Integrated showerhead with thermal control for delivering radical and precursor gas to a downstream chamber to enable remote plasma film deposition

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12000047-B2
Application number	US-202318163828-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 2, 2023
Priority date	Dec 14, 2016
Publication date	Jun 4, 2024
Grant date	Jun 4, 2024

Abstract

A substrate processing system includes a first chamber including a substrate support. A showerhead is arranged above the first chamber and is configured to filter ions and deliver radicals from a plasma source to the first chamber. The showerhead includes a heat transfer fluid plenum, a secondary gas plenum including an inlet to receive secondary gas and a plurality of secondary gas injectors to inject the secondary gas into the first chamber, and a plurality of through holes passing through the showerhead. The through holes are not in fluid communication with the heat transfer fluid plenum or the secondary gas plenum.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An apparatus for use in processing substrates, the apparatus comprising:
a showerhead formed by a plurality of layers that are bonded together to form a contiguous structure, wherein:
the showerhead includes a plurality of through-holes extending from a top surface of the showerhead to a bottom surface of the showerhead opposite the top surface,
the showerhead includes a secondary gas plenum located in between the top surface of the showerhead and the bottom surface of the showerhead,
a plurality of secondary gas injection ports lead from the secondary gas plenum to the bottom surface of the showerhead,
a cylindrical wall encircles the through-holes and the plurality of secondary gas injection ports, extends from the bottom surface of the showerhead by a first distance, and is offset radially inward from an outer edge of the showerhead.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the cylindrical wall and the plurality of layers form a contiguous structure.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the secondary gas injection ports protrude outward from the bottom surface of the showerhead by a second distance that is less than the first distance.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein a portion of the showerhead that is radially outward of the cylindrical wall is thicker than a portion of the showerhead that is radially inward of the cylindrical wall.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein:
the showerhead further includes a heat transfer fluid plenum that is also interposed between the top surface of the showerhead and the bottom surface of the showerhead, and
the heat transfer fluid plenum has a plurality of walls, each wall encircling one of the through-holes and sealing the through-hole from the heat transfer plenum.

6. The apparatus of claim 5 , wherein:
the showerhead further includes a heat transfer fluid inlet and a heat transfer fluid outlet, and
the heat transfer fluid inlet and the heat transfer fluid outlet are both connected with the heat transfer fluid plenum.

7. The apparatus of claim 5 , wherein the plurality of layers includes a top layer, a middle layer, and a bottom layer.

8. The apparatus of claim 7 , wherein a bottom surface of the top layer partially or fully defines the heat transfer fluid plenum.

9. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein a top surface of the bottom layer partially or fully defines the secondary gas plenum.

10. The apparatus of claim 7 , wherein a top surface of the bottom layer partially or fully defines the secondary gas plenum.

11. The apparatus of claim 5 , wherein:
the heat transfer fluid plenum includes a first arcuate plenum and a second arcuate plenum,
a plurality of flow channels extend between the first arcuate plenum and the second arcuate plenum, and
the flow channels are arranged side-by-side and extend along parallel directions.

12. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein each flow channel follows a sinusoidal or square-wave path.

13. The apparatus of claim 11 , further comprising:
a first plurality of posts distributed along a first arcuate path within the first arcuate plenum, and
a second plurality of posts distributed along a second arcuate path within the second arcuate plenum.

14. The apparatus of claim 5 , wherein:
the heat transfer fluid plenum includes a fluid inlet plenum and a plurality of flow channels,
the flow channels each follow a corresponding path that leads from a first end that connects with the fluid inlet plenum to a second end that terminates at a corresponding via,
at least some of the paths extend along a first direction across the showerhead before reversing to extend along a second direction opposite the first direction, and
the vias connect with a fluid outlet plenum located at a different elevation than the fluid inlet plenum.

15. The apparatus of claim 14 , wherein the fluid inlet plenum and the fluid outlet plenum are both arcuate in shape.

16. The apparatus of claim 14 , wherein at least some of the vias have different cross-sectional areas.

17. The apparatus of claim 15 , wherein at least some of the paths are sinusoidal or square-wave.

18. The apparatus of claim 15 , wherein the fluid inlet plenum and the fluid outlet plenum are aligned with each other when viewed along a direction perpendicular to the bottom surface of the showerhead.

19. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising:
a processing chamber; and
a substrate support, wherein the showerhead is positioned above the substrate support.

20. The apparatus of claim 19 , wherein the apparatus is configured such that a top surface of the substrate support is positioned above a bottom surface of the cylindrical wall during processing of a substrate in the apparatus.

Assignees

• Lam Res Corp

Inventors

• Batzer Rachel E
• Qiu Huatan
• Varadarajan Bhadri N
• Breiling Patrick Girard
• Gong Bo
• Schlosser Will
• Gui Zhe
• Tan Taide
• Hohn Geoffrey

Classifications

• H10P72/0448

  Apparatus for applying a liquid, a resin, an ink or the like · CPC title

• H10P72/0421

  for drying etching · CPC title

• H10P72/7624

  characterised by the mechanical construction of the susceptor, stage or support · CPC title

• H10P72/7616

  characterised by a coating, a hardness or a material · CPC title

• H10P72/7612

  characterised by lifting arrangements, e.g. lift pins · CPC title