EP0641013A2
Expired / Lapsed
EP
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High density plasma CVD and etching reactor
Assignee: Applied Materials Inc
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Filing: 1994-07-12
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2014-07-12
Abstract
Abstract The disclosure relates to an RF inductively coupled plasma reactor including a vacuum chamber (102) for processing a wafer (82), one or more gas sources (98, 100) for introducing into the chamber reactant gases, and an antenna (80) capable of radiating RF energy into the chamber to generate a plasma therein by inductive coupling, the antenna lying in a two-dimensionally curved surface. In another embodiment a plasma reactor includes apparatus for spaying a reactant gas at a supersonic velocity toward the portion of the chamber overlying the wafer. In a further embodiment a plasma reactor includes a planar spray showerhead for spraying a reactant gas into the portion of the chamber overlying the wafer with plural spray nozzle openings facing the wafer, and plural magnets in an interior portion of the planar spray nozzle between adjacent ones of the plural nozzle openings, the plural magnets being oriented so as to repel ions from the spray nozzle openings.
Inventors
- 👤 Kevin Fairbairn
- 👤 Romuald Nowak
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-05 16:49
CPC Classifications
H; H05; H05H; H05H1/00; H05H1/24; H05H1/26; H05H1/46; H01; H01J; H01J37/00; H01J37/32; H01J37/32009; H01J37/32082; H01J37/321; H01J37/32431; H01J37/3244
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 36
Claim 1
Independent Claim
52 words
An RF inductively coupled plasma reactor including a vacuum chamber, said reactor comprising: one or more gas sources for introducing into said chamber reactant gases; and an antenna capable of radiating RF energy into said chamber to generate a plasma therein by inductive coupling, said antenna lying in a two-dimensionally curved surface.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
33 words
The reactor of Claim 1 wherein said antenna has a dome-shaped configuration and wherein said curved surface is a concave surface facing and symmetrically disposed relative to the top surface of said wafer.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
27 words
The reactor of Claim 2 wherein said antenna comprises an underlying vertical cylindrical portion and an overlying dome-shaped portion smoothly joined with said underling vertical cylindrical portion.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
26 words
The reactor of Claim 3 wherein said vertical cylindrical portion has an axial height not less than 20% of the diameter of said vertical cylindrical portion.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
60 words
The reactor of Claim 4 wherein said vacuum chamber comprises a ceiling comprising a vertical cylindrical portion and an overlying dome-shaped portion corresponding respectively to the shapes of said vertical cylindrical and dome-shaped portions of said antenna and wherein said antenna comprises an elongate conductor disposed within said ceiling and coiled around a rotational axis of symmetry of said ceiling.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
31 words
The reactor of Claim 5 wherein said ceiling comprises a plurality of sections having decreasing radii of curvature from a top of said ceiling and being smoothly joined to each other.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
20 words
The reactor of Claim 3 wherein said antenna has a circular void centered at the apex of said curved surface.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
25 words
The reactor of Claim 7 wherein said void has a diameter on the order of between 25% and 100% of the diameter of said wafer.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
22 words
The reactor of Claim 7 further comprising: a dome-shaped electrode in said void, said dome-shaped electrode being connectable to an electrical source.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
20 words
The reactor of Claim 9 wherein said dome-shaped electrode is connectable to an RF source during cleaning of said chamber.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
25 words
The reactor of Claim 3 wherein said coiled conductor has a length corresponding to a quarter wavelength of an RF signal applied to said antenna.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
19 words
The reactor of Claim 11 wherein said RF signal has an RF frequency between 400 kHz and 20 MHz.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
63 words
The reactor of Claim 1 wherein at least one of said reactant gases contributes both (a) ions to said plasma for sputter etching and (b) chemical species for chemical vapor deposition, and wherein plasma ion density across said wafer is sufficient so that the rate of said sputter etching is at least on the order of the rate of said chemical vapor deposition.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
47 words
The reactor of Claim 1 wherein at least one gas source comprises: a plurality of elongate spray nozzles located within and thermally coupled to a vacuum containment wall of said vacuum chamber and extending toward said wafer with respective nozzle tips near the edge of said wafer.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
14 words
The reactor of Claim 14 wherein gas flow out of said nozzles is supersonic.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
66 words
The reactor of Claim 1 wherein at least one gas source comprises: a closed tube inside said vacuum chamber and symmetrically disposed relative to said wafer and following an edge contour of said wafer so as to not overlie a substantial portion of said wafer, said closed tube having a plurality of spray openings therein facing an interior portion of said vacuum chamber overlying said wafer.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
57 words
A plasma reactor including means for holding a wafer in a vacuum chamber, comprising: an antenna capable of radiating RF energy into said chamber to generate a plasma in a portion of said chamber overlying said wafer; and means for spraying a reactant gas at a supersonic velocity toward said portion of said chamber overlying said wafer.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
19 words
The reactor of Claim 17 wherein said means for supersonically spraying comprises a plurality of elongate supersonic spray nozzles.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
27 words
The reactor of Claim 18 wherein each one of said nozzles has an inner portion sharply tapering radially inwardly and an outer portion gradually tapering radially outwardly.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
31 words
The reactor of Claim 18 wherein said nozzles extend toward said wafer with respective nozzle tips having gas distribution inlet orifices up to but not overlying the edge of said wafer.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
21 words
The reactor of Claim 20 wherein said spray nozzles are thermally coupled to a vacuum containment wall of said vacuum chamber.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
30 words
The reactor of Claim 20 wherein supersonic gas flow from each nozzle forms an effective gas diffusion center displaced from the nozzle tip thereof to a location overlying said wafer.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
29 words
The reactor of Claim 20 wherein said orifices each have a size on the order of 10 mils and said chamber has a vacuum between 1 and 30 milliTorr.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
77 words
A plasma reactor including means for holding a wafer in a vacuum chamber, comprising: an antenna capable of radiating RF energy into said chamber to generate a plasma in a portion of said chamber overlying said wafer; a plurality of elongate spray nozzles thermally coupled to a vacuum containment wall of said vacuum chamber and extending toward said wafer with respective nozzle tips having gas distribution inlet orifices at least nearly overlying the edge of said wafer.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
105 words
A plasma reactor including means for holding a wafer in a vacuum chamber, comprising: an antenna capable of radiating RF energy into said chamber to generate a plasma in a portion of said chamber overlying said wafer; a closed tube inside said vacuum chamber for spraying a reactant gas into said portion of said chamber overlying said wafer and symmetrically disposed relative to said wafer and following an edge contour of said wafer so as to not overlie a substantial portion of said wafer, said closed tube having a plurality of spray openings therein facing an interior portion of said vacuum chamber overlying said wafer.
Claim 26
Dependent Claim
114 words
A plasma reactor including means for holding a wafer in a vacuum chamber, comprising: an antenna capable of radiating RF energy into said chamber to generate a plasma in a portion of said chamber overlying said wafer; a planar spray showerhead for spraying a reactant gas into said portion of said chamber overlying said wafer, said planar spray showerhead overlying an interior portion of said vacuum chamber over said wafer and having plural spray nozzle openings facing said wafer; and plural magnets in an interior portion of said planar spray nozzle between adjacent ones of said plural nozzle openings, said plural magnets being oriented so as to repel ions from said spray nozzle openings.
Claim 27
Dependent Claim
26 words
The reactor of Claim 26 wherein said nozzle openings are located in a range of about 25% to 50% of a wafer diameter from said wafer.
Claim 28
Dependent Claim
48 words
A plasma reactor including means for holding a wafer in a vacuum chamber for containing a processing gas, comprising: an antenna capable of radiating RF energy into said chamber to generate a plasma; and a conductive dome-shaped electrode overlying said wafer and being connectable to an electrical potential.
Claim 29
Dependent Claim
22 words
The reactor of Claim 28 wherein said dome-shaped electrode comprises a ceiling of said chamber and is connected to ground during processing.
Claim 30
Dependent Claim
23 words
The reactor of Claim 29 further comprising means for connecting said dome-shaped electrode to an RF power source during cleaning of said chamber.
Claim 31
Dependent Claim
78 words
A plasma process, comprising the steps of: providing a vacuum processing chamber holding a workpiece to be processed and having a dome-shaped antenna on one side thereof; feeding a processing gas including an electronegative gas into said processing chamber; resonantly coupling an RF electrical signal to said antenna; and non-resonantly and inductively coupling electromagnetic energy from said antenna into a plasma formed in said processing chamber from said processing gas, whereby said workpiece is processed by said plasma.
Claim 32
Dependent Claim
13 words
The plasma process of Claim 31, wherein said electronegative gas comprises oxygen gas.
Claim 33
Dependent Claim
13 words
The plasma process of Claim 31 wherein said electronegative gas comprises a halogen.
Claim 34
Dependent Claim
18 words
The plasma process of Claim 32, wherein said processing gas additionally comprises a precursor gas for silicon oxide.
Claim 35
Dependent Claim
23 words
The plasma process of Claim 1, wherein said RF electrical signal has a frequency within the range of 400 kHz to 20 MHz.
Claim 36
Dependent Claim
25 words
The plasma process of Claim 35, wherein a pressure of said processing gas within said chamber is within a range of 1 to 30 milliTorr.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
No citation records indexed.
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