The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Feb. 05, 2002
Filed:
Jun. 30, 1999
John E. Daugherty, Oakland, CA (US);
Neil Benjamin, Palo Alto, CA (US);
Jeff Bogart, Los Gatos, CA (US);
Vahid Vahedi, Albany, CA (US);
David Cooperberg, Fremont, CA (US);
Alan Miller, Moraga, CA (US);
Yoko Yamaguchi, Yokohama, JP;
Lam Research Corporation, Fremont, CA (US);
Abstract
Improved methods and apparatus for ion-assisted etch processing in a plasma processing system are disclosed. In accordance with various aspects of the invention, an elevated edge ring, a grooved edge ring, and a RF coupled edge ring are disclosed. The invention operates to improve etch rate uniformity across a substrate (wafer). Etch rate uniformity improvement provided by the invention not only improves fabrication yields but also is cost efficient and does not risk particulate and/or heavy metal contamination.