US 9,287,092 B2Granted

Method and apparatus for controlling ion energy distribution

AssigneeAdvanced Energy Industries, Inc.

InventorsVictor Brouk, Randy Heckman

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Abstract

Systems, methods and apparatus for regulating ion energies in a plasma chamber are disclosed. An exemplary system includes an ion-energy control portion, and the ion-energy control portion provides at least one ion-energy control signal responsive to at least one ion-energy setting that is indicative of a desired distribution of energies of ions bombarding a surface of a substrate. A controller is coupled to the switch-mode power supply, and the controller provides at least two drive-control signals. In addition, a switch-mode power supply is coupled to the substrate support, the ion-energy control portion and the controller. The switch-mode power supply includes switching components configured to apply power to the substrate responsive to the drive signals and the ion-energy control signal so as to effectuate the desired distribution of the energies of ions bombarding the surface of the substrate.

Claims6

Dependent claims

A system for plasma-based processing, comprising:

a plasma processing chamber configured to contain a plasma;
a substrate support positioned within the plasma processing chamber and disposed to support a dielectric or semiconductor substrate,
an ion-energy control portion, the ion-energy control portion including a controllable DC voltage source to provide a DC output voltage with a magnitude that is determined by an ion-energy control setting, wherein the magnitude of the DC output voltage of the DC voltage source establishes a corresponding single concentration of a particular ion-energy at the surface of the substrate;
a switch-mode power supply coupled to the substrate support and the ion-energy control portion, the switch-mode power supply including at least two switching components, a first of the at least two switching components switchably connects the DC output voltage to the substrate support to provide the DC output voltage as a sole source of power that establishes the particular ion-energy at the surface of the substrate, and a second of the at least two switching components switchably connects a ground potential to the substrate support, wherein the at least two switching components are arranged in a configuration selected from the group consisting of a half-bridge configuration and a full-bridge configuration;
a controller electrically coupled to each of the first and second of the at least two switching components of the switch-mode power supply by a corresponding one of a first and second drive-control-signal lines, the controller configured to provide a first and second drive-control signals, respectively, to separately open and close the first and second of the at least two switching components and control a timing of the drive-control signals to alternately switch the DC output voltage and the ground potential to the substrate support to produce a substantially constant negative voltage at the surface of the substrate between positive voltage pulses to effectuate the single concentration of desired ion energy at the surface of the substrate;
and
a waveform memory, the waveform memory programmed to include timing information for the drive-control signals.

4 more elements

A plasma-based processing apparatus, comprising:

a controllable DC voltage source to provide a DC output voltage with a magnitude that is determined by an ion-energy control setting;
at least two switching components, the at least two switching components disposed between the DC voltage source and an output that is configured to couple to a substrate holder, a first of the at least two switching components switchably connects the DC output voltage to the output to provide DC power as a sole source of power to the output, and a second of the at least two switching components switchably connects a ground potential to the output, wherein the at least two switching components are arranged in a configuration selected from the group consisting of a half-bridge configuration and a full-bridge configuration;
a controller electrically coupled to each of the first and second of the at least two switching components, the controller configured to provide a first and second separate drive-control signals, respectively, to the first and second of the at least two switching components by a corresponding one of a first and separate second drive-control-signal lines and control a timing of the drive-control signals to alternately switch the DC voltage and the ground potential to the output to generate a particular voltage waveform, which when applied to a dielectric or semiconductor substrate on the substrate holder, produces a substantially constant negative voltage at the surface of the substrate between positive voltage pulses, the substantially constant negative voltage effectuates the single concentration of desired ion energy;
and
a waveform memory, the waveform memory programmed to include timing information for the drive-control signals.

2 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 12/767,775Filed 26 Apr 2010 · us provisional application
Priority: 1 May 2009
Published: US 2010/0276273 A14 Nov 2010
Granted: 15 Mar 2016
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification19 codes

C23C 16/509
Using radio frequency discharges: using internal electrodes
H01J 37/32045
Glow discharge: circuits specially adapted for controlling the glow discharge
C23C 14/54
Characterised by the process of coating: controlling or regulating the coating process
H01J 37/32009
Gas-filled discharge tubes: arrangements for generation of plasma specially adapted for examination or treatment of objects, e.g. plasma sources