Abstract: A method of depositing a carbon layer on a workpiece includes placing the workpiece in a reactor chamber, introducing a carbon-containing process gas into the chamber, generating a reentrant toroidal RF plasma current in a reentrant path that includes a process zone overlying the workpiece by coupling plasma RF source power to an external portion of the reentrant path, and coupling RF plasma bias power or bias voltage to the workpiece.

Abstract: A plasma immersion ion implantation reactor for ion implanting a species into a surface layer of a workpiece includes an enclosure which has a side wall and a ceiling defining a chamber and a workpiece support pedestal within the chamber having a workpiece support surface facing the ceiling and defining a process region extending generally across the wafer support pedestal and confined laterally by the side wall and axially between the workpiece support pedestal and the ceiling. The enclosure has at least a first pair of openings at generally opposite sides of the process region and a first hollow conduit outside of the chamber having first and second ends connected to respective ones of the first pair of openings, so as to provide a first reentrant path extending through the conduit and across said process region.

Abstract: A lift pin assembly for use in a reactor for processing a workpiece includes plural lift pins extending generally parallel with a lift direction, each of the plural lift pins having a top end for supporting a workpiece and a bottom end. A lift table faces the bottom ends of the pins and is translatable in a direction generally parallel with the lift direction. A small force detector senses a force exerted by the lift pins that is sufficiently large to indicate a chucked wafer and sufficiently small to avoid dechucking a wafer A large force detector senses a force exerted by the lift pins in a range sufficient to de-chuck the wafer.

Abstract: A valve system having high maximum gas flow rate and fine control of gas flow rate, includes a valve housing for blocking gas flow through a gas flow path, a large area opening through said housing having a first arcuate side wall and a small area opening through said housing having a second arcuate side wall, and respective large area and small area rotatable valve flaps in said large area and small area openings, respectively, and having arcuate edges congruent with said first and second arcuate side walls, respectively and defining therebetween respective first and second valve gaps. The first and second valve gaps are sufficiently small to block flow of a gas on one side of said valve housing up to a predetermined pressure limit, thereby obviating any need for O-rings.

Abstract: A method of forming semiconductor junctions in a semiconductor material of a workpiece includes ion implanting dopant impurities in selected regions of the semiconductor material, introducing an optical absorber material precursor gas into a chamber containing the workpiece, generating an RF oscillating toroidal plasma current in a reentrant path that includes a process zone overlying the workpiece by applying RF source power, so as to deposit a layer of an optical absorber material on the workpiece, and optically annealing the workpiece so as to activate dopant impurities in the semiconductor material.

Abstract: A method of performing plasma immersion ion implantation on a workpiece in a plasma reactor chamber, includes placing the workpiece on a workpiece support in the chamber, controlling a temperature of the wafer support near a constant level, performing plasma immersion ion implantation on the workpiece by introducing an implant species precursor gas into the chamber and generating a plasma while minimizing deposition and minimizing etching by holding the temperature of the workpiece within a temperature range that is above a workpiece deposition threshold temperature and below a workpiece etch threshold temperature.

Abstract: A method of ion implantation comprises the steps of: providing a semiconductor substrate; performing a pre-amorphisation implant in the semiconductor substrate in a direction of implant at an angle in the range of 20-60° to a normal to a surface of the semiconductor substrate, and performing an implant of a dopant in the semiconductor substrate to provide a shallow junction. In a feature of the invention, the method further comprises performing an implant of a defect trapping element in the semiconductor substrate and the pre-amorphisation implant step is performed at a first implant energy and the implant of a defect trapping element is performed at a second implant energy, the ratio of the first implant energy to the second implant energy being in the range of 10-40%.

Abstract: A method for implanting ions in a surface layer of a workpiece includes placing the workpiece on a workpiece support in a chamber with the surface layer being in facing relationship with a ceiling of the chamber, thereby defining a processing zone between the workpiece and the ceiling, and introducing into the chamber a process gas including the species to be implanted in the surface layer of the workpiece. The method includes generating from the process gas a plasma by capacitively coupling RF source power across the workpiece support and the ceiling or the sidewall from an RF source power generator. The method further includes applying an RF bias from an RF bias generator to the workpiece support.

Abstract: A method of measuring ion dose in a plasma immersion ion implantation reactor during ion implantation of a selected species into a workpiece includes placing the workpiece on a pedestal in the reactor and feeding into the reactor a process gas comprising a species to be implanted into the workpiece, and then coupling RF plasma source power to a plasma in the reactor. It further includes coupling RF bias power to the workpiece by an RF bias power generator that is coupled to the workpiece through a bias feedpoint of the reactor and measuring RF current at the feedpoint to generate a current-related value, and then integrating the current-related over time to produce an ion implantation dose-related value.

Abstract: A method of processing a workpiece includes placing the workpiece on a workpiece support pedestal in a main chamber with a gas distribution showerhead, introducing a process gas into a remote plasma source chamber and generating a plasma in the remote plasma source chamber, transporting plasma-generated species from the remote plasma source chamber to the gas distribution showerhead so as to distribute the plasma-generated species into the main chamber through the gas distribution showerhead, and applying plasma RF power into the main chamber.

Abstract: A method of ion implanting a species in a workpiece to a selected ion implantation profile depth includes placing a workpiece having a semiconductor material on an electrostatic chuck in or near a processing region of a plasma reactor chamber and applying a chucking voltage to the electrostatic chuck. The method further includes introducing into the chamber a precursor gas including a species to be ion implanted in the workpiece and applying an RF bias to the electrostatic chuck, the RF bias having a bias level corresponding to the ion implantation profile depth.

Abstract: A method of electrostatically chucking a wafer while removing heat from the wafer in a plasma reactor includes providing a polished generally continuous surface on a puck, placing the wafer on the polished surface of the puck and cooling the puck. A chucking voltage is applied to an electrode within the puck to electrostatically pull the wafer onto the surface of the puck with sufficient force to attain a selected heat transfer coefficient between contacting surfaces of the puck and wafer.

Abstract: A plasma immersion ion implantation process for implanting a selected species at a desired ion implantation depth profile in a workpiece is carried out in a reactor chamber having a set of plural parallel ion shower grids that divide the chamber into an upper ion generation region and a lower process region, each of the ion shower grids having plural orifices in mutual registration from grid to grid, the plural orifices oriented in a non-parallel direction relative to a surface plane of the respective ion shower grid. The process includes placing a workpiece in the process region, the workpiece having a workpiece surface generally facing the surface plane of the closest one of the plural ion shower grids, and furnishing the selected species into the ion generation region. The process further includes evacuating the process region, and applying plasma source power to generate a plasma of the selected species in the ion generation region.

Abstract: A plasma immersion ion implantation process for implanting a selected species at a desired ion implantation depth profile in a workpiece is carried out in a reactor chamber with an ion shower grid that divides the chamber into an upper ion generation region and a lower process region, the ion shower grid having plural elongate orifices oriented in a non-parallel direction relative to a surface plane of the ion shower grid. The process includes placing a workpiece in the process region, the workpiece having a workpiece surface generally facing the surface plane of the ion shower grid, and furnishing the selected species into the ion generation region in gaseous, molecular or atomic form and evacuating the process region at an evacuation rate sufficient to create a pressure drop across the ion shower grid from the ion generation region to the process region of about a factor of at least four.

Abstract: A plasma reactor for performing plasma immersion ion implantation, dopant deposition or surface material enhancement, includes a vacuum chamber, a wafer support pedestal or electrostatic chuck having an insulated electrode underlying a wafer support surface within said chamber, a chucking voltage source coupled to the insulated electrode, a thermal sink coupled to the electrostatic chuck, an RF bias power generator coupled to said electrostatic chuck, and a process gas supply and gas inlet ports coupled to the chamber and coupled to the gas supply. The process gas supply contains either (a) a gas containing a dopant species to be ion implanted in a semiconductive material of workpiece, (b) a gas containing a dopant species to be deposited on a surface of a semiconductive material of a workpiece, or (c) a gas containing a material enhancement species to be ion implanted into a workpiece.

Abstract: A plasma reactor for processing a semiconductor workpiece includes a reactor chamber and an ion shower grid dividing the chamber into an upper ion generation region and a lower process region, the ion shower grid having plural orifices oriented in a non-parallel direction relative to a surface plane of the grid. A workpiece support in the process region has a workpiece support surface in facing relationship to the ion shower grid. The reactor further includes a reactive species source for introducing into the ion generation region a chemical vapor deposition precursor species, a vacuum pump coupled to the process region, a plasma source power applicator for generating a plasma in the ion generation region and a grid potential source coupled to the ion shower grid.

Abstract: A reactive sputter deposition process is carried out in a reactor chamber having a set of plural parallel ion shower grids that divide the chamber into an upper ion generation region and a lower process region, each of the ion shower grids having plural orifices in mutual registration from grid to grid, each orifice being oriented in a non-parallel direction relative to a surface plane of the respective grid. A workpiece is placed in the process region, the workpiece having a workpiece surface generally facing the surface plane of nearest one of the ion shower grids.

Abstract: A reactive sputter deposition process is carried out in a reactor chamber having an ion shower grid that divides the chamber into an upper ion generation region and a lower process region, the ion shower grid having a plural orifices oriented in a non-parallel direction relative to a surface plane of the ion shower grid. A workpiece is placed in the process region, the workpiece having a workpiece surface generally facing the surface plane of the ion shower grid. The process includes sputtering deposition precursor species from a sputter target comprising a semiconductor species in the ion generation region, applying RF plasma source power to the ion generation region so as to generate a plasma from deposition precursor species sputtered from the target, applying a grid potential to the ion shower grid to create a flux of ions through the grid, and furnishing a gas species into the reactor chamber for combining with the semiconductor atoms to form molecules that deposit on the workpiece surface.

Abstract: A plasma reactor for processing a semiconductor workpiece includes a reactor chamber and a set of plural parallel ion shower grids that divide the chamber into an upper ion generation region and a lower reactor region, each of the ion shower grids having plural orifices in mutual registration from grid to grid, each orifice being oriented in a non-parallel direction relative to a surface plane of the respective ion shower grid. A workpiece support in the process region faces the lowermost one of the ion shower grids. A reactive species source furnishes into the ion generation region a chemical vapor deposition precursor species. The reactor further includes a vacuum pump coupled to the reactor region, a plasma source power applicator for generating a plasma in the ion generation region and a grid potential source coupled to the set of ion shower grids.

Abstract: A chemical vapor deposition process is carried out in a reactor chamber having a set of plural parallel ion shower grids that divide the chamber into an upper ion generation region and a lower process region, each of the ion shower grids having plural orifices in mutual registration from grid to grid, each orifice being oriented in a non-parallel direction relative to a surface plane of the respective ion shower grid. A workpiece is placed in the process region, so that a workpiece surface of the workpiece is generally facing a surface plane of the nearest one of the ion shower grids, and a gas mixture comprising a deposition precursor species is furnished into the ion generation region. The process region is evacuated at an evacuation rate sufficient to create a pressure drop across the plural ion shower grids between the ion generation and process regions whereby the pressure in the ion generation region is several times the pressure in the process region.