Showerhead having a detachable gas distribution plate

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10625277-B2
Application number	US-201715449239-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 3, 2017
Priority date	Jan 25, 2013
Publication date	Apr 21, 2020
Grant date	Apr 21, 2020

Abstract

Embodiments of showerheads having a detachable gas distribution plate are provided herein. In some embodiments, a showerhead for use in a substrate processing chamber includes a body having a first side and an opposing second side; a gas distribution plate disposed proximate the second side of the body; and a clamp disposed about a peripheral edge of the gas distribution plate to removably couple the gas distribution plate to the body, wherein the body is electrically coupled to the gas distribution plate through the clamp.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A showerhead for use in a substrate processing chamber, comprising:
a body having a first side and an opposing second side;
a gas distribution plate disposed proximate the second side of the body; and
a clamp disposed about a peripheral edge of the gas distribution plate to removably couple the gas distribution plate to the body, wherein the body is electrically coupled to the gas distribution plate through the clamp, and wherein a lower surface of the clamp is substantially coplanar with a lowermost surface of the gas distribution plate, wherein the clamp has a continuous contact surface with no through holes.

2. The showerhead of claim 1 , further comprising one or more thermal gaskets disposed between the body and the gas distribution plate.

3. The showerhead of claim 2 , wherein the one or more thermal gaskets comprise a plurality of concentric rings disposed between the body and the gas distribution plate to provide a gap between the body and the gas distribution plate.

4. A showerhead for use in a substrate processing chamber, comprising:
a body having a first side and an opposing second side;
a gas distribution plate disposed proximate the second side of the body;
a clamp disposed about a peripheral edge of the gas distribution plate to removably couple the gas distribution plate to the body, wherein the body is electrically coupled to the gas distribution plate through the clamp, and wherein a lower surface of the clamp is substantially coplanar with a lower surface of the gas distribution plate; and
a ring disposed about the peripheral edge of the body and the clamp and extending over a portion of the gas distribution plate to cover at least a portion of the body and at least a portion of the gas distribution plate.

5. The showerhead of claim 1 , further comprising a first RF gasket disposed between the clamp and the body to facilitate coupling RF power from the body to the clamp, and a second RF gasket disposed between the clamp and the gas distribution plate to facilitate coupling RF power from the clamp to the gas distribution plate.

6. The showerhead of claim 1 , wherein the body comprises a plurality of through holes extending from the first side to the second side of the body.

7. The showerhead of claim 6 , wherein the body comprises a plenum formed in the first side of the body, the plenum fluidly coupled to the plurality of through holes.

8. The showerhead of claim 1 , wherein the clamp is disposed within a notch in a lower peripheral edge of the body.

9. The showerhead of claim 1 , wherein the gas distribution plate is fabricated from single crystalline silicon (Si).

10. A process chamber, comprising:
a chamber body having a substrate support disposed within an inner volume of the chamber body; and
the showerhead of claim 1 disposed within the inner volume of the chamber body opposite the substrate support,
wherein the first side of the body of the showerhead is coupled to a component of the process chamber.

11. The process chamber of claim 10 , wherein the component of the process chamber is a chiller plate, and wherein the chiller plate is coupled to a ceiling of the chamber body.

12. The showerhead of claim 4 , further comprising one or more thermal gaskets disposed between the body and the gas distribution plate.

13. The showerhead of claim 12 , wherein the one or more thermal gaskets comprise a plurality of concentric rings disposed between the body and the gas distribution plate.

14. The showerhead of claim 1 , further comprising:
a ring disposed about the peripheral edge of the body and the clamp and extending over a portion of the clamp to cover at least a portion of the body and at least a portion of the gas distribution plate.

15. The process chamber of claim 10 , further comprising a ring disposed about the peripheral edge of the body of the showerhead, wherein the ring is supported by a liner disposed within the chamber body.

16. The showerhead of claim 4 , further comprising a first RF gasket disposed between the clamp and the body to facilitate coupling RF power from the body to the clamp.

17. The showerhead of claim 4 , further comprising a second RF gasket disposed between the clamp and the gas distribution plate to facilitate coupling RF power from the clamp to the gas distribution plate.

18. The showerhead of claim 4 , wherein an outer sidewall of the body is coplanar with an outer sidewall of the clamp.

19. A process chamber, comprising:
a chamber body having a substrate support disposed within an inner volume of the chamber body; and
a showerhead disposed within the inner volume of the chamber body opposite the substrate support, the showerhead comprising:
a body having a first side and an opposing second side, wherein the first side of the body is coupled to a component of the process chamber;
a gas distribution plate disposed proximate the second side of the body; and
a clamp disposed about a peripheral edge of the gas distribution plate to removably couple the gas distribution plate to the body, wherein the body is electrically coupled to the gas distribution plate through the clamp, and wherein a lower surface of the clamp is substantially coplanar with a lowermost surface of the gas distribution plate, wherein an outer sidewall of the body is coplanar with an outer sidewall of the clamp.

20. The process chamber of claim 19 , wherein the clamp is disposed within a notch in a lower peripheral edge of the body.

Assignees

• Applied Materials Inc

Inventors

• Lubomirsky Dmitry
• Knyazik Vladimir
• Noorbakhsh Hamid
• Della Rosa Jason
• Ye Zheng John
• Sun Jennifer Y
• Banda Sumanth

Classifications

• H01J37/32467

  Material · CPC title

• H01J37/32146

  Amplitude modulation, includes pulsing · CPC title

• H01J37/32522

  Temperature · CPC title

• C23C16/45565 Primary

  Shower nozzles · CPC title

• B05B1/005 Primary

  Nozzles or other outlets specially adapted for discharging one or more gases · CPC title