Lam Research Corporation

Emile C Draper

Nagraj Shankar

Pankaj G Ramnani

Kapu Sirish Reddy

Meliha Gozde Rainville

Jeffrey D Womack

Pengyi Zhang

Elham Mohimi

Feng Bi

Curtis Warren Bailey

Miguel Benjamin Vasquez

Brian Joseph Williams

Shriram Vasant Bapat

Christopher Matthew Jones

In some examples, a faceless showerhead comprises a body including a backing plate, the body devoid of a faceplate or plenum; a gas supply stem to admit gas into the showerhead; and a baffle supported adjacent the backing plate or the gas supply stem. The faceless showerhead may further comprise at least one support element for supporting the baffle in a baffle cavity in the backing plate or the gas supply stem.

Faceless showerhead

A foreline assembly for a quad station process module (QSM) is provided. In some examples, a foreline assembly comprises four inlets each connectable to a chamber port of a process module of the QSM and an outlet connectable directly or indirectly to a vacuum source. A first foreline bifurcation is disposed proximate the outlet of the foreline assembly. Two second bifurcations are each disposed between the first foreline bifurcation and a respective pair of the inlets. The first and second bifurcations divide the foreline assembly into three sections. A respective diameter of a foreline in each section increases stepwise at a respective bifurcation in a direction of gas flow from at least one of the inlets to the outlet of the foreline assembly and is constant within a respective section of the foreline assembly.

Foreline assembly for quad station process module

Baffle

Showerheads for independently delivering different, mutually-reactive process gases to a wafer processing space are provided. The showerheads include a first gas distributor that has multiple plenum structures that are separated from one another by a gap, as well as a second gas distributor positioned above the first gas distributor. Isolation gas from the second gas distributor may be flowed down onto the first gas distributor and through the gaps in between the plenum structures of the first gas distributor, thereby establishing an isolation gas curtain that prevents the process gases released from each plenum structure from parasitically depositing on the plenum structures that provide other gases.

Showerhead with air-gapped plenums and overhead isolation gas distributor

Growing community of inventors

Molalla, OR, United States of America

Emile C Draper