Gas injection process kit to eliminate arcing and improve uniform gas distribution for a PVD process

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11600477-B2
Application number	US-202017121603-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 14, 2020
Priority date	Dec 14, 2020
Publication date	Mar 7, 2023
Grant date	Mar 7, 2023

Abstract

Embodiments of process shield for use in process chambers are provided herein. In some embodiments, a process shield for use in a process chamber includes: an annular body having an upper portion and a lower portion extending downward and radially inward from the upper portion, wherein the upper portion includes a plurality of annular trenches on an upper surface thereof and having a plurality of slots disposed therebetween to fluidly couple the plurality of annular trenches, wherein one or more inlets extend from an outer surface of the annular body to an outermost trench of the plurality of annular trenches.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A process shield for use in a process chamber, comprising:
an annular body having an upper portion and a lower portion extending downward and radially inward from the upper portion, wherein the upper portion includes a plurality of annular trenches on an upper surface thereof and having a plurality of slots disposed therebetween to fluidly couple the plurality of annular trenches, wherein one or more inlets extend from an outer surface of the annular body to an outermost trench of the plurality of annular trenches, and wherein the upper surface of the annular body includes a recess to accommodate an isolator ring, and the plurality of annular trenches extend downward from a bottom surface of the recess.

2. The process shield of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of slots between adjacent ones of the plurality of annular trenches increase in number from the outermost trench to an innermost trench.

3. The process shield of claim 2 , wherein the plurality of annular trenches include a second trench and a third trench disposed between the outermost trench and the innermost trench, and wherein the plurality of slots include eight slots between the outermost trench and the second trench, sixteen slots between the second trench and the third trench, and thirty-two slots between the third trench and the innermost trench.

4. The process shield of claim 1 , wherein the one or more inlets comprise four inlets.

5. The process shield of claim 1 , wherein the upper portion includes a coolant channel.

6. The process shield of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of annular trenches have a width of about 0.05 inches to about 0.2 inches.

7. The process shield of claim 1 , wherein the upper portion includes an o-ring groove radially outward of the plurality of annular trenches.

8. The process shield of claim 1 , wherein the lower portion includes a first leg extending downward from the upper portion, a first ledge extending radially inward from the first leg and an inner lip extending upward from the first ledge, wherein the first leg has no through holes.

9. A process kit for use in a process chamber, comprising:
a process shield having an upper portion and a lower portion extending downward and radially inward from the upper portion, wherein the upper portion includes a plurality of annular trenches on an upper surface thereof and having a plurality of slots disposed therebetween to fluidly couple the plurality of annular trenches, wherein one or more inlets extend from an outer surface of the process shield to an outermost trench of the plurality of annular trenches, and an inner ring of the process shield disposed radially inward of an innermost trench of the plurality of annular trenches has a continuous processing volume facing surface; and
a cover ring having an annular body disposed on the process shield.

10. The process kit of claim 9 , further comprising one or more centering bushings coupled to the process shield to center the cover ring to the process shield.

11. The process kit of claim 10 , wherein the cover ring includes an outer leg and an inner leg extending downward from the annular body, and wherein the outer leg includes one or more slots for accommodating the one or more centering bushings.

12. The process kit of claim 10 , wherein the one or more centering bushings comprise three bushings.

13. The process kit of claim 9 wherein the plurality of slots between adjacent ones of the plurality of annular trenches increase in number from the outermost trench to an innermost trench.

14. A process chamber, comprising:
a chamber body having an interior volume therein;
a substrate support disposed in the interior volume;
a target disposed in the interior volume opposite the substrate support to at least partially define a process volume therebetween;
a process shield disposed about the substrate support and the target to define an outer boundary of the process volume, wherein the process shield and the target define a dark space gap therebetween, and wherein the process shield includes a plurality of annular trenches with a plurality of slots disposed therebetween to fluidly couple the plurality of annular trenches to the dark space gap; and
an isolator ring disposed between the target and the process shield, and a gas flow path extending between an inner sidewall of the isolator ring and an outer sidewall of the process shield adjacent an innermost of the plurality of annular trenches.

15. The process chamber of claim 14 , further comprising a first gas supply for flowing one or more gases from the first gas supply through the plurality of annular trenches to the dark space gap.

16. The process chamber of claim 14 , wherein the process shield includes a recess on an upper surface thereof, wherein the plurality of annular trenches extend from the recess, and wherein the isolator ring is disposed in the recess.

17. The process chamber of claim 14 , further comprising a cover ring disposed on the process shield and one or more centering bushings coupled to the process shield to center the cover ring to the process shield.

18. The process chamber of claim 14 , wherein the process shield includes a coolant channel configured to flow a coolant therethrough.

19. The process chamber of claim 14 , wherein a gap between an inner surface of the isolator ring and an opposing surface of the process shield is about 0.02 inches to about 0.1 inches.

Assignees

• Applied Materials Inc

Inventors

• Savandaiah Kirankumar Neelasandra
• Lavan Shane
• Reddy Sundarapandian Ramalinga Vijayalakshmi
• Schmieding Randal Dean
• Cao Yong

Classifications

• H01J37/3441 Primary

  Dark space shields · CPC title

• C23C14/34

  Sputtering · CPC title

• H01J37/3447

  Collimators, shutters, apertures · CPC title

• C23C14/28

  by wave energy or particle radiation (C23C14/32 - C23C14/48 take precedence) · CPC title

• H01J37/3411

  Constructional aspects of the reactor · CPC title