Applied Materials, Inc.

Kirankumar Neelasandra Savandaiah

Srinivasa Rao Yedla

Thomas B Brezoczky

William R Johanson

David Gunther

Bhaskar Prasad

Prashant Prabhakar Prabhu

Muhammad M Rasheed

Jiao Song

Nitin Bharadwaj Satyavolu

Irena H Wysok

Keith A Miller

Lara Hawrylchak

Tza-Jing Gung

Yong Cao

Adolph Miller Allen

Donny Young

Siew Kit Hoi

Shane Lavan

Anthony Chih-Tung Chan

Madan Kumar Shimoga Mylarappa

Sundarapandian Ramalinga Vijayalakshmi Reddy

Martin Lee Riker

Ilya Lavitsky

Uday Pai

Vanessa Faune

John C Forster

Xianmin Tang

Rongjun Wang

Ananthkrishna Jupudi

Alan A Ritchie

Sriskantharajah Thirunavukarasu

Cheng-Hsiung Matt Tsai

Jallepally Ravi

Yueh Sheng Ow

Jianxin Lei

Lei Zhou

Jothilingam Ramalingam

Thanh X Nguyen

Junqi Wei

Xin Wang

William Fruchterman

Halbert Chong

Randal Dean Schmieding

Lakshmikanth Krishnamurthy Shirahatti

Michael Santiago Cox

Steven Victor Sansoni

Zhenbin Ge

Zhong Qiang Hua

Cheng-Hsiung Matthew Tsai

Zhitao Cao

Anubhav Srivastava

Randy D Schmieding

Zhiyong Wang

Vaibhav Soni

Kai Liang Liew

Devi Raghavee Veerappan

Ganesh Subbuswamy

Hari Prasath Rajendran

Anthony Chih-Tang Chan

Mei Yin Chang

Srinivas Gandikota

Wei W Wang

Philip Allan Kraus

Anantha K Subramani

Renu Whig

Fuhong Zhang

Goichi Yoshidome

Viachslav Babayan

John Joseph Mazzocco

Jingjing Liu

Zhendong Liu

Kishor Kumar Kalathiparambil

Ryan Hanson

Zhigang Xie

Nuno Yen-Chu Chen

Tiefeng Shi

Gang Fu

Mengxue Wu

Carl R Johnson

Wei Dou

Yue Cui

Wen Long Favier Shoo

Mingdong Li

Cory Eugene Lafollett

Isaac Porras

Chandrashekar Kenchappa

Avinash Nayak

Sundarapandian Ramalinga Vijayalaks Reddy

Andrew Moe

Sreenath Sovenahalli

Ruxiao An

Sundarapandian Reddy

The disclosure relates to a target for physical vapor deposition processes. In one embodiment, a physical vapor deposition (PVD) target, includes a monolithic target with a support region partially defined by a process face and radial sidewalls; and a recess within a mounting face of the monolithic target, the recess disposed opposite the process face and extending radially outward of the radial sidewalls.

Molybdenum monolithic physical vapor deposition target

A substrate process station includes a housing including a transport region and process region. The process station further includes a magnetic levitation assembly disposed in the transport region configured to levitate and propel a substrate carrier. The magnetic levitation assembly includes a first track segment including first rails disposed in the transport region and below the process region, wherein the first rails each include a first plurality of magnets. The process station further includes a pedestal assembly comprising a pedestal disposed within the housing. The pedestal is moveable between a pedestal transfer position and a process position, wherein the pedestal is disposed between the first rails in the pedestal transfer position to receive a substrate from the substrate carrier, and wherein the pedestal is moveable between the first rails to position the received substrate in the process region in the process position.

Semiconductor process equipment

Embodiments of apparatus for high pressure plasma processing are provided herein. In some embodiments, the apparatus includes an isolator plate and grounding bracket for a substrate support, such as an electrostatic chuck, in a plasma processing chamber. In some embodiments, apparatus for high pressure plasma processing includes: an electrostatic chuck; a ground return bracket spaced apart from the electrostatic chuck; and a dielectric plate disposed between the electrostatic chuck and the ground return bracket.

Apparatus for improved high pressure plasma processing

A floating pin for positioning a substrate relative to a substrate support includes a shaft configured to move through a guide hole in a substrate support, and a pin head including a top surface and a flat shoulder surface disposed between the top surface and the shaft. The flat shoulder surface is configured to be seated on a recessed surface of the substrate support and seal the guide hole of the substrate support.

Floating pin for substrate transfer

Methods and apparatus reduce defects in substrates processed in a physical vapor (PVD) chamber. In some embodiments, a method for cleaning a process kit disposed in an inner volume of a process chamber includes positioning a non-sputtering shutter disk on a substrate support of the PVD chamber; energizing an oxygen-containing cleaning gas disposed in the inner volume of the PVD chamber to create a plasma reactive with carbon-based materials; and heating the process kit having a carbon-based material adhered thereto while exposed to the plasma to remove at least a portion of the carbon-based material adhered to the process kit.

