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Main Law Cafe

Yuri Glukhoy

Tatiana Kerzhner

Anna Ryaboy

Richard Brewster Main

Joshua Kerzhner

Michael Ryaboy

Andrew Kerzhner

Kevin Kerzhner

A modified deposit-and-etch Bosch process of cyclic anisotropic etching and film deposition by gas switching. The modification of which includes depositing nucleated silicon layers as liquefied droplets of silicon instead of by passivation, and using a bias discharge to decelerate an otherwise ballistic deposition instead into a nuclei-generation cloud at the deposition site. Such is then useful in the refurbishment of gas distribution plates made of silicon.

Modified etch-and-deposit Bosch process in silicon

A 3D printer apparatus for printing a refractory materials on the surfaces of workpieces in accordance with a given program is disclosed. The apparatus contains a first generator for generating a first atmospheric ICP beam, a second generator for generating a second atmospheric ICP beam, and a bouncing tube between the generators for breaking clusters of precursor nanoparticles into elementary charged nanoparticles that penetrate in a premelted state into a plasma discharge formed in the second generator under the inductive coupling with a saddle antenna, which encompasses the second generator. The outlet nozzle of the second generator emits the second beam onto an extractor plate that is a part of a plasma gun, which converts the second beam into a finely controlled focusing beam capable of printing a material even on the inner surfaces of deep small diameter gas holes of showerheads.

3D printing apparatus using a beam of an atmospheric pressure inductively coupled plasma generator

An aluminum gas distribution plate refurbishment system combines a multi-beam inductively coupled plasma (AP-ICP) torch and vacuum discharge chuck. Plasma beams are employed to clean and restore to service the many gas flow passages in aluminum type gas distribution plates. Several parallel supersonic plasma beams of uniform density are produced from a single upper and lower AP-ICP plasma reactor arranged in totem pole that are driven by two pairs of opposing spiral planar RF induction RF antennas. These plasma beams are focused inside the gas flow passages to etch, heat, and deposit nanoparticles within. The vacuum discharge chuck includes a capacitively coupled plasma (CCP) reactor to generate a positive species discharge immediately beneath the gas distribution plates. This overcomes and undoes a Debye Sheathing effect, a electron-fed negative space charge blocking occurring above, and unknots any congested plasma beams in the gas flow passages.

Plasma beam penetration of millimeter scale holes with high aspect ratios

Proposed is a showerhead-cooler system of a semiconductor-processing chamber with uniform distribution of plasma density. The showerhead has a plurality of through gas holes that are coaxial with respective channels of the gas-feeding cooler plate. On the gas inlet side, the though passages of the showerhead are provided with unequal conical nozzles characterized by a central angle that decreases from the peripheral part of the showerhead to the showerhead center. Such design provides uniformity of plasma density. Furthermore, in order to protect the walls of the nozzle and the walls of the gas holes from erosion that may be caused by the hollow-cathode phenomenon, these areas are coated with a thin protective coating that is resistant to electrical breakdown and chemical corrosion.

Showerhead-cooler system of a semiconductor-processing chamber for semiconductor wafers of large area

Proposed is a method for providing uniform distribution of plasma density in a CCP plasma processing apparatus. According to the method the through gas holes of the showerhead of used in the plasma processing chamber of the apparatus are provided with conical nozzles formed on the side of the gas holes that face the gas reservoir of the cooler plate. The cone angle &#x3b8; of the nozzles decreases in the direction from the peripheral portion to the central area of the showerhead in the range from 120&#xb0; to 0&#xb0;. Since the conical nozzles increase the gas gap between the showerhead and the cooler plate, more favorable conditions are created for electric breakdown. In order to protect the surfaces of the conical nozzles and gas holes from deterioration by hollow cathode discharge, these surface are coated by a protective coating resistant to electrical breakdown and chemical corrosion.

Method for providing uniform distribution of plasma density in a plasma treatment apparatus

A torch system for deposition of protective coatings on the walls of holes and recesses on the surface of showerheads includes a capacitive coupling plasma processing apparatuses. The system comprises an atmospheric-pressure inductively coupled plasma reactor for the formation of a plasma torch, a showerhead holder for moving the showerhead relative to the tip of the torch during deposition of the protective coating, and a plasma torch focusing device for squeezing and focusing the tip of the torch to cross-sectional dimensions comparable with the diameters of the gas holes of the showerhead which may be as small as 0.5 mm. The focusing device is moveable relative to the plasma reactor and the treated object in the direction perpendicular to the surface of the object. The movements of the showerhead and of the focusing device relative to the treated surface are automatically adjusted through feedbacks for maintaining the torch tip at optimal parameters.

