Varian Semiconductor Equipment Associates, Inc.

Applied Materials, Inc.

Jonathan Gerald England

Richard S Muka

Joseph C Olson

Russell J Low

Stephen Moffatt

Julian G Blake

Steven Raymond Walther

Reuel B Liebert

Frank Sinclair

Anthony Renau

Paul J Murphy

Eric D Hermanson

Christopher R Hatem

Babak Adibi

Andrew Michael Waite

David George Armour

Scott C Holden

Stephen Krause

Edwin A Arevalo

Andrew Holmes

Ludovic Godet

Morgan Evans

Majeed Foad

Craig Richard Chaney

Vikram Singh

Hiroyuki Ito

Shengwu Chang

Atul Gupta

Simon Ruffell

Jay Thomas Scheuer

D Jeffrey Lischer

Rajesh Prasad

Mitchell C Taylor

Kyu-Ha Shim

Patrick M Martin

Ziwei Fang

Jose Antonio Marin

Rajesh Dorai

Sandeep Mehta

Damian Brennan

Gregg Alexander Norris

David R Timberlake

David Richard Burgin

Frederick G Plumb

Ukyo Jeong

Jinning Liu

Bon Woong Koo

Michael T Wauk

James R McLane

William Gray Callahan

John (Bon-Woong) Koo

James J Cummings

Douglas Thomas Fielder

Mark D Saunders

Thomas B Callahan

Jaap Van Den Berg

David Cox

Ryoji Todaka

Ian Fotheringham

A system and method that is capable of measuring the incident angle of an ion beam, especially an ion beam comprising heavier ions, is disclosed. In one embodiment, X-rays, rather than ions, are used to determine the channeling direction. In another embodiment, the workpiece is constructed, at least in part, of a material having a high molecular weight such that heaver ion beams can be measured. Further, in another embodiment, the parameters of the ion beam are measured across an entirety of the beam, allowing components of the ion implantation system to be further tuned to create a more uniform beam.

In situ angle measurement using channeling

A method of doping the polycrystalline channel in a vertical FLASH device is disclosed. This method uses a plurality of high energy ion implants to dope the channel at various depths of the channel. In some embodiments, these ion implants are performed at an angle offset from the normal direction, such that the implanted ions pass through at least a portion of the surrounding ONO stack. By passing through the ONO stack, the distribution of ranges reached by each ion may differ from that created by a vertical implant.

Method of doping a polycrystalline transistor channel for vertical NAND devices

Techniques for forming a three dimensional (3D) feature on a substrate are disclosed. In one exemplary embodiment, the technique may be realized as a method comprising: forming a resist structure on the substrate, the resist structure having a first resist portion with a first thickness, a second resist portion with a second thickness, and a third resist portion with a third thickness, where the first thickness may be less than the second thickness, and where the second thickness may be less than the third thickness; implanting charged particles into the substrate through the first and second resist portions and forming an implanted region in the substrate; and etching the substrate to form the 3D feature on the substrate.

Techniques for generating three dimensional structures

Methods to implant ions into the sidewall of a three dimensional high aspect ratio feature, such as a trench or via, are disclosed. The methods utilize a phenomenon known as knock-in, which causes a first species of ions, already disposed in the fill material, to become implanted in the sidewall when these ions are struck by ions of a second species being implanted into the fill material. In some embodiments, these first species and second species have similar masses to facilitate knock-in. In some embodiments, the entire hole is not completely filled with fill material. Rather, some fill material is deposited, an ion implant is performed to cause knock-in to the sidewall adjacent to the deposited fill material, and the process is repeated until the hole is filled.

Method of implanting high aspect ratio features

Techniques for temperature-controlled ion implantation are disclosed. In one particular exemplary embodiment, the techniques may be realized as an apparatus for temperature-controlled ion implantation. The apparatus may comprise a platen to hold a wafer in a single-wafer process chamber during ion implantation, the platen including: a wafer clamping mechanism to secure the wafer onto the platen and to provide a predetermined thermal contact between the wafer and the platen, and one or more heating elements to pre-heat and maintain the platen in a predetermined temperature range above room temperature. The apparatus may also comprise a post-cooling station to cool down the wafer after ion implantation. The apparatus may further comprise a wafer handling assembly to load the wafer onto the pre-heated platen and to remove the wafer from the platen to the post-cooling station.

Techniques for temperature-controlled ion implantation

A technique for low-temperature ion implantation is disclosed. In one particular exemplary embodiment, the technique may be realized as an apparatus for low-temperature ion implantation. The apparatus may comprise a pre-chill station located in proximity to an end station in an ion implanter; a cooling mechanism within the pre-chill station configured to cool a wafer from ambient temperature to a predetermined range less than ambient temperature; a loading assembly coupled to the pre-chill station and the end station; and a controller in communication with the loading assembly and the cooling mechanism to coordinate loading a wafer into the pre-chill station, cooling the wafer down to the predetermined temperature range before any ion implantation into the wafer, and loading the cooled wafer into the end station where the cooled wafer undergoes an ion implantation process.

