Layer uniformity improvement of deposition-inhibition-deposition processes

A system, comprising:

• a vacuum chamber;
• and
• at least one process station within the vacuum chamber, the at least one process station comprising:
• a wafer chuck;
• a showerhead, wherein the wafer chuck is coupled to a motor that is operable to vertically displace the wafer chuck relative to the showerhead;
• and
• a carrier ring between the wafer chuck and the showerhead, wherein the carrier ring comprises an overhang that extends over an edge of a wafer on the wafer chuck, and wherein the carrier ring is mechanically coupled to a spindle operable to vertically displace the carrier ring relative to the wafer chuck, wherein the system further comprises:
• a processor electrically coupled to the spindle and the motor;
• and
• a memory coupled to the processor, wherein the memory comprises binary code to command the spindle and the motor, wherein the binary code comprises multiple software instructions to adjust a first vertical height of the carrier ring relative to the wafer chuck and a second vertical height of the wafer chuck relative to the showerhead.

A method for controlling a deposition process, the method comprising:

• placing a wafer within a process tool, wherein the process tool comprises:
• a wafer chuck;
• a showerhead, wherein the wafer chuck is coupled to a motor that is operable to vertically displace the wafer chuck relative to the showerhead;
• and
• a carrier ring between the wafer chuck and the showerhead, wherein the carrier ring comprises an overhang that extends over an edge of the wafer, and
• wherein the carrier ring is mechanically coupled to a spindle operable to vertically displace the carrier ring relative to the wafer chuck, wherein the method further comprises:
• adjusting a first gap distance between the carrier ring and the wafer chuck;
• and
• adjusting a second gap distance between the wafer chuck and the showerhead.

A method for controlling a process, comprising:

• transferring a first wafer to a first process station of a plurality of process stations within a process tool, wherein individual ones of the plurality of process stations comprise:
• a wafer chuck;
• a showerhead, wherein the wafer chuck is coupled to a motor that is operable to vertically displace the wafer chuck relative to the showerhead;
• and
• a carrier ring between the wafer chuck and the showerhead, wherein the carrier ring comprises an overhang that extends over an edge of a wafer on the wafer chuck, and wherein the carrier ring is mechanically coupled to a spindle operable to vertically displace the carrier ring relative to the wafer chuck, wherein the method further comprises:
• transferring a second wafer to a second process station of the plurality of process stations.