Applied Materials, Inc.

Guzik Technical Enterprises

Semyon Sherstinsky

Karl M Brown

Vineet Haresh Mehta

Shamouil Shamouilian

Allen K Lau

Simon W Tam

Manoocher Birang

Alfred W Mak

Mei Yin Chang

Leonel Arturo Zuniga

Wei W Wang

Joseph Yudovsky

John F Cameron

See-Eng Phan

Ashok K Sinha

Arnold Kholodenko

Steve G Ghanayem

Cheng-Hsiung Matt Tsai

Alan F Morrison

Steve Sansoni

Charles C Harris

James F Roberts

Ling Chen

Sasson Roger Somekh

Hyman J Levinstein

Kenneth Tsai

Calvin R Augason

Samuel C Wilson

Fred Conrad Redeker

Karl Anthony Littau

David Walter Groechel

Jun Zhao

Nahum E Guzik

Maitreyee Mahajani

Bryan Y Pu

Michael D Welch

Dale Robert Du Bois

Ralf Hofmann

Hongching Shan

Virendra V Rana

John Pipitone

Umesh M Kelkar

Talex Sajoto

Terrance Y Lee

Robert J Steger

Paul F Smith

Chandra V Deshpandey

Nitin Khurana

Semyon L Kats

Leonid Selyutin

Surinder S Bedi

Ronald Lloyd Rose

Susan G Telford

Wen Teh Chang

Meng Chu Tseng

Tai T Ngo

Robert E Ryan

Jon T Clinton

Kuang-Han Ke

Alan R Popiolkowski

Petru N Nitescu

Ted G Yoshidome

Ron Northrup

Maya Shendon

Alfred Goldspeil

Samuel Luong

Sue Zhang

Sasson Someth

John L Guerini

Michael Phillips

Rod Mosely

Alison Gilliam

Nora Arellano

A substrate support has an electrostatic chuck comprising an electrostatic puck with a dielectric covering an electrode capable of being charged to energize a process gas. The chuck has a frontside surface to receive a substrate and a base plate having an annular flange. A spring loaded heat transfer plate contacts the base plate, and has a fluid channel comprising first and second spiral channels. A pedestal is below the heat transfer plate.

Detachable electrostatic chuck for supporting a substrate in a process chamber

An electrostatic chuck is capable of attachment to a pedestal in a process chamber. The chuck has an electrostatic puck comprises a ceramic body with an embedded electrode. The ceramic body has a substrate support surface with an annular periphery. The chuck also has a base plate below the electrostatic puck that is a composite of a ceramic material and a metal. The base plate has an annular flange extending beyond the periphery of the ceramic body. The base plate and electrostatic puck can be supported by a support pedestal having a housing and an annular ledge that extends outwardly from the housing to attach to the annular flange of the base plate. A heat transfer plate having an embedded heat transfer fluid channel can also be provided.

Detachable electrostatic chuck

A detachable electrostatic chuck can be attached to a pedestal in a process chamber. The electrostatic chuck has an electrostatic puck comprising a dielectric covering at least one electrode and a frontside surface to receive a substrate. A backside surface of the chuck has a central protrusion that can be a D-shaped mesa to facilitate alignment with a mating cavity in the pedestal. The protrusion can also have asymmetrically offset apertures, which further assist alignment, and also serve to receive electrode terminal posts and a gas tube. A heat transfer plate having an embedded heat transfer fluid channel is spring loaded on the pedestal to press against the chuck for good heat transfer.

Generally, a substrate support member for supporting a substrate is provided. In one embodiment, a substrate support member for supporting a substrate includes a body coupled to a lower shield. The body has an upper surface adapted to support the substrate and a lower surface. The lower shield has a center portion and a lip. The lip is disposed radially outward of the body and projects towards a plane defined by the first surface. The lip is disposed in a spaced-apart relation from the body. The lower shield is adapted to interface with an upper shield disposed in a processing chamber to define a labyrinth gap that substantially prevents plasma from migrating below the member. The lower shield, in another embodiment, provides the plasma with a short RF ground return path.

