Applied Materials, Inc.

Feng Gao

Tetsuya Ishikawa

Alan W Collins

Alexandros T Demos

Seon-Mee Cho

Padmanabhan Krishnaraj

Lily L Pang

Michio Aruga

Kaveh F Niazi

Yaxin Wang

Padmanaban Krishnaraj

A method is provided for depositing a thin film on a substrate in a process chamber with reduced incidence of plasma charge damage. A process gas containing a precursor gases suitable for forming a plasma is flowed into a process chamber, and a plasma is generated from the process gas to deposit the thin film on the substrate. The precursor gases are flowed into the process chamber such that the thin film is deposited at the center of the substrate more rapidly than at an edge of the substrate.

Apparatus for reducing plasma charge damage for plasma processes

In a method of cleaning process residues formed on surfaces in a substrate processing chamber, a sacrificial substrate comprising a sacrificial material is placed in the chamber, a sputtering gas is introduced into the chamber, and the sputtering gas is energized to sputter the sacrificial material from the substrate. The sputtered sacrificial material reacts with residues on the chamber surfaces to clean them. In one version, the sacrificial substrate comprises a silicon-containing material that when sputtered deposits silicon on the chamber walls that reacts with and cleans fluorine-containing species that are left behind by a chamber cleaning process.

Cleaning residues from surfaces in a chamber by sputtering sacrificial substrates

Method of reducing plasma charge damage for plasma processes

The present invention provides an apparatus for depositing a film on a substrate comprising a processing chamber, a substrate support member disposed within the chamber, a first gas inlet, a second gas inlet, a plasma generator and a gas exhaust. The first gas inlet provides a first gas at a first distance from an interior surface of the chamber, and the second gas inlet provides a second gas at a second distance that is closer than the first distance from the interior surface of the chamber. Thus, the second gas creates a higher partial pressure adjacent the interior surface of the chamber to significantly reduce deposition from the first gas onto the interior surface. The present invention also provides a method for depositing a FSG film on a substrate comprising: introducing first gas through a first gas inlet at a first distance from an interior surface of the chamber, and introducing a second gas through a second gas inlet at a second distance from the interior surface of the chamber, wherein the second gas creates a higher partial pressure adjacent the interior surface of the chamber to prevent deposition from the first gas on the interior surface. Alternatively, the first gas is introduced at a different angle from the second gas with respect to a substrate surface.

Gas distribution system for a CVD processing chamber

The present invention provides an apparatus for depositing a film on a substrate comprising a processing chamber, a substrate support member disposed within the chamber, a first gas inlet, a second gas inlet, a plasma generator and a gas exhaust. The first gas inlet provides a first gas at a first distance from an interior surface of the chamber, and the second gas inlet provides a second gas at a second distance that is closer than the first distance from the interior surface of the chamber. Thus, the second gas creates a higher partial pressure adjacent the interior surface of the chamber to significantly reduce deposition from the first gas onto the interior surface. The present invention also provides a method for depositing a film on a substrate comprising: providing a chemical vapor deposition chamber, introducing first gas through a first gas inlet at a first distance from an interior surface of the chamber, introducing a second gas through a second gas inlet at a second distance from the interior surface of the chamber, wherein the second gas creates a higher partial pressure adjacent the interior surface of the chamber to prevent deposition from the first gas on the interior surface and generating a plasma of the processing gases. Alternatively, the first gas is introduced at a different angle from the second gas with respect to a substrate surface.

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Mountain View, CA, United States of America

Feng Gao