ATMOSPHERIC PLASMA APPARATUS FOR SEMICONDUCTOR PROCESSING
First Claim
1. An apparatus for treating a substrate prior to deposition using atmospheric plasma, the apparatus comprising:
- a substrate support for supporting a substrate;
a plasma distributor over the substrate support for delivering plasma to the surface of the substrate, the plasma distributor including one or more atmospheric plasma sources configured to generate the plasma; and
a controller with instructions for performing the following operations;
(a) providing the substrate between the substrate support and the plasma distributor;
(b) forming the plasma under atmospheric pressure; and
(c) exposing the substrate to the plasma under atmospheric pressure to treat the surface of the substrate, wherein atmospheric pressure is between about 50 Torr and about 760 Torr.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Method and apparatus for treating a substrate prior to deposition using atmospheric plasma are disclosed. A substrate can be provided between a substrate support and a plasma distributor, where the plasma distributor includes one or more atmospheric plasma sources. The atmospheric plasma sources can generate plasma under atmospheric pressure, where the plasma can include radicals and ions of a process gas, such as a reducing gas species. The substrate can be exposed to the plasma under atmospheric pressure to treat the surface of the substrate, where atmospheric pressure can be between about 50 Torr and about 760 Torr. In some embodiments, substrate includes a metal seed layer having portions converted to oxide of a metal, where exposure to the plasma reduces the oxide of the metal and reflows the metal in the metal seed layer.
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Citations
24 Claims
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1. An apparatus for treating a substrate prior to deposition using atmospheric plasma, the apparatus comprising:
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a substrate support for supporting a substrate; a plasma distributor over the substrate support for delivering plasma to the surface of the substrate, the plasma distributor including one or more atmospheric plasma sources configured to generate the plasma; and a controller with instructions for performing the following operations; (a) providing the substrate between the substrate support and the plasma distributor; (b) forming the plasma under atmospheric pressure; and (c) exposing the substrate to the plasma under atmospheric pressure to treat the surface of the substrate, wherein atmospheric pressure is between about 50 Torr and about 760 Torr. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A method of treating a substrate prior to deposition with an atmospheric plasma, the method comprising:
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providing a substrate between a substrate support and one or more atmospheric plasma sources; providing a process gas to the one or more atmospheric plasma sources; forming a plasma under atmospheric pressure in the one or more atmospheric plasma sources, the plasma including radicals and ions of the process gas; and exposing the substrate to the plasma under atmospheric pressure to treat the surface of the surface of the substrate, wherein atmospheric pressure is between about 50 Torr and about 760 Torr. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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Specification