Claims
- 1. A process chamber for processing a semiconductor substrate, the process chamber comprising:
(a) a support; (b) a process gas distributor; (c) a heat transfer member having a heat conduction surface bonded to an external surface of the process chamber; and (d) an exhaust, whereby a substrate held on the support is processed by process gas distributed by the gas distributor, the process gas is exhausted by the exhaust, and the heat transfer member transfers heat from the process chamber during processing of the substrate.
- 2. The process chamber of claim 1 wherein the heat transfer member comprises a heat conduction surface having an rms peak-to-peak roughness of less than about 500 microns.
- 3. The process chamber of claim 2 wherein the heat conduction surface of the heat transfer member is bonded to the external surface of the process chamber by a thermally conducting adhesive.
- 4. The process chamber of claim 2 wherein the heat transfer member is thermally coupled to a heat exchanger having channels for circulating heat transfer fluid or a heater.
- 5. The process chamber of claim 1 wherein the heat transfer member comprises one or more heat transfer rings comprising silicon carbide, silicon nitride, or mixtures thereof.
- 6. The process chamber of claim 1 further comprising an inductor antenna adjacent to the external surface of the process chamber and wherein the heat transfer member extends through gaps in the inductor antenna, whereby the inductor antenna couples RF energy into the process chamber to sustain a plasma of the process gas in the process chamber.
- 7. The process chamber of claim 6 wherein the inductor antenna abuts a ceiling of the process chamber, the ceiling comprising a material having an electric field susceptibility that is sufficiently low to couple the induction field generated by the inductor antenna to the process gas in the process chamber.
- 8. A method of processing a substrate in a process chamber, the method comprising the steps of:
(a) placing a substrate on a support in the process chamber; (b) introducing process gas into the process chamber; (c) coupling RF energy to the process gas to sustain a plasma of the process gas; and (d) regulating a flow of heat to and from the process chamber via a heat transfer member bonded to an external surface of the process chamber.
- 9. A process chamber for processing a substrate in a plasma, the process chamber comprising:
(a) a support; (b) a gas distributor; (c) a ceiling comprising semiconductor material having an electrical susceptibility that is sufficiently low to allow an RF induction field to permeate therethrough; (d) an inductor antenna adjacent to the ceiling to couple an RF induction field through the ceiling into the process chamber; (e) a temperature control system comprising a heat exchanger, and a heat transfer member having a heat conduction surface bonded to the ceiling and a heat transmitting surface thermally coupled to the heat exchanger; and (f) an exhaust, whereby a substrate held on the support is processed by a plasma of process gas distributed into the process chamber by the gas distributor, the process gas being exhausted by the exhaust, and the heat transfer member transfers heat from the process chamber to maintain substantially uniform temperatures across the ceiling.
- 10. The process chamber of claim 9 wherein the heat conduction surface of the heat transfer member comprises an rms peak-to-peak roughness of less than about 500 microns.
- 11. The process chamber of claim 9 wherein the heat conduction surface of the heat transfer member is bonded to the external chamber surface by a thermally conducting adhesive.
- 12. The process chamber of claim 9 wherein the heat transfer member comprises one or more heat transfer rings extending through coils of the inductor antenna, the heat transfer rings comprising silicon carbide, silicon nitride, or mixtures thereof.
- 13. A method of processing a substrate in a process chamber, the method comprising the steps of:
(a) placing a substrate in the process chamber; (b) introducing a process gas into the process chamber; (c) charging an inductor antenna adjacent to a ceiling of the process chamber to couple RF energy to the process gas to sustain a plasma in the process chamber; and (d) monitoring the temperature of the ceiling and regulating the flow of heat to and from the process chamber via a heat transfer member bonded to the ceiling, a heater, and a heat exchanger.
- 14. A method of bonding a heat transfer member to an external surface of a process chamber, the method comprising the steps of:
(a) forming a heat transfer member having a heat conduction surface; (b) providing a thermally conducting adhesive between the heat transfer member and the external surface; (c) pressing the heat transfer member against the external surface; and (d) heating the thermally conducting adhesive to cure the adhesive and form a thermally conducting bond between the heat transfer member and the external surface of the process chamber.
- 15. The method of claim 14 wherein in step (a) the heat transfer member is polished to provide a heat conduction surface having a rms peak-to-peak roughness of less than about 500 microns.
- 16. The method of claim 14 wherein step (b) comprises providing a thermally conducting adhesive comprising a polymeric temperature sensitive adhesive.
- 17. The method of claim 14 wherein step (a) comprises the step of forming a heat transfer member comprising one or more heat transfer rings comprising silicon carbide, silicon nitride, or mixtures thereof.
- 18. The method of claim 14 wherein the external surface of the process chamber comprises a surface of a ceiling comprising a semiconductor material having an electric field susceptibility sufficiently low to couple an induction field generated by an inductor antenna adjacent to the ceiling to a process gas in the process chamber.
- 19. The method of claim 14 wherein step (c) comprises the step of aligning the heat transfer member and the external surface in a jig, and causing the jig to apply a uniform pressure that forces the heat transfer member against the external surface of the process chamber.
CROSS-REFERENCE
[0001] This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/893,393, filed on Jul. 14, 1997, entitled “Inductively Coupled RF Plasma Reactor Having an Overhead Solenoidal Antenna and Modular Confinement Magnet Liners,” which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/733,555 filed Oct. 21, 1996, entitled “Thermal Control Apparatus for Inductively Coupled RF Plasma Reactor Having an Overhead Solenoidal Antenna,” which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/648,254, filed May 13, 1996, entitled “Inductively Coupled RF Plasma Reactor Having an Overhead Solenoidal Antenna,” all of which are incorporated herein by reference.
Continuation in Parts (3)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
08893393 |
Jul 1997 |
US |
Child |
09082430 |
May 1998 |
US |
Parent |
08733555 |
Oct 1996 |
US |
Child |
08893393 |
Jul 1997 |
US |
Parent |
08648254 |
May 1996 |
US |
Child |
08733555 |
Oct 1996 |
US |