Patent US5885356A successfully refreshed from Google Patents.
US5885356A
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Method of reducing residue accumulation in CVD chamber using ceramic lining
Assignee: Applied Materials Inc
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Filing: 1995-12-22
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Granted: 1999-03-23
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Expires: 2015-12-22
Abstract
Abstract The present invention provides a method and apparatus for limiting residue build-up by lining with a ceramic material the exhaust plenun and exhaust manifold of a processing chamber. In another aspect of the invention, the inventors have used an air gap between the ceramic liner and the processing chamber walls to increase the dielectric value of the ceramic liner, and further inhibit the build-up of residues. In another aspect, the ceramic liner has been found to retain sufficient heat to allow the elimination of heaters typically used to heat the aluminum walls during a clean operation, if the clean operation is commenced immediately after a process step so that the ceramic retains the necessary heat from the previous processing step. The provision of an air gap aids in this heating, preventing the ceramic heat from being drawn off by direct contact with the aluminum walls. In a preferred embodiment, the ceramic liners are attached to the chamber walls with TEFLON® (polytetrafluoroethylene) screws.
Inventors
- 👤 Jun Zhao
- 👤 Tom Cho
- 👤 Xin Sheng Guo
- 👤 Atsushi Tabata
- 👤 Jianmin Qiao
- 👤 Alex Schreiber
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-09 03:58
CPC Classifications
H; H01; H01J; H01J37/00; H01J37/32; H01J37/32431; H01J37/32798; H01J37/32816; H01J37/32834; C; C23; C23C; C23C16/00; C23C16/44; C23C16/4401; C23C16/4412; C23C16/455; C23C16/45502; C23C16/458; C23C16/4582; C23C16/4583; C23C16/4586; C23C16/46; C23C16/463; C23C16/50; C23C16/505; C30; C30B; C30B25/00; C30B25/02; H01J37/32458; H01J37/32477; H01J37/32715; H01J37/32724; H10; H10P; H10P14/00; H10P14/60; H10P14/63; H10P14/6326; H10P14/6328; H10P14/6334; H10P14/6336; H10P70/00; H10P70/20; H10P70/23; H10P72/00; H10P72/70; H10P72/76; H10P72/7604; H10P72/7612; H10P72/7624; C23C16/45563; C23C16/45565; H01J2237/00; H01J2237/02; H01J2237/022; Y; Y10; Y10S; Y10S156/00; Y10S156/916
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 27
Claim 1
Independent Claim
93 words
A processing apparatus, comprising: a processing chamber including a body with an upper surface, a lower surface and side surfaces extending from said lower surface, terminating proximate to said upper surface, spaced-apart therefrom defining an annular slot; a pedestal disposed in said processing chamber between said upper and lower surfaces, with said body further defining an exhaust outlet having an interior surface in fluid communication with said annular slot, with said annular slot positioned between said side surfaces and said exhaust outlet; and a ceramic body covering a portion of said interior surface.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
93 words
A processing apparatus, comprising: a processing chamber including a body with an upper surface, a lower surface and side surfaces extending from said lower surface, terminating proximate to said upper surface, spaced-apart therefrom defining an annular slot; a pedestal disposed in said processing chamber between said upper and lower surfaces, with said body further defining an exhaust outlet having an interior surface in fluid communication with said annular slot, with said annular slot positioned between said side surfaces and said exhaust outlet; and a ceramic body covering a portion of said interior surface.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
16 words
The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said processing chamber is a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) chamber.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
33 words
The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising: a gas distribution manifold disposed opposite to said pedestal; and a ceramic isolator ring surrounding said gas distribution manifold and extending below said gas distribution manifold.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
50 words
The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising a ceramic layer positioned between said pedestal and said side surfaces and having a major surface, a first portion of which is in abutting relation with said side surfaces with a second portion being spaced apart therefrom, said second portion defining a gap.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
20 words
The apparatus of claim 4 wherein said ceramic layer is attached to said processing chamber with an electrical insulating material.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
16 words
The apparatus of claim 5 wherein said electrical insulating material is a plurality of polytetrafluoroethylene screws.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
42 words
The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said pedestal and said upper and side surfaces define a reaction region boundary, a portion of which, disposed proximate to said pedestal, has a greater dielectric constant than the remaining regions of said reaction region boundary.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
19 words
The apparatus of claim 7 wherein said pedestal has a periphery and said portion is disposed about said periphery.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
42 words
The apparatus of claim 7 wherein said portion and said remaining regions include a ceramic layer having a thickness, with the thickness of said ceramic layer of said remaining regions being greater than the thickness of said ceramic layer of said portion.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
45 words
The apparatus of claim 7 wherein said portion includes a layer of a first material having a first dielectric constant associated therewith and said remaining regions include a layer of a second material, differing from said first material, having a second dielectric constant associated therewith.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
87 words
A processing apparatus, comprising: a processing chamber including a body with an upper surface, a lower surface and side surfaces extending from said lower surface terminating proximate to said upper surface; a pedestal disposed in said processing chamber between said upper and lower surfaces, a ceramic layer positioned between said pedestal and said side surfaces and having a major surface a first portion of which is in abutting relation with said side surfaces with a second portion being spaced apart therefrom, said second portion defining a gap.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
87 words
