Plasma chamber equipped with temperature-controlled focus ring and method of operating
AssigneeTaiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd.
InventorChuan-Chieh Huang
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Abstract
A temperature-controlled focus ring assembly for use in a plasma chamber that includes a focus ring surrounding a wafer pedestal for confining plasma ions to a top surface of a wafer positioned on the wafer pedestal; a heat transfer means in intimate contact with the focus ring for decreasing or increasing the temperature of the focus ring; and a controller for controlling the temperature of the focus ring to a predetermined value. The invention further discloses a method for operating a plasma chamber equipped with a temperature-controlled focus ring assembly.
Claims20
A focus ring assembly for use in a plasma chamber comprising:
- a focus ring surrounding a wafer pedestal for confining plasma ions to a top surface of a wafer positioned on said wafer pedestal;
- a heat transfer means in intimate contact with said focus ring for decreasing or increasing a temperature of the focus ring;
- and
- a controller for controlling the temperature of the focus ring to a preset value.
A plasma chamber equipped with a temperature-controlled focus ring comprising:
- a chamber enclosure defining a cavity therein capable of maintaining a pressure not higher than 1 Torr;
- a plasma generating means for producing a plasma in said cavity;
- a wafer pedestal for holding a wafer thereon;
- a focus ring surrounding said wafer pedestal for confining plasma ions to a top surface of said wafer held on said wafer pedestal;
- and
- a heat transfer means in intimate contact with said focus ring for controlling a temperature of said focus ring.
A method for operating a plasma chamber that is equipped with a temperature-controlled focus ring comprising the steps of:
- providing a plasma chamber having a chamber enclosure defining a cavity therein, a plasma generating means, a wafer pedestal, a focus ring surrounding said wafer pedestal, and a heat transfer means in intimate contact with said focus ring;
- mounting a wafer to be processed on top of said wafer pedestal;
- controlling a temperature of said focus ring by said heat transfer means to a predetermined temperature;
- and
- igniting a plasma in said cavity and substantially confining said plasma to a top surface of said wafer by said temperature-controlled focus ring.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.