Patent · US Expired

Method and apparatus for producing low pressure planar plasma using a coil with its axis parallel to the surface of a coupling window

US5277751A · kind A · utility

189Cited by
5References
14Claims
0Family size

Inventor

Key dates

Filing dateJun 18, 1992
Grant dateJan 11, 1994
Priority date
Expiry dateJun 18, 2012

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
  • CPC primaryH01J37/321
  • WIPO fieldElectrical machinery, apparatus, energy
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

An embodiment of the present invention is a plasma system that comprises a main coil with a flattened side and a capacitor in parallel that form a tuned circuit with radio frequency energy coupled to it through a radio frequency match by a generator. A process chamber with a quartz window and containing a low pressure gas is adjacent to the flat side of the main coil and a two-dimensional planar plasma in the shape of a circular disk is ignited and maintained by a high rate of change of the current flowing in the main coil. An electrode positioned in the chamber opposite to the window is used for attaching a semiconductor wafer for processing and a potential applied to the electrode independently controls the ion energy of ions attracted and accelerated out of the plasma.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.