Applied Materials, Inc.

Fmc Corporation

Kirby Hane Floyd

Dmitry Lubomirsky

Tuan Anh Nguyen

Juan Carlos Rocha-Alvarez

Shankar Venkataraman

Ganesh Balasubramanian

Amit Kumar Bansal

Son Truong Nguyen

Jay D Pinson, Ii

Rong Pan

Dale Robert Du Bois

Ramprakash Sankarakrishnan

Adib M Khan

Won B Bang

Robert Kim

Adrian Q Montgomery

Jennifer Gonzales

Amna Mohammed

Hiroji Hanawa

Soonam Park

Karthik Janakiraman

Satoru Kobayashi

David Palagashvili

Yen-Kun Victor Wang

Alexander Tam

Tien Fak Tan

Keith Harvey

Shaofeng Chen

John J Busuttil, Jr

Chungman Kim

Yen-Kung Victor Wang

Implementations of the disclosure generally provide an improved pedestal heater for a processing chamber. The pedestal heater includes a temperature-controlled plate having a first surface and a second surface opposing the first surface. The temperature-controlled plate includes an inner zone comprising a first set of heating elements, an outer zone comprising a second set of heating elements, the outer zone surrounding the inner zone, and a continuous thermal choke disposed between the inner zone and the outer zone, and a substrate receiving plate having a first surface and a second surface opposing the first surface, the second surface of the substrate receiving plate is coupled to the first surface of the temperature-controlled plate. The continuous thermal choke enables a very small temperature gradient to be created and manipulated between the inner zone and the outer zone, allowing center-fast or edge-fast etching profile to achieve on a surface of the substrate.

Chamber apparatus for chemical etching of dielectric materials

A semiconductor processing system may include a substrate pedestal. The system may also include at least one fluid channel having a delivery portion configured to deliver a temperature controlled fluid to the substrate pedestal, and having a return portion configured to return the temperature controlled fluid from the substrate pedestal. The system may also include a heater coupled with the delivery portion of the at least one fluid channel. The system may also include a temperature measurement device coupled with the return portion of the at least one fluid channel, and the temperature measurement device may be communicatively coupled with the heater.

Methods and systems to improve pedestal temperature control

A substrate support assembly includes a shaft assembly, a pedestal coupled to a portion of the shaft assembly, and a first rotary connector coupled to the shaft assembly, wherein the first rotary connector comprises a first coil member surrounding a rotatable shaft member that is electrically coupled to the shaft assembly, the first coil member being rotatable with the rotatable shaft, and a second coil member surrounding the first coil member, the second coil member being stationary relative to the first coil member, wherein the first coil member electrically couples with the second coil member when the rotating radio frequency applicator is energized and provides a radio frequency signal/power to the pedestal through the shaft assembly.

Rotatable substrate support having radio frequency applicator

A method and apparatus for processing a substrate are provided. The apparatus includes a pedestal and rotation member, both of which are moveably disposed within a processing chamber. The rotation member is adapted to rotate a substrate disposed in the chamber. The substrate may be supported by an edge ring during processing. The edge ring may selectively engage either the pedestal or the rotation member. In one embodiment, the edge ring engages the pedestal during a deposition process and the edge ring engages the rotation member during rotation of the substrate. The rotation of the substrate during processing may be discrete or continuous.

Wafer rotation in a semiconductor chamber

A substrate processing system that has a plurality of deposition chambers, and one or more robotic arms for moving a substrate between one or more of a deposition chamber, load lock holding area, and a curing and treatment module. The substrate curing and treatment module is attached to the load-lock substrate holding area, and may include: The curing chamber for curing a dielectric layer in an atmosphere comprising ozone, and a treatment chamber for treating the cured dielectric layer in an atmosphere comprising water vapor. The chambers may be vertically aligned, have one or more access doors, and may include a heating system to adjust the curing and/or heating chambers between two or more temperatures respectively.

Module for ozone cure and post-cure moisture treatment

A substrate processing chamber for processing a plurality of wafers in batch mode. In one embodiment the chamber includes a vertically aligned housing having first and second processing areas separated by an internal divider, the first processing area positioned directly over the second processing area; a multi-zone heater operatively coupled to the housing to heat the first and second processing areas independent of each other; a wafer transport adapted to hold a plurality of wafers within the processing chamber and move vertically between the first and second processing areas; a gas distribution system adapted to introduce ozone into the second area and steam into the first processing area; and a gas exhaust system configured to exhaust gases introduced into the first and second processing areas.

