Clamped showerhead electrode assembly

• US 20100003824A1
• Filed: 07/07/2008
• Published: 01/07/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 07/07/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Lam Research Corporation
• Original Assignee: Lam Research Corporation
• Inventors: de la Llera, Anthony, Kadkhodayan, Babak, Dhindsa, Rajinder, Kellogg, Michael C.
• Granted Patent: US 8,161,906 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 438/710
• CPC Class Codes: H01J 37/32091 the radio frequency energy being capacitively coupled to the plasma
• CPC Class Codes: H01J 37/3244 Gas supply means
• CPC Class Codes: H01J 37/32449 Gas control, e.g. control of the gas flow
• CPC Class Codes: H01J 37/32532 Electrodes
• CPC Class Codes: H01J 37/32541 Shape
• CPC Class Codes: H01J 37/32568 Relative arrangement or disposition of electrodes; moving means
• CPC Class Codes: H01J 37/32605 Removable or replaceable electrodes or electrode systems

Abstract

An electrode assembly for a plasma reaction chamber used in semiconductor substrate processing. The assembly includes an upper showerhead electrode which includes an inner electrode mechanically attached to a backing plate by a clamp ring and an outer electrode attached to the backing plate by a series of spaced apart cam locks. A guard ring surrounds the backing plate and is movable to positions at which openings in the guard ring align with openings in the backing plate so that the cam locks can be rotated with a tool to release cam pins extending upward from the upper face of the outer electrode. To compensate for differential thermal expansion, the clamp ring can include expansion joins at spaced locations which allow the clamp ring to absorb thermal stresses.

Claims

1. A showerhead electrode assembly wherein the showerhead electrode comprises an upper electrode of a capacitively coupled plasma processing chamber, comprising:

a backing plate having gas passages extending between upper and lower faces thereof;

a clamp ring having an inwardly extending flange and stepped bores configured to receive fasteners which engage threaded openings in the lower face of the backing plate;

the showerhead electrode comprising a circular plate having a plasma exposed surface on a lower face thereof, a mounting surface on an upper face thereof, the inner face including a step at an outer periphery of the plate, the step configured to mate with the inwardly extending flange of the clamp ring, the plate including process gas outlets arranged in a pattern matching the gas passages in the backing plate; and

a compression ring between opposed surfaces of the clamp ring flange and the step of the showerhead electrode;

jackscrews mounted in the lower face of the backing plate, the jackscrews being rotatable to move annular flanges on the jackscrews against the upper face of the inner electrode to separate the inner electrode from the backing plate during disassembly of the inner electrode.

2. The showerhead electrode assembly of claim 1, wherein the jackscrews include upper threaded shafts which engage threaded openings in the lower face of the backing plate, and lower shafts having keyed openings to engage a tool which rotates each of the jackscrews, the electrode assembly further comprising an upper polymer ring with openings receiving the fasteners holding the clamp ring to the backing plate and openings receiving the upper shafts, the polymer ring located between opposed surfaces of each of the annular flanges and the backing plate, and polymer washers surrounding the lower shafts and located between opposed surfaces of each of the annular flanges and the showerhead electrode.

3. The showerhead electrode assembly of claim 1, wherein the clamp ring includes thermal expansion regions to accommodate thermal expansion of the clamp ring.

4. The showerhead electrode assembly of claim 3, wherein the thermal expansion regions comprise inward slots extending from an outer periphery of the clamp ring and outward slots extending from an inner periphery of the clamp ring.

5. The showerhead electrode assembly of claim 4, wherein the slots are arranged in groups of alternating inward and outward slots, each group of slots including two outward slots extending from the inner periphery of the clamp ring and terminating in rounded end walls and three inward slots extending from the outer periphery of the clamp ring and terminating in rounded end walls.

6. The showerhead electrode assembly of claim 1, further comprising a thermal interface ring and a gas seal between the backing plate and the showerhead electrode, the gas seal being located outwardly of the gas passages and the thermal interface ring.

7. The showerhead electrode assembly of claim 1, further comprising a compression ring between the flange of the clamp ring and the outer step of the showerhead electrode.

8. An outer electrode of a showerhead electrode assembly wherein the outer electrode surround an inner electrode and the showerhead electrode comprises an upper electrode of a capacitively coupled plasma processing chamber, comprising:

an annular plate having a plasma exposed surface on a lower face thereof and a mounting surface on an upper face thereof, the upper face including a planar annular surface between an upper inner step and an upper outer step, the plasma exposed surface including inner and outer inclined surfaces;

a plurality of circumferentially spaced apart pockets in the planar annular surface configured to receive locking pins therein adapted to clamp the outer electrode to a backing plate of the showerhead electrode assembly.

