EP0742577A2
Expired / Lapsed
EP
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Inductively and multi-capacitively coupled plasma reactor
Assignee: Applied Materials Inc
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Filing: 1996-05-07
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2016-05-07
Abstract
Abstract The invention is embodied in a plasma reactor for processing a semiconductor wafer (61), the reactor having a pair of parallel capacitive electrodes (60,62) at the ceiling (54) and base (56) of the processing chamber (50), respectively, each of the capacitive electrodes (60,62) capacitively coupling RF power into the chamber (50) in accordance with a certain RF phase relationship between the pair of electrodes (60,62) during processing of the semiconductor wafer (61) for ease of plasma ignition and precise control of plasma ion energy and process reproducibility, and an inductive coil (74) wound around a portion of the chamber (50) and inductively coupling RF power into the chamber for independent control of plasma ion density. Preferably, in order to minimize the number of RF sources (72) while providing independent power control, the invention includes power splitting to separately provide power from a common source or sources to the pair of electrodes (60,62) and to the coil (74).
Inventors
- 👤 Yan Ye
- 👤 Hiroji Hanawa
- 👤 Diana Yiaobing Ma
- 👤 Gerald Zheyao Yin
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-09 04:47
CPC Classifications
H; H01; H01J; H01J37/00; H01J37/32; H01J37/32009; H01J37/32082; H01J37/32091; H10; H10P; H10P50/00; H10P50/20; H10P50/24; H10P50/242; H01J37/321
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 28
Claim 1
Independent Claim
95 words
A capacitively and inductively coupled RF plasma reactor for processing a semiconductor wafer (61) inside a vacuum chamber (50) of said reactor, comprising: a pair of parallel capacitive electrodes (60,62) facing each other across at least a portion of the chamber (50); an inductive coil (74) wound around a portion of the chamber; and at least one RF source (72); means for reactively splitting RF power among at least two of: (a) a first one of said capacitive electrodes (60), (b) a second one of said capacitive electrodes (62) and (c) said inductive coil (74).
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
44 words
The reactor of claim 1 wherein said means for reactively splitting RF power comprising: means for connecting said RF source to said inductive coil; and a conductive tap on said inductive coil (74), said conductive tap connected to one of said capacitive electrodes (60,62).
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
17 words
The reactor of claim 1 or 2 wherein the other of said capacitive electrodes (60,62) is grounded.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
56 words
The reactor of claim 1 wherein said means for reactively splitting RF power comprise a transformer (66) comprising: a primary winding (68), connected to said RF source (72); and a secondary winding (64) having a pair of connections, the pair of electrodes (60,62) being connected to respective ones of said connections of the secondary winding (64).
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
18 words
The reactor of claim 4 further comprising a second RF source (78) connected to said inductive coil (74).
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
24 words
The reactor of claim 4 or 5, wherein said respective connections of said secondary winding (64) are two ends of said secondary winding (64).
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
53 words
The reactor of claim 1 or 2, wherein: said means for reactively splitting RF power comprise a first connection between one winding (84) of said inductive coil (74) and RF source (72); and a connection between another winding (86) of said inductive coil (74), and at least one of said capacitive electrodes (60,62).
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
86 words
The reactor of claim 1 wherein said means for reactively splitting RF power comprises a power splitting capacitor comprising: a common capacitor electrode (92), connected to the RF source; at least first and second parallel capacitor electrodes (94,96,98) facing said common capacitor electrode (92), said first and second parallel capacitor electrodes (94,96,98) being connected to respective ones of said two of said (a) a first one of said capacitive electrodes (62), (b) a second one of said capacitive electrodes (60,62), and (c) said inductive coil (74).
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
40 words
The reactor of claim 8 further comprising a phase reversing capacitor (99) connected in series between one of said parallel capacitor electrodes (98) of said power splitting capacitor (90) and one of said capacitive electrodes (60,62) of said chamber (50).
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
56 words
The reactor of any of the preceding claims, wherein the chamber (50) comprises a ceiling (54), and one of said capacitive electrodes (62) is a top electrode adjacent said ceiling (54), said ceiling (54) comprising a precursor material for a processing gas which is sputtered into the plasma under the influence of said top electrode (62).
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
35 words
The reactor of claim 10 wherein said ceiling (54) comprises a multi-radius dome shape while the inductive coil (74) is one of: (a) conformal with said dome shape and (b) non-conformal with said dome shape.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
22 words
The reactor of claim 10 or 11 wherein the other capacitive electrode (60,62) comprises a wafer pedestal (58) facing said ceiling (54).