Torch system for depositing protective coatings on interior walls and recesses present on the flat surface of an object

A method and an apparatus are proposed for simultaneously coating the inner walls of a plurality of hollow containers, such as bottles, with fluid-impermeable barrier layers applied by a PECVD method with the use of transversal antennas capable of creating plasma having density increased in the vicinity of the inner walls of the containers. The barrier-layer application period is divided into a coating period and a noncoating cooling period, with RF energy constantly maintained under working conditions with shunting thereof from the coating station to the dummy loads during noncoating periods used for cooling the plastic containers. The apparatus comprises a vacuum chamber with a conveyor that transports the containers in a preoriented state for interaction with a plurality of aligning elements that can be inserted into the container openings for subsequent fixation at equal distances in positions aligned with the antennas that can be inserted into the containers for generation of the coating-applying plasma.

Method and apparatus for application of thin coatings from plasma onto inner surfaces of hollow containers

An antenna assembly for forming a barrier coating on the inner surface of a tube by means of a sealed annular chemical-plasma-reaction chamber defined by the inner wall of the tube, two spaced elements slidingly and sealingly moveable inside the tube, and a quartz tube that interconnects the cylindrical elements. The coating is formed by a PE CVD process generated inside the chamber by a transversal RF antenna unit which creates a plasma column that participates in rotation simultaneously with linear motion thus providing uniform coating of the inner surface of the tube. The method of the invention consists of depositing a layer of silicon dioxide onto the inner surface of a plastic tube by means of the aforementioned antenna assembly. The plasma column is rotated by the RF magnetic field which is rotated by using two RF generators of different frequencies that energize two groups of specifically interconnected coils.

RF antenna assembly for treatment of inner surfaces of tubes with inductively coupled plasma

An ECR ion-beam source for use in an ion implanter has a sealed plasma chamber in which plasma is excited by microwave radiation of 2.45 GHz in combination with an external magnetic field generated by permanent magnets surrounding the plasma chamber. The magnets cause electron-cyclotron resonance for the electrons of the plasma thus creating conditions for efficient absorption of the microwave energy. The same magnets generate a magnetic field, which compresses the plasma toward the center for confining the plasma within the plasma chamber. The ion source also has an RF pumping unit that pumps into the plasma the RF energy. The RF pumping unit has a unique additional function of RF magnetron sputtering of solid targets converted into a gaseous working medium used for implantation in an ionized form. For obtaining elongated belt-type ion beams (having a width of 1 m or longer), the ion source may contain a microwave pumping system having several output windows arranged in series along the axis of the plasma chamber and on diametrically opposite sides thereof. The windows are continuously cleaned from the contaminants that might precipitate onto their surfaces. A standard-type sand blaster can be used for cleaning of the windows.

Electron-cyclotron resonance type ion beam source for ion implanter

A mass spectrometer of the present invention is based on the use of quadrupole lenses with angular gradient of the electrostatic field. The device consists of an ion source connected to an ion mass separation chamber that contains a plurality of sequentially arranged electrostatic quadrupole lenses which generate a helical electrostatic field for sending ions along helical trajectories in a direct and return stroke. Scattering of positions of points of return is reduced by means of electrostatic mirrors located at the end of the direct stroke, while ions of different masses perform their return strokes along helical trajectories different from those of the direct strokes due to the use of a magnetic and/or electrostatic mirrors. An ion-electron emitting screen is installed on the path of ions in the reverse stroke, and positions of collision of the ions with the ion-electron emitting screen over time and space are detected with the use of micro-channel plate detectors. Movement of ions along the helical trajectory significantly increases the path of ions through the ion separation chamber and, hence, improves the resolution capacity of the mass spectrometer.

Mass spectrometer based on the use of quadrupole lenses with angular gradient of the electrostatic field

A plasma treatment apparatus with improved uniformity of treatment consists of a sealed housing that can be evacuated for the supply of a working gas and that contains a group of plasma-excitation elements in the form of RF or MW antennas, which generate plasma in a confined space within the housing. The surface of the object, e.g., a semiconductor substrate, is treated by this plasma. Depending on the type of the working gas and parameters of the process, the treatment may consist of cleaning, etching, coating, activation, etc. A distinguishing feature of the invention consists in that the plasma-excitation RF or MW antennas are oscillated by means of an oscillation device so that the local non-uniformities of treatment are &ldquo;smoothened&rdquo;. The RF and MW antennas can be interchangeable and can be oscillated from the same oscillation drive. In one embodiments of the invention, the MW antennas are provided with annular magnets that generate electron-cyclotron resonance conditions for increase in density of plasma generated in the sealed housing of the apparatus.

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San Francisco, CA, United States of America

Yuri Glukhoy