Shutter disk for physical vapor deposition (PVD) chamber

Target profile for a physical vapor deposition chamber target

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to apparatus, systems and methods for substrate processing. A detachable substrate support is disposed within a processing volume of a processing chamber and the substrate support includes a substrate interfacing surface and a back surface. The pedestal hub has a supporting surface removably coupled to the substrate support. A hub volume of the pedestal hub includes temperature measuring assembly disposed therein positioned to receive electromagnetic energy emitted from the back surface of the substrate support. The temperature measuring assembly measures an intensity of the electromagnetic energy entering the assembly and generates intensity signals. An apparent temperature of the substrate is determined based on the intensity signals.

Apparatus, system, and method for non-contact temperature monitoring of substrate supports

A method and apparatus for substrate processing and a cluster tool including a transfer chamber assembly and a plurality of processing assemblies. Processing chamber volumes are sealed from the transfer chamber volume using a support chuck on which a substrate is disposed. A seal ring assembly is coupled to the support chuck. The seal ring assembly includes an inner assembly, an assembly bellows circumscribing the inner assembly, and a bellows disposed between the inner and outer platform. An inner ring is disposed between inner assembly of the seal ring assembly and the bottom surface of the support chuck. An outer ring disposed between the seal ring assembly and the lower sealing surface of the process chamber wall. The support chuck is raised to form an isolation seal between the processing chamber volume and the transfer chamber volume using the bellows, the inner ring, and the outer ring.

Isolated volume seals and method of forming an isolated volume within a processing chamber

A method and apparatus for lifting a process station from a processing module is described herein. The apparatus includes a lift assembly disposed on the processing module, a lift cage, and one or more guide pins. The lift assembly is disposed to be capable of reaching each of the process stations disposed within the processing module. The lift assembly is used for replacement and maintenance of the process stations and further enables the automated removal and placement of the process stations within the processing module. Maintenance methods enabled by the lift assembly are additionally disclosed herein.

Cathode exchange mechanism to improve preventative maintenance time for cluster system

Embodiments of process shield for use in process chambers are provided herein. In some embodiments, a process shield for use in a process chamber includes: an annular body having an upper portion and a lower portion extending downward and radially inward from the upper portion, wherein the upper portion includes a plurality of annular trenches on an upper surface thereof and having a plurality of slots disposed therebetween to fluidly couple the plurality of annular trenches, wherein one or more inlets extend from an outer surface of the annular body to an outermost trench of the plurality of annular trenches.

Gas injection process kit to eliminate arcing and improve uniform gas distribution for a PVD process

Embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to lift pins and to apparatus for controlling lift pin movement. In an embodiment, an apparatus for positioning a substrate in a chamber is provided. The apparatus includes a chamber component, a lift pin having a top surface for supporting the substrate and a lift pin shaft and a stopper. The apparatus further includes a compressible element positioned between the chamber component and the stopper, the compressible element further positioned around the lift pin shaft, the lift pin being moveable relative to a substrate transfer plane by movement of a substrate support in contact with the compressible element.

Apparatus for controlling lift pin movement

Embodiments disclosed herein include a substrate processing module and a method of moving a workpiece. The substrate processing module includes a shutter stack and two process stations. The shutter stack is disposed between the process stations. The method of moving a workpiece includes moving a supporting portion from a first location to a shutter stack in a first direction, retrieving the workpiece from the shutter stack, and moving the supporting portion to a second location. The transfer chamber assembly and method allows for moving workpieces to and from the shutter stack to the two process stations. A central transfer robot of the substrate processing module is configured to grip both substrates and shutter discs, allowing for one robot when typically two robots would be required.

Substrate processing module and method of moving a workpiece

Deposition ring for physical vapor deposition chamber

Aspects of the present disclosure provide systems and apparatuses for a substrate processing assembly with a laminar flow cavity gas injection for high and low pressure. A dual gas reservoir assembly is provided in a substrate processing chamber, positioned within a lower shield assembly. A first gas reservoir is in fluid communication with a processing volume of the substrate processing assembly via a plurality of gas inlet, positioned circumferentially about the processing volume. A second gas reservoir is positioned circumferentially about the first gas reservoir, coupled therewith via one or more reservoir ports. The second gas reservoir is in fluid communication with a first gas source. A recursive path gas assembly is positioned in an upper shield body adjacent to an electrode to provide one or more gases to a dark space gap.

Symmetric pump down mini-volume with laminar flow cavity gas injection for high and low pressure

A physical vapor deposition processing chamber is described. The processing chamber includes a target backing plate in a top portion of the processing chamber, a substrate support in a bottom portion of the processing chamber, a deposition ring positioned at an outer periphery of the substrate support and a shield. The substrate support has a support surface spaced a distance from the target backing plate to form a process cavity. The shield forms an outer bound of the process cavity. In-chamber cleaning methods are also described. In an embodiment, the method includes closing a bottom gas flow path of a processing chamber to a process cavity, flowing an inert gas from the bottom gas flow path, flowing a reactant into the process cavity through an opening in the shield, and evacuating the reaction gas from the process cavity.

Cleaning of SIN with CCP plasma or RPS clean

Growing community of inventors

Bengaluru, India

Kirankumar Neelasandra Savandaiah