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US 5,688,382 AGranted
Microwave plasma deposition source and method of filling high aspect-ratio features on a substrate
AssigneeApplied Science and Technology, Inc.
InventorsMatthew M. Besen, Lawrence Bourget, William M. Holber, Donald K. Smith, Richard S. Post
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A microwave plasma deposition source including a vacuum chamber for containing a substance to be energized in a plasma with microwave energy, a coaxial microwave feed ending in the chamber, a sputter target in the chamber and electrically isolated from the coaxial feed, and a second substrate spaced from the sputter target for defining a plasma volume between the substrates.
Claims14
A microwave plasma deposition source, comprising:
- a vacuum chamber for containing a substance to be energized in a plasma with microwave energy;
- a coaxial microwave feed having an inner conductor and a dielectric window shielded from the plasma for passing microwave radiation substantially unimpeded ending in the chamber;
- a target positioned in the chamber at the end of the coaxial feed;
- a substrate positioned in the chamber and spaced from the target for receiving target material;
- and
- a first magnet positioned between the target and the substrate and having a magnetic field extending a volume between the target and the substrate for magnetizing a dense plasma throughout the volume between the target and the substrate, thereby increasing the probability of ionizing material sputtered from the target and traversing the plasma volume.
3 more elements
A method of filling high aspect-ratio features on a substrate with a microwave plasma deposition source, comprising:
- containing in a vacuum chamber a substance to be energized in a plasma with microwave energy;
- feeding a microwave signal into the chamber with a coaxial microwave feed having a microwave passing window shielded from the plasma;
- providing a target in the chamber positioned at an end of the coaxial feed and electrically connected to an inner conductor of the coaxial feed;
- separating a substrate containing high aspect-ratio features from the target in the chamber;
- biasing the target by energizing the inner conductor;
- forming a dense plasma throughout a volume extending between the target and the substrate by magnetizing a magnet positioned between the target and the substrate, thereby creating a high fraction of ionized target material;
- and
- filling the high-aspect ratio features with the ionized target material.
5 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.