Lam Research Corporation

Ted Minshall

Shankar Swaminathan

Frank Loren Pasquale

Adrien Lavoie

Chloe Baldasseroni

Sesha Varadarajan

Karl Frederick Leeser

Douglas L Keil

Hu Kang

Jun Qian

David Charles Smith

Edward J Augustyniak

Jennifer Leigh Petraglia

Andrew Duvall

Saangrut Sangplung

Mohamed Sabri

Cody Barnett

Ramesh Chandrasekharan

A substrate processing system includes: a processing chamber defining a reaction volume; a showerhead including: a stem portion having one end connected adjacent to an upper surface of the processing chamber; and a base portion connected to an opposite end of the stem portion and extending radially outwardly from the stem portion, where the showerhead is configured to introduce gas into the reaction volume; a plasma generator configured to selectively generate RF plasma in the reaction volume; and a collar arranged around the stem portion of the showerhead between the base portion of the showerhead and the upper surface of the processing chamber. The collar includes one or more holes to supply purge gas from an inner cavity of the collar to between the base portion of the showerhead and the upper surface of the processing chamber.

Systems and methods for suppressing parasitic plasma and reducing within-wafer non-uniformity

A substrate processing system for depositing film on a substrate includes a processing chamber defining a reaction volume. A showerhead includes a stem portion having one end connected adjacent to an upper surface of the processing chamber. A base portion is connected to an opposite end of the stem portion and extends radially outwardly from the stem portion. The showerhead is configured to introduce at least one of process gas and purge gas into the reaction volume. A plasma generator is configured to selectively generate RF plasma in the reaction volume. An edge tuning system includes a collar and a parasitic plasma reducing element that is located around the stem portion between the collar and an upper surface of the showerhead. The parasitic plasma reducing element is configured to reduce parasitic plasma between the showerhead and the upper surface of the processing chamber.

A gas delivery system for a substrate processing system includes first and second valves, a first gas channel, and a cylinder. The first valve includes a first inlet and a first outlet. The first outlet is in fluid communication with a processing chamber of the substrate processing system. The second valve includes a second inlet and a second outlet. The cylinder defines a second gas channel having a first end and a second end. The cylinder is at least partially disposed within the first gas channel such that the cylinder and the first gas channel collectively define a flow channel. The flow channel is in fluid communication with the first end of the second gas channel and with the first inlet. A third gas channel is in fluid communication with the second end of the second gas channel and with the second inlet.

Valve manifold deadleg elimination via reentrant flow path

A substrate processing system for depositing film on a substrate includes a processing chamber defining a reaction volume and including a substrate support for supporting the substrate. A gas delivery system is configured to introduce process gas into the reaction volume of the processing chamber. A plasma generator is configured to selectively generate RF plasma in the reaction volume. A clamping system is configured to clamp the substrate to the substrate support during deposition of the film. A backside purging system is configured to supply a reactant gas to a backside edge of the substrate to purge the backside edge during the deposition of the film.

Systems and methods for reducing backside deposition and mitigating thickness changes at substrate edges

A method for reducing slippage of a wafer during film deposition includes pumping out a processing chamber while the wafer is supported on lift pins or a carrier ring and lowering the wafer onto support members configured to minimize wafer slippage during deposition of the film. A multi-station processing chamber, such as a processing chamber for atomic layer deposition, can include a chuck-less pedestal at each station having wafer supports configured to prevent the wafer from moving off center by more than 400 microns. To minimize a gas cushion beneath the wafer, the wafer supports can provide a gap of at least 2 mils between the back side of the wafer and the wafer-facing surface of the pedestal.

Wafer centering in pocket to improve azimuthal thickness uniformity at wafer edge

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Sherwood, OR, United States of America

Ted Minshall