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AssigneeLam Research Corporation
InventorsScott K. Baldwin, Jr., Michael S. Barnes, John P. Holland
Estimating the term…
A plasma processor for a workpiece includes a coil for supplying an r.f. exciting field through a window to a plasma in a vacuum chamber. A powered non-magnetic metal member between the coil and plasma couples the field to the plasma. In first and second embodiments, the metal member is respectively (1) a plate abutting a face of the window inside the chamber and (2) a thin film on an interior face of the window. In a third embodiment, the plate and film are both used. All embodiments help to ignite the plasma. The second embodiment increases plasma stability and prevents window clouding by ionized plasma particles. Metal from the plate is sputtered as a deposit onto the workpiece. The third embodiment enables substantially simultaneous depositing and cleaning.
A plasma device comprising a vacuum chamber having a metal wall at a reference potential and a dielectric window, an AC excitation source for reactively coupling AC energy to the chamber, the AC excitation source including a coil having connections to be powered by an AC source, the coil being outside the chamber and arranged to derive an AC field coupled to the plasma through the dielectric window of the chamber, the AC energy when coupled to the chamber from the source being capable of interacting with ionizable material in the chamber to form a plasma, and a non-magnetic metal member interposed between the coil and the plasma, the non-magnetic metal member being arranged and constructed to pass AC electromagnetic fields from the coil to the plasma, the non-magnetic metal member being connected to a terminal of an electric source at a potential different from the reference potential.
A plasma device comprising
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.