This application claims benefit of Indian Provisional Patent Application Serial No. 201941000851, filed Jan. 8, 2019, which is incorporated herein in its entirety.
Implementations described herein generally relate to an apparatus and method for processing substrates. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to methods and apparatus for generating and controlling plasma, for example inductively coupled coils, used with plasma chambers. The methods and apparatus can be applied to semiconductor processes, for example, plasma deposition and etch processes and other plasma processes used to form integrated circuits.
Inductively coupled plasma (ICP) process chambers generally form plasma by inducing ionization in a process gas disposed within the process chamber via one or more inductive coils disposed outside of the process chamber. The inductive coils are disposed externally and separated electrically from the process chamber by, for example, a dielectric lid. When radio frequency (RF) current is fed to the inductive coils via an RF feed structure from an RF power source, an inductively coupled plasma can be formed inside the process chamber from a magnetic field generated by the inductive coils.
For substrate processing, a single spiral inductive coil develops a voltage drop throughout the coil length, and the electromagnetic field coupling between neighboring turns of the coil causes in-phase or out-of-phase interference leading to current distribution variation from one end to the other. This can lead to non-concentric field patterns that produce substandard results.
Therefore, there is a need in the art for an improved coil.
Embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to semiconductor processing apparatus. More specifically, embodiments of the disclosure relate to an improved coil. In one embodiment, a process chamber includes a chamber body that includes one or more chamber walls and defines a processing region. The process chamber also includes two or more inductively driven RF coils in a concentric axial alignment, the RF coils arranged near the chamber walls to strike and sustain a plasma inside the chamber body, where at least two of the two or more RF coils are in a recursive configuration.
In another embodiment, a process chamber includes a chamber body that includes one or more chamber walls and defines a processing region. The process chamber also includes an electrostatic chuck comprising a positive electrode and a negative electrode, where a complete circuit is formed between the positive and negative electrodes to provide constant charging to the electrodes. The process chamber also includes two or more inductively driven RF coils in a concentric axial alignment, the RF coils arranged near the chamber walls to strike and sustain a plasma inside the chamber body, where at least two of the two or more RF coils are in a recursive configuration.
In another embodiment, a radio frequency (RF) coil configuration is disclosed that includes two or more RF coils comprising a concentric axial alignment and each having an RF input line and an RF output line, wherein for each input line, there are multiple output lines each having the same length.
So that the manner in which the above recited features of the present disclosure can be understood in detail, a more particular description of the disclosure, briefly summarized above, may be had by reference to embodiments, some of which are illustrated in the appended drawings. It is to be noted, however, that the appended drawings illustrate only typical embodiments of this disclosure and are therefore not to be considered limiting of its scope, for the disclosure may admit to other equally effective embodiments.
To facilitate understanding, identical reference numerals have been used, where possible, to designate identical elements that are common to the figures. It is contemplated that elements disclosed in one embodiment may be beneficially utilized on other embodiments without specific recitation.
Embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to semiconductor processing apparatus and methods. More specifically, embodiments of the disclosure relate to a method of constructing an RF coil that generates concentric field patterns by using multiple parallel-fed coils. The parallel-fed coils are in a recursive configuration as disclosed herein. The term “recursive” is defined as for every RF “in” transmission line, there are multiple RF “out” transmission lines, and each “out” transmission line traces back to the “in” transmission line with the same length. Alternatively or additionally, the term “recursive” is defined as all “out” transmission lines are electrically synchronized with respect to each other. By splitting the RF coil into multiple sections of parallel connected coils, any asymmetry in the azimuthal direction will repeat periodically at each split such that the overall electromagnetic field variation is reduced on spatial average. Field uniformity can be improved in the radial and azimuthal direction. The number of sections can be as small as two, up to any even or odd number. The coils form a configuration where each of the coils takes on a spiral shape of multiple turns, rotated by 360 degrees/N, where N is an integer, which forms a repetitive pattern with respect to the center axis of the substrate in the processing chamber. The coils can be connected in series or in parallel, or the coils can be connected in a group of several in series forming several groups that are then connected in series, or in parallel, and so on. A higher repetition rate leads to better uniformity compared to a lower repetition rate. Additionally, an impedance matching network that drives the recursive coil system is described.
Two identical chambers, such as process chambers 102a and 102b, can be arranged side-by-side as illustrated in
In configuration 200 illustrated in
A second configuration is illustrated in configuration 210 in
A third configuration is illustrated in configuration 220 as shown in
With respect to the embodiments illustrated in
For substrate processing, the electromagnetic field generated by the inductive coils exhibits concentric patterns with respect to the center axis of the substrate. In cases where the axis of the coils is concentric with respect to the substrate axis, the electromagnetic field that the coil generates is not necessarily concentric due to electromagnetic field propagation along the coil path and boundary conditions that are not necessarily concentric.
