Wafer rotation in a semiconductor chamber

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9922819-B2
Application number	US-201715435189-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 16, 2017
Priority date	Mar 12, 2014
Publication date	Mar 20, 2018
Grant date	Mar 20, 2018

Abstract

A method and apparatus for processing a substrate are provided. The apparatus includes a pedestal and rotation member, both of which are moveably disposed within a processing chamber. The rotation member is adapted to rotate a substrate disposed in the chamber. The substrate may be supported by an edge ring during processing. The edge ring may selectively engage either the pedestal or the rotation member. In one embodiment, the edge ring engages the pedestal during a deposition process and the edge ring engages the rotation member during rotation of the substrate. The rotation of the substrate during processing may be discrete or continuous.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method of processing a substrate, comprising:
depositing a first portion of a film on a substrate in a first position;
stopping the deposition of the first portion of the film;
engaging a rotation member to rotate the substrate from the first position to a second position different from the first position; and
depositing a second portion of the film on the substrate in the second position.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
stopping the deposition of the second portion of the film;
engaging the rotation member to rotate the substrate from the second position to a third position different from the first position and the second position;
depositing a third portion of the film on the substrate in the third position;
stopping the deposition of the third portion of the film;
engaging the rotation member to rotate the substrate from the third position to a fourth position different from the first position, the second position, and the third position; and
depositing a fourth portion of the film on the substrate in the fourth position.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein an elevation of the rotation member in each of the first position, the second position, the third position, and the fourth position is the same.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the second position is about 90° from the first position.

5. The method of claim 3 , wherein the third position is about 90° from the second position.

6. The method of claim 3 , wherein the fourth position is about 90° from the third position.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the substrate is disposed on an edge ring.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the engaging the rotation member to rotate the substrate further comprises:
lowering a pedestal out of contact with an edge ring; and
rotating the rotation member.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the substrate is disposed on a pedestal during the depositing a first portion of the film and the depositing a second portion of the film.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the substrate is supported by an edge ring during the rotating the substrate.

11. A method of processing a substrate, comprising:
contacting an edge ring disposed in a process chamber with a pedestal;
elevating the pedestal and the edge ring to a processing position;
depositing a film on a substrate, wherein the substrate is disposed on the edge ring located in the processing position during the deposition;
contacting the edge ring with a rotation member and lowering the pedestal from the processing position, wherein the edge ring is spaced from the pedestal when the pedestal is lowered; and
rotating the rotation member while in contact with the edge ring.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the lowering the pedestal comprises decoupling the pedestal from the edge ring by a distance of between about 0.01 inches and about 1 inch.

13. The method of claim 11 , wherein the depositing a film on the substrate and the rotating the rotation member are performed sequentially.

14. The method of claim 11 , wherein the depositing a film on the substrate and the rotating the rotation member are performed simultaneously.

15. The method of claim 11 , further comprising:
heating the substrate during the depositing a film on the substrate via a heater disposed in the pedestal.

16. A method of processing a substrate, comprising:
engaging an edge ring disposed in a process chamber with a rotation member;
elevating the rotation member to engage a shadow ring with the edge ring;
elevating a pedestal to engage the edge ring having the shadow ring disposed thereon;
performing a deposition process while the edge ring is disposed on the pedestal;
disengaging the pedestal from the edge ring by lowering the pedestal;
rotating the rotation member to rotate the edge ring and the shadow ring; and
reengaging the edge ring by elevating the pedestal to contact the edge ring.

17. The method of claim 16 , wherein the shadow ring is supported by an electrode when the edge ring is disengaged from the shadow ring.

18. The method of claim 16 , wherein the performing a deposition process and the rotating the rotation member are performed sequentially.

19. The method of claim 16 , wherein the performing a deposition process and the rotating the rotation member are performed simultaneously.

20. The method of claim 16 , wherein the edge ring and the shadow ring are rotated between about 30° and about 270° during rotation of the rotation member.

Assignees

• Applied Materials Inc

Inventors

• Balasubramanian Ganesh
• Rocha-Alvarez Juan Carlos
• Sankarakrishnan Ramprakash
• Kim Robert
• Du Bois Dale R
• Floyd Kirby H
• Bansal Amit Kumar
• Nguyen Tuan Anh

Classifications

• H10P72/7626

  characterised by the construction of the shaft · CPC title

• H10P72/7618 Primary

  characterised by a movable susceptor, stage or support, others than those only rotating on their own vertical axis, e.g. susceptors on a rotating carrousel · CPC title

• H10P72/7612

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

• H10P72/7611

  characterised by edge profile or support profile · CPC title

• H10P72/0432

  mainly by conduction · CPC title