Pedestal with integral shield

A physical vapor deposition plasma reactor includes a vacuum chamber including a sidewall, a ceiling and a wafer support pedestal near a floor of the chamber, and a vacuum pump coupled to the chamber, a process gas inlet coupled to the chamber and a process gas source coupled to the process gas inlet, a metal sputter target at the ceiling, a high voltage D.C. source coupled to the sputter target, an RF plasma source power generator coupled to the wafer support pedestal and having a frequency in a range between about 60 MHz and 81 MHz, and an RF plasma bias power generator coupled to the wafer support pedestal and having a frequency suitable for coupling energy to plasma ions.

Physical vapor deposition plasma reactor with VHF source power applied through the workpiece

Lower pedestal shield

A method of fabricating an electrostatic member for holding a substrate in a process chamber containing erosive process gas. The method comprises the steps of forming an electrostatic member comprising an insulator or dielectric layer covering an electrically conductive layer, and shaping the electrostatic member to form a dielectric covered electrode and an electrical connector attached to the dielectric covered electrode to conduct charge to the dielectric covered electrode

Method of fabricating an electrostatic chuck

The present invention generally provides a support member adapted to provide vacuum chucking. In one aspect, a support member having an upper surface having an outer, raised portion defining an inner, recessed portion is provided. The inner recessed portion is in fluid communication with a vacuum supply. The support member may include a plurality of raised support portions having one or more recessed portions adjacent thereto, the raised support portions having equal heights above the recessed portions. The transition between the raised portions and the recessed portions is gradual and the orifices formed by the holes extending through the upper surface of the substrate support are rounded to eliminate sharp edges and rapid changes in height at the upper surface.

Substrate support member

A support member for supporting a substrate in a process chamber, the support member having a substrate support surface with one or more isolated recessed areas. A vacuum channel and a gas channel are formed in the support member along a common plane and are coupled to a vacuum source and gas source respectively. The gas channel comprises two or more concentrically disposed annular gas channels encompassing the vacuum channel. The vacuum channel is coupled to the support surface, and in particular to the one or more recessed areas, by a plurality of conduits. A portion of the conduits is disposed diametrically exterior to at least one of the annular gas channels and communicates with the vacuum channel via bypass channels.

Substrate support member for a processing chamber

A gas delivery apparatus and method for directing a flow of gas to the edge of a substrate at an angle to the radial direction of the substrate is provided. The apparatus directs the gas from a gas opening, over a plurality of grooves that are angled relative to a radial line originating at a center of the gas delivery apparatus. Subsequently, the gas is flowed over a portion of the substrate to prevent reactive gases from depositing on selective portions of the substrate.

Heater for processing chamber

Apparatus for supporting a workpiece and method of making same. The apparatus comprises a flex circuit laminated to a contoured support pedestal. The flex circuit includes a reinforced layer to improve puncture resistance of the flex circuit. The top surface of the chuck has a contoured topography that is achieved by machining the upper surface of the pedestal prior to lamination of the flex circuit to the pedestal. The contoured topography improves the flow of backside cooling gas resulting in a more uniform wafer temperature profile.

Electrostatic chuck with improved temperature control and puncture resistance

A conventional plasma etch chamber is modified to reduce particulate generation in the chamber that contaminates the chamber and substrates mounted on a pedestal support being processed therein. A clamping ring cover in the chamber is made of ceramic. Grooves are machined into the cover and metal antennas can be mounted in the grooves to act as a getter for particles and pre-particle, non-volatile contaminants in the chamber. The clamping ring for the substrate being processed is also made of ceramic. Fewer particles are generated by ion bombardment using ceramic versus prior art clamping rings made of aluminum. Further, the cylinder clamping ring support which surrounds the pedestal support is fitted with a plurality of openings or windows to allow escape of purge gases that carry particles through the windows and into the adjoining exhaust system of the chamber and thus also away from the substrate being processed. Markedly fewer particles are deposited onto substrates using the modified plasma etch chamber of the invention than was found for unmodified chambers.

Etch chamber

A gas delivery method and apparatus for directing a purge gas to the edge of a substrate at an angle to a linear divergence from the center of the substrate. The apparatus directs a purge gas from a supply source over a deflection surface, having one or more grooves angled relative to a linear divergence from the center of the substrate, to the edge of the substrate. Preferably, the gas is delivered to the edge of the substrate at an angle between about 10 and 90 degrees to a linear divergence from the center of the substrate.

Apparatus and method for delivering a gas

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San Francisco, CA, United States of America

Semyon Sherstinsky