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US 2019/0153601 A1Published application
Showerhead tilt mechanism
AssigneeLam Research Corporation
InventorsBin Luo, Timothy Scott Thomas, Damien Slevin, David Kamp
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A showerhead tilt adjustment mechanism is provided which supports a showerhead module in a top plate of a semiconductor substrate processing apparatus, the showerhead tilt adjustment mechanism including a differential screw which provides coarse and fine adjustments to adjust gap/tilt/planarization of a faceplate of the showerhead module with respect to an upper surface of a substrate pedestal module adjacent the faceplate in the semiconductor substrate processing apparatus.
Claims20
A semiconductor substrate processing apparatus for processing semiconductor substrates comprising:
- a chemical isolation chamber in which individual semiconductor substrates are processed, the chemical isolation chamber including a top plate forming an upper wall of the chemical isolation chamber;
- a process gas source in fluid communication with the chemical isolation chamber for supplying at least one process gas into the chemical isolation chamber;
- a showerhead module which delivers the process gas from the process gas source to a processing zone of the processing apparatus wherein the individual semiconductor substrates are processed, the showerhead module including a base attached to a lower end of a stem wherein a faceplate having gas passages therethrough forms a lower surface of the base and the stem extends through a vertically extending bore in the top plate;
- a substrate pedestal module configured to support the semiconductor substrate in the processing zone below the faceplate during processing of the substrate;
- a bellows assembly supporting the showerhead module, the bellows assembly including a collar, a bellows and a leveling plate, the collar having a central opening aligned with the bore in the top plate, the bellows surrounding the central opening in the collar and having a lower end attached to an upper surface of the collar and an upper end attached to a lower surface of the leveling plate, the leveling plate having a central opening aligned with the bore in the top plate;
- at least one showerhead tilt adjustment mechanism operable to adjust tilting of the faceplate of the showerhead module with respect to an upper surface of the substrate pedestal module adjacent the faceplate, wherein the showerhead tilt adjustment mechanism comprises a hollow screw, a lock plate, and a lock nut, the hollow screw having a first threaded section and a second threaded section, the first threaded section having a thread pitch which is different than a thread pitch of the second threaded section, the first threaded section engaged with the leveling plate, the second threaded section engaged with the lock nut, and the lock plate movable from a first position at which the lock nut rotates with the hollow screw to a second position at which the lock nut cannot rotate, the showerhead tilt adjustment mechanism providing coarse adjustment when the lock plate is in the first position and fine adjustment when the lock plate is in the second position.
3 more elements
A showerhead tilt adjustment mechanism configured to provide coarse and fine gap adjustments of a showerhead module supported in a top plate of a semiconductor substrate processing apparatus by a bellows assembly, wherein the showerhead tilt adjustment mechanism comprises:
- a hollow screw, a lock plate, and a lock nut;
- the hollow screw having a first threaded section and a second threaded section, the first threaded section having a thread pitch which is different than a thread pitch of the second threaded section, the first threaded section configured to engage with a leveling plate of the bellows assembly, the second threaded section engaged with the lock nut;
- the lock plate movable from a first position at which the lock nut rotates with the hollow screw to a second position at which the lock nut cannot rotate, the showerhead tilt adjustment mechanism providing coarse adjustment when the lock plate is in the first position and fine adjustment when the lock plate is in the second position.
A showerhead module which delivers process gas from a process gas source to a processing zone of a semiconductor substrate processing apparatus wherein individual semiconductor substrates are processed, the showerhead module comprising:
- a base attached to a lower end of a stem wherein a faceplate having gas passages therethrough forms a lower surface of the base and the stem is configured to extend through a vertically extending bore in a top plate of the processing apparatus;
- a bellows assembly supporting the showerhead module, the bellows assembly including a collar, a bellows and a leveling plate, the collar having a central opening aligned with the bore in the top plate, the bellows surrounding the central opening in the collar and having a lower end attached to an upper surface of the collar and an upper end attached to a lower surface of the leveling plate, the leveling plate having a central opening aligned with the bore in the top plate;
- at least one showerhead tilt adjustment mechanism operable to adjust tilting of the faceplate of the showerhead module, wherein the showerhead tilt adjustment mechanism comprises a hollow screw, a lock plate, and a lock nut, the hollow screw having a first threaded section and a second threaded section, the first threaded section having a thread pitch which is different than a thread pitch of the second threaded section, the first threaded section engaged with the leveling plate, the second threaded section engaged with the lock nut, and the lock plate movable from a first position at which the lock nut rotates with the hollow screw to a second position at which the lock nut cannot rotate, the showerhead tilt adjustment mechanism providing coarse adjustment when the lock plate is in the first position and fine adjustment when the lock plate is in the second position.
A method of controlling deposition film properties due to showerhead tilt in a semiconductor substrate processing apparatus, the method comprising:
- measuring deposition film properties of a wafer processed in a processing chamber of the semiconductor substrate processing apparatus;
- adjusting tilt of a showerhead of the semiconductor substrate processing apparatus using three showerhead tilt adjustment mechanisms configured to provide coarse and fine adjustments wherein each of the showerhead tilt adjustment mechanisms comprises a hollow screw, a lock plate and a lock nut arranged to vary a gap between a movable part attached to the showerhead and a fixed part in the processing chamber;
- wherein the hollow screw has a first threaded section and a second threaded section, the first threaded section having a thread pitch which is different than a thread pitch of the second threaded section, the first threaded section engaged with the movable part, and the second threaded section engaged with the lock nut;
- and
- the lock plate is movable from a first position at which the lock nut rotates with the hollow screw to a second position at which the lock nut cannot rotate, the showerhead tilt adjustment mechanism providing coarse adjustment when the lock plate is in the first position and fine adjustment when the lock plate is in the second position.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.