Plasma Generation Controlled by Gravity-Induced Gas-Diffusion Separation (GIGDS) Techniques
First Claim
1. A method for processing a substrate using a Gravity-Induced Gas-Diffusion Separation-Controlled (GIGDSC) plasma processing subsystem, the method comprising:
- positioning a substrate on a substrate holder in a lower portion of a process chamber configured to perform a GIGDSC procedure;
creating a first light-gas stabilization plasma in a plasma generation space in an upper portion of the process chamber during a first pre-processing time using a light plasma generation gas;
determining a first light gas stabilization value during the first pre-processing time;
comparing the first light gas stabilization value to first stabilization limits during the first pre-processing time;
performing at least one corrective action to improve the first light gas stabilization value when the first light gas stabilization value exceeds one or more of the stabilization limits during the first pre-processing time; and
creating a second light-gas stabilization plasma and an initial heavy-gas pre-processing plasma during a second pre-processing time when the first light gas stabilization value does not exceed at least one of the stabilization limits during the first pre-processing time, wherein the initial heavy-gas pre-processing plasma is created using at least one heavy process gas in a plasma processing space proximate the substrate.
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Abstract
The invention can provide apparatus and methods of processing a substrate using plasma generation by gravity-induced gas-diffusion separation techniques. By adding or using gases including inert and process gases with different gravities (i.e., ratio between the molecular weight of a gaseous constituent and a reference molecular weight), a two-zone or multiple-zone plasma can be formed, in which one kind of gas can be highly constrained near a plasma generation region and another kind of gas can be largely separated from the aforementioned gas due to differential gravity induced diffusion and is constrained more closer to a wafer process region than the aforementioned gas.
36 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method for processing a substrate using a Gravity-Induced Gas-Diffusion Separation-Controlled (GIGDSC) plasma processing subsystem, the method comprising:
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positioning a substrate on a substrate holder in a lower portion of a process chamber configured to perform a GIGDSC procedure; creating a first light-gas stabilization plasma in a plasma generation space in an upper portion of the process chamber during a first pre-processing time using a light plasma generation gas; determining a first light gas stabilization value during the first pre-processing time; comparing the first light gas stabilization value to first stabilization limits during the first pre-processing time; performing at least one corrective action to improve the first light gas stabilization value when the first light gas stabilization value exceeds one or more of the stabilization limits during the first pre-processing time; and creating a second light-gas stabilization plasma and an initial heavy-gas pre-processing plasma during a second pre-processing time when the first light gas stabilization value does not exceed at least one of the stabilization limits during the first pre-processing time, wherein the initial heavy-gas pre-processing plasma is created using at least one heavy process gas in a plasma processing space proximate the substrate. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A method for processing a substrate using a Gravity-Induced Gas-Diffusion Separation-Controlled (GIGDSC) plasma processing subsystem, the method comprising:
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positioning a substrate on a substrate holder in a lower portion of a process chamber configured to perform a GIGDSC procedure; creating an initial light-gas stabilization plasma in a plasma generation space in an upper portion of the process chamber during a first pre-processing time using a light plasma generation gas; creating an initial heavy-gas pre-processing plasma in a plasma processing space in the lower portion of the process chamber during the first pre-processing time using at least one heavy process gas; determining an initial heavy-gas stabilization value during the first pre-processing time; comparing the initial heavy-gas stabilization value to initial heavy-gas stabilization limits during the first pre-processing time; performing at least one corrective action to improve the initial heavy-gas stabilization value when the initial heavy-gas stabilization value exceeds one or more of the initial heavy-gas stabilization limits during the first pre-processing time; and creating a new light-gas stabilization plasma and a new heavy-gas processing plasma during a processing time when the initial heavy-gas stabilization value does not exceed at least one of the initial heavy-gas stabilization limits during the first pre-processing time, wherein the new heavy-gas pre-processing plasma is created using at least one new heavy process gas in the plasma processing space proximate the substrate during the processing time. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A method for processing a substrate using a Gravity-Induced Gas-Diffusion Separation-Controlled (GIGDSC) plasma processing subsystem, the method comprising:
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positioning a substrate on a substrate holder in an upper portion of a process chamber configured to perform a GIGDSC procedure; creating an initial heavy-gas stabilization plasma in a plasma generation space in an lower portion of the process chamber during a first pre-processing time using a heavy plasma generation gas; creating an initial light-gas pre-processing plasma in a plasma processing space in the upper portion of the process chamber during the first pre-processing time using at least one light process gas; determining an initial light-gas stabilization value during the first pre-processing time; comparing the initial light-gas stabilization value to initial light-gas stabilization limits during the first pre-processing time; performing at least one corrective action to improve the initial light-gas stabilization value when the initial light-gas stabilization value exceeds one or more of the initial light-gas stabilization limits during the first pre-processing time; and creating a new heavy-gas stabilization plasma and a new light-gas processing plasma during a processing time when the initial light-gas stabilization value does not exceed at least one of the initial light-gas stabilization limits during the first pre-processing time, wherein the new light-gas processing plasma is created using at least one new light process gas in the plasma processing space proximate the substrate during the processing time. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification