Externally excited torroidal plasma source with magnetic control of ion distribution
First Claim
1. A plasma reactor comprising:
- a vacuum chamber defined by an enclosure including a side wall and a workpiece support pedestal within the chamber defining a processing region overlying said pedestal, said chamber having at least a first pair of ports through said enclosure ear opposing sides of said processing region;
a first external reentrant tube connected at respective ends thereof to said pair of ports;
process gas injection apparatus;
a first RF power applicator coupled to said reentrant tube for applying plasma source power to process gases within said tube to produce a first reentrant torroidal plasma current through said first tube and across said processing region; and
a magnet for controlling radial distribution of plasma ion density in said processing region, said magnet being a single elongate pole-defining member having a pole axis intersecting said processing region.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A plasma reactor is described that includes a vacuum chamber defined by an enclosure including a side wall and a workpiece support pedestal within the chamber defining a processing region overlying said pedestal. The chamber has at least a first pair of ports near opposing sides of said processing region and a first external reentrant tube is connected at respective ends thereof to the pair of ports. The reactor further includes a process gas injection apparatus (such as a gas distribution plate) and an RF power applicator coupled to the reentrant tube for applying plasma source power to process gases within the tube to produce a reentrant torroidal plasma current through the first tube and across said processing region. A magnet controls radial distribution of plasma ion density in the processing region, the magnet having an elongate pole piece defining a pole piece axis intersecting the processing region.
157 Citations
48 Claims
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1. A plasma reactor comprising:
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a vacuum chamber defined by an enclosure including a side wall and a workpiece support pedestal within the chamber defining a processing region overlying said pedestal, said chamber having at least a first pair of ports through said enclosure ear opposing sides of said processing region;
a first external reentrant tube connected at respective ends thereof to said pair of ports;
process gas injection apparatus;
a first RF power applicator coupled to said reentrant tube for applying plasma source power to process gases within said tube to produce a first reentrant torroidal plasma current through said first tube and across said processing region; and
a magnet for controlling radial distribution of plasma ion density in said processing region, said magnet being a single elongate pole-defining member having a pole axis intersecting said processing region. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41)
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42. A plasma reactor for processing a workpiece, said plasma reactor comprising:
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an enclosure;
a workpiece support within the enclosure facing an overlying portion of the enclosure, said workpiece support and the overlying portion of said enclosure defining a process region therebetween extending generally across the diameter of said wafer support;
said end sure having at least first and second openings therethrough near generally opposite sides of said workpiece support;
at least one hollow conduit outside of said process region and connected to said first and second openings, providing a first torroidal path extending through said conduit and across said process region;
a first RF power applicator coupled to the interior of said hollow conduit and capable of maintaining a plasma in said torroidal path; and
a magnet for controlling radial distribution of plasma ion density in said processing region, said magnet being single elongate pole piece defining a pole piece axis intersecting said processing region. - View Dependent Claims (43, 44)
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45. A plasma reactor for processing a workpiece, said plasma reactor comprising:
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an enclosure;
a workpiece support within the enclosure facing an overlying portion of the enclosure, said workpiece support and the overlying portion of said enclosure defining a process region therebetween extending generally across the diameter of said wafer support;
said enclosure having at least first and second openings therethrough near generally opposite sides of said workpiece support;
at least on hollow conduit outside of said process region and connected to said first and second openings, providing a first torroidal path extending through said conduit and across said process region;
a first RF power applicator coupled to the interior of said one hollow conduit and capable of maintaining a plasma in said first torroidal path;
at least third and fourth openings therethrough near generally opposite sides of said workpiece support and disposed along an axis transverse to an axis of said first and second openings;
a second hollow conduit generally transverse to said one hollow conduit and disposed outside of said process region and connected to said third and fourth openings, whereby to provide a second closed torroidal path, said second torroidal pat extending outside of said vacuum chamber through said second conduit and extending across said process region between said third and fourth openings in a direction transverse to said first torroidal path; and
a magnet for controlling radial distribution of plasma ion density in said processing region, said magnet being single elongate pole piece defining a pole piece axis intersecting said processing region. - View Dependent Claims (46, 47, 48)
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Specification