In embodiments described herein, RF coils are disclosed that generate concentric field patterns by using multiple parallel-fed coils. Splitting the coil into multiple sections of parallel connected coils allows for asymmetry in the azimuthal direction to repeat periodically at each split, such that the overall field variation is reduced on spatial average.
Additionally, each split may have a length that is shorter or longer than one full length. For example, a split can have a half turn, one full turn, 1.5 turns, and so on, such that the base coil can replicate itself if rotated around its axis. For example, the coil rotates 180 degrees if replicated by 2, 120 degrees if replicated by 3, 90 degrees if replicated by 4, etc.
In
Configuration 430 is illustrated in
In operation, current enters coil 1 along path 433 or RFin, illustrated with an arrow going down into the coil. The current flows through coil 1 and then comes up along the right side of the figure on path 434. Current then travels along path 435 and 436 and down into coil 2. Current flows through coil 2 and then up through path 437 shown on the left side of the figure.
Meanwhile, current is also flowing through coils 3 and 4, which are in parallel to coils 1 and 2. Current flows down path 438 into coil 3. After flowing through coil 3, current flow up through path 439. The current then flows down across path 440 and into coil 4 via path 441. Finally, current flows out of coil 4 via path 442 or RFout.
In operation, current enters coil 1 along path 451 or RFin, illustrated with an arrow going down into the coil. The current flows through coil 1 and then comes up along the right side of the figure on path 452. Current then travels along path 453 and 454 and down into coil 2. Current flows through coil 2 and then up through path 455 shown on the left side of the figure.
Meanwhile, current is also flowing through coils 3 and 4, which are in parallel to coils 1 and 2. Current flows down path 456 into coil 3. After flowing through coil 3, current flow up through path 457. The current then flows into coil 4 via path 458. Finally, current flows out of coil 4 via path 459 or RFout.
After leaving coil 2, current flows along path 466 and down path 467 to coil 3. Current flows through the 1.5 turns of coil 3 and then up path 468 along the right edge of the figure, and across path 469. Then current flows down path 470 to coil 4. The current flows through the 1.5 turns of coil 4 and out of coil 4 via path 471 (RFout).
Configuration 480 is illustrated in
After leaving coil 2, current flows along path 486 and down path 487 to coil 3. Current flows through the 1.5 turns of coil 3 and then up path 488, and across path 489. Then current flows down path 490 to coil 4. The current flows through the 1.5 turns of coil 4 and out of coil 4 via path 491 (RFout).
As described above, the four coils illustrated in the embodiments of
The values for the set of capacitors 508, 510, and 512 are affected by the coil load impedance. Increasingly higher values of the capacitors are utilized for lower resistance and lower inductance values. The precise resistance and inductance values are affected by the individual recursive coils 504 and the way the coils 504 are connected, either in serial, parallel, or a combination of such connections as described above. In general, coil resistance is reduced when the coils are connected in parallel and increases when connected in series, with a similar effect for the inductance.
The values for the set of capacitors 508, 510, and 512 are also affected by the RF frequency. Typical frequency values are 350 kHz, 2 MHz, 13 MHz, 13.56 MHz, 25 MHz, and 60 MHz. Any other suitable values for the frequency may be used in embodiments described herein.
The series resistance and inductance of the coils 504 affect the voltage and current delivered to the coils and the power coupled to the plasma. Generally, the series resistance controls the current and the inductance controls the voltage of coils 504. The resulting voltage and current of coils 504 place limits on the capacitors, and the voltage and current ratings of the capacitors are used in the impedance matching network 500 for a given delivered power specification, as well as the power loss inherited from the matching network.
Described herein is apparatus and methods of precisely measuring the coil load impedance with the plasma load. A pair of identical RF voltage and current sensors (sensors 514 and 516) are placed at the power input and output ends of the coils 504 to dynamically measure the voltage and current waveform in real time, after calibrating the sensors 514 and 516 with a known voltage and current generated by running a known power into a short circuit by-passing strap and then into a 50 Ohm dummy load. Sensor 514 is referred to as the RFin sensor and sensor 516 is referred to as the RFout or the return sensor. The by-passing RF strap, if properly designed, generates no reflected power toward the 50 Ohm RF generator and carries the known voltage and current going through both sensors 514 and 516. The sensors 514 and 516 would then see the voltage and current generated by the coils 504 with the plasma load at the power input and output end, and would be used to calculate the load impedance in real time.
Magnetic field distribution of the recursive coils configuration is dependent on the distance away from the coils. The most uniform magnetic field positions, in some embodiments, may not be close or far away from the coils, but in a “predetermined spot or spots forming a range for the best field uniformity. In a similar fashion, the best uniformity for plasma density may also occur at a sweet spot or spots, and a substrate motion system may be used to find such spots. Therefore a vertical motion mechanism can be used in some embodiments to find the optimal uniformity for deposition, etch, and treatment results.
