Inductively coupled RF plasma reactor having an overhead solenoidal antenna and modular confinement magnet liners

A plasma reactor comprising:

• a reactor chamber enclosure including a ceiling;
• plural cooling rings resting on top of said ceiling;
• a cold plate overlying said plural cooling rings;
• and
• an elastically deformable thermally conductive layer between each one of said plural cooling rings and said cold plate.

A plasma reactor comprising:

• a reactor chamber;
• an electrostatic chuck for supporting a workpiece inside said chamber;
• and
• at least one semiconductor grounding pin for electrostatically discharging a wafer, said grounding pin extending through said electrostatic chuck toward a plane whereon said chuck is capable of supporting said workpiece, said pin being movable between an extended position at which said pin can contact said workpiece and a retracted position.

A plasma reactor comprising:

• a chamber;
• a workpiece chuck for supporting a workpiece inside said chamber;
• an RF power applicator and gas inlet apparatus for admitting a process gas into said chamber;
• a semiconductor ring surrounding said workpiece chuck and heating apparatus for heating said semiconductor ring;
• and
• a slit in said semiconductor ring for permitting thermal expansion of said semiconductor ring.

A plasma reactor comprising:

• a chamber including a ceiling;
• a pedestal for supporting a workpiece inside said chamber;
• process gas inlet apparatus;
• an inductive antenna comprising plural stacked coil windings, each of said coil windings residing generally in a respective one of plural parallel planes, the windings in adjacent planes being connected at a step region common to all said planes wherein each winding transitions from one plane to a next plane, said coil windings being formed of a single conductor having a pair of connection sections, a first one of said connection sections extending from a top-most one of said windings and a second one of said connection sections extending from a bottom-most one of said windings, said first one of said connection sections extending upwardly away from said top-most winding, said second one of said connection sections following an arcuate path upwardly from said bottom-most winding to said top-most winding so as to provide an effective number of stacked windings which is generally uniform along said step region.

A plasma reactor comprising:

• a chamber including a ceiling;
• a pedestal for supporting a workpiece inside said chamber;
• process gas inlet apparatus;
• an inductive antenna comprising plural stacked coil windings, each of said coil windings residing generally in a respective one of plural parallel planes, the windings in adjacent planes being connected at a step region common to all said planes wherein each winding transitions from one plane to a next plane, said antenna further comprising a conductor coupled to a bottom-most one of said windings extending upwardly from one azimuthal end of said step region to a second azimuthal end of said step region toward the plane of a top-most one of said windings.

A plasma reactor comprising:

• a plasma reactor chamber and a workpiece support for holding a workpiece adjacent a support plane inside said chamber during processing, said chamber having a reactor enclosure portion facing said workpiece;
• an inductive antenna adjacent and on an exterior side of said reactor enclosure portion and having more than two respective inductive elements, said respective inductive elements being at respective radial locations, said antenna being adapted to couple power into said chamber;
• a passageway communicating with said chamber;
• a first removable plasma confinement magnet module placed adjacent said passageway, said first module comprising:
• a first module housing, and
• a first plasma confinement magnet inside said housing.

A plasma reactor comprising:

• a plasma reactor chamber and a workpiece support for holding a workpiece adjacent a support plane inside said chamber during processing, said chamber having a reactor enclosure portion facing said workpiece;
• an inductive antenna adjacent and on an exterior side of said reactor enclosure portion and having more than two respective inductive elements, said respective inductive elements being at respective radial locations, said antenna being adapted to couple power into said chamber;
• plural thermally conductive cooling rings resting on said exterior side of said reactor enclosure portion;
• a cold plate overlying said plural cooling rings;
• and
• an elastically deformable thermally conductive layer between each one of said plural cooling rings and said cold plate.