Applied Materials, Inc.

Shi Wei Toh

Avgerinos V Gelatos

Vikash Banthia

Muhammad M Rasheed

Yu Lei

Muhannad Mustafa

Victor H Calderon

Yung-Hsin Lee

Anindita Sen

Ping Han Hsieh

Teng-fang Kuo

Methods and apparatus for processing substrates are provided herein. In some embodiments, a process kit for a substrate support includes: an upper edge ring made of quartz and having an upper surface and a lower surface, wherein the upper surface is substantially planar and the lower surface includes a stepped lower surface to define a radially outermost portion and a radially innermost portion of the upper edge ring.

Process kit for a substrate support

Methods of etching include cycles of low temperature etching of a material layer disposed on a substrate, with at least one of the cycles being followed by activation of unreacted etchant deposits during an inert gas plasma treatment. In some embodiments, a method includes: positioning a substrate in a processing chamber; generating, in a first etching cycle, a plasma from a gas mixture within the processing chamber to form a processing gas including an etchant; exposing, to the etchant, a portion of a material layer disposed on a substrate maintained at a first temperature; generating an inert gas plasma within the processing chamber; generating, in a second etching cycle, a plasma from a gas mixture within the processing chamber to form a processing gas including an etchant; and heating the substrate to a second temperature to sublimate a byproduct of reaction between the etchant and the material layer.

Substrate processing apparatus and methods

The present disclosure generally relates to methods of removing oxides and oxide-containing layers from the surfaces of substrates. In one aspect, a method of processing a substrate comprises positioning a substrate in a process chamber, the substrate having an oxide layer thereon; introducing one or more process gases to an interior of the process chamber; ionizing the one or more process gases; exposing the oxide layer to the one or more ionized process gases, wherein the process chamber is maintained at a pressure less than about 50 mTorr during the exposing, and the substrate is maintained at a temperature within a range of about zero degrees Celsius to about 30 degrees Celsius during the exposing; and removing the oxide layer from the surface of the substrate.

Device conformity control by low temperature, low pressure, inductively coupled ammonia-nitrogen trifluoride plasma

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Mountain View, CA, United States of America

Shi Wei Toh