Applied Materials, Inc.

Zonghui Su

Abdul Aziz Khaja

Vinay K Prabhakar

Jeongmin Lee

Juan Carlos Rocha-Alvarez

Jianhua Zhou

Karthik Thimmavajjula Narasimha

Hiroyuki Ogiso

Rick Gilbert

Sang Heon Park

Methods for processing a substrate, such as bevel etch processing, are provided. In one embodiment, a method includes placing a substrate on a cover plate inside of a processing chamber, where the substrate has a center and a bevel edge and contains a dielectric layer thereon, the processing chamber contains a mask disposed above the substrate and an edge ring disposed under the substrate, the edge ring has an annular body, and the cover plate is disposed on a support assembly. The method further includes heating the substrate with a heater attached to the support assembly, raising the edge ring to contact the mask, flowing a process gas containing an etchant along an outer surface of the mask and to the bevel edge, where the process gas is ignited to produce a plasma, and exposing an upper surface of the substrate at the bevel edge to the process gas.

Bevel etch profile control

Implementations described herein generally relate to methods for leveling a component above a substrate. In one implementation, a test substrate is placed on a substrate support inside of a processing chamber. A component, such as a mask, is located above the substrate. The component is lowered to a position so that the component and the substrate are in contact. The component is then lifted and the particle distribution on the test substrate is reviewed. Based on the particle distribution, the component may be adjusted. A new test substrate is placed on the substrate support inside of the processing chamber, and the component is lowered to a position so that the component and the new test substrate are in contact. The particle distribution on the new test substrate is reviewed. The process may be repeated until a uniform particle distribution is shown on a test substrate.

Critical methodology in vacuum chambers to determine gap and leveling between wafer and hardware components

Implementations described herein generally relate to methods and apparatus for processing a substrate. More particularly, implementations described herein relate to methods and an apparatus for bevel etch processing. In one embodiment, a method of cleaning a bevel edge of a semiconductor substrate is provided. The method includes placing a substrate on a cover plate inside of a processing chamber, the substrate having a deposition layer, which includes a center, and a bevel edge. A mask is placed over the substrate. The edge ring is disposed around/under the substrate. The method also includes flowing a process gas mixture adjacent the bevel edge, and flowing a purge gas through a first hole, a second hole, and a third hole of the mask in the center of the substrate adjacent a top of the substrate.

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San Jose, CA, United States of America

Zonghui Su