Showerhead having a detachable gas distribution plate

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9610591-B2
Application number	US-201313833257-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 15, 2013
Priority date	Jan 25, 2013
Publication date	Apr 4, 2017
Grant date	Apr 4, 2017

Abstract

Embodiments of showerheads having a detachable gas distribution plate are provided herein. In some embodiments, a showerhead for use in a semiconductor processing chamber may include a base having a first side and a second side; a gas distribution plate disposed proximate the second side of the base; a clamp disposed about a peripheral edge of the gas distribution plate to removably couple the gas distribution plate to the base; and a thermal gasket disposed between the base and gas distribution plate.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A showerhead for a semiconductor processing chamber, comprising:
a body having a first side and an opposing second side;
a gas distribution plate disposed proximate the second side of the body;
a clamp disposed about a peripheral edge of the gas distribution plate to removably couple the gas distribution plate to the body,
a thermal gasket disposed between the body and gas distribution plate;
a first RF gasket disposed between the clamp and the body; and
a second RF gasket disposed between the clamp and the gas distribution plate, wherein the first and second RF gaskets facilitate conductivity of RF power from the body, through the clamp, and to the gas distribution plate.

2. The showerhead of claim 1 , wherein the thermal gasket comprises a plurality of concentric rings disposed between the body and the gas distribution plate.

3. The showerhead of claim 1 , wherein the thermal gasket has a rectangular cross section.

4. The showerhead of claim 1 , further comprising:
a ring disposed about the peripheral edge of the body and the clamp and extending over a portion of the clamp to cover at least a portion of the body and at least a portion of a lower surface of the gas distribution plate.

5. The showerhead of claim 1 , wherein the body comprise a plurality of through holes extending from the first side to the second side of the body.

6. The showerhead of claim 5 , wherein the body comprises a plenum formed in the first side of the body, the plenum fluidly coupled to the plurality of through holes.

7. The showerhead of claim 5 , wherein an end of each of the plurality of through holes is countersunk into the body.

8. The showerhead of claim 1 , wherein the gas distribution plate is fabricated from single crystalline silicon (Si).

9. A process chamber, comprising:
a chamber body having a substrate support disposed within an inner volume of the chamber body; and
a showerhead disposed within the inner volume of the chamber body opposite the substrate support, the showerhead comprising:
a body having a first side and an opposing second side, wherein the second side of the body faces the inner volume;
a gas distribution plate disposed proximate the second side of the body;
a clamp disposed about a peripheral edge of the gas distribution plate to removably couple the gas distribution plate to the body; and
a thermal gasket disposed between the body and gas distribution plate;
a first RF gasket disposed between the clamp and the body; and
a second RF gasket disposed between the clamp and the gas distribution plate, wherein the first and second RF gaskets facilitate conductivity of RF power from the body, through the clamp, and to the gas distribution plate.

10. The process chamber of claim 9 , further comprising:
a chiller plate coupled to a ceiling of the chamber body, wherein the showerhead is coupled to the chiller plate.

11. The process chamber of claim 9 , wherein the thermal gasket comprises a plurality of concentric rings disposed between the body and the gas distribution plate.

12. The process chamber of claim 9 , wherein the thermal gasket has a rectangular cross section.

13. The process chamber of claim 9 , further comprising:
a ring disposed about the peripheral edge of the body and the clamp and extending over a portion of the clamp to cover at least a portion of the body and at least a portion of a lower surface of the gas distribution plate.

14. The process chamber of claim 13 , wherein the ring is supported by a liner disposed within the chamber body.

15. The process chamber of claim 9 , wherein the body comprise a plurality of through holes extending from the first side to the second side of the body.

16. The process chamber of claim 9 , wherein an end of each of the plurality of through holes is countersunk into the body.

17. A showerhead for a semiconductor processing chamber, comprising:
a body having a first side and an opposing second side;
a gas distribution plate disposed proximate the second side of the body;
a clamp disposed about a peripheral edge of the gas distribution plate to removably couple the gas distribution plate to the body;
a thermal gasket disposed between the body and gas distribution plate;
a ring disposed about the peripheral edge of the body and the clamp and extending over a portion of the clamp to cover at least a portion of the body and at least a portion of the gas distribution plate;
a first RF gasket disposed between the clamp and the body; and
a second RF gasket disposed between the clamp and the gas distribution plate.

18. The showerhead of claim 4 , wherein the ring extends over a portion of a lowermost surface of the gas distribution plate.

19. The process chamber of claim 13 , wherein the ring extends over a portion of a lowermost surface of the gas distribution plate.

20. The showerhead of claim 17 , wherein the ring extends over a portion of a lowermost surface of the gas distribution plate.

Assignees

• Applied Materials Inc

Inventors

• Lubomirsky Dmitry
• Knyazik Vladimir
• Noorbakhsh Hamid
• Della Rosa Jason
• Ye Zheng John
• Sun Jennifer Y
• Banda Sumanth

Classifications

• H01J37/32183

  Matching circuits · CPC title

• H01J37/32623

  Mechanical discharge control means · CPC title

• H01J37/3244

  Gas supply means · CPC title

• H01J37/32146

  Amplitude modulation, includes pulsing · CPC title

• H01J37/32467

  Material · CPC title