| Patent application number | Description | Published |
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| 20080230518 | GAS FLOW DIFFUSER - A method and apparatus for providing flow into a processing chamber are provided. In one embodiment, a vacuum processing chamber is provided that includes a chamber body having an interior volume, a substrate support disposed in the interior volume and a gas distribution assembly having an asymmetrical distribution of gas injection ports. In another embodiment, a method for vacuum processing a substrate is provided that includes disposing a substrate on a substrate support within in a processing chamber, flowing process gas into laterally into a space defined above a gas distribution plate positioned in the processing chamber over the substrate, and processing the substrate in the presence of the processing gas. | 09-25-2008 |
| 20090097184 | ELECTROSTATIC CHUCK ASSEMBLY - The present invention generally comprises an electrostatic chuck base, an electrostatic chuck assembly, and a puck for the electrostatic chuck assembly. Precisely etching a substrate within a plasma chamber may be a challenge because the plasma within the chamber may cause the temperature across the substrate to be non-uniform. A temperature gradient may exist across the substrate such that the edge of the substrate is at a different temperature compared to the center of the substrate. When the temperature of the substrate is not uniform, features may not be uniformly etched into the various layers of the structure disposed above the substrate. A dual zone electrostatic chuck assembly may compensate for temperature gradients across a substrate surface. | 04-16-2009 |
| 20090179085 | HEATED SHOWERHEAD ASSEMBLY - The present invention generally comprises a heated showerhead assembly that may be used to supply processing gases into a processing chamber. The processing chamber may be an etching chamber. When processing gas is evacuated from the processing chamber, the uniform processing of the substrate may be difficult. As the processing gas is pulled away from the substrate and towards the vacuum pump, the plasma, in the case of etching, may not be uniform across the substrate. Uneven plasma may lead to uneven etching. To prevent uneven etching, the showerhead assembly may be separated into two zones each having independently controllable gas introduction and temperature control. The first zone corresponds to the perimeter of the substrate while the second zone corresponds to the center of the substrate. By independently controlling the temperature and the gas flow through the showerhead zones, etching uniformity of the substrate may be increased. | 07-16-2009 |
| 20090294101 | FAST SUBSTRATE SUPPORT TEMPERATURE CONTROL - Methods and apparatus for controlling the temperature of a substrate support are provided herein. In some embodiments, an apparatus for controlling the temperature of a substrate support may include a first heat transfer loop and a second heat transfer loop. The first heat transfer loop may have a first bath with a first heat transfer fluid at a first temperature. The second heat transfer loop may have a second bath with a second heat transfer fluid at a second temperature. The first and second temperatures may be the same or different. First and second flow controllers may be provided for respectively providing the first and second heat transfer fluids to a substrate support. One or more return lines may couple one or more outlets of the substrate support to the first and second baths for returning the first and second heat transfer fluids to the first and second baths. | 12-03-2009 |
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| 20100300621 | METHOD OF COOLING A WAFER SUPPORT AT A UNIFORM TEMPERATURE IN A CAPACITIVELY COUPLED PLASMA REACTOR - A method of transferring heat from or to a workpiece support in an RF coupled plasma reactor includes placing coolant in an internal flow channel that is located inside the workpiece support and transferring heat from or to the coolant by circulating the coolant through a refrigeration loop in which the internal flow channel of the workpiece support constitutes an evaporator of the refrigeration loop. The method further includes maintaining thermal conditions of the coolant inside the evaporator within a range in which heat exchange between the workpiece support and the coolant is primarily or exclusively through the latent heat of vaporization of the coolant. | 12-02-2010 |
| 20100303680 | CAPACITIVELY COUPLED PLASMA REACTOR HAVING VERY AGILE WAFER TEMPERATURE CONTROL - A plasma reactor for processing a workpiece includes a reactor chamber, an electrostatic chuck within the chamber having a top surface for supporting a workpiece and having indentations in the top surface that form enclosed gas flow channels whenever covered by a workpiece resting on the top surface. The reactor further includes thermal control apparatus thermally coupled to the electrostatic chuck, an RF plasma bias power generator coupled to apply RF power to the electrostatic chuck, a pressurized gas supply of a thermally conductive gas, a controllable gas valve coupling the pressurized gas supply to the indentations to facilitate filling the channels with the thermally conductive gas for heat transfer between a backside of a workpiece and the electrostatic chuck at a heat transfer rate that is a function of the pressure against the backside of the workpiece of the thermally conductive gas. The reactor further includes an agile workpiece temperature control loop including (a) a temperature probe in the electrostatic chuck, and (b) a backside gas pressure controller coupled to an output of the temperature probe and responsive to a specified desired temperature, the controller governing the gas valve in response to a difference between the output of the temperature probe and the desired temperature. | 12-02-2010 |
