Applied Materials, Inc.

Steven Lane

Kartik Ramaswamy

Yang Yang

Kenneth S Collins

Lawrence Wong

Shahid Rauf

Gonzalo Monroy

Andrew Nguyen

Yue Guo

Leonid Dorf

Lucy Zhiping Chen

Joseph F AuBuchon

Travis Koh

James D Carducci

Tza-Jing Gung

Jason Andrew Kenney

Nipun Misra

Srinivas D Nemani

Richard Charles Fovell

Jonathan Liu

Ying Di Zhang

Daniel John Hoffman

Douglas A Buchberger, Jr

Praburam Gopalraja

Chentsau Chris Ying

Steven C Shannon

Eswaranand Venkatasubramanian

Hamid Tavassoli

Yogananda Sarode Vishwanath

Walter R Merry

Roger Alan Lindley

Jie Zhou

Jingjing Liu

Sheng-Chin Kung

Jivko Dinev

Nattaworn Boss Nunta

Ming-Feng Wu

Methods and apparatus for processing a substrate are provided herein. For example, a method for processing a substrate includes applying at least one of low frequency RF power or DC power to an upper electrode formed from a high secondary electron emission coefficient material disposed adjacent to a process volume; generating a plasma comprising ions in the process volume; bombarding the upper electrode with the ions to cause the upper electrode to emit electrons and form an electron beam; and applying a bias power comprising at least one of low frequency RF power or high frequency RF power to a lower electrode disposed in the process volume to accelerate electrons of the electron beam toward the lower electrode.

Methods and apparatus for processing a substrate

A method of forming a transparent carbon layer on a substrate is provided. The method comprises generating an electron beam plasma above a surface of a substrate positioned over a first electrode and disposed in a processing chamber having a second electrode positioned above the first electrode. The method further comprises flowing a hydrocarbon-containing gas mixture into the processing chamber, wherein the second electrode has a surface containing a secondary electron emission material selected from a silicon-containing material and a carbon-containing material. The method further comprises applying a first RF power to at least one of the first electrode and the second electrode and forming a transparent carbon layer on the surface of the substrate.

Plasma deposition of carbon hardmask

A plasma reactor includes a processing chamber having a lower processing portion having an axis of symmetry and an array of cavities extending upwardly from the lower processing portion. A gas distributor couples plural gas sources to a plurality of gas inlets of the cavities, and the gas distributor includes a plurality of valves with each valve selectively connecting a respective gas inlet to one of the plural gas sources. Power is applied by an array of conductors that includes a respective conductor for each respective cavity with each conductor adjacent and surrounding a cavity. A power distributor couples a power source and the array of conductors, and the power distributor includes a plurality of switches with a switch for each respective conductor.

Chamber with individually controllable plasma generation regions for a reactor for processing a workpiece

Embodiments described herein relate to apparatus and methods for performing electron beam etching process. In one embodiment, a method of etching a substrate includes delivering a process gas to a process volume of a process chamber, applying a RF power to an electrode formed from a high secondary electron emission coefficient material disposed in the process volume, generating a plasma comprising ions in the process volume, bombarding the electrode with the ions to cause the electrode to emit electrons and form an electron beam, applying a negative DC power to the electrode, accelerating electrons emitted from the bombarded electrode toward a substrate disposed in the process chamber, and etching the substrate with the accelerated ions.

Methods and apparatus for electron beam etching process

An external magnetic filter to trap electrons surrounds a reactor chamber and has multiple magnets arranged in a circle, the magnetic orientation of each individual magnet being rotated relative to the orientation of the adjacent individual magnet by a difference angle that is a function of the arc subtended by the individual magnet.

Plasma processing reactor with a magnetic electron-blocking filter external of the chamber and uniform field within the chamber

Embodiments described herein relate to apparatus and methods for performing electron beam reactive plasma etching (EBRPE). In one embodiment, an apparatus for performing EBRPE processes includes an electrode formed from a material having a high secondary electron emission coefficient. In another embodiment, methods for etching a substrate include generating a plasma and bombarding an electrode with ions from the plasma to cause the electrode to emit electrons. The electrons are accelerated toward a substrate to induce etching of the substrate.

