Thin film electrostatic shield for inductive plasma processing
First Claim
Patent Images
1. An apparatus comprising:
- a chamber wall forming a process chamber;
an electrostatic shield adjacent to at least a portion of the process chamber;
the electrostatic shield comprising a highly conductive material such that electrostatic fields are substantially prevented from penetrating through the electrostatic shield into the process chamber; and
at least a portion of the electrostatic shield being sufficiently thin such that inductive electromagnetic fields penetrate through the electrostatic shield into the process chamber at a desired level for processing.
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Abstract
A plasma reactor and methods for processing semiconductor substrates are described. An induction coil inductively couples power into the reactor to produce a plasma. A thin electrostatic shield is interposed between the induction coil and plasma to reduce capacitive coupling. The shield is electromagnetically thin such that inductive power passes through the shield to sustain the plasma while capacitive coupling is substantially attenuated. Reducing capacitive coupling reduces modulation of the plasma potential relative to the substrate and allows for more controllable processing.
58 Citations
60 Claims
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1. An apparatus comprising:
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a chamber wall forming a process chamber; an electrostatic shield adjacent to at least a portion of the process chamber; the electrostatic shield comprising a highly conductive material such that electrostatic fields are substantially prevented from penetrating through the electrostatic shield into the process chamber; and at least a portion of the electrostatic shield being sufficiently thin such that inductive electromagnetic fields penetrate through the electrostatic shield into the process chamber at a desired level for processing. - View Dependent Claims (2, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33)
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3. An apparatus comprising:
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a chamber wall forming a process chamber; the chamber wall comprising an electrically resistive material having a resistivity greater than about 1 Ω
cm;an electrostatic shield adjacent to at least a portion of the process chamber; the electrostatic shield comprising a highly conductive material having a resistivity of less than about 1 Ω
cm such that electrostatic fields are substantially prevented from penetrating through the electrostatic shield into the process chamber; andthe electrostatic shield being sufficiently thin such that inductive electromagnetic fields penetrate through the electrostatic shield into the process chamber at a desired level for processing, wherein the electrostatic shield comprises a plurality of regions each having a different thickness of the conductive material. - View Dependent Claims (5, 6)
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4. An apparatus comprising:
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a chamber wall forming a process chamber; the chamber wall comprising an electrically resistive material having a resistivity greater than about 1 Ω
cm;an electrostatic shield adjacent to at least a portion of the process chamber, the electrostatic shield comprising a highly conductive material having a resistivity of less than about 1 Ω
cm such that electrostatic fields are substantially prevented from penetrating through the electrostatic shield into the process chamber; andthe electrostatic shield being sufficiently thin such that inductive electromagnetic fields penetrate through the electrostatic shield into the process chamber at a desired level for processing, wherein the electrostatic shield forms a plurality of substantially non-conductive gaps such that the electrostatic shield includes a plurality of conductive sectors electrically isolated from one another.
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13. A plasma reactor for processing a semiconductor substrate comprising:
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a chamber wall forming a plasma chamber within which a plasma is produced; the plasma including at least one plasma product for processing the substrate; a source of radio frequency power; an inductor adjacent to the plasma chamber and coupled to the source of radio frequency power to inductively couple power into the plasma chamber; a gas inlet for providing gas into the plasma chamber; a gas exhaust for exhausting gas from the plasma chamber; an electrostatic shield positioned between at least a portion of the inductor and at least a portion of the plasma such that the electrostatic shield reduces capacitive coupling from the inductor to the plasma relative to a level of capacitive coupling that would be present in the absence of the thin electrostatic shield; wherein at least a portion of the electrostatic shield has a thickness less than about 250 microns such that inductively coupled power from the inductor is coupled through the electrostatic shield to sustain the plasma; and wherein the substrate is positioned such that the substrate is exposed to the at least one plasma product for processing. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 21, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39)
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20. A plasma reactor for processing a semiconductor substrate comprising:
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a non-conductive chamber wall forming a plasma chamber within which a plasma is produced; the plasma including at least one plasma product for processing the substrate; a source of radio frequency power; an inductor adjacent to the plasma chamber and coupled to the source of radio frequency power to inductively couple power into the plasma chamber; a gas inlet for providing gas into the plasma chamber; a gas exhaust for exhausting gas from the plasma chamber; a thin electrostatic shield positioned between at least a portion of the inductor and at least a portion of the plasma chamber such that the thin electrostatic shield reduces capacitive coupling from the inductor to the plasma relative to a level of capacitive coupling that would be present in the absence of the thin electrostatic shield; wherein the thin electrostatic shield is sufficiently thin such that inductively coupled power from the inductor is coupled through the thin electrostatic shield to sustain the plasma; and wherein the substrate is positioned such that the substrate is exposed to the at least one plasma product for processing, wherein the electrostatic shield is deposited on at least a portion of the inductor.
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40. A method of processing a semiconductor substrate in a plasma reactor comprising:
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supplying gas to a reaction chamber; shielding the gas in the reaction chamber with an electrostatic shield, the electrostatic shield comprising a highly conductive material and having at least a portion that is sufficiently thin to allow the passage of inductively coupled power through the electrostatic shield into the gas in the reaction chamber; inductively coupling power into the gas in the reaction chamber through said electrostatic shield; forming at least one plasma product for processing said substrate; and exposing said substrate to said at least one plasma product. - View Dependent Claims (41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49)
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50. A method of processing a semiconductor substrate in a plasma reactor comprising the steps of:
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supplying gas to a reaction chamber; shielding the gas in the reaction chamber with an electrostatic shield, the electrostatic shield having at least a portion with a thickness of less than about 250 microns to allow the passage of inductively coupled power through the electrostatic shield into the gas in the reaction chamber; inductively coupling power into the gas in the reaction chamber through said electrostatic shield; forming at least one plasma product for processing said substrate; and exposing said substrate to said at least one plasma product. - View Dependent Claims (51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60)
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Specification