Applied Materials, Inc.

Yoichiro Tanaka

Barney M Cohen

Megumi Taoka

A target shield having a concave, curved surface away from a target in a physical vapor deposition chamber spaced so that the number of magnetic field lines that intersect said shield are reduced, results in improved vertical directionality of the sputtered material. High aspect ratio openings in a substrate can be filled at low pressures, e.g., 3 millitorr and lower, using this shield.

Shield for a physical vapor deposition chamber

A pedestal for supporting a semiconductor substrate in an R.F. plasma reactor chamber includes a conductive disk platen having a diameter exceeding the diameter of the substrate so that an outer annular portion of the conductive disk platen provides a direct path of R.F. power from the plasma while a remaining inner portion of the conductive disk provides a path of R.F. power from the plasma through the substrate, an etch-resistant cover shielding the conductive platen from the plasma, a portion of the etch-resistant layer underlying the substrate, the etch-resistant cover including a raised disk overlying a central portion of the conductive disk platen and underlying the substrate and having a diameter less than the diameter of the substrate so that a peripheral portion of the substrate extends beyond the circumference of the raised disk, a recessed ring annulus overlying an outer portion of the conductive disk platen and having a top surface which is depressed below a top surface of the raised disk, an inner portion of the recessed ring annulus underlying the peripheral portion of the substrate, leaving a top portion of a side wall of the raised disk exposed to the plasma.

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Narita, Japan

Yoichiro Tanaka