Etching methods

A method of performing deposition of diamond-like carbon on a workpiece in a chamber includes supporting the workpiece in the chamber facing an upper electrode suspended from a ceiling of the chamber, introducing a hydrocarbon gas into the chamber, and applying first RF power at a first frequency to the upper electrode that generates a plasma in the chamber and produces a deposition of diamond-like carbon on the workpiece. Applying the RF power generates an electron beam from the upper electrode toward the workpiece to enhance ionization of the hydrocarbon gas.

Deposition or treatment of diamond-like carbon in a plasma reactor

Plural sensors on an interior surface of a reactor chamber are linked by respective RF communication channels to a hub inside the reactor chamber, which in turn is linked to a process controller outside of the chamber.

Method of real time in-situ chamber condition monitoring using sensors and RF communication

Methods for forming a diamond like carbon layer with desired film density, mechanical strength and optical film properties are provided. In one embodiment, a method of forming a diamond like carbon layer includes generating an electron beam plasma above a surface of a substrate disposed in a processing chamber, and forming a diamond like carbon layer on the surface of the substrate. The diamond like carbon layer is formed by an electron beam plasma process, wherein the diamond like carbon layer serves as a hardmask layer in an etching process in semiconductor applications. The diamond like carbon layer may be formed by bombarding a carbon containing electrode disposed in a processing chamber to generate a secondary electron beam in a gas mixture containing carbon to a surface of a substrate disposed in the processing chamber, and forming a diamond like carbon layer on the surface of the substrate from elements of the gas mixture.

Diamond like carbon layer formed by an electron beam plasma process

Embodiments described herein generally relate to plasma process apparatus. In one embodiment, the plasma process apparatus includes a plasma source assembly. The plasma source assembly may include a first coil, a second coil surrounding the first coil, and a magnetic device disposed outside the first and inside the second coil. The magnet enables additional tuning which improves uniformity control of the processes on the substrate.

Magnet configurations for radial uniformity tuning of ICP plasmas

Embodiments of methods and apparatus for plasma processing are provided herein. In some embodiments, an inductively coupled plasma apparatus may include a bottom wall comprising a hub and a ring coupled to the hub by a capacitor, wherein the hub and the ring are each electrically conductive, and where the hub has a central opening aligned with a central axis of the inductively coupled plasma apparatus; a top wall spaced apart from and above the bottom wall, wherein the top wall has a central opening aligned with the central axis, and wherein the tope wall is electrically conductive; a sidewall electrically connecting the ring to the top wall; and a tube electrically connecting the hub to the top wall, the tube having a central opening aligned with the central axis.

Inductively coupled plasma source

Implementations described herein provide a substrate support assembly which enables tuning of a plasma within a plasma chamber. In one embodiment, a method for tuning a plasma in a chamber is provided. The method includes providing a first radio frequency power and a direct current power to a first electrode in a substrate support assembly, providing a second radio frequency power to a second electrode in the substrate support assembly at a different location than the first electrode, monitoring parameters of the first and second radio frequency power, and adjusting one or both of the first and second radio frequency power based on the monitored parameters.

Multiple electrode substrate support assembly and phase control system

Methods and apparatus for controlling a magnetic field in a plasma chamber are provided herein. In some embodiments, a process chamber liner may include a cylindrical body, an inner electromagnetic cosine-theta (cos &#x3b8;) coil ring including a first plurality of inner coils embedded in the body and configured to generate a magnetic field in a first direction, and an outer electromagnetic cosine-theta (cos &#x3b8;) coil ring including a second plurality of outer coils embedded in the body and configured to generate a magnetic field in a second direction orthogonal to the first direction, wherein the outer electromagnetic cos &#x3b8; coil ring is disposed concentrically about the inner electromagnetic cos &#x3b8; coil ring.

Growing community of inventors

Porterville, CA, United States of America

Steven Lane