Plasma processing apparatus

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12417900-B2
Application number	US-202217751048-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 23, 2022
Priority date	Jun 25, 2021
Publication date	Sep 16, 2025
Grant date	Sep 16, 2025

Abstract

A plasma processing apparatus including a processing chamber having one or more sidewalls and a dome is provided. The plasma processing apparatus includes a workpiece support disposed in the processing chamber configured to support a workpiece during processing, an induction coil assembly for producing a plasma in the processing chamber, a Faraday shield disposed between the induction coil assembly and the dome, the Faraday shield comprising an inner portion and an outer portion, and a thermal management system. The thermal management system including one or more heating elements configured to heat the dome, and one or more thermal pads disposed between an outer surface of the dome and the heating elements, wherein the one or more thermal pads are configured to facilitate heat transfer between the one or more heating elements and the dome. Thermal management systems and methods for processing workpieces are also provided.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A plasma processing apparatus, comprising:
a processing chamber having one or more sidewalls and a dome;
a workpiece support disposed in the processing chamber configured to support a workpiece during processing;
an induction coil assembly for producing a plasma in the processing chamber;
a Faraday shield disposed between the induction coil assembly and the dome, the Faraday shield comprising an inner portion and an outer portion, wherein the inner portion of the Faraday shield is raised in the Z-direction with respect to the outer portion of the Faraday shield, wherein the outer portion includes one or more apertures extending from the inner portion to an outer perimeter of the Faraday shield;
a thermal management system including:
one or more heating elements configured to heat the dome; and
one or more thermal pads disposed between an outer surface of the dome and the heating elements, wherein the one or more thermal pads are configured to facilitate heat transfer between the one or more heating elements and the dome, wherein the one or more thermal pads have a thermal conductivity of from about 0.5 W/m-K to about 1.5 W/m-K.

2. The plasma processing apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the one or more heating elements comprise one or more electrically-charged films.

3. The plasma processing apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the one or more heating elements are disposed in a radial pattern on the inner portion of the Faraday shield.

4. The plasma processing apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the induction coil assembly is disposed adjacent to an external surface of the outer portion of the Faraday shield.

5. The plasma processing apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the thermal management system comprises an air amplifier configured to provide a flow of air to cool the dome.

6. The plasma processing apparatus of claim 5 , wherein the Faraday shield comprises one or more apertures disposed on the inner portion configured to facilitate a flow of air through the one or more apertures on the Faraday shield to or from an external surface of the dome.

7. The plasma processing apparatus of claim 1 , comprising a controller configured to control the thermal management system in a closed-loop manner.

8. The plasma processing apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the thermal management system is configured to heat the dome to a set point temperature.

9. The plasma processing apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the thermal management system is configured to maintain a set point temperature during processing of the workpiece.

10. The plasma processing apparatus of claim 8 or 9 , wherein the set point temperature is from about 50° C. about 150° C.

11. The plasma processing apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the one or more heating elements can be configured to heat at an operating temperature of from about 70° C. to about 200° C.

12. The plasma processing apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the one or more thermal pads have a thickness of from about 10 mil to about 100 mil.

13. The plasma processing apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the one or more thermal pads are disposed between the one or more heating elements and the dome such that substantially no air gaps exist between the one or more heating elements and the thermal pads, and wherein substantially no air gaps exist between the one or more thermal pads and the dome.

14. The plasma processing apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the one or more thermal pads are configured to have a compression of from about 10% to about 40% of an original volume, when placed between the one or more heating elements located on the Faraday shield and the top of the dome.

15. The plasma processing apparatus of claim 1 , comprising a gas delivery system configured to supply one or more process gases to the processing chamber.

16. The plasma processing apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the induction coil assembly is configured to be coupled to an RF power source.

17. The plasma processing apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the one or more thermal pads are coupled to the one or more heating elements with an adhesive.

18. A thermal management system for a plasma processing apparatus, the system comprising:
one or more heating elements configured to heat a dome of a processing chamber;
a Faraday shield disposed on the dome, the Faraday shield comprising an inner portion and an outer portion wherein the inner portion of the Faraday shield is raised in the Z-direction with respect to the outer portion of the Faraday shield, wherein the outer portion includes one or more apertures extending from the inner portion to an outer perimeter of the Faraday shield;
one or more thermal pads disposed between an outer surface of the dome and the one or more heating elements;
an air amplifier configured to provide a flow of air to cool the dome; and
a controller, the controller configured to operate the thermal management system in a closed-loop manner in order to maintain the dome at a set point temperature.

19. The plasma processing apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the inner portion of the Faraday shield comprises one or more spokes disposed between an inner perimeter and an outer perimeter of the inner portion, the inner portion comprising one or more apertures disposed between the one or more spokes, the one or more apertures configured to receive air flow from an air amplifier to facilitate cooling of an external surface of the dome.

Assignees

• Beijing E Town Semiconductor Tech Co Ltd
• Mattson Tech Inc

Inventors

• Long Maolin
• Zeng Weimin
• Guan Yu

Classifications

• H01J2237/334

  Etching · CPC title

• H01J37/32183

  Matching circuits · CPC title

• H01J2237/2001

  Maintaining constant desired temperature · CPC title

• H01J2237/002

  Cooling arrangements · CPC title

• H01J37/32651

  Shields, e.g. dark space shields, Faraday shields · CPC title