Monopole antenna array source with gas supply or grid filter for semiconductor process equipment

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2018342374-A1
Application number	US-201715858886-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Dec 29, 2017
Priority date	May 26, 2017
Publication date	Nov 29, 2018
Grant date	—

Abstract

A plasma reactor includes a chamber body having an interior space that provides a plasma chamber, a gas distribution port to deliver a processing gas to the plasma chamber, a workpiece support to hold a workpiece, an antenna array comprising a plurality of monopole antennas extending partially into the plasma chamber, and an AC power source to supply a first AC power to the plurality of monopole antennas. The plurality of monopole antennas can extend through a first gas distribution plate. A grid filter can be positioned between the workpiece support and the plurality of monopole antennas.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A plasma reactor comprising:
a chamber body having an interior space that provides a plasma chamber; a process gas distribution system to deliver a processing gas to the plasma chamber, the process gas distribution system including a first gas distribution plate having a first plurality of gas injection orifices, a first process gas plenum overlying gas distribution plate, and a first process gas supply conduit coupled to the first process gas plenum; a workpiece support to hold a workpiece; and an antenna array comprising a plurality of monopole antennas extending through the first gas distribution plate and partially into the plasma chamber.

2 . The plasma reactor of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of gas injection orifices are positioned in portions of the first gas distribution plate that separate the monopole antennas.

3 . The plasma reactor of claim 1 , wherein the process gas distribution system comprises a gas plenum plate having a recess on a surface thereof that face the first gas distribution plate, the recess providing the plenum.

4 . The plasma reactor of claim 3 , wherein the plurality of monopole antennas extend through the gas plenum plate.

5 . The plasma reactor of claim 4 , wherein the plurality of monopole antennas extend through non-recessed regions of the gas plenum plate between the recesses.

6 . The plasma reactor of claim 4 , wherein each monopole antenna is surrounded by a respective portion of the recess.

7 . The plasma reactor of claim 1 , comprising a second gas distribution plate having a second plurality of gas injection orifices that couple to a third plurality of gas injection orifices in the first gas distribution plate, a second process gas plenum overlying the second gas distribution plate, and a second process gas supply conduit coupled to the second process gas plenum.

8 . The plasma reactor of claim 7 , wherein the plurality of monopole antennas extend through the first gas distribution plate and the second gas distribution plate.

9 . The plasma reactor of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of monopole antennas are arranged in a hexagonal pattern.

10 . The plasma reactor of claim 9 , wherein the plurality of gas injection orifices are arranged in a hexagonal pattern.

11 . The plasma reactor of claim 1 , comprising an AC power source configured to apply microwave or RF power to the plurality of monopole antennas so as to generate plasma in the plasma chamber.

12 . The plasma reactor of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of monopole antennas extend in parallel into the plasma chamber.

13 . A plasma reactor comprising:
a chamber body having an interior space that provides a plasma chamber; a grid filter extending across the interior space and diving the plasma chamber into an upper chamber and a lower chamber; a gas distribution port to deliver a processing gas to the upper chamber; a workpiece support to hold a workpiece in the lower chamber; an antenna array comprising a plurality of monopole antennas extending partially into the upper chamber; and an AC power source to supply a first AC power to the plurality of monopole antennas.

14 . The plasma reactor of claim 13 , wherein the plurality of monopole antennas extend in parallel into the upper chamber.

15 . The plasma reactor of claim 14 , wherein the plurality of monopole antennas extend perpendicular to the grid filter.

16 . The plasma reactor of claim 15 , wherein the workpiece support is configured to hold the workpiece parallel to the grid filter.

17 . The plasma reactor of claim 15 , comprising a second process gas distribution system to deliver a second processing gas to the lower chamber.

18 . The plasma reactor of claim 17 , wherein the grid filter comprises a gas distribution plate having a first plurality of gas injection orifices and a gas plenum plate overlying the gas distribution plate, a recess in a bottom surface of the gas plenum plate providing a plenum for the second processing gas to flow to the gas injection orifices, and wherein the grid filter comprises a plurality of apertures through the gas plenum plate and the gas distribution plate for flow of plasma or electrons from the upper chamber to the lower chamber.

19 . The plasma reactor of claim 13 , wherein the grid filter is positioned between the plurality of monopole antennas and the workpiece support.

20 . The plasma reactor of claim 13 , wherein the AC power source is configured to apply microwave power to the plurality of monopole antennas so as to generate plasma in the upper chamber.

Assignees

• Applied Materials Inc

Inventors

• Liang Qiwei
• Nemani Srinivas D

Classifications

• H10P72/0432

  mainly by conduction · CPC title

• H10P72/0402

  Apparatus for fluid treatment (H10P72/0441, H10P72/0448 take precedence) · CPC title

• H10P14/6902

  composed of carbon, e.g. alpha-C, diamond or hydrogen doped carbon · CPC title

• H10P50/242

  of Group IV materials · CPC title

• H10P14/6336

  in the presence of a plasma [PECVD] · CPC title