Applied Materials, Inc.

Thomas & Betts International LLC

Jennings Technology

Other

Machine Technology, Inc.

Roderick Craig Mosely

Ted Tie Guo

Liang-Yuh Chen

Fusen E Chen

Rong Tao

Steven Jay Randazzo

Mei Yin Chang

Zheng Xu

Mehul B Naik

Karl Anthony Littau

Hong Zhang

John C Forster

Ivo Johannes Raaijmakers

Suchitra Subrahmanyan

Xianmin Tang

Jianming Fu

Michal Danek

Peijun Ding

Praburam Gopalraja

Arvind Sundarrajan

Michael A Miller

Suraj Rengarajan

Daniel Clarence Lubben

Marvin De-Dui Liao

David C Smith

Chyi Chern

Bryce Franklin Sollazzi

Hua Chung

Hiroji Hanawa

Ling Chen

Israel Beinglass

Chien-Teh Kao

Liang Light Chen

Jick M Yu

Nitin Khurana

Nirmalya Maity

Lawrence T Lamont, Jr

Liang-Yu Chen

Mary Grace Montesclaros

Robert James Speciale

Jing-Pei Chou

Wei W Wang

Vijay D Parkhe

Yan Ye

Dan Maydan

Seshadri Ganguli

Sasson Roger Somekh

Barry Lee Chin

Ashok K Sinha

James S Papanu

Diana Xiaobing Ma

Christophe Marcadal

Howard E Grunes

Mark Naoshi Kawaguchi

Kenny King-tai Ngan

Daniel A Carl

Sergio Edelstein

Marc O Schweitzer

Bingxi Sun Wood

Chiukin Steven Lai

James S Van Gogh

William J Murphy

Ivo J Raaijmakers

Wei Cao

Anish Tolia

Hua Ai

Robert S West

Joseph E Oeschger

James Domo

Lisa L Yang

Timothy E Levine

Thomas L Strahl

Wen Chiang Tu

Haim Gilboa

Jim Van Gogh

Keiji Miyamoto

Timothy M McEntee

Lonnie W McCormick

Hobart A Brown

Chiukun Steven Lai

Carl T Peterson

Lance Patrick Sabados

Mary Grace Bello Montesclaros

Li Lei

Ernest Frederick Bestel

Solinda Egermeier, Legal Representative

David Pung

Zhi-Fan Zhang

John (deceased) Egermeier

James Francis Domo

Joseph Emil Oeschger

A magnetron sputter reactor for sputtering deposition materials such as tantalum, tantalum nitride and copper, for example, and its method of use, in which self-ionized plasma (SIP) sputtering and inductively coupled plasma (ICP) sputtering are promoted, either together or alternately, in the same or different chambers. Also, bottom coverage may be thinned or eliminated by ICP resputtering in one chamber and SIP in another. SIP is promoted by a small magnetron having poles of unequal magnetic strength and a high power applied to the target during sputtering. ICP is provided by one or more RF coils which inductively couple RF energy into a plasma. The combined SIP-ICP layers can act as a liner or barrier or seed or nucleation layer for hole. In addition, an RF coil may be sputtered to provide protective material during ICP resputtering. In another chamber an array of auxiliary magnets positioned along sidewalls of a magnetron sputter reactor on a side towards the wafer from the target. The magnetron preferably is a small, strong one having a stronger outer pole of a first magnetic polarity surrounding a weaker outer pole of a second magnetic polarity and rotates about the central axis of the chamber. The auxiliary magnets preferably have the first magnetic polarity to draw the unbalanced magnetic field component toward the wafer. The auxiliary magnets may be either permanent magnets or electromagnets.

Self-ionized and inductively-coupled plasma for sputtering and resputtering

A magnetron sputter reactor () and its method of use, in which SIP sputtering and ICP sputtering are promoted is disclosed. In another chamber () an array of auxiliary magnets positioned along sidewalls () of a magnetron sputter reactor on a side towards the wafer from the target is disclosed. The magnetron () preferably is a small one having a stronger outer pole () of a first polarity surrounding a weaker inner pole () of a second polarity all on a yoke () and rotates about the axis () of the chamber using rotation means (). The auxiliary magnets () preferably have the first polarity to draw the unbalanced magnetic field () towards the wafer (), which is on a pedestal () supplied with power (). Argon () is supplied through a valve (). The target () is supplied with power ().

A method and apparatus for depositing a tantalum nitride barrier layer is provided for use in an integrated processing tool. The tantalum nitride is deposited by atomic layer deposition. The tantalum nitride is removed from the bottom of features in dielectric layers to reveal the conductive material under the deposited tantalum nitride. Optionally, a tantalum layer may be deposited by physical vapor deposition after the tantalum nitride deposition. Optionally, the tantalum nitride deposition and the tantalum deposition may occur in the same processing chamber.

Integration of ALD tantalum nitride for copper metallization

A apparatus for detecting a high pressure condition within a high voltage vacuum device includes a microcircuit embedded within the vacuum containment that transmits a wireless signal upon detection of a high pressure condition and/or light generated by arcing between the electrical contacts of the high voltage device. The wireless signal can be transmitted via RF or optical means. The microcircuit is powered by energy sources produced within the vacuum device such as magnetic fields generated by current flow through the device, or light generated by arcing between the contacts. Alternatively, the microcircuit can be powered RF or optical signals transmitted to the microcircuit from outside the vacuum device.