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
30 words
The reactor of any of claims 10 to 12 wherein said top capacitive electrode (62) is one of: (a) inside the chamber (50), and (b) outside of said chamber (50).
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
18 words
The reactor of claim 13 wherein said top electrode (62) is an integral part of the ceiling (54).
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
30 words
The reactor of one of claims 10 to 14 wherein said top electrode comprises a conductive layer lying on a top external surface of said ceiling outside of said chamber.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
161 words
A capacitively and inductively coupled RF plasma reactor, especially according to any of the preceding claims, for processing a semiconductor wafer (61) inside a vacuum chamber (50) of said reactor, comprising: a pair of parallel capacitive electrodes (60,62) facing each other across at least a portion of the chamber (50); an inductive coil (74) wound around a portion of the chamber (50); power applying means for applying RF power to each of the capacitive electrodes (60,62) for capacitively coupling RF power into the chamber (50) and to said inductive coil (74) for inductively coupling RF power into the chamber (50) in accordance with a certain RF phase relationship between at least two of (a) a first one of the pair of electrodes (60,62), (b) a second one of the pair of electrodes (60,62), and (c) said inductive coil (74), during processing of the semiconductor wafer (61) for ease of plasma ignition and precise control of plasma ion energy and process reproducibility.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
62 words
The reactor of claim 16 wherein said power applying means comprises: a common RF source (72); reactive power splitting means for separately providing power from said common RF source (72) to at least said two of (a) a first one of the pair of electrodes (60), (b) a second one of the pair of electrodes (62), and (c) said inductive coil (74).
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
56 words
The reactor of claim 16 or 17 wherein said power applying means comprises a transformer (66) comprising: a primary winding (68) connected to said common RF source (72); and a secondary winding (64) having a pair of connections, the pair of electrodes (60,62) being connected to respective ones of said connections of the secondary winding (64).
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
22 words
The reactor of claim 18 wherein said respective connections of said secondary winding (64) are two ends of said secondary winding (64).
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
72 words
The reactor of claim 18 or 19 wherein said power applying means comprise means for connecting a point (64') on said secondary winding (64) to one of said two capacitive electrodes (62) whereby to split RF power from said common source (72) between said two of (a) a first one of the pair of electrodes (60), (b) a second one of the pair of electrodes (62), and (c) said inductive coil (74).
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
52 words
The reactor of claim 16 wherein said power applying means comprises: a connection between one winding (84) of said inductive coil (74) and a common RF power source (72); and a connection between another winding (86) of said inductive coil (74) and at least one of said top and bottom electrodes (60,62).
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
64 words
The reactor of any of claims 16 to 21 wherein the chamber (50) comprises a ceiling (54) and one of said capacitive electrodes (62) is a top electrode adjacent said ceiling (54) and at least a portion of the chamber ceiling (54) comprises a precursor material for a processing gas which is sputtered into the plasma under the influence of said top electrode (62).
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
35 words
The reactor of claim 22 wherein said ceiling (54) comprises a multi-radius dome shape while the inductive coil (74) is one of: (a) conformal with said dome shape and (b) non-conformal with said dome shape.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
18 words
The reactor of claim 22 or 23 wherein said other capacitive electrode (60) comprises a wafer pedestal (58).
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
30 words
The reactor of any of claims 22 to 24 wherein said top capacitive electrode (62) is one of: (a) inside the chamber (50) and (b) outside of said chamber (50).
Claim 26
Dependent Claim
24 words
The reactor of claim 25 wherein said top electrode (62) is inside the chamber (50) and is an integral part of the ceiling (54).
Claim 27
Dependent Claim
92 words
The reactor of any of claims 17 to 26 wherein said reactive power splitting means comprises a power splitting capacitor (90), comprising: a common capacitor electrode (92) connected to said common RF power source (72); at least first and second parallel capacitor electrodes (94,96,98) facing said common capacitor electrode (92), said first and second parallel capacitor electrodes (94,96,98) being connected to respective ones of said two of said (a) a first one of said capacitive electrodes (60,62) (b) a second one of said capacitive electrodes (60,62), and (c) said inductive coil (74).
Claim 28
Dependent Claim
40 words
The reactor of claim 27 further comprising a phase reversing capacitor (99) connected in series between one of said parallel capacitor electrodes (94,96,98) of said power splitting capacitor (90) and one of said capacitive electrodes (60,62) of said chamber (54).
References Cited (Backward Citations)
No citation records indexed.
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