Silicon carbide composite article particularly useful for plasma reactors
First Claim
1. A plasma collar for being fit onto a peripheral recess in a pedestal for supporting a substrate within a plasma reaction chamber, comprising:
- a lower part comprising sintered silicon carbide; and
an upper part comprising silicon carbide formed over said lower part.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A composite silicon carbide article and its method of making in which a surface layer or film of silicon carbide is deposited, for example by chemical vapor deposition (CVD), over a free standing silicon carbide substrate, as is formed by bulk methods such as sintering and hot pressing. The article is advantageously used in a plasma reactor, especially an oxide etcher for semiconductor fabrication, and may be any of several parts including the chamber wall, chamber roof, or collar around the wafer. The bulk SiC provides an inexpensive and strong support structure of perhaps a complex shape while the CVD SiC film has advantages for plasma processing and may be tailored to particular uses. The composite SiC structure is particularly useful in that the electrical conductivities of the bulk SiC and film SiC may be separately controlled so as to provide, among many possibilities, a grounding plane, a window for RF electromagnetic radiation, or both. The ultra-high purity achieved in CVD silicon carbide also benefits the control of micro-contamination inside the reactor chamber, a key factor for increased device yield.
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Citations
41 Claims
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1. A plasma collar for being fit onto a peripheral recess in a pedestal for supporting a substrate within a plasma reaction chamber, comprising:
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a lower part comprising sintered silicon carbide; and an upper part comprising silicon carbide formed over said lower part. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3)
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4. A plasma reactor, comprising:
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a plasma reaction chamber having a plasma selectively generated within said chamber; and a composite part placed within said chamber having a sintered silicon carbide portion overlaid with a deposited silicon carbide film facing said plasma, wherein said deposited film has a metal impurity concentration of less than 100 parts per billion. - View Dependent Claims (5, 6)
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7. A plasma reactor, comprising:
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a plasma reaction chamber having a plasma selectively generated within said chamber; a pedestal for supporting a substrate; and a composite part placed within said chamber having a sintered silicon carbide portion overlaid with a deposited silicon carbide film facing said plasma, wherein said composite part is formed as a ring disposed at an upper and outer periphery of said pedestal. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9)
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10. A plasma reactor, comprising:
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a plasma reaction chamber having a plasma selectively generated within said chamber; and a composite part placed within said chamber having a sintered silicon carbide portion overlaid with a deposited silicon carbide film facing said plasma, wherein said film has a thickness of at least 3 mm.
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11. A reaction chamber, comprising:
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a wall of said reaction chamber comprising a bulk part comprising sintered silicon carbide and a film part comprising silicon carbide formed over said bulk part on a side of said wall facing an interior of said reaction chamber; and a source of electromagnetic radiation positioned on a side of said wall opposite said interior of said reaction chamber; wherein said bulk part is electrically insulative such that a skin depth of said electromagnetic radiation in said bulk part is greater than a thickness of said bulk part. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. An RF plasma reactor, comprising:
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a plasma reactor chamber; an inductive antenna positioned outside a wall of said chamber; and a window in said chamber wall to admit the inductive field of said antenna into the interior of said chamber; wherein said window is a composite comprising a sintered silicon carbide layer overlaid with a deposited silicon carbide film facing said interior of said chamber. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32)
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33. An RF plasma reactor, comprising:
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a plasma reaction chamber; a pedestal electrode for supporting a workpiece to be processed within the chamber; and a counter electrode facing said pedestal electrode in spaced relationship thereto, said counter electrode being a composite comprising a sintered silicon carbide layer and a deposited silicon carbide film, said film facing said pedestal electrode; wherein said electrodes are adapted to accept RF power so as to capacitively couple energy into a plasma within said reaction chamber. - View Dependent Claims (34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41)
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Specification