Tokyo Electron Limited

Doug Caldwell

Jason Smolanoff

Thomas J Licata

Glyn J Reynolds

Bruce David Gittleman

Michael James Lombardi

Albert Garcia, Jr

Thomas J Horback

Dean Mize

Mark McNicholas

Gon Wang

Jim Zibrida

A backplane assembly for a substrate processing system that is selectively configurable to provide an effective thermal contact with substrates of differing sizes. The backplane assembly includes a backplane base installed in a vacuum chamber of the substrate processing system and plural faceplates which are removably mountable to the backplane base. The backplane assembly is operable for regulating the temperature of the substrate and include elements that promote the efficient transfer of heat between the backplane base and the faceplate to perform the temperature regulation during processing. Each of the faceplates has a contact surface dimensioned and configured to engage a correspondingly dimensioned and/or configured type of substrate. The faceplates are readily demountable from the backplane base for exchange to accommodate a change in the dimension and/or configuration of the substrates being processed by the substrate processing system without removing the backplane base from the vacuum chamber.

Universal backplane assembly and methods

Damage to a gallium arsenide substrate during plasma ignition for PVD processing is avoided by a virtual shutter, which provides the functions without the disadvantages of a mechanical shutter to minimize the density of high energy particles created during plasma ignition from reaching the GaAs substrate. A plasma ignition process sequence uses a high pressure gas ignition gas burst in combination with the control of other parameters, such as (a) varying the plasma ignition gas composition to include xenon, krypton or fluorinated molecular gases, (b) varying target-to-substrate distance to at least double the distance during plasma ignition, (c) increasing the magnetron magnetic field strength either permanently or during plasma ignition to about 400 Gauss, (d) preconditioning the target by sputtering whenever the system has been idle for several minutes, (e) adjusting the power supply power ramping to the target over 5-6 seconds or more, and/or (f) using a simple electric circuit to drain charge build up on the GaAs substrate.

Virtual shutter method and apparatus for preventing damage to gallium

An ionized physical vapor deposition method and apparatus are provided which employs a magnetron magnetic field produced by cathode magnet structure behind a sputtering target to produce a main sputtering plasma, and an RF inductively coupled field produced by an RF coil outside of and surrounding the vacuum of the chamber to produce a secondary plasma in the chamber between the target and a substrate to ionize sputtered material passing from the target to the substrate so that the sputtered material can be electrically or magnetically steered to arrive at the substrate at right angles. A circumferentially interrupted shield or shield structure in the chamber protects the window from material deposits. A low pass LC filter circuit allows the shield to float relative to the RF voltage but to dissipate DC potential on the shield. Advantages provided are that loss of electrons and ions from the secondary plasma is prevented, preserving plasma density and providing high ionization fraction of the sputtered material arriving at the substrate.

Method and apparatus for increasing the metal ion fraction in ionized

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McKinney, TX, United States of America

Doug Caldwell