Reactive sputter deposition plasma process using an ion shower grid
First Claim
1. A reactive sputter deposition process, comprising:
- providing a reactor chamber and an ion shower grid that divides said chamber into an upper ion generation region and a lower process region, said ion shower grid having a plural orifices oriented in a non-parallel direction relative to a surface plane of said ion shower grid;
placing a workpiece in said process region, said workpiece having a workpiece surface generally facing said surface plane of said ion shower grid;
sputtering deposition precursor species from a sputter target comprising a semiconductor species in said ion generation region;
applying RF plasma source power to said ion generation region so as to generate a plasma from deposition precursor species sputtered from said target;
applying a grid potential to said ion shower grid to create a flux of ions through said grid; and
furnishing a gas species into said reactor chamber for combining with said semiconductor atoms to form molecules that deposit on said workpiece surface.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A reactive sputter deposition process is carried out in a reactor chamber having an ion shower grid that divides the chamber into an upper ion generation region and a lower process region, the ion shower grid having a plural orifices oriented in a non-parallel direction relative to a surface plane of the ion shower grid. A workpiece is placed in the process region, the workpiece having a workpiece surface generally facing the surface plane of the ion shower grid. The process includes sputtering deposition precursor species from a sputter target comprising a semiconductor species in the ion generation region, applying RF plasma source power to the ion generation region so as to generate a plasma from deposition precursor species sputtered from the target, applying a grid potential to the ion shower grid to create a flux of ions through the grid, and furnishing a gas species into the reactor chamber for combining with the semiconductor atoms to form molecules that deposit on the workpiece surface.
137 Citations
77 Claims
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1. A reactive sputter deposition process, comprising:
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providing a reactor chamber and an ion shower grid that divides said chamber into an upper ion generation region and a lower process region, said ion shower grid having a plural orifices oriented in a non-parallel direction relative to a surface plane of said ion shower grid;
placing a workpiece in said process region, said workpiece having a workpiece surface generally facing said surface plane of said ion shower grid;
sputtering deposition precursor species from a sputter target comprising a semiconductor species in said ion generation region;
applying RF plasma source power to said ion generation region so as to generate a plasma from deposition precursor species sputtered from said target;
applying a grid potential to said ion shower grid to create a flux of ions through said grid; and
furnishing a gas species into said reactor chamber for combining with said semiconductor atoms to form molecules that deposit on said workpiece surface. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77)
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Specification