Applied Materials, Inc.

Varian Semiconductor Equipment Associates, Inc.

Eric D Wilson

George Gammel

Robert C Lindberg

Graham Wright

Daniel Alvarado

Bradley M Pomerleau

Shane Conley

Julian G Blake

Jay Thomas Scheuer

Daniel R Tieger

D Jeffrey Lischer

David E Suuronen

Steven M Anella

Dawei Sun

Shardul Patel

Michael W Osborne

Richard Allen Sprenkle

James R McLane

Ana Samolov

Tyler Wills

Richard White

Jacob Mullin

Xiangdong He

Nilay A Pradhan

Sruthi Chennadi

A method includes receiving a spot beam profile is received for a spot ion beam; receiving a linear scanned beam profile for the spot ion beam; generating a calculated calibration spot profile, based upon the spot beam profile and the linear scanned beam profile; and implementing an adjusted scanned profile for the spot ion beam, based upon the calculated calibration spot profile.

Fast beam calibration procedure for beamline ion implanter

Techniques for adjusting the shape of an ion beam are described. Characteristics of a desired beam shape may be defined. The ion beam generator may include beam shaping elements associated with tunable parameters that can be set in combination with each other. A search space for the possible combinations is defined. A set of exploratory points in the search space are measured and used to interpolate a large number of interpolated points based on a regression model. Interpolated points that are associated with low confidence values may be measured. Based on the measured and interpolated points, clusters of tunable parameter combinations may be identified for evaluation. The clusters are evaluated for stability and sensitivity, and one of the clusters is selected based on the evaluation. The ion beam generator may be configured based on the selected cluster.

Methods, mediums, and systems for identifying tunable domains for ion beam shape matching

Provided herein are approaches for optimizing a full horizontal scanned beam distance of an accelerator beam. In one approach, a method may include positioning a first Faraday cup along a first side of an intended beam-scan area, positioning a second Faraday cup along a second side of the intended beam-scan area, scanning an ion beam along the first and second sides of the intended beam-scan area, measuring a first beam current of the ion beam at the first Faraday cup and measuring a second beam current of the ion beam at the second Faraday cup, and determining an optimal scan distance of the ion beam across the intended beam-scan area based on the first beam current and the second beam current.

Systems and methods for optimizing full horizontal scanned beam distance

A crucible that exploits the observation that molten metal tends to flow toward the hottest regions is disclosed. The crucible includes an interior in which dopant material may be disposed. The crucible has a pathway leading from the interior toward an aperture, wherein the temperature is continuously increasing along the pathway. The aperture may be disposed in or near the interior of the arc chamber of an ion source. The liquid metal flows along the pathway toward the arc chamber, where it is vaporized and then ionized. By controlling the flow rate of the pathway, spillage may be reduced. In another embodiment, an inverted crucible is disclosed. The inverted crucible comprises a closed end in communication with the interior of the ion source, so that the closed end is the hottest region of the crucible. An opening is disposed on a different wall to allow vapor to exit the crucible.

Crucible design for liquid metal in an ion source

A system and method for extending the life of a cathode and repeller in an IHC ion source is disclosed. The system monitors the health of the cathode by operating using a known set of parameters and measuring the bias power used to generate the desired extracted beam current or the desired current from the arc voltage power supply. Based on the measured bias power, the system may determine whether the cathode is becoming too thin, and may take a corrective action. This corrective action may be to alert the operator; to operate the IHC ion source using a predetermined set of parameters; or to change the dilution used within the IHC source. By performing these actions, the life of the cathode may be more than doubled.

Extended cathode and repeller life by active management of halogen cycle

A method may include heating a substrate in a first chamber to a platen temperature, the heating comprising heating the substrate on a platen; measuring the platen temperature in the first chamber using a contact temperature measurement; transferring the substrate to a second chamber after the heating; and measuring a voltage decay after transferring the substrate to the second chamber, using an optical pyrometer to measure pyrometer voltage as a function of time.

Method and apparatus for calibration of substrate temperature using pyrometer

A method, including using an implant recipe to perform an implant by scanning an ion beam along a first axis over a substrate, coated with a photoresist layer, while the substrate is scanned along a perpendicular axis; measuring an implant current (I) during the implant, using a first detector, positioned to a side of a substrate position; determining a value of a difference ratio (I&#x2212;B)/(B), based upon the implant current, where B is current measured by the first detector, during a calibration at base pressure; determining a plurality of values of a current ratio (CR) for the plurality of instances, based upon the difference ratio, the current ratio being a ratio of the implant current to a current measured by a second detector, positioned over the substrate position, during the calibration; and adjusting scanning the ion beam, scanning of the substrate, or a combination thereof, based upon the current ratio.

Techniques for determining and correcting for expected dose variation during implantation of photoresist-coated substrates

A system and method for reduced workpiece adhesion during removal from a semiconductor processing station. The system provides an electrostatic charge detector that measures the residual charge on an electrostatically clamped workpiece prior to removal from a processing station inside the semiconductor processing tool. One embodiment uses an algorithm that to predict when to remove the workpiece without electrostatic adhesion based upon the decay rate of the residual electrostatic charge (Q) on the workpiece. Other embodiments also provide for a processing station static charge buildup health check and an excessive static charge check on incoming workpieces.

System and method for reduced workpiece adhesion due to electrostatic charge during removal from a processing station

An apparatus for monitoring of an ion beam. The apparatus may include a processor; and a memory unit coupled to the processor, including a display routine, where the display routine operative on the processor to manage monitoring of the ion beam. The display routine may include a measurement processor to receive a plurality of spot beam profiles of the ion beam, the spot beam profiles collected during a fast scan of the ion beam and a slow mechanical scan of a detector, conducted simultaneously with the fast scan. The fast scan may comprise a plurality of scan cycles having a frequency of 10 Hz or greater along a fast scan direction, and the slow mechanical scan being performed in a direction parallel to the fast scan direction. The measurement processor may also send a display signal to display at least one set of information, derived from the plurality of spot beam profiles.

Apparatus and techniques for beam mapping in ion beam system

A system and method for reducing particulate contamination during the loading and unloading of semiconductor substrates into a load lock chamber of a semiconductor processing tool. One sensor that measures the differential pressure between the inside of the load lock and the outside atmosphere is provided. The method uses an algorithm that predicts when to stop the load lock vent so that a small, positive, repeatable pressure burst is delivered each time the door opens. This algorithm will automatically adjust for changes in the vent rate and response times of system vent components.

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Rockport, MA, United States of America

Eric D Wilson