| 20100314046 | PLASMA REACTOR WITH A MULTIPLE ZONE THERMAL CONTROL FEED FORWARD CONTROL APPARATUS - A plasma reactor having a reactor chamber and an electrostatic chuck having a surface for holding a workpiece inside the chamber includes inner and outer zone backside gas pressure sources coupled to the electrostatic chuck for applying a thermally conductive gas under respective pressures to respective inner and outer zones of a workpiece-surface interface formed whenever a workpiece is held on the surface, and inner and outer evaporators inside respective inner and outer zones of the electrostatic chuck and a refrigeration loop having respective inner and cuter expansion valves for controlling flow of coolant through the inner and outer evaporators respectively. The reactor further includes inner and outer zone temperature sensors in inner and outer zones of the electrostatic chuck and a thermal model capable of simulating heat transfer through the inner and outer zones, respectively, between the evaporator and the surface based upon measurements from the inner and outer temperature sensors, respectively. Inner and outer zone agile control processors coupled to the thermal model govern the inner and outer zone backside gas pressure sources, respectively, in response to predictions from the model of changes in the respective pressures that would bring the temperatures measured by the inner and outer zone sensors, respectively, closer to a desired temperature. | 12-16-2010 |
| 20100319851 | PLASMA REACTOR WITH FEED FORWARD THERMAL CONTROL SYSTEM USING A THERMAL MODEL FOR ACCOMMODATING RF POWER CHANGES OR WAFER TEMPERATURE CHANGES - A plasma reactor having a reactor chamber and an electrostatic chuck with a surface for holding a workpiece inside the chamber includes a backside gas pressure source coupled to the electrostatic chuck for applying a thermally conductive gas under a selected pressure into a workpiece-surface interface formed whenever a workpiece is held on the surface and an evaporator inside the electrostatic chuck and a refrigeration loop having an expansion valve for controlling flow of coolant through the evaporator. The reactor further includes a temperature sensor in the electrostatic chuck and a memory storing a schedule of changes in RF power or wafer temperature. The reactor further includes a thermal model capable of simulating heat transfer between the evaporator and the surface based upon measurements from the temperature sensor, and a control processor coupled to the thermal model and to the memory and governing the backside gas pressure source in response to a prediction from the model of a change in the selected pressure that would compensate for the next scheduled change in RF power or implement the next scheduled change in wafer temperature. | 12-23-2010 |
| 20100319852 | CAPACITIVLEY COUPLED PLASMA REACTOR HAVING A COOLED/HEATED WAFER SUPPORT WITH UNIFORM TEMPERATURE DISTRIBUTION - A plasma reactor for processing a workpiece includes a reactor chamber, an electrostatic chuck within the chamber for supporting a workpiece, an RF plasma bias power generator coupled to apply RF power to the electrostatic chuck and a refrigeration loop having an evaporator inside the electrostatic chuck with a refrigerant inlet and a refrigerant outlet. Preferably, the evaporator includes a meandering passageway distributed in a plane beneath a top surface of the electrostatic chuck. Preferably, refrigerant within the evaporator is apportioned between a vapor phase and a liquid phase. As a result, heat transfer between the electrostatic chuck and the refrigerant within the evaporator is a constant-temperature process. This feature improves uniformity of temperature distribution across a diameter of the electrostatic chuck. | 12-23-2010 |
| 20110065279 | METHOD OF PROCESSING A WORKPIECE IN A PLASMA REACTOR USING FEED FORWARD THERMAL CONTROL - A method of processing a workpiece in a plasma reactor having an electrostatic chuck for supporting the workpiece within a reactor chamber, the method including circulating a coolant through a refrigeration loop that includes an evaporator inside the electrostatic chuck, while pressurizing a workpiece-to-chuck interface with a thermally conductive gas, sensing conditions in the chamber including temperature near the workpiece and simulating heat flow through the electrostatic chuck in a thermal model of the chuck based upon the conditions. The method further includes obtaining the next scheduled change in RE heat load on the workpiece and using the model to estimate a change in thermal conditions of the coolant in the evaporator that would hold the temperature nearly constant by compensating for the next scheduled change in RF heat load, and making the change in thermal conditions of the coolant in the evaporator prior to the time of the next scheduled change by a head start related to the thermal propagation delay through the electrostatic chuck. | 03-17-2011 |
| 20110068085 | METHOD OF PROCESSING A WORKPIECE IN A PLASMA REACTOR USING MULTIPLE ZONE FEED FORWARD THERMAL CONTROL - A method of controlling wafer temperature in a plasma reactor by obtaining the next scheduled change in RF heat load on the workpiece, and using thermal modeling to estimate respective changes in wafer backside gas pressure and in coolant flow through a wafer support pedestal that would compensate for the next scheduled change in RF heat load, and making the respective changes in the backside gas pressure or in the coolant flow prior to the time of the next scheduled change. | 03-24-2011 |
