Novellus Systems Incorporated

Syntex (u.s.a.) Inc.

James C Wing

Edward J McInerney

Thomas J Cleary

Thomas W Mountsier

Jack V White

A processing chamber with a showerhead and a chuck is cleaned using an injection of a gaseous cleaning agent through an aperture in the chuck into the processing chamber. Because the aperture is located directly under the showerhead, a portion of the gaseous cleaning agent passes through the face plate of the showerhead so that the inside of the showerhead may be cleaned as well. By applying a radio frequency power supply between the chuck and the showerhead, for example, by a coil located between the chuck and showerhead or applying the power directly to the chuck and the showerhead, the gaseous cleaning agent forms a plasma. Thus, the portion of the gaseous cleaning agent that passes through the face plate and into the showerhead is a plasma. The plasma is pumped out of the chamber through a pumping port so that the plasma continuously flows through the processing chamber.

Situ plasma clean gas injection

A structure and method are provided to exclude polymer film deposition from the backside and edge of a wafer during CVD processing. An electrostatic chuck (ESC), with radial and circular channels and grooves on its surface, secures a wafer to be processed. An inert gas, preferably argon, flows outward from these channels and grooves along the backside of the wafer. A uniform flow of the gas from underneath the wafer into the process chamber prevents monomer molecules from depositing on the wafer backside. For edge exclusion, a showerhead is placed slightly above the outer diameter of the wafer to keep most of the monomer molecules within the process chamber and redirect the remaining monomer molecules across the surface of the wafer below the outer edge of the showerhead. As a result, monomer molecules are prevented from depositing on the wafer edge because the redirected and limited flow across the wafer surface flows upward in the process chamber to be pumped out and because a cloud of gas formed about the edge of the wafer from the gas exiting the backside of the wafer prevents any additional monomer molecules from depositing on the wafer edge.

Exclusion of polymer film from semiconductor wafer edge and backside during film (CVD) deposition

In situ plasma clean gas injection

A structure and method exclude polymer film deposition from the backside and edge of a wafer during CVD processing. An electrostatic chuck (ESC), with radial and circular channels and grooves on its surface, secures a wafer to be processed. An inert gas, preferably argon, flows outward from these channels and grooves along the backside of the wafer. A uniform flow of the gas from underneath the wafer into the process chamber prevents monomer molecules from depositing on the wafer backside. For edge exclusion, a showerhead is placed slightly above the outer diameter of the wafer to keep most of the monomer molecules within the process chamber and redirect the remaining monomer molecules across the surface of the wafer below the outer edge of the showerhead. As a result, monomer molecules are prevented from depositing on the wafer edge because the redirected and limited flow across the wafer surface flows upward in the process chamber to be pumped out and because a cloud of gas formed about the edge of the wafer from the gas exiting the backside of the wafer prevents any additional monomer molecules from depositing on the wafer edge.

Apparatus for backside and edge exclusion of polymer film during

An apparatus for vaporizing Parylene AF dimer powder includes a vaporizer having a housing, a cooling coil surrounding the housing and an isolation valve coupled to an outlet end of the housing. During use, the vaporizer and a valve and manifold assembly coupled to the vaporizer are heated by an oven. The Parylene AF dimer powder inside of the vaporizer is initially maintained below its sublimation temperature by flowing a cooling fluid through the cooling coil while the oven heats up. After the oven and valve and manifold assembly reach the operating temperature, the cooling fluid flow is decreased and correspondingly the vaporizer temperature increased thus producing Parylene AF4 dimer vapor.

Temperature control of parylene dimer

A wafer cooling device (WCD) for cooling a substrate, such as a wafer, during processing is presented. The substrate is mounted to an WCD heat transfer surface, thereby forming a cavity in between the substrate and the heat transfer surface into which gas is incorporated. An array of protuberances within the cavity provide support for the wafer. Contact heat conduction between the substrate and WCD is reduced by reducing the amount of direct contact between the substrate and WCD. Thus the heat transfer coefficient from the substrate, and hence substrate temperature, is controlled by adjusting the gas pressure in the cavity. In alternative embodiments, gas distribution channels are formed in the WCD heat transfer surface to increase gas pressure uniformity between the wafer and the WCD thus improving temperature uniformity across the substrate.

Wafer cooling device

An axial tomographic scanner having means for supporting a plurality of cables leading to the X-ray source including a yoke upon which the X-ray source is mounted, first bracket means mounted on the yoke adjacent the X-ray source for restraining cable movement, second bracket means mounted on the yoke remote from the X-ray source for restraining cable movement, and means disposed between the first and second bracket means for maintaining the cables passing therethrough in a gradual arc while preventing undue flexing of the cables and undesirable movement of the cables into interfering position with other components of the axial tomographic scanner. The cable maintaining means disposed between the first and second bracket means comprises a pair of flexible elongated bands extending on opposite sides of the cables from the first bracket means to the second bracket means and a cable guide, one end of which securely engages one of the bands while the other end surrounds a portion of the other band and restrains lateral movement thereof, the side portions of the cable guide serving to prevent transverse movement of the cables passing therethrough so as to maintain the pair of bands and those portions of the cables between the first and second bracket means in a generally planar, arcuate configuration during all rotational movements of the yoke and translational movements, if any, of the X-ray source.

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Los Altos, CA, United States of America

James C Wing