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:
Aug. 19, 2008
Filed:
Apr. 19, 2005
Shrikant P. Lohokare, Fremont, CA (US);
Andras Kuthi, Thousand Oaks, CA (US);
Andrew D. Bailey, Iii, Pleasanton, CA (US);
Shrikant P. Lohokare, Fremont, CA (US);
Andras Kuthi, Thousand Oaks, CA (US);
Andrew D. Bailey, III, Pleasanton, CA (US);
Lam Research Corporation, Fremont, CA (US);
Abstract
An apparatus and method for adjusting the voltage applied to a Faraday shield of an inductively coupled plasma etching apparatus is provided. An appropriate voltage is easily and variably applied to a Faraday shield such that sputtering of a plasma can be controlled to prevent and mitigate deposition of non-volatile reaction products that adversely affect an etching process. The appropriate voltage for a particular etching process or step is applied to the Faraday shield by simply adjusting a tuning capacitor. It is not necessary to mechanically reconfigure the etching apparatus to adjust the Faraday shield voltage.