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US 12,142,458 B2Granted
Symmetric plasma source to generate pie-shaped treatment
AssigneeApplied Materials, Inc.
InventorsAnantha K. Subramani, Farzad Houshmand, Philip A. Kraus, Abhishek Chowdhury, John C. Forster, Kallol Bera
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Abstract
Plasma source assemblies comprising a housing with an RF hot electrode having a body and a plurality of source electrodes extending vertically from the RF hot electrode toward the opening in a front face of the housing are described. Processing chambers incorporating the plasma source assemblies and methods of using the plasma source assemblies are also described.
Claims20
A plasma source assembly comprising:
- a housing having a gas inlet and a front face defining a flow path, the gas inlet allowing a flow of gas to move along the flow path to pass through the housing and out an opening in the front face;
- an RF hot electrode within the housing, the RF hot electrode having a body and a plurality of source electrodes extending from the RF hot electrode toward the opening in the front face;
- a return electrode spaced a gap distance from the source electrodes;
- and
- a ceramic plate within the housing on a side of the RF hot electrode opposite the front face of the housing, the ceramic plate positioned to form a plenum above the ceramic plate and a plenum below the ceramic plate, the plenum above the ceramic plate bounded by the ceramic plate and the housing, the plenum below the ceramic plate bounded by the ceramic plate and the RF hot electrode, the ceramic plate including a plurality of passages extending through the ceramic plate to allow a flow of gas to pass from the plenum above the ceramic plate to the plenum below the ceramic plate,
- wherein the plenum above the ceramic plate, the passages through the ceramic plate and the plenum below the ceramic plate have a width of less than or equal to about 0.5 mm.
3 more elements
A plasma source assembly comprising:
- a housing having a gas inlet and a front face defining a flow path, the gas inlet allowing a flow of gas to move along the flow path to pass through the housing and out an opening in the front face;
- an RF hot electrode within the housing, the RF hot electrode having a body and a plurality of cylindrical source electrodes extending from the RF hot electrode toward the opening in the front face, the flow path extending through a channel along a side of the source electrode so that the flow of gas exits the housing in a direction substantially perpendicular to the housing, the channel having an upper gap and a lower gap, the upper gap having a width less than the lower gap, the upper gap has a width less than or equal to about 0.5 mm and the lower gap has a width in the range of about 1 mm to about 20 mm;
- a return electrode spaced a gap distance from the source electrodes;
- a ceramic plate within the housing on a side of the RF hot electrode opposite the front face of the housing, the ceramic plate positioned to form a plenum above the ceramic plate and a plenum below the ceramic plate, the plenum above the ceramic plate bounded by the ceramic plate and the housing, the plenum below the ceramic plate bounded by the ceramic plate and the RF hot electrode, the ceramic plate including a plurality of passages extending through the ceramic plate to allow a flow of gas to pass from the plenum above the ceramic plate to the plenum below the ceramic plate;
- and
- a quartz plate positioned between the RF hot electrode and the front face of the housing, the quartz plate having a plurality of openings to allow the source electrodes to extend through the quartz plate.
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.