Lam Research Corporation

Novellus Systems Incorporated

Other

Patrick G Breiling

Karl Frederick Leeser

Ramesh Chandrasekharan

Bhadri N Varadarajan

Pramod Subramonium

Bo Gong

Zhe Gui

Huatan Qiu

Rachel E Batzer

Geoffrey Hohn

Taide Tan

Will Schlosser

Adrien Lavoie

Mandyam Sriram

George Andrew Antonelli

Ishtak Karim

Keith Fox

Timothy Scott Thomas

Dong Niu

John B Alexy

Jason Dirk Haverkamp

Bart Jan Van Schravendijk

Chloe Baldasseroni

Sean M Donnelly

Jennifer O'Loughlin

Edmund Minshall

Andrew Duvall

Sung Je Kim

Michael John Selep

David William Kamp

Shankar Swaminathan

Frank Loren Pasquale

Paul Konkola

Yukinori Sakiyama

Jennifer Leigh Petraglia

Joseph Lindsey Womack

Joe Womack

John D Rasberry

Steve C Schlegel

Jonathan David Reid

Bryan L Buckalew

Purushottam Kumar

Seshasayee Varadarajan

Nagraj Shankar

Pulkit Agarwal

Colin F Smith

Vincent Burkhart

Michael Philip Roberts

Bart K Van Schravendijk

Kevin Gerber

Glenn Ibarreta

A method of depositing a film stack including films of different compositions in a process station using a plasma is described. The method includes: in a first plasma-activated film deposition phase, depositing a first film having a first film composition on a substrate, and, in a second plasma-activated deposition phase, depositing a second film having a second film composition on the first film, where the second film composition is different from the first film composition. Deposition of the first film can include delivering at least two first deposition phase reactants to the process station via a delivery line; and deposition of the second film can include delivering at least two second deposition phase reactants to the process station via the same delivery line that was used during deposition of the first film. The method may also include a step of purging the delivery line.

Plasma-enhanced deposition of film stacks

A substrate processing system includes a first chamber including a substrate support. A showerhead is arranged above the first chamber and is configured to filter ions and deliver radicals from a plasma source to the first chamber. The showerhead includes a heat transfer fluid plenum, a secondary gas plenum including an inlet to receive secondary gas and a plurality of secondary gas injectors to inject the secondary gas into the first chamber, and a plurality of through holes passing through the showerhead. The through holes are not in fluid communication with the heat transfer fluid plenum or the secondary gas plenum.

Integrated showerhead with thermal control for delivering radical and precursor gas to a downstream chamber to enable remote plasma film deposition

Apparatuses and systems for pedestals are provided. An example pedestal may have a body with an upper annular seal surface that is planar, perpendicular to a vertical center axis of the body, and has a radial thickness, a lower recess surface offset from the upper annular seal surface, and a plurality of micro-contact areas (MCAs) protruding from the lower recess surface, each MCA having a top surface offset from the lower recess surface by a second distance less, and one or more electrodes within the body. The upper annular seal surface may be configured to support an outer edge of a semiconductor substrate when the semiconductor substrate is being supported by the pedestal, and the upper annular seal surface and the tops of the MCAs may be configured to support the semiconductor substrate when the semiconductor substrate is being supported by the pedestal.

Electrostatic chuck with seal surface

A faceplate of a showerhead has a bottom side that faces a plasma generation region and a top side that faces a plenum into which a process gas is supplied during operation of a substrate processing system. The faceplate includes apertures formed through the bottom side and openings formed through the top side. Each of the apertures is formed to extend through a portion of an overall thickness of the faceplate to intersect with at least one of the openings to form a corresponding flow path for process gas through the faceplate. Each of the apertures has a cross-section that has a hollow cathode discharge suppression dimension in at least one direction. Each of the openings has a cross-section that has a smallest cross-sectional dimension that is greater than the hollow cathode discharge suppression dimension.

Showerhead faceplate having flow apertures configured for hollow cathode discharge suppression

A pedestal for a substrate processing system includes a pedestal body including a substrate-facing surface. An annular band is arranged on the substrate-facing surface that is configured to support a radially outer edge of the substrate. A cavity is defined in the substrate-facing surface of the pedestal body and is located radially inside of the annular band. The cavity creates a volume between a bottom surface of the substrate and the substrate-facing surface of the pedestal body. A plurality of vents pass though the pedestal body and are in fluid communication with the cavity to equalize pressure on opposing faces of the substrate during processing.

Planar substrate edge contact with open volume equalization pathways and side containment

An electrostatic substrate chuck with substrate backside purging to prevent incidental backside deposition and that provides thermal sinking to prevent or mitigate the failure of seals.

Electrostatic chucking pedestal with substrate backside purging and thermal sinking

A semiconductor system includes a chamber, a pedestal disposed in the chamber, and a focus ring that surrounds the pedestal. The pedestal has a center region for supporting a central region of a substrate, e.g., a wafer. The focus ring is configured to surround the center region of the pedestal. The focus ring has an annular support region that extends between an inner portion of the focus ring and an outer portion of the focus ring. The annular support region, which is disposed at an angle relative to a horizontal line, provides a knife-edge contact for the substrate when present over the center region of the pedestal and the annular support region of the focus ring. The knife-edge contact between the edge of the substrate and the annular support region of the focus ring disables chemical access to the substrate backside and thereby reduces unwanted backside deposition.

Conical wafer centering and holding device for semiconductor processing

A pedestal for a substrate processing system includes a pedestal body including a substrate-facing surface. An annular band is arranged on the substrate-facing surface that is configured to support a radially outer edge of the substrate. A cavity is defined in the substrate-facing surface of the pedestal body and is located radially inside of the annular band. The cavity creates a volume between a bottom surface of the substrate and the substrate-facing surface of the pedestal body. A plurality of vents pass through the pedestal body and are in fluid communication with the cavity to equalize pressure on opposing faces of the substrate during processing.

A substrate processing system includes a first chamber including a substrate support. A showerhead is arranged above the first chamber and is configured to filter ions and deliver radicals from a plasma source to the first chamber. The showerhead includes a heat transfer fluid plenum including an inlet to receive heat transfer fluid and a plurality of flow channels to direct the heat transfer fluid through a center portion of the showerhead to an outlet to control a temperature of the showerhead, a secondary gas plenum including an inlet to receive secondary gas and a plurality of secondary gas injectors to inject the secondary gas into the first chamber, and a plurality of through holes passing through the showerhead. The through holes are not in fluid communication with the heat transfer fluid plenum or the secondary gas plenum.

An apparatus for depositing film stacks in-situ (i.e., without a vacuum break or air exposure) are described. In one example, a plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition apparatus configured to deposit a plurality of film layers on a substrate without exposing the substrate to a vacuum break between film deposition phases, is provided. The apparatus includes a process chamber, a plasma source and a controller configured to control the plasma source to generate reactant radicals using a particular reactant gas mixture during the particular deposition phase, and sustain the plasma during a transition from the particular reactant gas mixture supplied during the particular deposition phase to a different reactant gas mixture supplied during a different deposition phase.

PECVD apparatus for in-situ deposition of film stacks

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Tigard, OR, United States of America

Patrick G Breiling