Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba

Tokyo Electron Limited

Applied Materials, Inc.

Other

Tokyo Electron Yamanashi Limited

Keiji Horioka

Haruo Okano

Isahiro Hasegawa

Katsuya Okumura

Junichi Arami

Roger Alan Lindley

Hiroyuki Yano

Yukimasa Yoshida

Soichi Inoue

Toshihisa Nozawa

Masaru Hori

Bryan Y Pu

Makoto Sekine

Hisataka Hayashi

Yoshifumi Tahara

Yoshihisa Hirano

Takashi Sato

Tadahito Fujisawa

Shuichi Tamamushi

Jingbao Liu

Yoshio Ishikawa

Takaya Matsushita

Hiromi Kumagai

Shin-ichi Ito

Hiromi Harada

Sadayuki Jimbo

Sinji Kubota

Daniel John Hoffman

Christopher Dennis Bencher

Douglas A Buchberger, Jr

Yuichiro Yamazaki

Tohru Watanabe

Motosuke Miyoshi

Chun Yan

Kazuhiro Tomioka

Toru Watanabe

Hiroko Nakamura

Kazuyoshi Sugihara

Masahiro Ogasawara

Robert W Wu

Haruki Mori

Evans Yip Lee

Ruiping Wang

Douglas H Burns

Ichiro Mori

Masaki Narita

Yasuhiro Ito

Haruki Komano

Hidehiro Kojiri

Ji Ding

Taeho Shin

Tadahiro Takigawa

Shiro Koyama

Masahito Hiratsuka

Mitsuyo Kariya

Panyin Hughes

Qi Li

Kenneth S Collins

Koji Hashimoto

Andrew Nguyen

Shinichi Ito

Satoshi Kaneko

Hiroji Hanawa

James D Carducci

Masao Ito

Kallol Bera

Nobuo Hayasaka

Kenji Kawano

Tsuyoshi Shibata

Hiroshi Nishikawa

Katsutaro Ichihara

Martin Jeffrey Salinas

Tokuhisa Ohiwa

Makoto Hasegawa

Hamid Tavassoli

Michael C Kutney

Hong Sheng Yang

Xiaoye Zhao

Lawrence Wong

Tsunetoshi Arikado

Hirotaka Nishino

Koichiro Inazawa

Itsuko Sakai

Martin Jeff Salinas

Jeremiah T P Pender

Jang Gyoo Yang

Olga Regelman

Mahmoud Dahimene

Hoiman Raymond Hung

Hoiman (Raymond) Hung

Kazuo Kikuchi

Kazuo Eguchi

Michiko Okubo

Akira Takeuchi

Tamio Endo

Yasuhiro Horiike

Teruaki Shiraishi

A magnetic field generator which provides greater control over the magnetic field is provided. The magnetic field generator has a plurality of overlapping main magnetic coil sections for forming a magnetic field generally parallel to the top surface of the supporting member. In other embodiments, sub-magnetic coil sections are placed symmetrically around the main magnetic coil sections.

Method and apparatus for shaping a magnetic field in a magnetic field-enhanced plasma reactor

A plasma reactor for processing a workpiece, includes a vacuum chamber defined by a sidewall and ceiling, and a workpiece support pedestal having a workpiece support surface in the chamber and facing the ceiling and including a cathode electrode. An RF power generator is coupled to the cathode electrode. Plasma distribution is controlled by an external annular inner electromagnet in a first plane overlying the workpiece support surface, an external annular outer electromagnet in a second plane overlying the workpiece support surface and having a greater diameter than the inner electromagnet, and an external annular bottom electromagnet in a third plane underlying the workpiece support surface. D.C. current supplies are connected to respective ones of the inner, outer and bottom electromagnets.

Plasma reactor with minimal D.C. coils for cusp, solenoid and mirror fields for plasma uniformity and device damage reduction

Embodiments of the present invention relate to plasma processing apparatus and methods of use thereof. In some embodiments, a plasma control magnet assembly includes a plurality of magnets arranged in a predetermined pattern that generate a magnetic field having a strength greater than 10 Gauss in a region proximate the assembly and less than 10 Gauss in a region remote from the assembly.

Plasma processing apparatus

A method for fabricating a semiconductor mask is described. A semiconductor stack having a sacrificial mask comprised of a series of lines is first provided. A spacer mask having spacer lines adjacent to the sidewalls of the series of lines of the sacrificial mask is then formed. The spacer mask also has interposed lines between the spacer lines. Finally, the sacrificial mask is removed to provide only the spacer mask. The spacer mask having interposed lines triples the frequency of the series of lines of the sacrificial mask.

Frequency tripling using spacer mask having interposed regions

A method for fabricating a semiconductor mask is described. A semiconductor stack having a sacrificial mask and a spacer mask is first provided. The sacrificial mask is comprised of a series of lines and the spacer mask has spacer lines adjacent to the sidewalls of the series of lines. Next, the spacer mask is cropped. Finally, the sacrificial mask is removed to provide a cropped spacer mask. The cropped spacer mask doubles the frequency of the series of lines of the sacrificial mask.

