Patents Represented by Attorney, Agent or Law Firm Thomason, Moser & Sherida
  • Pulsed-mode RF bias for sidewall coverage improvement
    Patent number: 6344419
    Abstract: The present invention provides a method and apparatus for achieving conformal step coverage of one or more materials on a substrate using sputtered ionized material. A target provides a source of material to be sputtered by a plasma and then ionized by an inductive coil, thereby producing electrons and ions. In one embodiment, one or both of the signals to the substrate and the target are modulated. Preferably, the modulated signal to the substrate includes a negative voltage portion and a zero voltage portion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 3, 1999
    Date of Patent: February 5, 2002
    Assignee: Applied Materials, Inc.
    Inventors: John Forster, Praburam Gopalraja, Bradley O. Stimson, Liubo Hong