9. The outer electrode as claimed in claim 8, further comprising alignment pin bores in the upper face, the alignment pin bores configured to align with alignment pins extending into the backing plate, the outer upper step configured to support a guard ring of the showerhead electrode assembly such that an outer surface of the guard ring is flush with the outer surface of the outer electrode.

10. The outer electrode as claimed in claim 8, further comprising gas holes in a planar annular surface of the lower face, the gas holes adapted to cooperate with a manometer unit to provide vacuum pressure measurements in the chamber, the planar annular surface extending between the inner and outer inclined surfaces, the outer inclined surface forming an angle of less than 30 degrees with the planar annular surface, and the inner inclined surface forming an angle of greater than 30 degrees with the annular planar surface.

11. A showerhead electrode assembly of a capacitively coupled plasma processing chamber, comprising:

a thermal control plate supported by a temperature controlled top wall of the plasma processing chamber, the thermal control plate having a diameter larger than a wafer to be processed in plasma processing chamber and including at least one gas plenum in a lower face thereof;

a backing plate supported by the thermal control plate, the backing plate having a diameter smaller than the thermal control plate, gas passages extending vertically therethrough and communicating with the at least one gas plenum and rotatable cam locks in bores extending horizontally into an outer periphery of the backing plate;

a guard ring surrounding the backing plate, the guard ring including at least one horizontally extending access bore passing through the guard ring, the guard ring being rotatable around the backing plate to align the access bore with at least one of the cam locks;

an inner electrode having gas passages extending vertically therethrough in fluid communication with the gas passages in the backing plate, an outer periphery of the inner electrode including inner and outer steps, the outer step being located between the inner step and a surface of the inner electrode facing the backing plate;

a clamp ring having an inner flange overlying the outer step of the inner electrode with an optional compression ring therebetween, the clamp ring including vertically extending stepped openings, the stepped openings being aligned with threaded holes in the backing plate and fasteners in the stepped openings attaching the clamp ring to the backing plate; and

an outer electrode surrounding the inner electrode and including vertically extending locking pins which engage the cam locks, the outer electrode supporting the guard ring and being removable by releasing the locking pins from the cam locks.

12. The electrode assembly of claim 11, wherein the backing plate includes vertically extending bores aligned with the locking pins in the outer electrode and horizontally extending bores communicating with the axially extending bores, the cam locks including rotatable camshafts mounted in the horizontally extending bores, the locking pins including shafts with enlarged heads at free ends thereof and bases of the pins located in sockets, the camshafts including a cam surface adapted to engage the heads of the locking pins so as to mechanically clamp the outer electrode to the backing plate.

13. The electrode assembly of claim 12, wherein the locking pins are movable vertically and laterally in the sockets to accommodate differential thermal expansion of the backing plate and the outer electrode.

14. The electrode assembly of claim 11, wherein the clamp ring includes thermal expansion regions to accommodate thermal expansion of the clamp ring.

15. The electrode assembly of claim 11, wherein the inner electrode is a plate of single crystal silicon and the backing plate is a plate of an aluminum alloy.

16. The electrode assembly of claim 11, further comprising jackscrews mounted in the lower face of the backing plate, the jackscrews being rotatable to move flanges on the jackscrews against the upper face of the inner electrode to separate the inner electrode from the backing plate during disassembly of the inner electrode.

17. The electrode assembly of claim 11, wherein the thermal control plate includes annular projections on a lower face thereof defining gas plenums in communication with the gas passages in the backing plate and at least two thermal interface rings are between the inner electrode and the backing plate.

18. The electrode assembly of claim 17, further comprising a gas seal between the backing plate and the showerhead electrode, the gas seal being located outwardly of the gas passages and the outermost thermal interface ring.

19. A method of treating a semiconductor substrate in a capacitively coupled plasma chamber having upper and lower electrodes wherein the upper electrode comprises the showerhead electrode assembly of claim 11, said method comprising the steps of:

supporting the semiconductor substrate on the lower electrode;

supplying process gas to the chamber;

energizing the process gas into a plasma state by supplying RF energy between the upper and lower electrodes; and

processing the semiconductor substrate with the plasma.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the semiconductor substrate comprises a semiconductor wafer and the processing step comprises etching the semiconductor wafer with the plasma.

21. A method of disassembling the electrode assembly of claim 11, comprising removing inserts in access bores in the guard ring, rotating the guard ring to a first position at which the access bores align with a first group of cam locks, rotating the cam locks to release locking pins held by the first group of cam locks, rotating the guard ring to a second position at which the access bores align with a second group of cam locks, rotating the second group of cam locks to release locking pins held by the second group of cam locks and thereby release the outer electrode from the backing plate, and removing fasteners in the clamp ring and thereby release the clamp ring and inner electrode from the backing plate.