Varian Semiconductor Equipment Associates, Inc.

Applied Materials, Inc.

Steven M Anella

Qin Chen

Julian G Blake

Benjamin B Riordon

Roger Bradford Fish

D Jeffrey Lischer

Dawei Sun

Jonathan David Fischer

William Tyler Weaver

Atul Gupta

Michael W Osborne

Nicholas P T Bateman

Robert J Mitchell

Dale K Stone

Kevin M Daniels

Lyudmila Stone

Scott C Holden

Michael A Schrameyer

Ron Serisky

Russell J Low

Eric D Hermanson

James Paul Buonodono

Jeffrey Charles Blahnik

Jordan B Tye

Nicholas Pt Bateman

Eric D Wilson

Arthur Paul Riaf

Daniel A Hall

Scott E Peitzsch

Brant S Binns

Michael Rohrer

Samuel M Barsky

James R McLane

David J Chipman

Michael Esposito

Bradley M Pomerleau

Chi-Yang Cheng

Robert A Poitras

Richard V Chisholm

Todd Lewis MacEachern

Manohara Kumar

Michael Blanchard

Benjamin D Riordon

An apparatus may include a clamp to clamp a substrate wherein the clamp is arranged opposing a back side of the substrate; and an illumination system, disposed to direct radiation to the substrate, when the substrate is disposed on the clamp, wherein the radiation comprises a radiation energy equal to or above a threshold energy to generate mobile charge in the substrate, where the illumination system is disposed to direct radiation to a front side of the substrate, opposite the back side of the substrate.

System apparatus and method for enhancing electrical clamping of substrates using photo-illumination

An insulating system to reduce or eliminate the possibility of arcing while the pressure within a chamber is being varied is disclosed. The system is operable at cryogenic temperatures, such that the insulating system is able to accommodate dimensional changes due to thermal contraction. The insulating system, which includes a housing having one or more bores, is disposed between the two components which are to be electrically connected. An electrical contact, which may be spring loaded, passes through the bore and is used to electrically connect the two components. The ends of the electrical contact are surrounded by an insulating extender which extends from the housing. In one embodiment, a spring-loaded piston is used as the insulating extender. This insulating extender compensates for changes in dimension due to thermal contraction and covers the portion of the electrical contact that extends beyond the outer surface of the housing.

System for isolating electrodes at cryogenic temperatures

A cassette with embedded temperature sensors that is disposed within a load lock is disclosed. The temperature sensors may be disposed in a plurality of shelves of the load lock cassette to monitor the temperature of each of a plurality of workpieces disposed in the load lock. The output of these temperature sensors may be provided to a controller, which controls when the load lock is opened. The load lock cassette may also include cooling channels to accelerate the cooling of the workpieces to improve throughput. The cooling may be controlled using closed loop control, where a controller monitors the temperature of the workpieces during the cooling operation.

Load lock with integrated features

A method may include heating a substrate in a first chamber to a platen temperature, the heating comprising heating the substrate on a platen; measuring the platen temperature in the first chamber using a contact temperature measurement; transferring the substrate to a second chamber after the heating; and measuring a voltage decay after transferring the substrate to the second chamber, using an optical pyrometer to measure pyrometer voltage as a function of time.

Method and apparatus for calibration of substrate temperature using pyrometer

An apparatus may include a clamp to clamp a substrate wherein the clamp is arranged opposing a back side of the substrate; and an illumination system, disposed to direct radiation to the substrate, when the substrate is disposed on the clamp, wherein the radiation comprises a radiation energy, equal to or above a threshold energy to generate mobile charge in the substrate, where the illumination system is disposed to direct radiation to the back side of the substrate.

A temperature measurement apparatus. The temperature measurement apparatus may include a temperature sensor body, the temperature sensor body having a substrate support surface; and a heat transfer layer, disposed on the substrate support surface, the heat transfer layer comprising an array of aligned carbon nanotubes.

Enhanced substrate temperature measurement apparatus, system and method

A method may include providing a substrate on a clamp, and directing radiation from an illumination source to the substrate when the substrate is disposed on the clamp during substrate processing, wherein the radiation is characterized by a radiation energy, wherein at least a portion of the radiation energy is equal to or greater than 2.5 eV.

