Applied Materials, Inc.

Raymond Gristi

Yan Ye

Hiroji Hanawa

Anantha K Subramani

Peter K Loewenhardt

Bradley Owen Stimson

Michael N Sugarman

Gerald Zheyao Yin

Gilbert Hausmann

Peter Satitpunwaycha

Shannon M Hart

Norman Cowan

Lawrance A Ringor

Chia-Au Bill Lu

A cathode assembly having a pedestal and a detachable susceptor. Various contact assemblies containing a canted spring are utilized to make electrical connection between the pedestal and detachable susceptor. The canted spring has coils that are tilted in one direction and joined end to end to form a doughnut shape. Such a spring creates multiple parallel self-loading electrical connections via the turns of the spring. The turns act like electrical wires to ensure reliable RF electrical energy transfer. The canted spring contact of the present invention allows for flat contact between the pedestal and the chuck.

Cathode assembly containing an electrostatic chuck for retaining a wafer in a semiconductor wafer processing system

A high pressure fitting configured to be weldingly coupled to high pressure tubing is provided. The high pressure fitting and/or the tubing welded thereto may be chamfered to provided a smoother welded joint. The interior surface finish of the fitting is smoothed via an abrasive fluid flowed through the fitting's fluid passageway. In fittings comprising a corner, the inner edge of the corner may be rounded by forcibly flowing an abrasive fluid through the fitting. Electropolishing further smoothes the interior surfaces. The inventive fitting allows flow system tolerancing to be tightly controlled by determining a desired distance between two high pressure fittings to be coupled, and adjusting the desired distance by a welded length variable.

High pressure fitting

A lift pin 95 for dechucking a substrate 15 held to a chuck 50 by residual electrostatic charge, the substrate being processed in a plasma formed using RF currents, is described. The lift pin 95 comprises (a) a movable elongated member 110 having a tip 115 suitable for lifting and lowering the substrate 15 off the chuck 50, and capable of forming an electrically conductive path between the substrate 15 and a current sink 105. The electrically conductive path comprises at least one of the following: (1) a frequency selective filter capable of filtering RF currents flowing therethrough so that substantially no RF currents flow through the filter; or (2) a resistor having a resistance sufficiently elevated to reduce the voltage caused by RF currents flowing therethrough, by at least about 50%. The lift pin 95 allows the residual electrostatic charge in the substrate 15 to be discharged to the current sink 105 substantially without allowing RF currents, used to form a plasma in the process chamber and to attract the plasma to the substrate, from flowing to the current sink 105.

Lift pin for dechucking substrates

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San Jose, CA, United States of America

Raymond Gristi