In another aspect of certain embodiments, several groups of recursive coils, each group driven by a separate RF matching network and generator, are used to generate a favorable overlay from each of the recursive coil groups that will further optimize the plasma uniformity. Multiple groups of recursive coils may be used to dynamically tune the plasma center-to-edge profile by controlling the power delivered to each of the recursive coil groups.
In some embodiments, an electrostatic chuck (ESC) uses a Johnson-Rahbek ESC that operates in the temperature range of about 100° C. to about 700° C. for thin film deposition, etch, and treatment applications. The operating temperature may be controlled in closed loop based upon the real-time temperature measurements at a given time, or over a time period in which the operating temperature is substantially consistent. The operating temperature may also change to follow a predefined pattern in some embodiments. The temperature variation across the surface of the ESC is substantially small, for example less than 10% with respect to the mean operating temperature.
In some embodiments, the ESC may incorporate one or more embedded electrodes forming closed loop electrical circuitry to provide opposite charge polarity between the back side of the substrate and the top surface of the ESC. The closed loop may include a plasma sustained between the substrate and the conductive walls that contain the ESC itself as well as other supporting parts.
In some embodiments, the ESC is composed of a bulk dielectric material of appropriate thermal, mechanical, and electrical properties to provide superior chucking performance. The bulk dielectric material may comprise primarily aluminum nitride sintered under greater than 1000° C., forming a body of the ESC of predefined geometry. The ESC body may be machined and polished to comply with the predefined geometry and surface conditions. In particular to the electrical properties, the volume resistivity of the dielectric materials is controlled to fall in the range of about 1×107 ohm-cm to about 1×1016 ohm-cm, depending upon the operating temperature. A lower level of the volume resistivity enables electrical charge migration from the embedded chucking electrode towards the top surface of the ESC so that the surface charge may induce the same amount of opposite polarity charge on the back side of the substrate. The opposite polarity charges can be sustained against discharging so as to generate continuous Coulombic attraction forces that clamp the substrate against the ESC.
In some embodiments, the ESC may incorporate embedded heater elements forming a specific pattern, or several specific patterns occupying different zones inside the ESC body. The heater elements may be powered with one or multiple DC power supplies or powered directly using the AC lines.
In some embodiments, the ESC may incorporate a network of electrical protection circuitry to protect against potential harm due to radio frequency and lower frequency voltage and current that may be present near or coupled from elsewhere to the ESC. The protection circuitry may consist of fuses, switches, discharge paths to ground, current limiting devices, voltage limiting devices, and filtering devices to achieve sufficient attenuation of any potentially harmful voltage and current that may be distributed within one frequency exclusively, or spreading across a broad frequency spectrum from DC, AC line frequencies, RF frequencies, up to the VHF frequencies.
In some embodiments, the top surface of the ESC may include surface contact features forming a uniform or non-uniform pattern upon clamping. The pattern may present to the back side of the substrate as full coverage or partial coverage of the entire area of the back side of the substrate. The contacting surface of the pattern may have micro roughness as a result of machining and polishing, and may contain a coating of substantially the same material as the ESC body, or different materials, of the appropriate thickness. The surface contact features may be in the form of distinct islands, or mesa structures having a top surface configured to be in contact with the substrate back side, with either identical or different shapes of the islands, and distributed in either uniform density or non-uniform density across the ESC surface. The top surface may also contain blocking features whose top surface is not in contact with the substrate during processing, and may be elevated to a comparable level or higher than the substrate level to prevent undesired substrate movement during substrate processing, or prior to the substrate being chucked. The blocking features may be equally spaced apart around the circumference of the ESC body, or may be extended into a continuous, ring type of structure that may be detachable to the ESC.
In an application that chucks the substrate without the plasma acting as the return circuit, embodiments herein include a method of implementing bipolar e-chucking of the Johnsen-Rahbek type where more than one chucking electrode is embedded in aluminum nitride ceramic heaters. The minimum number of the embedded electrodes is two, one for the positive charges and one for the negative charges. Between the two electrodes a complete DC circuit with return is formed to provide constant charging to the respective electrodes. The electrodes may comprise multiple pieces of any particular pattern or shape. For example, an electrode may be comprised of two halves, interdigital, serpentine, or segmented in the radial or azimuthal direction as desired to provide uniformity.
Upon applying to and between the electrodes, Coulombic attraction between the positive and the negative electrode can generate sufficient chucking force to keep the substrate attached to the ceramic heater surface. De-chuck occurs after removing the applied voltage, while the remaining charge will deplete through the ceramic material that is semi-conductive under high temperature.
While the foregoing is directed to embodiments of the present disclosure, other and further embodiments of the disclosure may be devised without departing from the basic scope thereof, and the scope thereof is determined by the claims that follow.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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201941000851 | Jan 2019 | IN | national |