Plasma reactor with plural independently driven concentric coaxial waveguides
First Claim
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1. A plasma reactor comprising:
- a vacuum chamber having an interior;
a pedestal within said chamber for supporting a workpiece to be processed;
gas distribution apparatus for introducing a process gas into said chamber;
plural concentric coaxial waveguides outside of said chamber and having an axis of propagation pointing toward the interior of said chamber and establishing corresponding annular zones of radiation within said chamber; and
plural electromagnetic wave power sources coupled to respective ones of said plural concentric waveguides, each of said plural electromagnetic wave power sources being adjustable relative to one another for adjustment of electromagnetic radiation power within each of said annular radiation zones of said chamber.
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Abstract
A plasma reactor includes a vacuum chamber having an interior and a pedestal within the chamber for supporting a semiconductor wafer to be processed. Gas distribution apparatus introduces a process gas into said chamber. Power is applied to the chamber by plural concentric coaxial waveguides outside of said chamber having an axis of propagation pointing toward the interior of said chamber and establishing corresponding annular zones of radiation within said chamber. The reactor further includes apparatus that can apply different levels of electromagnetic radiation power to different ones of the plural concentric coaxial waveguides.
43 Citations
41 Claims
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1. A plasma reactor comprising:
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a vacuum chamber having an interior;
a pedestal within said chamber for supporting a workpiece to be processed;
gas distribution apparatus for introducing a process gas into said chamber;
plural concentric coaxial waveguides outside of said chamber and having an axis of propagation pointing toward the interior of said chamber and establishing corresponding annular zones of radiation within said chamber; and
plural electromagnetic wave power sources coupled to respective ones of said plural concentric waveguides, each of said plural electromagnetic wave power sources being adjustable relative to one another for adjustment of electromagnetic radiation power within each of said annular radiation zones of said chamber. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 29)
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22. A power applicator of a plasma reactor for processing a workpiece, said power applicator terminated in a window of said plasma reactor and comprising:
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plural concentric coaxial waveguides having an axis of propagation pointing toward the interior of said reactor and establishing corresponding annular zones of radiation within said reactor; and
plural electromagnetic wave power sources coupled to respective ones of said plural concentric waveguides, each of said plural electromagnetic wave power sources being adjustable relative to one another for adjustment of electromagnetic radiation power within each of said annular radiation zones of said reactor. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 30)
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31. A plasma reactor comprising:
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a vacuum chamber having an interior;
a pedestal within said chamber for supporting a workpiece to be processed;
gas distribution apparatus for introducing a process gas into said chamber;
plural concentric coaxial waveguides outside of said chamber and having an axis of propagation pointing toward the interior of said chamber and establishing corresponding annular zones of radiation within said chamber, each of said plural concentric waveguides having an annular input end facing away from said chamber for receiving electromagnetic radiation;
a single coaxial waveguide having an input end and an output end, the output end being coupled to the annular input end of each of said plural concentric coaxial waveguides;
an electromagnetic wave power source coupled to said single concentric waveguide. - View Dependent Claims (32, 33, 34, 35, 36)
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37. A plasma reactor comprising:
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a vacuum chamber having an interior;
a pedestal within said chamber for supporting a workpiece to be processed;
gas distribution apparatus for introducing a process gas into said chamber;
plural concentric coaxial waveguides outside of said chamber and having an axis of propagation pointing toward the interior of said chamber and establishing corresponding annular zones of radiation within said chamber; and
means for applying different levels of electromagnetic radiation power to different ones of said plural concentric coaxial waveguides. - View Dependent Claims (38, 39, 40, 41)
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Specification