Applied Materials, Inc.

Lam Research Corporation

Novellus Systems Incorporated

Dhritiman Subha Kashyap

Sanjeev Baluja

Kartik Bhupendra Shah

Joseph F AuBuchon

Tejas Ulavi

Michael Robert Rice

Jared Ahmad Lee

Ashutosh Agarwal

Prahallad Iyengar

Vijay D Parkhe

David Cohen

Muhannad Mustafa

Eric J Hoffmann

Joseph Aubuchon

Amit Rajendra Sherekar

Youngki Chang

Bart Jan Van Schravendijk

Hanhong Chen

Kevin Griffin

Kaihan Abidi Ashtiani

Sanjay Gopinath

Shambhu Nath Roy

Karthik Ramanathan

Satish Radhakrishnan

Kenneth Brian Doering

Surajit Kumar

Vincent Burkhart

Chaowei Wang

Rakesh Ramadas

Natan Solomon

Gopu Krishna

Yanjun Xia

Davinder Sharma

Naveen Kumar Nagaraja

Dhivanraj Subramanian

Shashidhara Patel H B

Parth Swaroop

Jason Stevens

Gas distribution plate

Dual channel showerhead assemblies are described. In some embodiments, the dual channel showerhead assemblies, which include a showerhead upper plate and a showerhead lower plate, enable delivery of mutually incompatible precursors along separate channels that mix in the process zone above a wafer. The dual channel showerhead assemblies provide at least two separate gas paths. In some embodiments, the hole design and hole distribution are configured for minimal jetting effect and plenum volumes for fast purging. The dual channel showerhead assemblies described herein may have a reduced purge out time compared to single channel showerheads, spiral dual channel showerheads, and bonded dual channel showerheads.

Dual channel showerhead assembly

Gas mixer

Processing chambers, substrate supports and thermal shields are described. A thermal shield comprises a disc-shaped body having a thickness, an outer diameter with a first edge and a second edge at opposite ends of a diameter of the disc-shaped body, a front surface and a back surface defining the thickness. The front surface has a first longitudinal region comprising the first edge and a second longitudinal region comprising the second edge. Coating one or more of the first longitudinal region or the second longitudinal region with an emissivity material (i.e., emissivity) reduces side to side temperature variation. In some embodiments, processing chambers having the thermal shield described herein consume less power than comparative processing chambers that do not include a thermal shield.

Thermal shield for processing chamber

A heater assembly having a backside purge gap formed between a top plate and a heater of the heater assembly, the top plate having a top plate wall. The top plate wall having an upper portion, a middle portion and a lower portion, the middle portion forming an incline relative to the top portion.

Heater assembly with purge gap control and temperature uniformity for batch processing chambers

Substrate supports comprising a plurality of bonded plates forming a single component support body and methods of forming the substrate supports are described. The single component support body has an outer peripheral edge, a top surface and a bottom surface. A pocket is formed in the top surface and has a bottom surface, a depth and an outer peripheral edge. A purge ring is spaced a distance from the outer peripheral edge and comprises at least one opening in the top surface in fluid communication with a purge gas line within the body thickness.

Wafer heater with backside and integrated bevel purge

Substrate supports comprising a top plate positioned on a shaft are described. The top plate including a primary heating element a first depth from the surface of the top plate, a inner zone heating element a second depth from the surface of the top plate and an outer zone heating element a third depth from the surface of the top plate. Substrate support assemblies comprising a plurality of substrate supports and methods of processing a substrate are also disclosed.

Pedestal heater for spatial multi-wafer processing tool

Apparatus and methods for providing high velocity gas flow showerheads for deposition chambers are described. The showerhead has a faceplate in contact with a backing plate that has a concave portion to provide a plenum between the backing plate and the faceplate. A plurality of thermal elements is within the concave portion of the backing plate and extends to contact the faceplate.

Gas distribution plate for thermal deposition

Methods, software systems and processes to develop surrogate model-based optimizers for controlling and optimizing flow and pressure of purges between a showerhead and a heater having a substrate support to control non-uniformity inherent in a processing chamber due to geometric configuration and process regimes. The flow optimizer process utilizes experimental data from optimal process space coverage models, generated simulation data and statistical machine learning tools (i.e. regression models and global optimizers) to predict optimal flow rates for any user-specified process regime.

Machine learning based smart process recipe builder to improve azimuthal flow and thickness uniformity

Gas distribution assemblies and methods for providing a flow of gases to a process station are described. The gas distribution assemblies comprise a pumping liner with a showerhead and a gas funnel positioned therein. The pumping liner has an inner wall that slants at a first angle relative to a central axis of the gas distribution assembly so that the inner wall adjacent the bottom wall of the pumping liner is closer to the central axis than the inner wall adjacent the top wall. The gas funnel and pumping liner form a plenum between the outer wall of the gas funnel, a cavity in the bottom wall of the gas funnel and the inner wall of the pumping liner.

Thermally uniform deposition station

Provided are gas distribution apparatus with a showerhead having a front plate and a back plate spaced to form a gas volume, the front plate having an inner surface adjacent the gas volume and an outer surface with a plurality of apertures extending therethrough, the gas volume having a center region and an outer region; a first inlet in fluid communication with the center region of the gas volume, the inlet having an inside and an outside; and a mixer disposed on the inside of the inlet to increase gas flow temperature. Also provided are processing chamber apparatus and methods of depositing a film.

Showerhead with inlet mixer

Apparatus and methods to process one or more wafers are described. A processing chamber comprises a first processing station comprising a first gas injector having a first face, a first emissivity and a first temperature, a second processing station comprising a second gas injector having a second face, a second emissivity and a second temperature, and a substrate support assembly comprising a plurality of substantially coplanar support surfaces, the substrate support assembly configured to move the support surfaces between the first processing station and the second processing station. When a wafer is on the support surfaces, a temperature skew of less than about 0.5&#xb0; C. is developed upon moving the wafer between the stations in about 0.5 seconds.

Spatial wafer processing with improved temperature uniformity

Growing community of inventors

Bengaluru, India

Dhritiman Subha Kashyap