Lam Research Corporation

Novellus Systems Incorporated

Gary B Lind

Steven T Mayer

Jonathan David Reid

Seshasayee Varadarajan

David Charles Smith

Evan E Patton

Dinesh S Kalakkad

Panya Wongsenakhum

Richard S Hill

Michael Rumer

Vinayakaraddy Gulabal

Andrew Paul Eib

Michal Danek

Joshua Collins

Kaihan Abidi Ashtiani

Ronald Allan Powell

William R Johanson

John Joseph Mazzocco

Colin F Smith

Harald Te Nijenhuis

John Floyd Ostrowski

Andrew H Breninger

Sushanth Kondi

Kapil Umesh Sawlani

Thomas M Pratt

Ravi Vellanki

Manjunath Satyadevan

Alok Mahadeva

Robert McKinney

Eddie Ze Thean Ooi

Vishnu Sai Yalamarty

Mahendra Byrapura Manjunath

Vapor accumulator reservoirs for semiconductor processing operations, such as atomic layer deposition operations, are provided. Such vapor accumulator reservoirs may include a perimeter plenum volume filled with an inert gas, which may reduce or prevent the leakage of external contaminants into a process gas. In some implementations, the reservoir may be constructed from corrosion-resistant materials to reduce internal contaminants into the process gas.

Vapor accumulator for corrosive gases with purging

A substrate support includes a body and a thermal void. The body is configured to support a substrate during processing of the substrate. The body includes plates including a top plate, a first intermediate plate, a second intermediate plate and a bottom plate. The plates are arranged to form a stack. The first intermediate plate is disposed on the second intermediate plate. The thermal void is defined by an upper surface of the second intermediate plate and at least one of a lower surface of the first intermediate plate or a lower surface of the top plate. The thermal void is annular-shaped.

Pedestal thermal profile tuning using multiple heated zones and thermal voids

Pedestal for a substrate processing system

A cleaning apparatus for a vacuum pedestal and method of cleaning a pedestal used in semiconductor device fabrication are described. The apparatus has a baseplate, a collar attached to the baseplate, a cap disposed on the collar, and a shaft that extends from the collar through the cap, collar and baseplate. A manual rotatable handle is attached to a shaft portion that extends from the cap. Motion of the handle in a downward direction is impeded by the cap. A disk is attached to a lower portion of the shaft and is separated from a bottom of the baseplate due to weighted rings, which are attached to the disk and surround the lower portion of the shaft such that a vertical float is present between the shaft and the cap. At least one abrasive pad is attached to the disk to remove build-up on the underlying pedestal surface.

Pedestal polishing apparatus

A heat shield structure for a substrate support in a substrate processing system includes an outer shield configured to surround a stem of the substrate support. The outer shield is further configured to define an inner volume between the outer shield and an upper portion of the stem and a lower surface of the substrate support and a vertical channel between the outer shield and a lower portion of the stem of the substrate support. The outer shield includes a cylindrical portion, a first lateral portion extending radially outward from the cylindrical portion, an angled portion extending radially outward and upward from the first lateral portion, and a second lateral portion extending radially outward from the angled portion.

Preventing deposition on pedestal in semiconductor substrate processing

A system includes a camera mounted external to and adjacent to a window of a processing chamber configured to process semiconductor substrates. The window allows the camera to view a component in the processing chamber. The camera is configured to generate a video signal indicative of a status of the component during a process being performed in the processing chamber. The system further includes a controller coupled to the processing chamber. The controller is configured to control the camera, process the video signal from the camera, determine the status of the component based on the processing of the video signal, and determine whether to terminate the process based on the status of the component.

In-situ chamber clean end point detection systems and methods using computer vision systems

A lift pin holder assembly includes a lift pin holder including a central bore defining a first groove arranged on a radially inner surface of the central bore. The lift pin holder is made of a non-metallic material. A lift pin includes a second groove arranged on a radially outer surface thereof. A spring is at least partially arranged in the first groove of the lift pin holder and the second groove of the lift pin to retain the lift pin in the lift pin holder.