A platen having improved thermal conductivity and reduced friction is disclosed. In one embodiment, vertically aligned carbon nanotubes are grown on the top surface of the platen. The carbon nanotubes have excellent thermal conductivity, thus improving the transfer of heat between the platen and the workpiece. Furthermore, the friction between the carbon nanotubes and the workpiece is much lower than that with conventional embossments, reducing particle generation. In another embodiment, a support plate is disposed on the platen, wherein the carbon nanotubes are disposed on the top surface of the support plate.

Carbon nanotube electrostatic chuck

A thermally insulating electrical contact probe including a mounting plate having a tubular pin guide defining a pin pass-through, a cover coupled to the mounting plate and having a neck portion enclosing the pin guide, and an insulating pin having a shank portion disposed within the pin pass-through and defining a conductor pass-through, a flange portion extending radially outwardly from the shank portion above a top of the pin guide, and a pocket portion extending from the flange portion and defining a pocket. The electrical contact probe may further include a spring disposed intermediate the flange portion and the mounting plate, the spring biasing the flange portion away from the mounting plate, an electrical contact pad disposed within the pocket, and an electrical conductor coupled to the electrical contact pad and extending through the conductor pass-through.

Thermally insulating electrical contact probe

An apparatus and method for improving the temperature uniformity of a workpiece during processing is disclosed. The apparatus includes a ring heater assembly disposed along the outer circumference of the platen. The ring heater assembly includes heating elements disposed therein or thereon, where these heating elements create heat, which serves to warm the outer edge of the workpiece. In some embodiments, the ring heater assembly extends beyond the edge of the workpiece and may be exposed to the ion beam.

Apparatus for improving temperature uniformity of a workpiece

A platen support structure adapted to thermally insulate a heated platen portion from a cold base plate while providing substantially leak-free gas transport therebetween and while allowing thermal expansion and contraction of the platen portion. Various examples provide of the support structure provide a tubular flexure having an internal gas conduit, a platen portion mounting tab connected to the flexure and having an internal gas input slot that is in fluid communication with the internal gas conduit of the flexure, the platen portion mounting tab being adapted for connection to a platen portion of a platen, and a base plate mounting tab connected to the flexure and having an internal gas output slot that is in fluid communication with the internal gas conduit of the flexure, the base plate mounting tab being adapted for connection to a base plate of the platen.

Platen support structure

An apparatus for improving the temperature uniformity of a workpiece during processing is disclosed. The apparatus includes a platen having a separately controlled edge heater capable to independently heating the outer edge of the platen. In this way, additional heat may be supplied near the outer edge of the platen, helping to maintain a constant temperature across the entirety of the platen. This edge heater may be disposed on an outer surface of the platen, or may, in certain embodiments, be embedded in the platen. In certain embodiments, the edge heater and the primary heating element are disposed in two different planes, where the edge heater is disposed closer to the top surface of the platen than the primary heating element.

An ion implantation apparatus including an enclosure defining a process chamber, a carriage slidably mounted on a shaft within the process chamber and coupled to a drive mechanism adapted to selectively move the carriage along the shaft. A platen assembly can be coupled to the carriage, and a linkage conduit can extend between a side wall of the enclosure and the carriage. The linkage conduit can include a plurality of pivotably interconnected linkage members that define a contiguous internal volume that is sealed from the process chamber. The contiguous volume can be held at a desired vacuum pressure separate from the vacuum environment of the process chamber.

Linkage conduit for vacuum chamber applications

A heated platen with improved temperature uniformity is generally described. Various examples provide a platen portion with a metallization layer thermally coupled thereto. An electrical contact may be connected to the metallization layer and configured to conduct an electric current for heating the metallization layer and the platen portion. The electrical contact may include an electrical conductor and a resistive heating element that is configured to heat up when electric current flows therethrough, thereby creating a thermal block that reduces an amount of heat that is absorbed into the electrical contact from the platen portion.

Heated platen with improved temperature uniformity

A system and method for monitoring forces on a substrate lifting apparatus. The system includes a platen cartridge with a platen and a movable lifting portion. The movable lifting portion includes a plurality of lifting arms coupled to a plurality of lift pins. A plurality of force sensing elements are associated with respective ones of the plurality of lifting arms and the plurality of lift pins. A controller receives signals from the plurality of force sensing elements, correlates the signals to respective forces applied to said plurality of lift pins. The correlated forces may indicate to the controller that an error condition exists, such as a stuck wafer, a broken wafer, a mis-positioned wafer, or a mechanical malfunction.

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West Newbury, MA, United States of America

Steven M Anella