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US 6,387,817 B1Granted
Plasma confinement shield
AssigneeAgere Systems Guardian Corp.
InventorJoseph W. Buckfeller
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Improvements of the shielding of the reactor chamber in a radio frequency (RF) reactor are realized by providing dressed edges on the apertures found in the shield. These improvements to the reactor chamber lead to decreased defect density on processed wafers and eliminate the need for frequent cleaning of the reactor chamber.
Claims4
A method of processing a substrate, comprising the steps of:
- mechanically cleaning a plasma confinement shield and an anode shield with a blast of carbon dioxide, said shields having a plurality of apertures having dressed edges and forming a space for receiving a substrate;
- disposing said shields in a chamber;
- placing said substrate within said space;
- sealing said chamber;
- pressurizing said chamber;
- delivering a gas to said chamber;
- and
- exciting said gas into a plasma state by applying a radio frequency power source to said gas.
5 more elements
A method of cleaning a plasma reactor, comprising the steps of:
- providing a delivery gun in fluid communication with a gas container, said gas container containing a pressurized gas,
- causing said delivery gun to expel said gas uniformly;
- and
- applying said expelled gas to a shield having a plurality of apertures having dressed edges for removing mechanically adhered particles from said shield.
1 more element
A method of etching a semiconductor, comprising the steps of:
- mechanically cleaning a plasma confinement shield and an anode shield with a blast of carbon dioxide, said shields having a plurality of apertures having dressed edges and forming a space for receiving a substrate;
- disposing said shields in a chamber;
- placing said semiconductor within said space and sealing said chamber;
- pressurizing said chamber;
- delivering a gas to said chamber;
- and
- exciting said gas into a plasma state by applying a radio frequency power source to said gas.
4 more elements
A method of processing a substrate, comprising the steps of:
- placing a substrate in a space formed within a plasma confinement shield and an anode shield, said shields being disposed in a reactor chamber and having a plurality of apertures having a dressed edge;
- pressurizing said chamber;
- delivering a gas to said chamber;
- and
- exciting said gas into a plasma state.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.