Lift pin holder with spring retention for substrate processing systems

A gas inlet valve with incompatible materials isolation is provided. The valve may include a piston that seals against a surface when in a closed position and that permits gas to flow through the valve and out the outlet port when in an open position. A bellows may protect the actuation mechanism of the piston from gas that may be present in the valve when the valve is in the open or closed position, and the piston may include a second seal interface that seals the bellows off from the gas flow area when the valve is in the open or closed position.

Gas inlet valve with incompatible materials isolation

A vaporization system for liquid precursor includes a bubbler portion configured to store liquid precursor and to supply carrier gas into the liquid precursor to vaporize the liquid precursor to generate vaporized precursor. A baffle portion is arranged in fluid communication with the bubbler portion and includes N heated baffles, where N is an integer greater than or equal to one. The vaporized precursor generated by the bubbler portion passes through the N heated baffles before flowing to a substrate processing system.

Systems and methods for bulk vaporization of precursor

The present inventors have conceived of a showerhead inlet with an annular plenum and radial flow paths into a central passage. A process gas, that may include a precursor and a carrier gas, may be flowed into the annular plenum. The annular plenum and central passage may contribute to the uniform mixing of the precursor and the carrier gas. Additionally, the radial passage may be angled upward to help more effectively purge any dead legs within the central passage. The central passage may also interface with a remote plasma source valve. The remote plasma source valve may control the flow of reactive species generated by a remote plasma source into the central passage.

Inlet for effective mixing and purging

Embodiments include a high temperature electrode connection assembly for a wafer-processing pedestal. The high temperature electrode connection assembly includes an electrode rod having a cup that mounts to a stud embedded in the pedestal and a plate adapter portion. The assembly also includes a floating plate having an outer surface and an aperture for receiving the electrode rod. The floating plate contacts an inner surface of the pedestal to resist lateral movement of the electrode rods. The assembly also includes an anti-rotation retainer ring that frictionally engages the electrode rod and an anti-rotation post extending from the outer surface of the floating plate. The anti-rotation post limits rotation of the electrode rod with respect to the floating plate.

High temperature electrode connections

A heat shield employed in semiconductor processing apparatus comprises a high performance insulation that has low thermal conductivity, such as, below the thermal conductivity of still air over a wide range of temperatures utilized in operation of the apparatus. As an example, the thermal conductivity of the insulation may be in the range of about 0.004 W/m&#xb7;h to about 0.4 W/m&#xb7;h over a temperature range of about 0&#xb0; C. to about 600&#xb0; C. or more. The deployment of the high performance heat shield reduces the power consumption necessary for the heater by as much as 20% to reach a desired processing temperature as compared to a case of heater power consumption required to reach the same desired temperature without the shield. Further, the heat shield significantly reduces the amount of undesired depositions from gas-entrained constituents on components in the chamber of the apparatus, particularly below or beyond the heat shield, by as much as 90% since the temperature drop is as much as ten orders of magnitude difference.

Heat shield for heater in semiconductor processing apparatus

An apparatus and method for sealing and unsealing a chemical deposition apparatus in a chemical deposition process chamber includes a microvolume that has dual sealing elements at its periphery. One seal, the outer seal, is used to seal the inside of the microvolume from the main process chamber. The second (inner) seal is used to seal the inside of the microvolume from a vacuum source. The apparatus and process of the present invention has several advantages for enhanced chamber performance.

Dual seal deposition process chamber and process

The orientation of a wafer with respect to the surface of an electrolyte is controlled during an electroplating process. The wafer is delivered to an electrolyte bath along a trajectory normal to the surface of the electrolyte. Along this trajectory, the wafer is angled before entry into the electrolyte for angled immersion. A wafer can be plated in an angled orientation or not, depending on what is optimal for a given situation. Also, in some designs, the wafer's orientation can be adjusted actively during immersion or during electroplating, providing flexibility in various electroplating scenarios.

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Penn Valley, CA, United States of America

Gary B Lind