Coating apparatus – Gas or vapor deposition – With treating means
Reexamination Certificate
1998-07-03
2001-02-27
Dang, Thi (Department: 1763)
Coating apparatus
Gas or vapor deposition
With treating means
C118S7230IR, C118S7230IR
Reexamination Certificate
active
06192827
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to the construction of vacuum processing chambers used in processing of substrates for deposition and removal of materials. A particular chamber configuration using a specialized liner is disclosed.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
In general, vacuum processing chambers for processing substrates include a substrate transfer opening, commonly known as a slit valve. A slit passage (or passageway) associated with the slit valve is commonly used to transfer substrates into and out of the processing chamber between processing cycles. Commonly a robot extends from a cluster tool through a slit valve opening through the slit valve passage to deliver or remove a substrate to be processed to or from a processing location in the vacuum processing chamber. Once the substrate transfer at the substrate processing location is complete, the robot is retracted through the slit valve opening and back into the cluster tool. The slit valve opening is commonly sealed at an outside surface of the chamber body by a blocking plate which moves over the slit valve opening, in a coordinated motion with the movement of the robot and substrate into and out of the processing chamber. Plasma is often used in a processing chamber to enhance the process being performed. In a typical arrangement of a vacuum processing chamber, where a plasma is utilized to initiate or enhance process activity, the processing chamber and all internal services exposed to the plasma and the chemical by products are affected and can become coated with chemical byproducts of the process being performed.
Typically, the walls of the processing chamber are at least several inches thick to provide a sturdy chamber wall for processing activity. Thus, the opening in the side of the processing chamber which allows substrates to be transferred into and out of the chamber, the slit valve passage, presents a large tunnel-like opening which creates a geometric discontinuity at the inside surface of the processing chamber. The presence of a large cavity hole (the opening of the substrate transfer passage) adjacent to the space of the central processing location allows the plasma envelope which is present during plasma processing at the substrate processing location to expand into the cavity of the slit valve passage. The expansion of the plasma envelope into the cavity of the slit valve passage creates a distortion in the portion of the plasma situated adjacent to the cavity such that the plasma flux over the substrate in the area near the slit valve passage is affected, such that the deposition or etch taking place in that area is not uniform with other areas of the substrate where such distortion is not present.
Further, the internal surfaces of the slit valve passage, including the inside (process chamber facing side) of the slit valve door, are also subject to deposition and accumulation from the chemical process taking place in the chamber. Deposition on the inside surfaces of the slit valve passage and the slit valve door, require that any cleaning of the chamber (whether wet or dry) extend to include such surfaces. A thorough cleaning of the slit valve door requires that it also be removed so that the full area of the door all the way to the sealing limit (vacuum containment limit to vacuum seal the opening) be cleaned. In most instances, door cleaning requires that the cluster tool be removed from service so that cleaning of one chamber does not cause potential contaminants from one chamber serviced by the cluster tool to be carried over into a second chamber serviced by the same cluster tool.
The heavy duty sturdy construction of the processing chamber body and its liners finds no ready solution to the problem of the open cavity resulting from the slit valve passageway. Until now there has been no solution to overcome these anomalies of prior art devices, in that all prior doors are constructed in a configuration that gives rise to particles in the processing chamber.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A configuration according to the present invention overcomes the drawbacks of the prior art by providing an internal slit passage door which is cleverly constructed to improve the plasma uniformity over the substrate processing location and prevent deposition of chemical byproducts (such as polymers) in the slit valve passage. This second “internal” slit passage door is constructed as part of the chamber liner assembly so that when the chamber liner is replaced or a wet clean of the chamber liner is performed, the door is replaced and cleaned at the same time.
One configuration according to the invention includes a chamber body enclosing a substrate processing location space. The chamber body includes a slit passage extending from an outside surface of the body to the substrate processing location space, where only one substrate is processed at a time within a vacuum containment limit the slit passage being sized to pass a substrate therethrough. An outer slit valve door is positioned near the outside of the substrate transfer passage to seal the outer end of the slit passage to the chamber. An inner slit passage door is positioned in an inner portion of the substrate transfer passage to block the substrate transfer slit passage at allocation near or adjacent to the substrate processing location.
Another configuration according to the invention can be defined with respect to a liner surrounding a substrate processing location in the vacuum processing chamber where the liner includes a substrate transfer opening therethrough. A liner door is selectively movable from an open position where the substrate to be processed can be passed, to a closed position where the liner door is located in close proximity to, but not touching the surrounding liner around the substrate transfer opening such that the edges of the door overlap edges of the substrate transfer opening. The overlap should preferably be approximately a half inch. The gap between the door in its fully closed position and the surrounding liner (the surface adjacent an opening of the substrate transfer passage) is in the range of several tens of thousands of an inch (several times 0.254 mm) all around, but the door never touches the liner during operation. The door is curved to match the configuration of a curved liner, for example, a circular liner configuration. The movement of the door is vertical and selectively supported and controlled through a series of bellows which act as the vacuum limit of the processing chamber. The vertical motion limit of the door is precisely set by a set of soft stops which prevent the door from touching the liner.
To reduce the chances for particle contamination, the bottom and top portions of the door are beveled to matched opposed beveled portions of the inner liner. With such a configuration the buildup of deposited material on the inner surface of the door will not interfere with raising the door, as the clearance between the door and liner will increase with each incremental distance that the door is moved from its fully closed position towards an open position.
The invention further includes a method for reducing the buildup of process byproducts on the surfaces of a substrate transfer passage and for improving the uniformity of plasma in a vacuum processing chamber utilizing the steps of: providing a movable door to selectively block the substrate transfer passage at a location adjacent to the substrate processing location in the vacuum processing chamber, and moving the movable door out of the substrate transfer passage when a substrate is being transferred to or from the substrate processing location. Another method according to the invention provides for operating a plasma chamber having a wafer transfer passageway between a substrate processing location and an outside surface of said chamber, including the steps of: (1) when plasma processing substrates: (1a) positioning a wafer transfer passageway outer door to vacuum seal the transfer passageway; and (1b) positioning a wafer transfer passageway inner doo
Carducci James D.
Lee Evans Y.
Luscher Paul E.
Salimian Siamak
Shan Homgqing
Applied Materials Inc.
Dang Thi
Peters Verny Jones Biksa
Zervigon Rudy
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