Method and apparatus for the detection of high pressure conditions in a vacuum-type electrical device

A substrate cleaning apparatus has a remote source to remotely energize a hydrogen-containing gas to form an energized gas having a first ratio of ionic hydrogen-containing species to radical hydrogen-containing species. The apparatus has a process chamber with a substrate support, an ion filter to filter the remotely energized gas to form a filtered energized gas having a second ratio of ionic hydrogen-containing species to radical hydrogen-containing species, the second ratio being different than the first ratio, and a gas distributor to introduce the filtered energized gas into the chamber.

Cleaning of native oxide with hydrogen-containing radicals

A method for detecting a high pressure condition within a high voltage vacuum device includes detecting the position of a movable structure such as a bellows. The position at high pressures can be detected optically by the interruption of a light beam reflected by a hemispherically shaped reflector. The hemispherical reflector allows the source light fiber to oriented parallel to the detection light fiber, providing a more compact and efficient fiber routing.

A vacuum-type electrical switching apparatus () for high voltage electrical power. A vacuum pressure condition in a vacuum pressure space () surrounding electrical contact points () is monitored and movement of the contact points between open and closed positions is automatically prevented when the pressure exceeds a predetermined threshold in order to avoid destructive arcing between the points. A sensor () provides a vacuum signal () responsive to the vacuum pressure condition. A controller () automatically inhibits movements of the contact points when the vacuum signal indicates that the vacuum has degraded. A contactor () may be placed in series with power supply () and a solenoid () used to move the contact points, with the contactor being automatically opened by the controller in response to the degraded vacuum condition. An electromechanical opening inhibitor () may be energized by the controller to mechanically prevent the contact points from being moved in response to the degraded vacuum condition.

Vacuum-type electrical switching apparatus

A method and apparatus for detecting a high pressure condition within an interrupter includes introducing high intensity ultrasonic sound into the outer wall of a vacuum interrupter through a sonic wave guide, then listening for the reflected and retransmitted response signals. The characteristics of the response signals are utilized to determine the pressure within the interrupter, and to determine when an unwanted high pressure condition exists.

Method and apparatus for the sonic detection of high pressure conditions in a vacuum switching device

A method for detecting a high pressure condition within a high voltage vacuum device includes detecting the position of a movable structure such as a bellows or flexible diaphragm. The position at high pressures can be detected optically by the interruption or reflection of light beams, or electrically by sensing contact closure or deflection via strain gauges. Electrical sensing is provided by microcircuits that are operated at high voltage device potentials, transmitting pressure information via RF or optical signals.

Plasma etching or resputtering of a layer of sputtered materials including opaque metal conductor materials may be controlled in a sputter reactor system. In one embodiment, resputtering of a sputter deposited layer is performed after material has been sputtered deposited and while additional material is being sputter deposited onto a substrate. A path positioned within a chamber of the system directs light or other radiation emitted by the plasma to a chamber window or other optical view-port which is protected by a shield against deposition by the conductor material. In one embodiment, the radiation path is folded to reflect plasma light around the chamber shield and through the window to a detector positioned outside the chamber window. Although deposition material may be deposited onto portions of the folded radiation path, in many applications, the deposition material will be sufficiently reflective to permit the emission spectra to be detected by a spectrometer or other suitable detector without significant signal loss. The etching or resputtering may be terminated when the detector detects that an underlying layer has been reached or when some other suitable process point has been reached.

End point detection for sputtering and resputtering

A method of forming a titanium silicide nitride (TiSiN) layer on a substrate id described. The titanium silicide nitride (TiSiN) layer is formed by providing a substrate to a process chamber and treating the substrate with a silicon-containing gas. A titanium nitride layer is formed on the treated substrate and exposed to a silicon-containing gas. The titanium nitride (TiN) layer reacts with the silicon-containing gas to form the titanium silicide nitride (TiSiN) layer. The formation of the titanium silicide nitride (TiSiN) layer is compatible with integrated circuit fabrication processes. In one integrated circuit fabrication process, the titanium silicide nitride (TiSiN) layer may be used as a diffusion barrier for a tungsten (W) metallization process.

Method of TiSiN deposition using a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) process

The present invention generally provides a precleaning process prior to metallization for submicron features on substrates. The method includes cleaning the submicron features with radicals from a plasma of a reactive gas such as oxygen, a mixture of CF/O, or a mixture of He/NF, wherein the plasma is preferably generated by a remote plasma source and the radicals are delivered to a chamber in which the substrate is disposed. Native oxides remaining in the submicron features are preferably reduced in a second step by treatment with radicals from a plasma containing hydrogen. Following the first or both precleaning steps, the features can be filled with metal by available metallization techniques which typically include depositing a barrier/liner layer on exposed dielectric surfaces prior to deposition of aluminum, copper, or tungsten. The precleaning and metallization steps can be conducted on available integrated processing platforms.

Reactive preclean prior to metallization for sub-quarter micron application

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Pleasanton, CA, United States of America

Roderick Craig Mosely