摘要:
The present invention provides a method and apparatus for achieving conformal step coverage on a substrate by PVD. A target provides a source of material to be sputtered by a plasma and then ionized. Ionization is facilitated by maintaining a sufficiently dense plasma using, for example, an inductive coil. The ionized material is then deposited on the substrate which is biased to a negative voltage. A signal provided to the target during processing includes a negative voltage portion and a zero-voltage portion. During the negative voltage portion, ions are attracted to the target to cause sputtering. During the zero-voltage portion, sputtering from the target is terminated while the bias on the substrate cause reverse sputtering therefrom. Accordingly, the negative voltage portion and the zero-voltage portion are alternated to cycle between a sputter step and a reverse sputter step. The film quality and uniformity can be controlled by adjusting the frequency of the signal, the chamber pressure, the power supplied to each of the support member and other process parameters.
摘要:
An RF plasma etch reactor having an etch chamber with electrically conductive walls and a protective layer forming the portion of the walls facing the interior of the chamber. The protective layer prevents sputtering of material from the chamber walls by a plasma formed within the chamber. The etch reactor also has an inductive coil antenna disposed within the etch chamber which is used to generate the plasma by inductive coupling. Like the chamber walls, the inductive coil antenna is constructed to prevent sputtering of the material making up the antenna by the plasma. The coil antenna can take on any configuration (e.g. location, shape, orientation) that is necessary to achieve a desired power deposition pattern within the chamber. Examples of potential coil antenna configurations for achieving the desired power deposition pattern include constructing the coil antenna with a unitary or a segmented structure. The segmented structure involves the use of at least two coil segments wherein each segment is electrically isolated from the other segments and connected to a separate RF power signal. The unitary coil antenna or each of the coil segments can have a planar shape, a cylindrical shape, a truncated conical shape, a dome shape, or any combination thereof. The conductive walls are electrically grounded to serve as an electrical ground (i.e. anode) for a workpiece-supporting pedestal which is connected to a source of RF power to create a bias voltage at the surface of the workpiece.
摘要:
The present invention provides an electro-chemical deposition system that is designed with a flexible architecture that is expandable to accommodate future designs and gap fill requirements and provides satisfactory throughput to meet the demands of other processing systems. The electro-chemical deposition system generally comprises a mainframe having a mainframe wafer transfer robot, a loading station disposed in connection with the mainframe, one or more processing cells disposed in connection with the mainframe, and an electrolyte supply fluidly connected to the one or more electrical processing cells. Preferably, the electro-chemical deposition system includes a spin-rinse-dry (SRD) station disposed between the loading station and the mainframe, a rapid thermal anneal chamber attached to the loading station, and a system controller for controlling the electro-chemical deposition process and the components of the electro-chemical deposition system.
摘要:
A recessed coil for a plasma chamber in a semiconductor fabrication system is provided. Recessing the coil reduces deposition of material onto the coil which in turn leads to a reduction in particulate matter shed by the coil onto the workpiece.
摘要:
A readily removable deposition shield for processing chambers such as chemical vapor deposition (CVD), ion implantation, or physical vapor deposition (PVD) or sputtering chambers, is disclosed. The deposition shield includes a shield of cylindrical configuration (or other configuration conformed to the internal shape of the substrate and the chamber) which is mounted to the chamber for easy removal, such as by screws, and defines a space along the periphery of the substrate support. A shield ring is inserted into the peripheral space and is thus mounted in removable fashion and is automatically centered about the substrate. The shield ring overlaps the cylindrical shield and the substrate support. Collectively, these components prevent deposition on the chamber and hardware outside the processing region. Also, the cylindrical shield and the shield ring may be removed as a unit. Locating means such as pins may be mounted or formed in the support about the periphery of the substrate for centering the substrate. Also, a peripheral groove may be formed in the substrate support peripheral to the substrate, for preventing material deposited on the support peripheral to the substrate from sticking to the substrate. The substrate is supported on spacers mounted on the substrate support; the resulting gap between the substrate and the support also prevents the material deposited on the support from bonding to the substrate. The result of the various features is an effective shield which allows long intervals before the shield must be removed for cleaning or replacement and which is easy to remove when necessary. In addition, the entire upper surface of the substrate is available for processing.
摘要:
A vacuum processing system has a transfer chamber with a slit valve at which is attached a process chamber and with a slit valve insert disposed in the slit valve for matching up with the process chamber. The slit valve may be made of two pieces, an outer portion that slides into the transfer chamber's slit valve opening from the outside of the transfer chamber, and an inner portion that slides into the outer portion from the inside of the transfer chamber. The portions of the insert permit any process chamber to be attached to any slit valve opening. The outer portion may not be removed from the slit valve opening when a process chamber is attached to the transfer chamber, but the inner portion may be easily removed for servicing regardless of in whether a process chamber is attached.
摘要:
A substrate processing chamber, particularly a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) chamber used both for thermal deposition of a conductive material and a subsequently performed plasma process. The invention reduces thermal deposition of the conductive material in a pumping channel exhausting the chamber. The pumping channel is lined with various elements, some of which are electrically floating and which are designed so that conductive material deposited on these elements do not deleteriously affect a plasma generated for processing the wafer.
摘要:
A gas injection system for injecting gases into a plasma reactor having a vacuum chamber with a sidewall, a pedestal for holding a semiconductor wafer to be processed, and a RF power applicator for applying RF power into the chamber. The gas injection system includes at least one gas supply containing gas, a gas distribution apparatus which has at least one slotted aperture facing the interior of the chamber, and one or more gas feed lines connecting the gas supply or supplies to the gas distribution apparatus. A preferred embodiment of a radial gas distribution apparatus in accordance with the present invention is disposed in the chamber sidewall and includes plural gas distribution nozzles each with a slotted aperture facing an interior of the chamber. Gas feed lines are employed to respectively connect each gas distribution nozzle to separate ones of the gas supplies.
摘要:
A method for simultaneously processing a workpiece using a plasma and cleaning the reactor in which processing takes place is disclosed. The plasma generated in the reactor performs simultaneous workpiece processing and reactor cleaning. Reactor cleaning may be accomplished by directing a portion of the plasma at an inner surface of the reactor such as by a power source auxiliary to that used to produce the processing plasma. An apparatus for carrying out a method for simultaneously processing a workpiece with a plasma and cleaning a reactor of etch residues generated from processing is disclosed.
摘要:
A robot assembly, including a central hub, has two arms arranged for independent rotation about the hub. Two carriers, oriented 180.degree. apart from each other, are coupled to an end of each of the arms. A drive is provided for rotating the arms in opposite directions to extend one or the other of said carriers radially from said central hub, and for rotating the arms in the same direction to effect rotation of the carriers.