamber using the third signal and controlling a second plurality of elements of the substrate processing system via one or more second devices of the substrate processing system using the second signal.

Consolidated filter arrangement for devices in an RF environment

A substrate carrier is described that uses a proportional thermal fluid delivery system. In one example the apparatus includes a heat exchanger to provide a thermal fluid to a fluid channel of a substrate carrier and to receive the thermal fluid from the fluid channel, the thermal fluid in the fluid channel to control the temperature of the carrier during substrate processing. A proportional valve controls the rate of flow of thermal fluid from the heat exchanger to the fluid channel. A temperature controller receives a measured temperature from a thermal sensor of the carrier and controls the proportional valve in response to the measured temperature to adjust the rate of flow.

Substrate carrier using a proportional thermal fluid delivery system

A coil portion is formed. A first articulation portion extends from the coil portion. A first mounting structure extends from the first articulation portion. The first mounting structure includes a first mounting region configured to mount in contact with a terminal of a first electrical component. The first articulation portion and the first mounting structure are configured to position the first mounting region at a location outside of a strong electromagnetic field emanating from the coil portion. A second articulation portion extends from the coil portion. A second mounting structure extends from the second articulation portion. The second mounting structure includes a second mounting region configured to mount in contact with a terminal of a second electrical component. The second articulation portion and the second mounting structure are configured to position the second mounting region at a location outside of the strong electromagnetic field emanating from the coil portion.

Articulated direct-mount inductor and associated systems and methods

A method includes generating, based on a process recipe, a first electrical control signal by a processing device external to a particular radio frequency (RF) environment. The method further includes converting the first electrical control signal into an alternative control signal, transmitting the alternative control signal to a converter within the particular RF environment over a non-conductive communication link, and converting the alternative control signal into a second electrical control signal by the converter. The method further includes controlling a first plurality of elements via one or more switching devices using the second electrical control signal. The method further includes generating, based on the process recipe, a third signal by the processing device and controlling a second plurality of elements disposed outside of the RF environment using the third signal. The first plurality of elements and the second plurality of elements are controlled substantially simultaneously based on the process recipe.

A heating system includes a first plurality of heating elements disposed within an electrostatic chuck and an electrically conductive housing. The heating system further includes one or more switching devices to control temperatures output by the first plurality of heating elements. The heating system further includes a converter that is electrically coupled to the one or more switching devices and disposed within the electrically conductive housing. The electrically conductive housing and the first plurality of heating elements are to operate in a radio frequency (RF) environment. A second plurality of elements are to operate outside of the RF environment. The converter is to communicate with a controller outside of the RF environment via a non-conductive communication link. The controller is to receive a process recipe and is to control the first plurality of heating elements and the second plurality of elements substantially simultaneously based on the process recipe.

Embodiments of inductively coupled plasma (ICP) reactors are provided herein. In some embodiments, a dielectric window for an inductively coupled plasma reactor includes: a body including a first side, a second side opposite the first side, an edge, and a center, wherein the dielectric window has a dielectric coefficient that varies spatially. In some embodiments, an apparatus for processing a substrate includes: a process chamber having a processing volume disposed beneath a lid of the process chamber; and one or more inductive coils disposed above the lid to inductively couple RF energy into and to form a plasma in the processing volume above a substrate support disposed within the processing volume; wherein the lid is a dielectric window comprising a first side and an opposing second side that faces the processing volume, and wherein the lid has a dielectric coefficient that spatially varies to provide a varied power coupling of RF energy from the one or more inductive coils to the processing volume.

Power deposition control in inductively coupled plasma (ICP) reactors

A system is disclosed for measuring an impedance of a plasma processing chamber. The system includes a radiofrequency signal generator configured to output a radiofrequency signal based on a frequency setpoint and provide an indication of an actual frequency of the radiofrequency signal, where the actual frequency can be different than the frequency setpoint. The system includes an impedance control module including at least one variable impedance control device. A difference between the actual frequency of the radiofrequency signal as output by the radiofrequency signal generator and the frequency setpoint is partially dependent upon a setting of the at least one variable impedance control device and is partially dependent upon the impedance of the plasma processing chamber. The system includes a connector configured to connect with a radiofrequency signal supply line of the plasma processing chamber. The impedance control module is connected between the radiofrequency signal generator and the connector.

Universal non-invasive chamber impedance measurement system and associated methods

Growing community of inventors

San Jose, CA, United States of America

Dan A Marohl