Plasma density controller for semiconductor device processing equipment

A semiconductor fabrication plasma density controller for controlling the process density of a fabrication process plasma under the influence of plasma-generating energy in a process gas flow line, comprising:

• a jacket surrounding the process gas flow line;
• a control gas flowing within said jacket for producing a control plasma, said control plasma associated to prevent a predetermined aspect of the plasma-generating energy from entering the process flow line;
• and
• a plurality of controls associated with said jacket for variably controlling the extent to which said control plasma prevents the plasma-generating energy from influencing the process plasma.

A method for remotely controlling semiconductor fabrication plasma density of a fabrication process plasma under the influence of plasma-generating energy in a flow line, comprising the steps of:

• disposing a jacket around the flow line;
• flowing a control fluid within said jacket to produce a control plasma from said control fluid;
• associating said control plasma with the plasma-generating energy to prevent a predetermined aspect of the plasma-generating energy from entering the flow line;
• and
• associating a plurality of controls with said control plasma to thereby variably control the amount of plasma-generating energy entering the process plasma flow line.

A system for remotely controlling semiconductor fabrication process plasma density, comprising:

• a semiconductor device fabrication reactor for fabricating a plurality of semiconductor wafers;
• an energy source for emitting plasma-generating gas discharge energy;
• a fabrication process gas for producing a fabrication process plasma by absorbing said plasma-generating energy;
• and
• a semiconductor fabrication plasma density controller for controlling the density of said process plasma, said controller comprising:
• a control fluid jacket disposed around said fabrication process gas and having a control gas gap;
• a control fluid within said control fluid gap associated to absorb a portion of said plasma-generating energy and prevent a portion of said plasma-generating energy from producing said process plasma;
• and
• a plurality of controls for variably controlling properties associated with said control fluid to control the amount of plasma-generating energy said control fluid prevents from being absorbed by said process plasma.