Loadlock batch ozone cure

A method for adjusting a spacing of a leveling plate from a chamber body comprises attaching a mounting stud that includes a stud threaded surface to the chamber body. An adjustment screw is provided that has a first threaded surface threadingly engaged with the stud threaded surface. A bushing is provided that has a bushing threaded surface threadingly engaged with a second threaded surface of the adjustment screw. The bushing is movably coupled to the leveling plate. Coarse adjustment of the spacing between the leveling plate and the chamber body is made by rotating the adjustment screw with respect to the mounting stud. The bushing is fixed to the leveling plate. Fine adjustment of the spacing between the leveling plate and the chamber body is made by rotating the adjustment screw with respect to the mounting stud and the bushing.

High resolution substrate holder leveling device and method

A method of adjusting a spacing between a gas distribution member and a substrate support includes forming a layer on a substrate disposed on the substrate support; measuring a thickness of the layer on the substrate; and calculating differences in thickness between a reference location on the substrate and a plurality of remaining locations on the substrate. The method further comprises computing spacing adjustment amounts for the remaining locations relative to the reference location based on the differences in thickness between the reference location and the remaining locations.

Adjusting a spacing between a gas distribution member and a substrate support

A device for adjusting a spacing between a chamber body such as a chamber body and a leveling plate such as a leveling plate comprises a mounting stud configured to be mounted to the chamber body. The mounting stud includes a stud threaded surface. A bushing is capable of being fixed to the leveling plate, and includes a bushing threaded surface. An adjustment screw has a first threaded surface threadingly engaged with the stud threaded surface of the mounting stud, and a second threaded surface threadingly engaged with the bushing threaded surface of the bushing. The threaded surfaces are configured, when the bushing is fixed to the leveling plate and the adjustment screw is turned, to cause the adjustment screw to move in a first direction with respect to the mounting stud at a first rate and the bushing to move in a second direction opposite from the first direction with respect to the adjustment screw at a second rate which is different from the first rate.

Embodiments of the present invention are directed to adjusting the spacing between the substrate support and the faceplate of the gas distribution member to achieve improved uniformity of the layer formed on the substrate. One embodiment of the present invention is directed to a method of adjusting a spacing between a gas distribution member and a substrate support disposed generally opposite from the gas distribution member, wherein the substrate support is configured to support a substrate on which to form a layer with improved thickness uniformity. The method comprises forming a layer on the substrate disposed on the substrate support; measuring a thickness of the layer on the substrate; and calculating differences in thickness between a reference location on the substrate and a plurality of remaining locations on the substrate. The method further comprises computing spacing adjustment amounts for the remaining locations relative to the reference location based on the differences in thickness between the reference location and the remaining locations. The spacing adjustment amount is positive to increase the spacing between the substrate support at the location and the gas distribution member if the thickness is greater at the location than at the reference location. The spacing adjustment amount is negative to decrease the spacing between the substrate support at the location if the thickness is smaller at the location than at the reference location.

In situ substrate holder leveling method and apparatus

A processing chamber may be effectively cleaned by a remote plasma flowed through the chamber in a direction opposite to the direction of gas flowed during wafer processing. Specifically, the remotely generated plasma may be introduced directly into the chamber through a processing gas exhaust or other port, and then be exhausted from the chamber by traveling through the gas distribution shower head to the foreline. In one embodiment of the present invention, this reverse flow of remote cleaning plasma is maintained for the duration of the chamber cleaning step. In an alternative embodiment, the direction of flow of the remote cleaning plasma through the chamber is alternated between this reverse flow and a conventional forward flow.

Backflush chamber clean

The invention provides an indirect linkage between a spring and a hatch supported by the spring. The torque or moment applied by the hatch is significantly curved. The indirect linkage which provides a first varying moment arm and a second varying moment arm and utilizes a varying ratio between the first moment arm and the second moment arm to provide an applied spring torque which matches the shape of the torque curve applied by the hatch.

Growing community of inventors

San Jose, CA, United States of America

Kirby Hane Floyd