Plasma Tuning Rods in Microwave Processing Systems
First Claim
1. A microwave processing system for processing a substrate comprising:
- a rectangular process chamber comprising a process space having a movable substrate holder therein;
a first cavity assembly coupled to the rectangular process chamber using a first interface assembly, the first cavity assembly having a first electromagnetic (EM) energy tuning space therein, the first interface assembly including a first set of isolation assemblies, wherein a first set of EM-coupling regions, are established in a first EM energy tuning space;
a first set of plasma-tuning rods coupled to the first set of isolation assemblies, the first set of plasma-tuning rods having a first set of plasma-tuning portions configured in the process space and a first set of EM-tuning portions configured in the first EM energy tuning space and coupled to at least one of the first set of EM-coupling regions;
a second cavity assembly coupled to the rectangular process chamber using a second interface assembly, the second cavity assembly having a second EM energy tuning space therein, the second interface assembly including a second set of isolation assemblies, wherein a second set of EM-coupling regions are established in the second EM energy tuning space;
a second set of plasma-tuning rods coupled to the second set of isolation assemblies, the second set of plasma-tuning rods having a second set of plasma-tuning portions configured in the process space and a second set of EM-tuning portions configured in the second EM energy tuning space and coupled to at least one of the second set of EM-coupling regions; and
a controller coupled to the first cavity assembly and the second cavity assembly, wherein the controller is configured to control the first set of EM-coupling regions in the first EM energy tuning space and the second set of EM-coupling regions in the second EM energy tuning space, thereby controlling plasma uniformity in the process space.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
The invention provides a plurality of plasma tuning rod subsystems. The plasma tuning rod subsystems can comprise one or more microwave cavities configured to couple electromagnetic (EM) energy in a desired EM wave mode to a plasma by generating resonant microwave energy in one or more plasma tuning rods within and/or adjacent to the plasma. One or more microwave cavity assemblies can be coupled to a process chamber, and can comprise one or more tuning spaces/cavities. Each tuning space/cavity can have one or more plasma tuning rods coupled thereto. Some of the plasma tuning rods can be configured to couple the EM energy from one or more of the resonant cavities to the process space within the process chamber and thereby create uniform plasma within the process space.
10 Citations
20 Claims
-
1. A microwave processing system for processing a substrate comprising:
-
a rectangular process chamber comprising a process space having a movable substrate holder therein; a first cavity assembly coupled to the rectangular process chamber using a first interface assembly, the first cavity assembly having a first electromagnetic (EM) energy tuning space therein, the first interface assembly including a first set of isolation assemblies, wherein a first set of EM-coupling regions, are established in a first EM energy tuning space; a first set of plasma-tuning rods coupled to the first set of isolation assemblies, the first set of plasma-tuning rods having a first set of plasma-tuning portions configured in the process space and a first set of EM-tuning portions configured in the first EM energy tuning space and coupled to at least one of the first set of EM-coupling regions; a second cavity assembly coupled to the rectangular process chamber using a second interface assembly, the second cavity assembly having a second EM energy tuning space therein, the second interface assembly including a second set of isolation assemblies, wherein a second set of EM-coupling regions are established in the second EM energy tuning space; a second set of plasma-tuning rods coupled to the second set of isolation assemblies, the second set of plasma-tuning rods having a second set of plasma-tuning portions configured in the process space and a second set of EM-tuning portions configured in the second EM energy tuning space and coupled to at least one of the second set of EM-coupling regions; and a controller coupled to the first cavity assembly and the second cavity assembly, wherein the controller is configured to control the first set of EM-coupling regions in the first EM energy tuning space and the second set of EM-coupling regions in the second EM energy tuning space, thereby controlling plasma uniformity in the process space. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
-
-
10. A microwave processing system for processing a substrate comprising:
-
a process chamber comprising a process space having a movable substrate holder therein; a first cavity assembly coupled to the process chamber using a first interface assembly, the first cavity assembly having a first electromagnetic (EM) energy tuning space therein, the first interface assembly including a first isolation assembly, wherein a first pair of EM-coupling regions are established in a first EM energy tuning space; a first pair of plasma-tuning rods coupled to the first isolation assembly, the first pair of plasma-tuning rods having plasma-tuning portions configured in the process space and having EM-tuning portions configured in the first EM energy tuning space, wherein a first EM-tuning portion is coupled to a first EM-coupling region and a second EM-tuning portion is coupled to a second EM-coupling region; a second cavity assembly coupled to the process chamber using a second interface assembly, the second cavity assembly having a second EM energy tuning space therein, the second interface assembly including a second isolation assembly, wherein a second pair of EM-coupling regions are established in the second EM energy tuning space; a second pair of plasma-tuning rods coupled to the second isolation assembly, the second pair of plasma-tuning rods having second plasma-tuning portions configured in the process space and having second EM-tuning portions configured in the second EM energy tuning space, wherein a third EM-tuning portion is coupled to a third EM-coupling region, and a fourth EM-tuning portion is coupled to a fourth EM-coupling region; and a controller coupled to the first cavity assembly and the second cavity assembly, wherein the controller is configured to control the first pair of EM-coupling regions in the first EM energy tuning space and the second pair of EM-coupling regions in the second EM energy tuning space, thereby controlling plasma uniformity in the process space. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13)
-
-
14. A method of processing a substrate using a microwave processing system comprising:
-
positioning a substrate on a movable substrate holder within a process space in a rectangular process chamber; coupling a first cavity assembly to the rectangular process chamber using a first interface assembly, the first cavity assembly having a first EM energy tuning space therein, the first interface assembly including a first set of isolation assemblies, wherein a first set of EM-coupling regions are established in the first EM energy tuning space; coupling a first set of plasma-tuning rods to the first set of isolation assemblies, the first set of plasma-tuning rods having a first set of plasma-tuning portions configured in the process space and a first set of EM-tuning portions configured in the first EM energy tuning space and coupled to at least one of the first set of EM-coupling regions; coupling a second cavity assembly to the rectangular process chamber using a second interface assembly, the second cavity assembly having a second EM energy tuning space therein, the second interface assembly including a second set of isolation assemblies, wherein a second set of EM-coupling regions are established in the second EM energy tuning space; coupling a second set of plasma-tuning rods to the second set of isolation assemblies, the second set of plasma-tuning rods having a second set of plasma-tuning portions configured in the process space and a second set of EM-tuning portions configured in the second EM energy tuning space and coupled to at least one of the second set of EM-coupling regions; and coupling a controller to the first cavity assembly and the second cavity assembly, wherein the controller is configured to control the first set of EM-coupling coupling regions in the first EM energy tuning space and the second set of EM-coupling regions in the second EM energy tuning space, thereby controlling plasma uniformity in the process space. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
-
Specification