A processing apparatus, comprising: a processing chamber including a body with an upper surface, a lower surface and side surfaces extending from said lower surface terminating proximate to said upper surface; a pedestal disposed in said processing chamber between said upper and lower surfaces, a ceramic layer positioned between said pedestal and said side surfaces and having a major surface a first portion of which is in abutting relation with said side surfaces with a second portion being spaced apart therefrom, said second portion defining a gap.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
15 words
The processing apparatus of claim 11 wherein said gap is between 1 and 25 millimeters.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
12 words
The processing apparatus of claim 11 wherein said gap is 10 millimeters.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
28 words
The processing chamber of claim 11 wherein said first portion further comprises a plurality of bumps on an portion of ceramic layer adjacent walls of said processing chamber.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
82 words
A processing apparatus, comprising: a processing chamber including a body with an upper surface, a lower surface and side surfaces extending from said lower surface terminating proximate to said upper surface; and a pedestal disposed in said processing chamber between said upper and lower surfaces, with said pedestal and said upper and side surfaces defining a reaction region boundary, a portion of which, disposed proximate to said pedestal, has a lower dielectric constant than the remaining regions of said reaction region boundary.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
82 words
A processing apparatus, comprising: a processing chamber including a body with an upper surface, a lower surface and side surfaces extending from said lower surface terminating proximate to said upper surface; and a pedestal disposed in said processing chamber between said upper and lower surfaces, with said pedestal and said upper and side surfaces defining a reaction region boundary, a portion of which, disposed proximate to said pedestal, has a lower dielectric constant than the remaining regions of said reaction region boundary.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
30 words
The processing apparatus of claim 15 further including a ceramic layer covering a portion of said boundary and a securing member attaching said ceramic layer to said reaction region boundary.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
127 words
A plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition processing apparatus, comprising: a processing chamber including a body with an upper surface, a lower surface and side surfaces extending from said lower surface, terminating proximate to said upper surface, spaced-apart therefrom defining an annular slot; and a pedestal disposed in said processing chamber between said upper and lower surfaces, with said body further defining an exhaust outlet having an interior surface in fluid communication with said annular slot; and, a first ceramic liner covering a portion of said side surfaces, said first ceramic liner having a major surface a first portion in abutting relation with said side surfaces and a second portion, spaced apart therefrom, said second portion defining a gap; and a second ceramic liner covering said interior surface.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
127 words
A plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition processing apparatus, comprising: a processing chamber including a body with an upper surface, a lower surface and side surfaces extending from said lower surface, terminating proximate to said upper surface, spaced-apart therefrom defining an annular slot; and a pedestal disposed in said processing chamber between said upper and lower surfaces, with said body further defining an exhaust outlet having an interior surface in fluid communication with said annular slot; and, a first ceramic liner covering a portion of said side surfaces, said first ceramic liner having a major surface a first portion in abutting relation with said side surfaces and a second portion, spaced apart therefrom, said second portion defining a gap; and a second ceramic liner covering said interior surface.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
29 words
The apparatus of claim 17 further including a securing member for attaching a ceramic liner to said processing chamber, said securing member being made of an electrically insulating material.
Claim 23
Independent Claim
101 words
A method for operating a processing chamber including a body with an upper surface, a lower surface and side surfaces extending from said lower surface terminating proximate to said upper surface and a pedestal disposed within said processing chamber said method comprising steps of: positioning said pedestal a predetermined distance from said upper surface, with said pedestal and said upper and side surfaces defining a reaction region boundary; coupling, within said reaction region boundary, a plasma; and varying an electrical impedance between said side surfaces and said plasma to be greater than an electrical impedance between said pedestal and said plasma.
Claim 24
Independent Claim
101 words
A method for operating a processing chamber including a body with an upper surface, a lower surface and side surfaces extending from said lower surface terminating proximate to said upper surface and a pedestal disposed within said processing chamber said method comprising steps of: positioning said pedestal a predetermined distance from said upper surface, with said pedestal and said upper and side surfaces defining a reaction region boundary; coupling, within said reaction region boundary, a plasma; and varying an electrical impedance between said side surfaces and said plasma to be greater than an electrical impedance between said pedestal and said plasma.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
52 words
The method of claim 19 wherein said step of varying an electrical impedance includes covering a periphery of said pedestal and said side surfaces with a dielectric material, with a thickness of the dielectric material covering said side surfaces being greater than the a thickness of the dielectric material covering said periphery.
Claim 26
Dependent Claim
59 words
The method of claim 19 wherein said step of varying an electrical impedance includes covering a periphery of said pedestal with a first material having a first dielectric constant associated therewith and said side surfaces with a second dielectric material having a second dielectric constant associated therewith, with said first dielectric constant being greater than said second dielectric constant.
Claim 27
Dependent Claim
16 words
The method of claim 19 wherein a securing member further comprises a plurality of polytetrafluoroethylene screws.
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USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 2002-03-22 | 2002-09-21 | 2003-03-23 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 2006-03-22 | 2006-09-21 | 2007-03-23 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 2010-03-22 | 2010-09-21 | 2011-03-23 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |