US 2006/0037537 A1 · Vacuum-processing chamber-shield and multi-chamber pumping method

Abstract

One or more chambers of a multi-chamber vacuum processing apparatus are provided with a high gas flow conductance path to an exhaust volume of the apparatus that is maintained at high vacuum with a high vacuum pump. Separate pumps for the one or more chambers are made unnecessary by providing such chambers with a protective deposition shield or shield set that is configured to substantially protect walls of the chamber and the gas flow conductance path from deposition and to partially impede the gas flow from the chamber through the gas flow conductance path to the exhaust volume so that the chamber can be operated at a higher pressure than that of the exhaust volume and the chambers can be operated at different pressures and without cross-contamination. Preferably, a nested set of chamber shields is used. A controller is programmed to control the processing of wafers in the chambers by controlling the supply of process gas into the chambers.

Claims15

Dependent claims

A set of replaceable protective deposition shields for a PVD processing chamber comprising:

an outer shield having a generally cylindrical portion and a gas outlet opening therethrough and a gas inlet opening therethrough;
an inner shield having a generally cylindrical portion of a diameter less than that of the generally cylindrical portion of the outer shield and having an inlet opening therethrough for alignment with the inlet opening of the outer shield;
and
the inner shield being configured to mount in a nested relationship with the outer so as to form an annular gap between the inner and outer shields that communicates with the opening and that extends sufficiently from the opening so as to require at least three specular reflections off shield surfaces of atoms of coating material moving from the chamber to the opening when the set is installed in a process chamber and a PVD process is being performed in the process chamber.

1 more element

A PVD apparatus comprising:

a plurality of single-wafer processing chambers bounded by chamber walls;
a high vacuum pump;
an exhaust volume communicating with the high vacuum pump;
a gas flow conductance path extending from at least one of the chambers to the exhaust volume;
a protective deposition shield installed in the at least one of the chambers configured to substantially protect walls of the chamber and the gas flow conductance path from deposition from the chamber, and to partially impede the gas flow from the chamber through the gas flow conductance path to the exhaust volume so that the chamber can be operated at a higher pressure than that of the exhaust volume;
and
a controller programmed to control the processing of wafers in the chambers by controlling the supply of process gas into said one of the chambers such that gas flows from the chamber, through the path and to the exhaust volume, and such that the chamber can be maintained at a controlled processing pressure that is higher than the pressure at the exhaust volume.

4 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Vacuum-processing chamber-shield and multi-chamber pumping method

Life of this patent

Vacuum-processing chamber-shield and multi-chamber pumping method

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims15