Patents Assigned to Applied Materials, Inc.
  • Patent number: 11968856
    Abstract: Exemplary subpixel structures include a directional light-emitting diode structure characterized by a full-width-half-maximum (FWHM) of emitted light having a divergence angle of less than or about 10°. The subpixel structure further includes a lens positioned a first distance from the light-emitting diode structure, where the lens is shaped to focus the emitted light from the light-emitting diode structure. The subpixel structure still further includes a patterned light absorption barrier positioned a second distance from the lens. The patterned light absorption barrier defines an opening in the barrier, and the focal point of the light focused by the lens is positioned within the opening. The subpixels structures may be incorporated into a pixel structure, and pixel structures may be incorporated into a display that is free of a polarizer layer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 4, 2021
    Date of Patent: April 23, 2024
    Assignee: Applied Materials, Inc.
    Inventors: Chung-Chih Wu, Po-Jui Chen, Hoang Yan Lin, Guo-Dong Su, Wei-Kai Lee, Chi-Jui Chang, Wan-Yu Lin, Byung Sung Kwak, Robert Jan Visser
  • Patent number: 11965103
    Abstract: A formulation, system, and method for additive manufacturing of a polishing pad. The formulation includes monomer, dispersant, and nanoparticles. A method of preparing the formulation includes adding a dispersant that is a polyester derivative to monomer, adding metal-oxide nanoparticles to the monomer, and subjecting the monomer having the nanoparticles and dispersant to sonication to disperse the nanoparticles in the monomer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 18, 2020
    Date of Patent: April 23, 2024
    Assignee: Applied Materials, Inc.
    Inventors: Yingdong Luo, Sivapackia Ganapathiappan, Ashwin Murugappan Chockalingam, Daihua Zhang, Uma Sridhar, Daniel Redfield, Rajeev Bajaj, Nag B. Patibandla, Hou T. Ng, Sudhakar Madhusoodhanan
  • Patent number: 11967516
    Abstract: Embodiments of the disclosure include methods and apparatus for electrostatically coupling a mask to a substrate support in a deposition chamber. In one embodiment, a substrate support is disclosed that includes a substrate receiving surface, a recessed portion disposed about a periphery of the substrate receiving surface, an electrostatic chuck disposed below the substrate receiving surface, and a plurality of compressible buttons disposed within a respective opening formed in the recessed portion that form an electrical circuit with the electrostatic chuck.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 17, 2020
    Date of Patent: April 23, 2024
    Assignee: Applied Materials, Inc.
    Inventors: Jrjyan Jerry Chen, Sanjay D. Yadav, Tae Kyung Won, Jun Li, Shouqian Shao, Surendra Kanimihally Setty
  • Patent number: 11967483
    Abstract: Embodiments provided herein generally include apparatus, plasma processing systems and methods for generation of a waveform for plasma processing of a substrate in a processing chamber. One embodiment includes a waveform generator having a voltage source selectively coupled to an output node, where the output node is configured to be coupled to an electrode disposed within a processing chamber, and where the output node is selectively coupled to a ground node. The waveform generator may also include a radio frequency (RF) signal generator, and a first filter coupled between the RF signal generator and the output node.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 2, 2021
    Date of Patent: April 23, 2024
    Assignee: Applied Materials, Inc.
    Inventors: Yang Yang, Yue Guo, Kartik Ramaswamy
  • Patent number: 11966212
    Abstract: A method of processing a substrate includes subjecting a substrate to processing that modifies a thickness of an outer layer of the substrate, measuring a spectrum of light reflected from the substrate during processing, reducing the dimensionality of the measured spectrum to generate a plurality of component values, generating a characterizing value using an artificial neural network, and determining at least one of whether to halt processing of the substrate or an adjustment for a processing parameter based on the characterizing value. The artificial neural network has a plurality of input nodes to receive the plurality of component values, an output node to output the characterizing value, and a plurality of hidden nodes connecting the input nodes to the output node.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 3, 2020
    Date of Patent: April 23, 2024
    Assignee: Applied Materials, Inc.
    Inventor: Benjamin Cherian
  • Patent number: 11967523
    Abstract: Methods for selectively depositing on metallic surfaces are disclosed. Some embodiments of the disclosure utilize a hydrocarbon having at least two functional groups selected from alkene, alkyne, ketone, alcohol, ester, or combinations thereof to form a self-assembled monolayer (SAM) on metallic surfaces.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 11, 2021
    Date of Patent: April 23, 2024
    Assignee: Applied Materials, Inc.
    Inventors: Xiangjin Xie, Kevin Kashefi
  • Patent number: 11967524
    Abstract: Exemplary methods of forming a semiconductor structure may include forming a first silicon oxide layer overlying a semiconductor substrate. The methods may include forming a first silicon layer overlying the first silicon oxide layer. The methods may include forming a silicon nitride layer overlying the first silicon layer. The methods may include forming a second silicon layer overlying the silicon nitride layer. The methods may include forming a second silicon oxide layer overlying the second silicon layer. The methods may include removing the silicon nitride layer. The methods may include removing the first silicon layer and the second silicon layer. The methods may include forming a metal layer between and contacting each of the first silicon oxide layer and the second silicon oxide layer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 4, 2020
    Date of Patent: April 23, 2024
    Assignee: Applied Materials, Inc.
    Inventors: Praket Prakash Jha, Shuchi Sunil Ojha, Jingmei Liang, Abhijit Basu Mallick, Shankar Venkataraman
  • Publication number: 20240128355
    Abstract: Semiconductor devices and methods of manufacturing the same are described. The method includes forming a source region and a drain region adjacent to a superlattice structure on a substrate. The source region and the drain region comprise a metallic silicide material. In some embodiments, a sacrificial material is first deposited and then removed to form a metallic silicide material in the source and drain region.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 11, 2023
    Publication date: April 18, 2024
    Applicant: Applied Materials, Inc.
    Inventors: Nicolas Breil, Byeong Chan Lee
  • Publication number: 20240130117
    Abstract: Disclosed herein are approaches for forming dynamic DRAM devices without trench fill voids. A method may include providing a plurality of trenches in a substrate, the plurality of trenches defining a plurality of device structures, and depositing a plurality of layers over the device structures. The layers may include a first layer over the device structures, a second layer over the first layer, and a third layer over the second layer. The method may further include forming a plurality of contact trenches through the plurality of layers to expose one or more device structures of the plurality of device structures, and directing ions into a sidewall of the trenches at a non-zero angle, wherein the ions impact the third layer without impacting the second layer. The method may further include forming a fill material within the trenches after the ions are directed into the sidewall of the trenches.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 4, 2023
    Publication date: April 18, 2024
    Applicant: Applied Materials, Inc.
    Inventors: Sipeng GU, Liang HONG, Jun-Feng LU
  • Publication number: 20240128131
    Abstract: A camera may capture reflected light from the surface of the wafer during a semiconductor process that adds or removes material from the wafer, such as an etch process. To accurately determine an endpoint for the process, a camera sampling rate and light source intensity may be optimized in the process recipe. Optimizing the light source intensity may include characterizing light intensities that will be reflected from the waiver using an image of the wafer. Pixel intensities may be used to adjust the light source intensity to compensate for more complex wafer patterns. Optimizing the camera sampling rates may include nondestructively rotating a view of the wafer and converting the sampled intensities to the frequency domain. The camera sampling rate may be increased or decreased to remove spatial noise from the image without oversampling unnecessarily. These optimized parameters may then generate a clean, repeatable trace for endpoint determination.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 14, 2022
    Publication date: April 18, 2024
    Applicant: Applied Materials, Inc.
    Inventors: Avishay Vaxman, Qintao Zhang, Jeffrey P. Koch, David P. Surdock, Wayne R. Swart, David J. Lee, Samphy Hong, Aldrin Bernard Vincent Eddy, Daniel G. Deyo
  • Publication number: 20240128052
    Abstract: An antenna assembly, comprising: an antenna; a dielectric enclosure surrounding the antenna; and a Faraday shield, disposed around the antenna, and arranged between the antenna and the dielectric enclosure, wherein the Faraday shield comprises a non-uniform opacity along an antenna axis of the antenna, wherein a first opacity of the Faraday shield at a first position along the antenna axis is greater than a second opacity of the Faraday shield at a second position along the antenna axis of the antenna.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 12, 2022
    Publication date: April 18, 2024
    Applicant: Applied Materials, Inc.