Frequency doubling using spacer mask

A chamber dry cleaning process particularly useful after a dielectric plasma etch process which exposes an underlying copper metallization. After the dielectric etch process, the production wafer is removed from the chamber and a cleaning gas is excited into a plasma to clean the chamber walls and recover the dielectric etching characteristic of the chamber. Preferably, the cleaning gas is reducing such as hydrogen gas with the addition of nitrogen gas. Alternatively, the cleaning gas may an oxidizing gas. If the wafer pedestal is vacant during the cleaning, it is not electrically biased. If a dummy wafer is placed on the pedestal during cleaning, the pedestal is biased. The cleaning process is advantageously performed every wafer cycle.

Chamber recovery after opening barrier over copper

A method and apparatus for controlling a magnetic field gradient within a magnetically enhanced plasma reactor. The apparatus comprises a cathode pedestal supporting a wafer within an enclosure, a plurality of electromagnets positioned proximate the enclosure for producing a magnetic field in the enclosure and a magnetic field control element, positioned proximate the electromagnets, for controlling the magnetic field proximate a specific region of the wafer.

Method and apparatus for providing uniform plasma in a magnetic field enhanced plasma reactor

A magnetic field generator for producing a magnetic field that accelerates plasma formation is placed proximate a reaction chamber of semiconductor substrate processing system. The magnetic field generator has four main magnetic coil sections for producing a magnetic field nearly parallel to the top surface of a support pedestal in the reaction chamber and four sub-magnetic coil sections placed generally coaxially with the main magnetic coil sections to produce a magnetic field of the direction opposite of that of the magnetic field produced with the main magnetic coil sections. In the magnetic field generator, magnetic fields of opposite polarities are superimposed on each other when electric currents of opposite directions are applied to the main and sub-magnetic coil sections.

Method and apparatus for controlling the magnetic field intensity in a plasma enhanced semiconductor wafer processing chamber

An overhead gas distribution electrode forming at least a portion of the ceiling of a plasma reactor has a bottom surface facing a processing zone of the reactor. The electrode includes a gas supply manifold for receiving process gas at a supply pressure at a top portion of the electrode and plural pressure-dropping cylindrical orifices extending axially relative to the electrode from the gas supply manifold at one end of each the orifice. A radial gas distribution manifold within the electrode extends radially across the electrode. Plural axially extending high conductance gas flow passages couple the opposite ends of respective ones of the plural pressure-dropping orifices to the radial gas distribution manifold. Plural high conductance cylindrical gas outlet holes are formed in the plasma-facing bottom surface of the electrode and extend axially to the radial gas distribution manifold.

Plasma reactor overhead source power electrode with low arcing tendency, cylindrical gas outlets and shaped surface

An oxide etching recipe including a heavy hydrogen-free fluorocarbon having F/C ratios less than 2, preferably C F , an oxygen-containing gas such as O or CO, a lighter fluorocarbon or hydrofluorocarbon, and a noble diluent gas such as Ar or Xe. The amounts of the first three gases are chosen such that the ratio (F&mdash;H)/(C&mdash;O) is at least 1.5 and no more than 2. Alternatively, the gas mixture may include the heavy fluorocarbon, carbon tetrafluoride, and the diluent with the ratio of the first two chosen such the ratio F/C is between 1.5 and 2.

Precision dielectric etch using hexafluorobutadiene

A method of etching silicon oxide with high selectivity to a photoresist mask and to a silicon-containing substrate comprising exposing the silicon oxide to a plasma of a precursor etch gas of a fluorocarbon and an organic silane containing at least one organic group. When at least about % by weight of the silane is present in the etch gas, the selectivity between the silicon oxide and the photoresist mask layer, and between the silicon oxide and the silicon-containing substrate, increases markedly. High aspect ratio, submicron size openings can be etched.

Etchant for silicon oxide and method

An oxide etching recipe including a heavy hydrogen-free fluorocarbon having F/C ratios less than 2 such as C F or C F , an oxygen-containing gas such as O , CO or CO , a lighter fluorocarbon or hydrofluorocarbon, and a noble diluent gas such as Ar or Xe. The amounts of the first three gases are chosen such that the ratio (F&mdash;H)/(C&mdash;O) is at least 1.5 and no more than 2. Alternatively, the gas mixture may include the heavy fluorocarbon, carbon tetrafluoride, and the diluent with the ratio of the first two chosen such the ratio F/C is between 1.5 and 2.

Dielectric etch process reducing striations and maintaining critical dimensions

A magnetron plasma process apparatus comprises a process chamber, an upper electrode and a lower electrode, both located within the process chamber and extending parallel to each other, a gas-supplying system for supplying a process gas into the space between the electrodes, a high-frequency power supply for generating an electric field, to thereby to form plasma from the process gas, and magnetic field generating section for generating a magnetic field which extends through the space between the electrodes. The magnetic field generating section has a pair of permanent magnets located outside the process chamber, sandwiching the space between the electrodes. The magnetic field generated by this section extends through said space, from one of the magnets to the other thereof and substantially parallel to the electrodes, and serves to achieve magnetron plasma process on an object placed on the lower electrode.

Magnetron plasma process apparatus

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Kawasaki, Japan

Keiji Horioka