Applied Materials, Inc.

Other

Phil M Salzman

Cheng C Wang

Masato M Toshima

Steven C Murdoch

Mark A Stenholm

Leonard Hall

James Howard

David K Cheng

Boris Fishkin

Hiroji Hanawa

Gerald Z Yin

Peter K Loewenhardt

Diana Xiaobing Ma

Allen Richard Zhao

A workpiece loading interface is included within a workpiece processing system which processes workpieces, typically wafers, in a vacuum. The workpiece loading interface includes two separate chambers. Each chamber may be separately pumped down. Thus, while a first cassette of wafers, from a first chamber is being accessed, a second cassette of wafers may be loaded in the second chamber and the second chamber pumped down. Each chamber is designed to minimize intrusion to a clean room. Thus a door to each chamber has a mechanism which, when opening the door, first moves the door slightly away from an opening in the chamber and then the door is moved down parallel to the chamber. After the door is opened, a cassette of wafers is lowered through the opening in a motion much like a drawbridge. The cassette may be pivoted within the chamber when the position from which wafers are accessed from the cassette differs from the position from which the cassette is lowered out of the chamber.

Dual cassette load lock

An improved particle monitoring sensor is described which uses a variety of techniques to prolong the effective life of the optical surfaces within the particle monitoring'sensor. Substantially inert purging gas is directed over the particle monitoring sensor windows, which are normally exposed to a harsh operating environment. The surfaces of these windows are heated by heating elements in direct thermal contact with the windows. In addition, a restrictive slit is placed over the detector window to reduce the exposed area and to increase the velocity of gas flowing over the window surface. While this slit reduces the detector's field of view, the signal loss is reduced by using a linearly polarized light source and aligning the elongated slit's major axis with the direction of polarization.

Particle monitoring system

Apparatus for lifting a wafer, or other such workpiece, from the surface of pedestal in a semiconductor wafer processing system. More specifically, the apparatus relates to a lift pin that is guided by a guide bushing and a guide pin. Preferably, the lift pin is hollow and is slideably engaged with a guide pin. The guide pin is fixed relative to the pedestal and coaxially aligned with a lift pin bore in the pedestal. An actuator drives the lift pin along the guide pin from a fully retracted lift pin position to a fully extended lift pin position. A guide bushing, located in the pedestal proximate the lift pin, also guides the lift pin as the pin passes through the lift pin bore. The guide bushing forms a lip seal between the lift pin and the pedestal. Furthermore, a bellows surrounding the lift pin and the guide pin, can also be used to preserve the integrity of the chamber environment.

Lift pin guidance apparatus

An inductively coupled RF plasma reactor for processing semiconductor wafer includes a reactor chamber having a side wall and a ceiling, a wafer pedestal for supporting the wafer in the chamber, an RF power source, apparatus for introducing a processing gas into the reactor chamber, and a coil inductor adjacent the reactor chamber connected to the RF power source, the coil inductor including (a) a side section facing a portion of the side wall and including a bottom winding and a top winding, the top winding being at a height corresponding at least approximately to a top height of the ceiling, and (b) a top section extending radially inwardly from the top winding of the side section so as to overlie at least a substantial portion of the ceiling.

RF plasma reactor with hybrid conductor and multi-radius dome ceiling

An improved particle monitoring sensor is described which uses a variety of techniques to prolong the effective life of the optical surfaces within the particle monitoring sensor. Substantially inert purging gas is directed over the particle monitoring sensor windows, which are normally exposed to a harsh operating environment. The surfaces of these windows are heated by heating elements in direct thermal contact with the windows. In addition, a restrictive slit is placed over the detector window to reduce the exposed area and to increase the velocity of gas flowing over the window surface. While this slit reduces the detector's field of view, the signal loss is reduced by using a linearly polarized light source and aligning the elongated slit's major axis with the direction of polarization.

Particle monitoring sensor

A feedthrough extending through the wall of an enclosure includes a body portion having a stem portion extending through the wall and a head portion abutting against the wall. The feedthrough assembly further includes a seal member and a biasing member to bias at least a portion of the head against the seal member. The body portion may be conductive, to form an electric current path through the wall of the enclosure, or may form a non-conductive passage to route a feed member, such as an optic cable, or tubular gas or liquid supply conduits, into the enclosure.

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San Jose, CA, United States of America

Phil M Salzman