Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.

New Power Plasma Co., Ltd.

Dandan Co., Ltd.

Yun-sik Yang

Jin-Man Kim

Young-Min Min

Dae-Kyu Choi

Min-gyu Kim

Do-In Bae

Wan-Goo Hwang

Kyung-dae Kim

Hun Cha

Hyung-sik Hong

Seung-Ki Chae

Hyung-Sik Hong

Soon-im Wi

Gyeong-Su Keum

Jang-Hyoun Youm

Ja-Woo Lee

Kang-Ho Lee

Heok-Jae Lee

Jung-hyun Cho

Sang-jean Jeon

Byeung-Wook Choi

Guk-Kwang Kim

Chung-huan Jeon

Kwang-young Jung

Sun-uk Kim

Chang-Hyun Jo

Byoung-Sik Jung

Ki-Cheol Choi

Moo-jin Kim

Hae-Keun Youn

Gum-Chan An

Jang-kyu Choi

Oh-Yeon Han

A remote plasma generator includes a body, a driver, and a protection tube. The body includes a gas injection port, a plasma exhaust port, and a plasma generation pipe through which discharge gas or plasma flow. The driver is coupled to the body and generates a magnetic field and plasma in the body. The protection tube is at an inner side of the plasma generation pipe to protect the plasma generation pipe from plasma.

Remote plasma generator using ceramic

A method for manufacturing a semiconductor device may include: forming a main magnetic field having an axis, and forming a subsidiary magnetic field substantially parallel to the axis; applying an alternating current along a path between the main and the subsidiary magnetic fields; allowing a gas to flow along a flow path along the path of the current so that a gas plasma is generated from the gas; providing the gas plasma into a chamber separated from a position where the gas plasma is generated; and performing a process for manufacturing a semiconductor device by employing the gas plasma.

Apparatus for generating gas plasma, gas composition for generating plasma and method for manufacturing semiconductor device using the same

A method for generating a plasma. A gas flows along a flow path having the displacement identical to the lines of magnetic force of the main magnetic field, and high frequency alternating current is applied to the gas, thereby generating a gas plasma. For example, a gas is flowed through a pipe in a first direction. Electricity is conducted through the pipe in substantially the first direction. And a magnetic field is applied along a second direction (e.g., perpendicular to the first direction) to the gas flowing in the pipe such that a plasma is induced in the pipe.

Method for generating gas plasma

A pedestal of a load-cup for supporting wafers loaded onto and being unloaded from a chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) apparatus includes a pedestal plate, and a pedestal film which extends over only a limited area at the upper surface of the pedestal plate. This area includes the regions directly around the fluid ports provided in the pedestal plate for vacuum-chucking the wafers and spraying deionized water. The pedestal plate may have a cross-shaped part, the entirety of which bears the fluid ports. The pedestal film may include annular members each extending around only a respective one of the fluid ports, or one or more members each extending radially around several of the fluid ports. By offering a rather limited contact area to the wafer supported on the pedestal, the pedestal film reduces the amount of contaminants which could be transferred to the wafer surface in contact therewith.

Pedestal of a load-cup which supports wafers loaded/unloaded onto/from a chemical mechanical polishing apparatus

An input/output valve switching apparatus of a semiconductor manufacturing system minimizes a vibration set up while operating an input/output valve for opening and closing a wafer-transfer passage that connects chambers of the system. The switching apparatus includes a valve actuator having a close port and an open port, a first fluid line connected to the close port, a second fluid line connected to the open port, first flow regulators installed in the first and second fluid lines, respectively, to regulate the flow rate of fluid, and second fluid flow regulators installed in the first and second fluid lines to regulate the flow rate of the fluid that has passed. The second fluid flow regulators can prevent a rapid introduction of the fluid into the actuator.

Input/output valve switching apparatus of semiconductor manufacturing system

An apparatus for use in orienting an object at a reference angle includes a pin gauge having at least two projections located at an end of the body of the apparatus. The projections are located at certain X Y coordinates of an X, Y Z Cartesian coordinate system. A horizontal support supports the body so as to be movable horizontally in the longitudinal direction of the projections. A mechanical drive member is operable to move the body mechanically in the horizontal direction. The apparatus may also include a vertical support and vertical drive member. The pin gauge is mechanically moved into contact with a surface of an object to provide a reference angle for the object. Then the object is pivoted, if necessary, to bring the surface into point contact with all of the projections of the pin gauge, whereupon the object is oriented at the reference angle. Process errors in aligning the object using the reference angle are reduced because the orienting of the object at the reference angle is accomplished using mechanical elements.

Method of and apparatus for use in orienting an object at a reference angle

An apparatus for processing a semiconductor wafer has a circular chuck and a focus ring. The chuck is located in a process chamber and holds the semiconductor wafer. The focus ring surrounds the semiconductor wafer held by the chuck and focuses processing gases or plasma on a surface of the semiconductor wafer. The focus ring has a stepped inner periphery formed by a cylindrical lower surface surrounding the wafer and having a first diameter, a cylindrical upper surface having a second diameter greater than the first diameter, and a collector interposed between the lower surface and the upper surface for collecting contaminants created at the upper surface due to a reaction between the processing media and the material of the focus ring. The collector collects particulate contaminants falling from the upper surface of the focus ring so that the contaminants do not reach the wafer.

Focus ring and apparatus for processing a semiconductor wafer comprising the same

A retainer ring of a polishing head of a CMP apparatus facilitates the removal of contaminants, such as slurry debris, which have found their way into the polishing head. The retainer ring includes an annular ring body, and a plurality of contaminant outlets extending from the inner peripheral surface of the ring body to the outer peripheral surface of the ring body. Inner openings defined at the inner peripheral surface of the ring body and outer openings defined at the outer peripheral surface of the ring body by the contaminant outlets are horizontally elongated slots. Also, each of the contaminant outlets consists of a plurality of inner holes and an outer hole which is joined to the plurality of inner holes. The contaminant outlets occupy at least 30% of the radially innermost peripheral surface along a line extending circumferentially along the surface. The CMP apparatus itself includes a polishing head having such a retainer ring and a washing unit having a nozzle for spraying deionized water through the contaminant outlets of the retainer ring toward an inner space formed in the polishing head.

Polishing head of a chemical mechanical polishing apparatus and, retainer ring of the same

A semiconductor manufacturing system includes a loadlock chamber, a low level vacuum pump connected to said loadlock chamber so as to create a low level vacuum in the loadlock chamber, a processing chamber in which a semiconductor manufacturing process is carried out while the processing chamber is maintained at a high level vacuum, a gate valve interposed between and connecting the loadlock chamber and the processing chamber, and a pressure relieving device for reducing the pressure difference between the low level vacuum of the loadlock chamber and the high level vacuum of the processing chamber at the time the gate valve is opened. The pressure relieving device is a high level vacuum pump which can be dedicated to the loadlock chamber or which can be the same pump as that used to evacuate the processing chamber. The high level vacuum pump is connected to the loadlock chamber by an air valve. The system is operated under a method in which air is fed to both the air valve and with a certain delay thereafter to the gate valve. The air valve opens first, and the high level vacuum pump evacuates the loadlock chamber before the fed air opens the gate valve. In this way, particles in the loadlock chamber are prevented from being induced into the processing chamber at the time of transfer of objects from the loadlock chamber to the processing chamber through the gate valve.

Semiconductor device manufacturing system having means for reducing a

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Suwon-si, South Korea

Yun-sik Yang