    Inventors: Costel Biloiu, Adam Calkins, Benjamin Alexandrovich, Solomon Belangedi Basame, Kevin M. Daniels
  • Patent number: 11958162
    Abstract: Embodiments of the disclosure generally provide polishing pads having a composite pad body and methods for forming the polishing pads. In one embodiment, the composite pad body includes one or more first features formed from a first material or a first composition of materials, and one or more second features formed from a second material or a second composition of materials, wherein the one or more first features and the one or more second features are formed by depositing a plurality of layers comprising the first material or first composition of materials and second material or second composition of materials.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 17, 2020
    Date of Patent: April 16, 2024
    Assignee: Applied Materials, Inc.
    Inventors: Rajeev Bajaj, Kasiraman Krishnan, Mahendra C. Orilall, Daniel Redfield, Fred C. Redeker, Nag B. Patibandla, Gregory E. Menk, Jason G. Fung, Russell Edward Perry, Robert E. Davenport
  • Patent number: 11959868
    Abstract: Embodiments disclosed herein include gas concentration sensors, and methods of using such gas concentration sensors. In an embodiment, a gas concentration sensor comprises a first electrode. In an embodiment the first electrode comprises first fingers. In an embodiment, the gas concentration sensor further comprises a second electrode. In an embodiment, the second electrode comprises second fingers that are interdigitated with the first fingers.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 3, 2021
    Date of Patent: April 16, 2024
    Assignee: Applied Materials, Inc.
    Inventors: Xiaopu Li, Kallol Bera, Yaoling Pan, Kelvin Chan, Amir Bayati, Philip Allan Kraus, Kenric T. Choi, William John Durand
  • Patent number: 11961739
    Abstract: Embodiments of the present technology include semiconductor processing methods to make boron-and-silicon-containing layers that have a changing atomic ratio of boron-to-silicon. The methods may include flowing a silicon-containing precursor into a substrate processing region of a semiconductor processing chamber, and also flowing a boron-containing precursor and molecular hydrogen (H2) into the substrate processing region of the semiconductor processing chamber. The boron-containing precursor and the H2 may be flowed at a boron-to-hydrogen flow rate ratio. The flow rate of the boron-containing precursor and the H2 may be increased while the boron-to-hydrogen flow rate ratio remains constant during the flow rate increase. The boron-and-silicon-containing layer may be deposited on a substrate, and may be characterized by a continuously increasing ratio of boron-to-silicon from a first surface in contact with the substrate to a second surface of the boron-and-silicon-containing layer furthest from the substrate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 5, 2020
    Date of Patent: April 16, 2024
    Assignee: Applied Materials, Inc.
    Inventors: Yi Yang, Krishna Nittala, Rui Cheng, Karthik Janakiraman, Diwakar Kedlaya, Zubin Huang, Aykut Aydin
  • Patent number: 11959174
    Abstract: Embodiments described herein relate to magnetic and electromagnetic systems and a method for controlling the density profile of plasma generated in a process volume of a PECVD chamber to affect deposition profile of a film on a substrate and/or facilitate chamber cleaning after processing. In one embodiment, a system is disclosed that includes a rotational magnetic housing disposed about an exterior sidewall of a chamber. The rotational magnetic housing includes a plurality of magnets coupled to a sleeve that are configured to travel in a circular path when the rotational magnetic housing is rotated around the chamber, and a plurality of shunt doors movably disposed between the chamber and the sleeve, wherein each of the shunt doors are configured to move relative to the magnets.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 22, 2020
    Date of Patent: April 16, 2024
    Assignee: Applied Materials, Inc.
