Low cost wide process range microwave remote plasma source with multiple emitters
US-2015371828-A1 · Dec 24, 2015 · US
Low electron temperature microwave surface-wave plasma (SWP) processing method and apparatus
US8968588B2 · US · B2
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Publication number | US-8968588-B2 |
| Application number | US-201213436458-A |
| Country | US |
| Kind code | B2 |
| Filing date | Mar 30, 2012 |
| Priority date | Mar 30, 2012 |
| Publication date | Mar 3, 2015 |
| Grant date | Mar 3, 2015 |
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Abstract
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A surface wave plasma (SWP) source couples pulsed microwave (MW) energy into a processing chamber through, for example, a radial line slot antenna, to result in a low mean electron energy (T e ). To prevent impingement of the microwave energy onto the surface of a substrate when plasma density is low between pulses, an ICP source, such as a helical inductive source, a planar RF coil, or other inductively coupled source, is provided between the SWP source and the substrate to produce plasma that is opaque to microwave energy. The ICP source can also be pulsed in synchronism with the pulsing of the MW plasma in phase with the ramping up of the MW pulses. The ICP also adds an edge dense distribution of plasma to a generally chamber centric MW plasma to improve plasma uniformity.
First claim
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The invention claimed is: 1. A method of maintaining a low electron temperature plasma in the vacuum processing of a substrate, comprising: supporting a substrate for processing at one end of a vacuum processing chamber with a surface thereof facing a processing volume in the chamber; coupling microwave energy into the processing space within the chamber from a surface wave launcher at an end of the chamber opposite the substrate; pulsing the microwave energy to the surface wa…
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Electricity · mapped topic
Chemistry & Metallurgy · mapped topic
Electricity · mapped topic
Electricity · mapped topic
- H01J37/32192Primary
Electricity · mapped topic
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- What does patent US8968588B2 cover?
- A surface wave plasma (SWP) source couples pulsed microwave (MW) energy into a processing chamber through, for example, a radial line slot antenna, to result in a low mean electron energy (T e ). To prevent impingement of the microwave energy onto the surface of a substrate when plasma density is low between pulses, an ICP source, such as a helical inductive source, a planar RF coil, or other i…
- Who is the assignee on this patent?
- Zhao Jianping, Chen Lee, Donnelly Vincent M, and 5 more
- What technology area does this patent fall under?
- Primary CPC classification H01J37/32192. Mapped technology areas include Electricity.
- When was this patent published?
- Publication date Tue Mar 03 2015 00:00:00 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time) (B2). Legal status and post-grant events are not shown on this page.
- What related patents are in patentsdb?
- We list 8 related publications on this page (citations in our corpus or others sharing the same primary CPC).