Wafer processing apparatus having independently controllable energy sources
US5138973A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Dec 5, 1988 |
| Grant date | Aug 18, 1992 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Dec 5, 2008 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC C)Chemistry; Metallurgy
- CPC primaryC23C16/54
- WIPO fieldSurface technology, coating
- WIPO sectorChemistry
Abstract
A processing apparatus and method wherein a wafer is exposed to activated species generated by a first plasma which is separate from the wafer, but is in the process gas flow stream upstream of the wafer, and is also exposed to plasma bombardment generated by a second plasma which has a dark space which substantially adjoins the surface of the wafer. The in situ plasma is relatively low-power, so that the remote plasma can generate activated species, and therefore the in situ plasma power level can be adjusted to optimize the plasma bombardment. Ultraviolet light to illuminate the face of a wafer being processed is generated by a plasma which is within the vacuum chamber but is remote from the face of the wafer and controlled independent of the in situ plasma. It is useful to design the gas flow system such that the ultraviolet-generating plasma has its own gas feed, and the reaction products from the ultraviolet-generating plasma do not substantially flow or diffuse to the wafer face. A transparent isolator is usefully included between the ultraviolet plasma space and the processing space near the wafer face, so that the ultraviolet plasma can be operated at a vacuum level slightl…
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.