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:
Dec. 13, 2011
Filed:
Apr. 11, 2007
Kenneth S. Collins, San Jose, CA (US);
Hiroji Hanawa, Sunnyvale, CA (US);
Kartik Ramaswamy, San Jose, CA (US);
Douglas A. Buchberger, Jr., Livermore, CA (US);
Shahid Rauf, Pleasanton, CA (US);
Kallol Bera, San Jose, CA (US);
Lawrence Wong, Fremont, CA (US);
Walter R. Merry, Sunnyvale, CA (US);
Matthew L. Miller, Fremont, CA (US);
Steven C. Shannon, San Mateo, CA (US);
Andrew Nguyen, San Jose, CA (US);
James P. Cruse, Soquel, CA (US);
James Carducci, Sunnyvale, CA (US);
Troy S. Detrick, Los Altos, CA (US);
Subhash Deshmukh, San Jose, CA (US);
Jennifer Y. Sun, Sunnyvale, CA (US);
Kenneth S. Collins, San Jose, CA (US);
Hiroji Hanawa, Sunnyvale, CA (US);
Kartik Ramaswamy, San Jose, CA (US);
Douglas A. Buchberger, Jr., Livermore, CA (US);
Shahid Rauf, Pleasanton, CA (US);
Kallol Bera, San Jose, CA (US);
Lawrence Wong, Fremont, CA (US);
Walter R. Merry, Sunnyvale, CA (US);
Matthew L. Miller, Fremont, CA (US);
Steven C. Shannon, San Mateo, CA (US);
Andrew Nguyen, San Jose, CA (US);
James P. Cruse, Soquel, CA (US);
James Carducci, Sunnyvale, CA (US);
Troy S. Detrick, Los Altos, CA (US);
Subhash Deshmukh, San Jose, CA (US);
Jennifer Y. Sun, Sunnyvale, CA (US);
Applied Materials, Inc., Santa Clara, CA (US);
Abstract
A method is provided for processing a workpiece in a plasma reactor chamber. The method includes coupling, to a plasma in the chamber, power of an RF frequency via a ceiling electrode and coupling, to the plasma, power of at least approximately the same RF frequency via a workpiece support electrode. The method also includes providing an edge ground return path. The method further includes adjusting the proportion between (a) current flow between said electrodes and (b) current flow to the edge ground return path from said electrodes, to control plasma ion density distribution uniformity over the workpiece.