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US 6,450,116 B1Granted
Apparatus for exposing a substrate to plasma radicals
AssigneeApplied Materials, Inc.
InventorsDavid B. Noble, Ravi Jallepally, Nathan D'Astici, Gary Miner, Turgut Sahin, Guangcai Xing, Yashraj Bhatnagar
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An apparatus and method for exposing a substrate to plasma including a first reaction chamber adapted to generate a plasma comprising ions and radicals and a second reaction chamber coupled to the first reaction chamber and adapted to house a substrate at a sight in the second reaction chamber. The second reaction chamber is coupled to the first reaction chamber by an inlet member and radicals of the plasma flow through the inlet member into the second reaction chamber.
Claims30
An apparatus comprising:
- a first reaction chamber having an outlet;
- a gas source coupled to the first reaction chamber to supply a gas to the first reaction chamber comprising constituents adapted to react with a substrate in a process step;
- an excitation energy source coupled to the first reaction chamber to generate a plasma comprising ions and radicals from the gas;
- and
- a second reaction chamber adapted to house a substrate at a site in the second reaction chamber wherein the first reaction chamber is coupled to the second reaction chamber by an inlet member and radicals of the plasma flow from the outlet of the first reaction chamber through a passageway of the inlet member into the second reaction chamber, an outlet of the passageway having a cross-sectional dimension that is less than a cross-sectional dimension of the outlet of the first reaction chamber such that, during processing, the pressure in the second reaction chamber is less than the pressure in the first reaction chamber.
2 more elements
An apparatus comprising:
- a first reaction chamber;
- a gas source coupled to the first reaction chamber to supply a gas to the first reaction chamber comprising constituents adapted to react with a substrate in a process step;
- an excitation energy source coupled to the first reaction chamber to generate a plasma comprising ions and radicals from the gas;
- and
- a second reaction charber adapted to house a substrate at a site in the second reaction chamber wherein the first reaction chamber is coupl member and radicals of the plasma flow through the inlet member into the second reaction chamber, the inlet member including a passageway having a cross-sectional dimension selected such that during processing the pressure in the second reaction chamber is less than the pressure in the first reaction chamber,
- wherein the passageway of the inlet member is coupled to an output end of the excitation energy source and a sleeve is located in the passageway, the sleeve being made of a material different from that of the inlet member.
3 more elements
An apparatus comprising:
- a first reaction chamber having au outlet;
- a gas source coupled to the first reaction chamber to supply a gas to the first reaction chamber including constituents adapted to react with a substrate in a process step;
- an excitation energy source coupled to the first reaction chamber to generate a plasma including ions and radicals from the gas;
- and
- a second reaction chamber adapted to house a substrate at a site in the second reaction chamber wherein the first reaction chamber is coupled to the second reaction chamber by an inlet member configured to fit within a pre-existing opening in a wall of the second reaction chamber and radicals of the plasma flow through a passageway of the inlet member into the second reaction chamber, an outlet of the passageway having a cross-sectional dimension that is less than a cross-sectional dimension of the outlet of the first reaction chamber such that, during processing, the pressure in the second reaction chamber is less than the pressure in the first reaction chamber.
2 more elements
An apparatus for nitridation, comprising:
- a process chamber in which a substrate can be positioned during processing;
- a first inlet into the process chamber through which a first process gas can be introduced into the process chamber from a first process gas source;
- a reaction chamber having an outlet;
- a second process gas source coupled to the reaction chamber to supply a second process gas thereto;
- an excitation energy source coupled to the reaction chamber to generate a discharge in the second process gas as it flows from the second process gas source through the reaction chamber;
- and
- an inlet member coupled between an outlet of the reaction chamber and a second inlet into the process chamber, the inlet member including a passageway therethrough having a cross-sectional dimension that is less than a cross-sectional dimension of the outlet of the reaction chamber such that during processing the pressure in the process chamber is less than the pressure in the reaction chamber and the inlet member is configured to fit within a pre-existing opening in a wall of the process chamber.
4 more elements
An apparatus for nitridation, comprising:
- a process chamber in which a substrate can be positioned during processing;
- a first inlet into the process chamber through which a first process gas can be introduced into the process chamber from a first process gas source;
- a reaction chamber;
- a second process gas source coupled to the reaction chamber to supply a second process gas thereto;
- an excitation energy source coupled to the reaction chamber to generate a discharge in the second process gas as it flows from the second process gas source through the reaction chamber;
- and
- an inlet member coupled between an outlet of the reaction chamber and a second inlet into the process chamber, the inlet member including a passageway having a cross-sectonal dimension selected such that during processing the pressure in the process chamber is less than the pressure in the reaction chamber and the inlet member is configured to fit within a pre-existing opening in a wall of the process chamber,
- wherein the inlet member passageway is coupled to an output end of the excitation energy source and a sleeve is located in the passageway, the sleeve being made of a material different from that of said inlet member.
5 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.