    Inventors: Kallol Bera, Sathya Swaroop Ganta, Timothy Joseph Franklin, Kaushik Alayavalli, Akshay Dhanakshirur, Stephen C. Garner, Bhaskar Kumar
  • Patent number: 11959167
    Abstract: Embodiments of the invention provide processes to selectively form a cobalt layer on a copper surface over exposed dielectric surfaces. In one embodiment, a method for capping a copper surface on a substrate is provided which includes positioning a substrate within a processing chamber, wherein the substrate contains a contaminated copper surface and a dielectric surface, exposing the contaminated copper surface to a reducing agent while forming a copper surface during a pre-treatment process, exposing the substrate to a cobalt precursor gas to selectively form a cobalt capping layer over the copper surface while leaving exposed the dielectric surface during a vapor deposition process, and depositing a dielectric barrier layer over the cobalt capping layer and the dielectric surface.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 7, 2022
    Date of Patent: April 16, 2024
    Assignee: APPLIED MATERIALS, INC.
    Inventors: Sang-Ho Yu, Kevin Moraes, Seshadri Ganguli, Hua Chung, See-Eng Phan
  • Patent number: 11961030
    Abstract: A method includes receiving trace sensor data associated with a first manufacturing process of a manufacturing chamber. The method further includes processing the trace sensor data by a processing device to generate summary data associated with the trace sensor data. The method further includes generating a quality index score based on the summary data. The method further includes providing an alert to a user based on the quality index score. The alert includes an indication that the manufacturing chamber performance does not meet a first threshold.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 27, 2022
    Date of Patent: April 16, 2024
    Assignee: Applied Materials, Inc.
    Inventors: Sejune Cheon, Jeong Jin Hong, Mikyung Shim, Xiaoqun Zou, Jinkyeong Lee, Sang Hong Kim
  • Patent number: 11959169
    Abstract: A gas injector for processing a substrate includes a body having an inlet connectable to a gas source that is configured to provide a gas flow in a first direction into the inlet when processing a substrate on a substrate support disposed within a processing volume of a processing chamber, and an a gas injection channel formed in the body. The gas injection channel is in fluid communication with the inlet and configured to deliver the gas flow to an inlet of the processing chamber. The gas injection channel has a first interior surface and a second interior surface that are parallel to a second direction and a third direction. The second and third directions are misaligned with a center of the substrate, and are at an angle to the first direction towards a first edge of the substrate support.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 30, 2022
    Date of Patent: April 16, 2024
    Assignee: APPLIED MATERIALS, INC.
    Inventors: Eric Kihara Shono, Vishwas Kumar Pandey, Christopher S. Olsen, Kartik Shah, Hansel Lo, Tobin Kaufman-Osborn, Rene George, Lara Hawrylchak, Erika Hansen
  • Patent number: 11958164
    Abstract: A two part retaining ring is described. A rigid upper portion has an annular recess along its inner diameter. An annular wearable lower portion has an inner diameter, an annular extension defined by the inner diameter and a vertical wall that is perpendicular to a surface of the second portion and opposite to the inner diameter. The annular extension fits into the annular recess of the annular first portion. A bonding material is on the vertical wall of the annular second portion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 6, 2018
    Date of Patent: April 16, 2024
    Assignee: Applied Materials, Inc.
    Inventors: Shaun Van Der Veen, Steven M. Zuniga
  • Patent number: 11961723
    Abstract: Embodiments of a process kit are provided herein. In some embodiments, a process kit includes a deposition ring configured to be disposed on a substrate support, the deposition ring including an annular band configured to rest on a lower ledge of the substrate support, the annular band having an upper surface and a lower surface, the lower surface including a step between a radially inner portion and a radially outer portion; an inner lip extending upwards from the upper surface of the annular band and adjacent an inner surface of the annular band, wherein a depth between an upper surface of the annular band and a horizontal portion of the upper surface of the inner lip is between about 6.0 mm and about 12.0 mm; a channel disposed radially outward of and beneath the annular band; and an outer lip extending upwardly and disposed radially outward of the channel.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 17, 2018
    Date of Patent: April 16, 2024
    Assignee: APPLIED MATERIALS, INC.
    Inventors: David Gunther, Cheng-Hsiung Tsai, Kirankumar Neelasandra Savandaiah