Technique for low-temperature ion implantation

Several examples of a method for processing a substrate are disclosed. In a particular embodiment, the method may include: introducing a plurality of first particles to a first region of the substrate so as to form at least one crystal having a grain boundary in the first region without forming another crystal in a second region, the second region adjacent to the first region; and extending the grain boundary of the at least one crystal formed in the first region to the second region after stopping the introducing the plurality of first particles.

Particle beam assisted modification of thin film materials

Techniques for temperature-controlled ion implantation are disclosed. In one particular exemplary embodiment, the techniques may be realized as an apparatus for temperature-controlled ion implantation. The apparatus may comprise at least one thermal sensor adapted to measure a temperature of a wafer during an ion implantation process inside an end station of an ion implanter. The apparatus may also comprise a thermal conditioning unit coupled to the end station. The apparatus may further comprise a controller in communication with the thermal sensor and the thermal conditioning unit, wherein the controller compares the measured temperature to a desired wafer temperature and causes the thermal conditioning unit to adjust the temperature of the wafer based upon the comparison.

Techniques for temperature controlled ion implantation

A technique for low-temperature ion implantation is disclosed. In one particular exemplary embodiment, the technique may be realized as an apparatus for low-temperature ion implantation. The apparatus may comprise a pre-chill station located in proximity to an end station in an ion implanter. The apparatus may also comprise a cooling mechanism within the pre-chill station. The apparatus may further comprise a loading assembly coupled to the pre-chill station and the end station. The apparatus may additionally comprise a controller in communication with the loading assembly and the cooling mechanism to coordinate loading a wafer into the pre-chill station, cooling the wafer down to a predetermined temperature range, and loading the cooled wafer into the end station where the cooled wafer undergoes an ion implantation process.

Techniques for measuring energy contamination using time-of-flight (TOF) sensor are disclosed. In one particular exemplary embodiment, the techniques may be realized as a method for detecting energy contamination in an ion beam using time-of-flight comprising directing an ion beam towards an entrance of a sensor, wherein the ion beam may include charged particles and neutral particles, blocking the ion beam periodically from entering the sensor and allowing a pulse of the ion beam to enter the sensor periodically using a gate mechanism, separating the charged particles and the neutral particles of the ion beam pulse based at least in part upon different transit times over a distance caused by variations in at least one of mass and energy associated with the charged particles and the neutral particles, and detecting at least one of the charged particles and the neutral particles separately at a detector based at least in part upon the different transit times.

Measuring energy contamination using time-of-flight techniques

Techniques for temperature-controlled ion implantation are disclosed. In one particular exemplary embodiment, the techniques may be realized as an apparatus for high-temperature ion implantation. The apparatus may comprise a platen to hold a wafer in a single-wafer process chamber during ion implantation, the platen having a wafer interface to provide a predetermined thermal contact between the wafer and the platen. The apparatus may also comprise an array of heating elements to heat the wafer while the wafer is held on the platen to achieve a predetermined temperature profile on the wafer during ion implantation, the heating elements being external to the platen. The apparatus may further comprise a post-implant cooling station to cool down the wafer after ion implantation of the wafer.

Techniques for forming shallow junctions are disclosed. In one particular exemplary embodiment, the techniques may be realized as a method for forming shallow junctions. The method may comprise generating an ion beam comprising molecular ions based on one or more materials selected from a group consisting of: digermane (GeH), germanium nitride (GeN), germanium-fluorine compounds (GF, wherein n=1, 2, or 3), and other germanium-containing compounds. The method may also comprise causing the ion beam to impact a semiconductor wafer.

Techniques for forming shallow junctions

An ion implantation device with a dual pumping mode and method thereof for use in producing atomic or molecular ion beams are disclosed. In one particular exemplary embodiment, an ion implantation apparatus is provided for controlling a pressure within an ion beam source housing corresponding to an ion beam species being produced. The ion implantation apparatus may include the ion beam source housing comprising a plurality of species for use in ion beam production. A pumping section may also be included for evacuating gas from the ion beam source housing. A controller may further be included for controlling the pumping section according to pumping parameters corresponding to a species of the plurality of species being used for ion beam production.

Ion implantation device with a dual pumping mode and method thereof

A technique for improving ion implantation based on ion beam angle-related information is disclosed. In one particular exemplary embodiment, the technique may be realized as a method for improving ion implantation. The method may comprise obtaining angle-related information associated with an ion beam. The method may also comprise calculating, based on the angle-related information, an ion beam angle distribution over a wafer for one or more potential scanning modes. The method may further comprise selecting a desired scanning mode from the one or more potential scanning modes based on an evaluation of performance metric caused by the ion beam angle distribution.

Technique for improving ion implantation based on ion beam angle-related information

Techniques for providing a ribbon-shaped gas cluster ion beam are disclosed. In one particular exemplary embodiment, the techniques may be realized as an apparatus for providing a ribbon-shaped gas cluster ion beam. The apparatus may comprise at least one nozzle configured to inject a source gas at a sufficient speed into a low-pressure vacuum space to form gas clusters. The apparatus may also comprise at least one ionizer that causes at least a portion of the gas clusters to be ionized. The apparatus may further comprise a beam-shaping mechanism that forms a ribbon-shaped gas cluster ion beam based on the ionized gas clusters.

Techniques for providing a ribbon-shaped gas cluster ion beam

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Horsham, United Kingdom

Jonathan Gerald England