Boron carbide parts and coatings in a plasma reactor
First Claim
1. In a plasma processing reactor for processing a semiconductor-bearing workpiece, a part comprising a substrate of an aluminum-based material including at least 90 wt % elemental aluminum and a surface coating thereover comprising boron carbide.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A plasma etch reactor having interior surfaces facing the plasma composed of boron carbide, preferably principally composed of B4 C. The boron carbide may be a bulk sintered body or may be a layer of boron carbide coated on a chamber part. The boron carbide coating may be applied by thermal spraying, such as plasma spraying, by chemical vapor deposition, or by other layer forming technique such as a surface converting reaction. The boron carbide is highly resistant to high-density plasma etchants such as BCl3. The plasma sprayed coating is advantageously applied to only a portion of an anodized aluminum wall. The boron carbide may be sprayed over the exposed portion of the aluminum over which the anodization has been removed. A band of the aluminum substrate at the transition between the anodization and the boron carbide is roughened prior to anodization so that the boron carbide sticks to the correspondingly roughened surface of the anodization. Alternatively, the entire wall area of the anodized aluminum to be coated is roughened, and the boron carbide is sprayed over the anodization.
340 Citations
43 Claims
- 1. In a plasma processing reactor for processing a semiconductor-bearing workpiece, a part comprising a substrate of an aluminum-based material including at least 90 wt % elemental aluminum and a surface coating thereover comprising boron carbide.
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13. A plasma processing chamber for processing a semiconductor-bearing workpiece, comprising:
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a vacuum chamber having at least one inlet for a processing gas therein and being adapted to receive energy to excite said processing gas into a plasma for processing said workpiece disposed within said vacuum chamber; and a part within and forming part of said chamber, facing said plasma, and comprising a substrate and a surface coating comprising silicon nitride formed on said substrate. - View Dependent Claims (14, 41)
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15. A plasma reaction chamber for processing a semiconductor-bearing substrate, comprising:
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a vacuum chamber wall comprising an aluminum-based material including at least 90 wt % elemental aluminum; and a coating of boron carbide applied to a first portion of an interior of said vacuum chamber wall, a second portion of said interior not being coated with boron carbide. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 42)
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18. A plasma chamber for processing a semiconductor-bearing substrate, comprising:
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a vacuum chamber having at least one inlet for a processing gas therein and being adapted to receive energy to excite said processing gas into a plasma; a substrate support for supporting said substrate selectively inserted into said vacuum chamber for processing by said plasma; and a part within said chamber facing said plasma and comprising boron carbide. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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27. A plasma processing method, comprising the steps of:
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providing a plasma reaction chamber having an interior surface comprising boron carbide; placing a workpiece, comprising a semiconductor material to be processed in said plasma reaction chamber; injecting a processing gas into said plasma reaction chamber; and coupling electrical energy into said plasma reaction chamber to form a plasma of said processing gas to thereby process said workpiece. - View Dependent Claims (30, 40)
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- 31. In a plasma reactor adapted for processing a substrate comprising a semiconductor material, a part having a surface portion (a) comprising between 14 to 30 wt % carbon relative to boron and (b) facing a plasma in said reactor.
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38. In a plasma processing reactor for processing a semiconductor-bearing workpiece, a part comprising:
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a substrate of an aluminum-based material anodizable into alumina; a surface coating thereover comprising boron carbide; and an anodized layer comprising alumina intermediate said substrate and said coating of boron carbide. - View Dependent Claims (39)
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Specification