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US 10,910,196 B1Granted
Mode-switching plasma systems and methods of operating thereof
AssigneeTokyo Electron Limited
InventorsPeter Ventzek, Alok Ranjan, Mitsunori Ohata, Michael Hummel
Life of this patent
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Abstract
In one embodiment, a plasma processing system includes a plasma processing chamber, a substrate holder disposed in the plasma processing chamber, a coil disposed over the plasma processing chamber, and a plurality of taps configured to contact the coil at an associated contact region. The plasma processing system is configured to sustain a plasma by selecting a subset of taps from the plurality of taps to apply a power source and a reference potential.
Claims20
A plasma processing system comprising:
- a plasma processing chamber;
- a substrate holder disposed in the plasma processing chamber;
- a coil disposed over the plasma processing chamber;
- a plurality of taps configured to contact the coil at an associated contact region, the plurality of taps comprising
- a first tap located substantially at a midpoint of the coil along a length of the coil,
- a second tap neighboring the first tap,
- a third tap located substantially at a first end of the coil, and
- a fourth tap located substantially at a second end of the coil,
- wherein the plasma processing system is configured to sustain a plasma by selecting a subset of taps from the plurality of taps to apply a power source and a reference potential;
- and
- a switch configured to operate the system in a first operating mode and a second operating mode,
- wherein in the first operating mode, the switch is configured to couple the power source to the first tap of the plurality of taps, and to couple the reference potential to the second tap of the plurality of taps, and
- wherein in the second operating mode, the switch is configured to couple the power source to the first tap and to couple the reference potential to the third tap of the plurality of taps and the fourth tap of the plurality of taps.
10 more elements
A plasma processing system comprising:
- a plasma processing chamber;
- a resonant coil disposed adjacent to the plasma processing chamber, the resonant coil comprising a coil length;
- a power tap physically coupled to the resonant coil at substantially a midpoint of the coil length;
- a switch comprising a first terminal electrically coupled to a first position on the resonant coil and a second terminal electrically coupled to a second position on the resonant coil;
- a controller configured to switch between a first electrical path and a second electrical path using the switch;
- wherein the first electrical path electrically couples the first position with a reference potential node;
- and
- wherein the second electrical path electrically couples the second position with the reference potential node.
5 more elements
A method of plasma processing, the method comprising:
- sustaining a first plasma in a plasma processing chamber using a first operational mode by coupling a first contact region of a coil to a reference potential;
- switching an operational mode using a switch from the first operational mode to a second operational mode by removing the coupling to the first contact region and coupling a second contact region of the coil to the reference potential;
- and
- sustaining a second plasma in the plasma processing chamber using a second operation mode that is different from the first operation mode.
1 more element
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.