Shaping a plasma with a magnetic field to control etch rate uniformity
AssigneeApplied Materials, Inc.
InventorsJohn M. Yamartino, Peter K. Loewenhardt, Dmitry Lubomirsky, Saravjeet Singh
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A substrate etching chamber has a substrate support, a gas supply to introduce a process gas into the chamber; an inductor antenna to sustain a plasma of the process gas in a process zone of the chamber, and an exhaust to exhaust the process gas. A magnetic field generator disposed about the chamber has first and second solenoids. A controller is adapted to control a power supply to provide a first current to the first solenoid and a second current to the second solenoid, thereby generating a magnetic field in the process zone of the chamber to controllably shape the plasma in the process zone to reduce etch rate variations across the substrate.
Claims39
A substrate etching chamber comprising:
- a substrate support to support a substrate in a process zone;
- a gas supply to introduce a process gas into the process zone;
- an inductor antenna to inductively couple energy to the process gas to form a plasma of the process gas in the process zone;
- a magnetic field generator to generate a magnetic field in the process zone, the magnetic field generator comprising first and second solenoids above a ceiling of the chamber, the second solenoid being radially offset from the first solenoid, and a power supply to power the solenoids;
- a controller adapted to control the power supply of the magnetic field generator to pass a first current through the first solenoid and pass a second current through the second solenoid, the second current being in the opposite direction of the first current;
- and
- an exhaust to exhaust the process gas.
A substrate etching method comprising:
- (a) placing a substrate in a chamber defining a process zone;
- (b) introducing a process gas into the process zone;
- (c) inductively coupling energy to the process gas to form a plasma in the process zone;
- (d) generating a magnetic field in the process zone by providing a first current to a first solenoid above a ceiling of the chamber and a second current to a second solenoid above the ceiling of the chamber that is radially offset from the first solenoid, the first current being in the opposite direction to the second current;
- and
- (e) exhausting the process gas from the process zone.
A substrate etching chamber comprising:
- a substrate support to support a substrate in a process zone;
- a gas supply to introduce a process gas into the process zone;
- a gas energizer comprising a process electrode to couple energy to the process gas to form a plasma of the process gas in the process zone and an RF power supply to provide an RF voltage to the process electrode;
- a magnetic field generator to generate a controllable magnetic field in the process zone, the magnetic field generator comprising first and second solenoids disposed above a ceiling of the chamber and a DC power supply to pass direct current through the first and second solenoids in opposite directions;
- and
- an exhaust to exhaust the process gas.
A substrate etching method comprising:
- (a) placing a substrate in a chamber defining a process zone;
- (b) introducing a process gas into the process zone;
- (c) coupling energy to the process gas to form a plasma in the process zone by providing an RF current voltage to a process electrode;
- (d) generating a magnetic field in the process zone by providing a first direct current to a first solenoid above a ceiling of the chamber and a second direct current to a second solenoid above the ceiling of the chamber that is radially offset from the first solenoid, the first and second direct currents being in opposite directions;
- and
- (e) exhausting the process gas from the process zone.
A substrate etching chamber comprising:
- a substrate support to support a substrate in a process zone;
- a gas supply to introduce a process gas into the process zone;
- a gas energizer comprising a process electrode to couple energy to the process gas to form a plasma of the process gas in the process zone and an RF power supply to provide an RF voltage to the process electrode;
- a magnetic field generator to generate a controllable magnetic field in the process zone, the magnetic field generator comprising first and second solenoids that are non-coplanar and disposed above a ceiling of the chamber, and a DC power supply to pass direct current through the first and second solenoids in opposite directions;
- and
- an exhaust to exhaust the process gas.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.