Gas distribution showerhead
AssigneeApplied Materials, Inc.
InventorsKarthik Janakiraman, Nitin Ingle, Zheng Yuan, Steven Gianoulakis
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A gas distribution showerhead for use in a semiconductor fabrication process features a face plate having gas outlet ports in the form of elongated slots or channels. The use of elongated gas outlet ports in accordance with embodiments of the present invention substantially reduces the incidence of undesirable spotting and streaking of deposited material where the showerhead is closely spaced from the wafer. A showerhead featuring a face plate having a tapered profile to reduce edge thickness of deposited material at close face plate-to-wafer spacings is also disclosed.
Claims29
An apparatus for forming a material on a semiconductor wafer, the apparatus comprising:
- a processing chamber defined by walls;
- a wafer support positioned within the processing chamber and configured to receive a semiconductor wafer;
- a processing gas supply;
- and
- a gas distribution showerhead overlying and separated from the wafer support, the gas distribution showerhead comprising a face plate having an inlet portion comprising a hole in fluid communication with an elongated slot of an outlet portion of the face plate.
A gas distribution face plate comprising:
- a face plate body having a thickness;
- an inlet portion configured to receive a flow of a processing gas, the inlet portion comprising an aperture having a width;
- an outlet portion configured to convey the processing gas flow to a semiconductor wafer, the outlet portion comprising an elongated slot in fluid communication with the aperture.
An apparatus for forming a material on a semiconductor wafer, the apparatus comprising:
- a processing chamber defined by walls;
- a wafer support positioned within the processing chamber and configured to receive a semiconductor wafer;
- a processing gas supply;
- and
- a gas distribution showerhead overlying the wafer support and including a tapered face plate proximate to the wafer support, an edge of the tapered face plate exhibiting a reduced thickness relative to a thickness of a center of the face plate to create a taper angle, such that material deposited on a wafer in contact with the wafer support exhibits a uniform center-to-edge thickness.
A method of distributing gas during a semiconductor fabrication process comprising:
- flowing a gas from a gas source to an inlet portion of a gas distribution face plate featuring a hole having a width;
- and
- flowing the gas from the hole to a surface of a semiconductor wafer through an elongated slot of an outlet portion of a gas distribution face plate.
An apparatus for forming a material on a semiconductor wafer, the apparatus comprising:
- a processing chamber defined by walls;
- a wafer support positioned within the processing chamber and configured to receive a semiconductor wafer;
- a processing gas supply;
- and
- a gas distribution showerhead overlying the wafer support and including a tapered face plate proximate to the wafer support, the tapered face plate comprising,
- an inlet portion configured to receive a flow of a processing gas, the inlet portion comprising an aperture having a width, and
- an outlet portion configured to convey the processing gas flow to a semiconductor wafer, the outlet portion comprising an elongated slot in fluid communication with the aperture,
- wherein an edge of the tapered face plate exhibits a reduced thickness relative to a thickness of a center of the face plate to create a taper angle, such that material deposited on a wafer in contact with the wafer support exhibits a uniform center-to-edge thickness.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.