Novellus Systems Incorporated

Apollo Precision Beijing Limited

Fred J Chetcuti

Henner Meinhold

John Stephen Drewery

Judy H Huang

Edward J McInerney

Mark L Rea

Lawrence Allen Gochberg

Sachin M Chinchwadkar

William Tom Batchelder

A magnetron include a center plurality of magnets and an outer plurality of magnets arranged around the center plurality of magnets in a shape of two long sections and two shorter turnaround sections. The outer plurality of magnets are configured with at least one region of weaker magnetic field strength in at least one of the two long sections and adjacent to one of the two turnaround sections.

Magnetron with gradually increasing magnetic field out of turnarounds

A spin bowl includes a base and a sidewall that extends from the base. The base has an upper portion for supporting a substrate in a horizontal plane and a lower portion that intersects with the sidewall. The lower portion of the base has a plurality of drain holes formed therein proximate to the sidewall. Each of the plurality of drain holes is configured to trap fluid therein during spinning of the spin bowl to thereby form a fluid seal that prevents air from flowing therethrough. In one embodiment, each of the drain holes is V-shaped. In another embodiment, the fluid seal is formed by the intersection of a straight drain hole with an external fluid catch area. An apparatus and method for spin coating a film over a substrate also are described.

Spin bowl having fluid seal for preventing air from flowing into the bowl during spinning

In one embodiment, a sensor includes two plates that form a capacitor. A droplet passing between the plates changes the capacitance of the sensor, thereby triggering an amplifier coupled to the sensor to generate an output signal. The output signal is indicative of droplet characteristics and may be used to calibrate a mechanism that dispensed the droplet.

Sensor for detecting droplet characteristics

A curing module for use in fabricating semiconductor wafers is provided. The cure module comprises a housing and a bottom plate. The housing also contains a heating plate adjacent a top surface of the housing and side walls extending from the top surface. The housing sidewalls, the heating plate and the bottom plate define a chamber within the cure module. Films disposed on semiconductor wafers are cured within the chamber by being raised on lift pins to the heating plate during a heating operation and then lowered on the lift pins to the bottom plate during a cooling operation.

Inverted hot plate cure module

In a method for applying a coating material on a substrate, a print head is disposed over a substrate. Drops of a coating material are controllably dispensed from the print head to form a wide area film on the substrate. A system for coating a wafer includes a housing, and a chuck for supporting the wafer and a print head are disposed in the housing. A source of a coating material is coupled to the print head. A digital signal processor provides control signals for controlling process parameters for dispensing drops of the coating material and for controlling the relative position of the print head and the chuck. The relative position of the print head and the chuck (and hence the wafer supported thereon) may be controlled by moving the print head by itself, by moving the chuck by itself, or by moving both the print head and the chuck.

Growing community of inventors

Milbrae, CA, United States of America

Fred J Chetcuti