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US 7,652,430 B1Granted
Broadband plasma light sources with cone-shaped electrode for substrate processing
AssigneeKLA-Tencor Technologies Corporation
InventorGildardo R. Delgado
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Broadband radiation may be generated by supplying a gas mixture containing hydrogen and/or deuterium and/or helium and/or neon to an enclosure, generating a plasma inside the enclosure with the gas mixture. Broadband radiation generated as a result of the plasma discharge to a substrate may be optically coupled to a substrate located outside the enclosure.
Claims32
A broadband light source, comprising:
- an enclosure having one or more walls, at least one of which is at least partly transparent;
- a gas mixture contained within the enclosure, the gas mixture including hydrogen and/or deuterium, wherein a total pressure of the gas mixture is between about 1 atmospheres and about 15 atmospheres and wherein a partial pressure of hydrogen and/or deuterium in the gas mixture is between about 1 percent and about 10 percent of the total pressure;
- and
- a plasma discharge mechanism configured to maintain a plasma discharge of the gas mixture, wherein the plasma discharge takes place within the enclosure
- wherein the plasma discharge mechanism includes an anode spaced apart from a cathode,
- wherein the anode and cathode are disposed within the enclosure, wherein the cathode includes a cone-shaped portion made of a combination of BaO, CaO, and Al2O3 in a 4:1:1 ratio.
3 more elements
A broadband light source, comprising:
- an enclosure having one or more walls, at least one of which is at least partly transparent;
- a gas mixture contained within the enclosure the gas mixture including hydrogen and/or deuterium, wherein a total pressure of the gas mixture is between about 1 atmospheres and about 15 atmospheres and wherein a partial pressure of hydrogen and/or deuterium in the gas mixture is between about 1 percent and about 10 percent of the total pressure;
- and
- a plasma discharge mechanism configured to maintain a plasma discharge of the gas mixture, wherein the plasma discharge takes place within the enclosure,
- wherein the plasma discharge mechanism includes one or more induction coils and one or more magnets, wherein the one or more induction coils are located outside the enclosure and configured to inductively couple electromagnetic energy to the plasma discharge within the enclosure
- wherein the plasma discharge mechanism includes no electrodes within the enclosure.
3 more elements
A substrate processing system, comprising:
- a discharge lamp including an enclosure having one or more walls, at least one of which is at least partly transparent;
- a gas mixture contained within the enclosure, the gas mixture including hydrogen and/or deuterium gas;
- and a plasma discharge mechanism configured to maintain a plasma discharge of the gas mixture, wherein the plasma discharge takes place within the enclosure, wherein the plasma discharge mechanism includes an anode spaced apart from a cathode, wherein the anode and cathode are disposed within the enclosure, wherein the cathode includes a cone-shaped portion made of a combination of BaO, CaO, and Al2O3 in a 4:1:1 ratio;
- a substrate support located outside the discharge lamp;
- and optics adapted to couple radiation from the discharge lamp to a substrate located on the substrate support.
2 more elements
A broadband light source, comprising:
- an enclosure having one or more walls, at least one of which is at least partly transparent;
- a gas mixture contained within the enclosure;
- and
- a plasma discharge mechanism configured to maintain a plasma discharge of the gas mixture, wherein the plasma discharge takes place within the enclosure, and
- wherein the gas mixture, enclosure and discharge mechanism are UHV-compatible
- wherein the plasma discharge mechanism includes an anode spaced apart from a cathode,
- wherein the anode and cathode are disposed within the enclosure wherein the cathode includes a cone-shaped portion made of a combination of BaO, CaO, and Al2O3 in a 4:1:1 ratio.
4 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.