Axcelis Technologies, Inc.

John Zheng Ye

Victor M Benveniste

Yongzhang Huang

William F DiVergilio

Michael A Graf

Patrick Richard Splinter

Michael Cristoforo

Bo H Vanderberg

Brian S Freer

Jeffrey A Burgess

Christopher Godfrey

David Tao

Eric R Harrington

Que Weiguo

One embodiment of the invention relates to an apparatus for profiling an ion beam. The apparatus includes a current measuring device having a measurement region, wherein a cross-sectional area of the ion beam enters the measurement region. The apparatus also includes a controller configured to periodically take beam current measurements of the ion beam and to determine a two dimensional profile of the ion beam by relating the beam current measurements to sub-regions within the current measuring device. Other apparatus and methods are also disclosed.

Method and system for ion beam profiling

A method derives a terminal return current or upstream current to adjust and/or compensate for variations in beam current during ion implantation. One or more individual upstream current measurements are obtained from a region of an ion implantation system. A terminal return current, or composite upstream current, is derived from the one or more current measurements. The terminal return current is then employed to adjust scanning or dose of an ion beam in order to facilitate beam current uniformity at a target wafer.

Closed loop dose control for ion implantation

The present invention is directed to a switch circuit and method to quickly enable or disable the ion beam to a wafer within an ion implantation system. The beam control technique may be applied to wafer doping repaint and duty factor reduction. The circuit and method may be used to quench an arc that may form between high voltage electrodes associated with an ion source to shorten the duration of the arc and mitigate non-uniform ion implantations. The circuit and method facilitates repainting the ion beam over areas where an arc was detected to recover dose loss during such arcing. A high voltage high speed switching circuit is added between each high voltage supply and its respective electrode to quickly extinguish the arc to minimize disruption of the ion beam. The high voltage switch is controlled by a trigger circuit which detects voltage or current changes to each electrode. Protection circuits for the HV switch absorb energy from reactive components and clamp any overvoltages.

System and method of ion beam control in response to a beam glitch

An apparatus and method for providing a low energy, high current ion beam for ion implantation applications are disclosed. The apparatus includes a mass analysis magnet mounted in a passageway along the path of an ion beam, and a magnetic device adapted to provide a multi-cusped magnetic field in the passageway, which may include a plurality of magnets mounted along at least a portion of the passageway. The magnets may cooperatively interact to provide a multi-cusped magnetic field along at least a portion of the passageway. The multi-cusped magnetic field may be superimposed on the dipole field at a specified field strength in a region of the mass analyzer passageway for a given low energy ion beam. The invention thus provides enhancement of beam plasma within a mass analyzer dipole magnetic field for low energy ion beams without the introduction of externally generated plasma. The invention further includes a method of providing ion beam containment in a low energy ion implantation system, as well as an ion implantation system.

Method and system for ion beam containment in an ion beam guide

Ion implantation systems and beamline assemblies therefor are provided, in which multi-cusped magnetic fields are provided in a beamguide and the beamguide is energized to provide microwave electric fields in a traveling wave along the beamguide passageway. The magnetic and electric fields interact to provide an electron-cyclotron resonance condition for beam containment in the beamguide passageway.

An apparatus and method for providing a low energy, high current ion beam for ion implantation applications are disclosed. The apparatus includes a mass analysis magnet mounted in a passageway along the path of an ion beam, a power source adapted to provide an electric field in the passageway, and a magnetic device adapted to provide a multi-cusped magnetic field in the passageway, which may include a plurality of magnets mounted along at least a portion of the passageway. The power source and the magnets may cooperatively interact to provide an electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) condition along at least a portion of the passageway. The multi-cusped magnetic field may be superimposed on the dipole field at a specified field strength in a region of the mass analyzer passageway to interact with an electric field of a known RF or microwave frequency for a given low energy ion beam. The invention further comprises a mass analyzer waveguide adapted to couple the electric field to the beam plasma consistently along the length of the mass analyzer passageway to thereby improve the creation of the ECR condition. The invention thus provides enhancement of beam plasma within a mass analyzer dipole magnetic field for low energy ion beams without the introduction of externally generated plasma. The invention further includes a method of providing ion beam containment in a low energy ion implantation system, as well as an ion implantation system.

Waveguide for microwave excitation of plasma in an ion beam guide

A system for inhibiting the transport of contaminant particles with an ion beam includes an electric field generator for generating an electric field relative to a path of travel for the ion beam. A particle located in the ion beam and in a region of the electric field is charged to a polarity according to the ion beam, so that the electric field may urge the charged particle out of the ion beam.

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Brighton, MA, United States of America

John Zheng Ye