Patents Assigned to Applied Material
  • Publication number: 20250037974
    Abstract: Disclosed herein is a processing system. The processing system has an upper chamber body and a lower chamber body defining a processing environment. An upper heater is moveably disposed in the upper chamber body. The upper heater has a moveable support and an upper step formed along an outer perimeter. A lower showerhead is fixedly disposed in the lower chamber body. The lower showerhead includes a top surface configured to support a substrate, a lower step disposed along an outer perimeter wherein the substrate is configured to extend from the top surface partially over the lower step. Lift pins are disposed in the lower showerhead and configured to extend through the top surface and support the substrate thereon. Gas holes are disposed in a first zone along the top surface and a second zone on the step and configured to independently flow both a process and non-process gas.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 27, 2023
    Publication date: January 30, 2025
    Applicant: Applied Materials, Inc.
    Inventors: Dmitry LUBOMIRSKY, Junghoon KIM, Hyun Joo LEE, Pranav Vijay GADRE, Adib KHAN, Nithin Thomas ALEX, Douglas A. BUCHBERGER, Jr., Qiwei LIANG, Ellie Y. YIEH, Shekhar ATHANI
  • Publication number: 20250037975
    Abstract: A flow apparatus and process chamber having the same are described herein. In one example, flow apparatus for use in semiconductor processing comprises an inject assembly and an inductive heater coupled to the inject assembly. The inject assembly comprises an inject body, a first gas inlet configured to flow a first gas through the inject body, and a plurality of flow channels disposed in the inject body, the plurality of flow channels coupled to the first gas inlet. The inductive heater is configured to heat a gas and comprises a heater housing, a graphite rod disposed in the heater housing, the graphite rod having a distal end and proximate end, an inductive coil disposed around the graphite rod, and a second gas inlet configured to flow a second gas between the heater housing and a graphite rod.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 28, 2023
    Publication date: January 30, 2025
    Applicant: Applied Materials, Inc.
    Inventors: Zhepeng CONG, Ashur J. ATANOS, Nimrod SMITH, Khokan C. PAUL, Tao SHENG
  • Publication number: 20250038053
    Abstract: A method of analyzing completion of seasoning of semiconductor processing chambers may include training a model using seasoning cycle characteristics data obtained from existing semiconductor processing chambers. A supervised learning process may label the characteristics data based on expert determined identify seasoning completion and may optionally label the characteristics data based on chamber open event information or preventive maintenance information. The trained model may be used to characterize another chamber during seasoning to determine whether seasoning is completed and/or when or how long or how many seasoning cycles may be performed until seasoning is complete.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 28, 2023
    Publication date: January 30, 2025
    Applicant: Applied Materials, Inc.
    Inventors: Zhepeng Cong, Tao Sheng, Ala Moradian
  • Publication number: 20250037996
    Abstract: Exemplary methods of semiconductor processing may include providing a silicon-containing precursor to a processing region of a semiconductor processing chamber. A substrate may be disposed within the processing region of the semiconductor processing chamber. The methods may include depositing a silicon-containing material on the substrate. The silicon-containing material may extend within the one or more recessed features along the substrate and a seam or void may be defined by the silicon-containing material within at least one of the one or more recessed features along the substrate. The methods may also include treating the silicon-containing material with a hydrogen-containing gas, such as plasma effluents of the hydrogen-containing gas, which may cause a size of the seam or void to be reduced.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 11, 2024
    Publication date: January 30, 2025
    Applicant: Applied Materials, Inc.
    Inventors: Qinghua Zhao, Rui Cheng, Ruiyun Huang, Dong Hyung Lee, Aykut Aydin, Karthik Janakiraman
  • Publication number: 20250037980
    Abstract: A processing chamber and port adaptor are provided. Processing chambers include a chamber body having a lid coupled to the first end of the chamber body, a gas ring adjacent the first end of the chamber body, and a substrate support, where a processing region is defined between the substrate support and the lid. The processing chamber includes a port adapter coupled to the second end of the chamber body. The port adapter includes a body defining a plurality of apertures in fluid communication with the processing region, where each of the apertures are spaced apart along the body such that a distance between adjacent apertures is within about 20% of an average aperture spacing distance, an individually controllable valve fluidly coupled to one or more of the plurality of apertures, and an exhaust system in fluid communication with a system foreline and the plurality of apertures.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 26, 2023
    Publication date: January 30, 2025
    Applicant: Applied Materials, Inc.
    Inventors: Rupankar Choudhury, Sanjay G. Kamath, Juan Carlos Rocha-Alvarez, Sridhar Bachu, Mukesh Singh Dhami, Dan-il Yoon
  • Publication number: 20250037976
    Abstract: Gas distribution assemblies, processing chambers, and methods for processing substrates are provided. A substrate processing chamber includes a chamber body having a first end and a second end, a lid coupled to the first end of the chamber body, an isolator disposed on an upper surface of the lid, a faceplate disposed on an upper surface of the isolator, a substrate support disposed on a shaft extending through the second end of the chamber body, a pumping ring positioned within the chamber body, and an exhaust outlet in fluid communication with a system foreline and the plurality of apertures. The processing chamber defines a processing region between the substrate support and the faceplate. The pumping ring includes a flange extending in a plane generally parallel with a top surface of the substrate support that defines a plurality of apertures.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 28, 2023
    Publication date: January 30, 2025
    Applicant: Applied Materials, Inc.
    Inventors: Anirudh K. Alewoor, Akshay Dhanakshirur, Mayur Govind Kulkarni
  • Publication number: 20250037989
    Abstract: Methods of manufacturing memory devices are provided. The methods improve the quality of a selectively deposited silicon-containing dielectric layer. The method comprises selectively depositing a silicon-containing dielectric layer in a recessed region of a film stack. The selectively deposited silicon-containing dielectric layer is then exposed to a high-density plasma and annealed at a temperature greater than 800° C. to provide a silicon-containing dielectric film having a wet etch rate of less than 4 ?/min.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 7, 2024
    Publication date: January 30, 2025
    Applicant: Applied Materials, Inc.
    Inventors: Ning Li, Shuaidi Zhang, Mihaela A. Balseanu, Qi Gao, Rajesh Prasad, Tomohiko Kitajima, Chang Seok Kang, Deven Matthew Raj Mittal, Kyu-Ha Shim
  • Publication number: 20250037978
    Abstract: Gas distribution assemblies for semiconductor devices are described. The gas distribution assemblies include a backplate, a faceplate, a counterbored hole, and at least one orifice. The at least one orifice includes, for example, at least one straight orifice, or at least two angled orifices. Some embodiments of the gas distribution assemblies provide for reduced plasma damage in a processing chamber. Some embodiments of the gas distribution assemblies provide for reduced jetting on a substrate in a processing chamber. Methods of reducing plasma damage in gas distribution assemblies are also described.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 24, 2023
    Publication date: January 30, 2025
    Applicant: Applied Materials, Inc.
    Inventors: Sanjeev Baluja, Chaowei Wang, Kevin Griffin, Kenneth Brian Doering, Hanhong Chen, Joseph AuBuchon
  • Publication number: 20250038000
    Abstract: Disclosed herein are methods for forming MOSFET trenches with improved corner properties. In some embodiments, a method may include providing a device structure including an epitaxial layer and a hard mask over the epitaxial layer, and forming a trench through the well and the epitaxial layer, wherein the trench is defined by a sidewall, a bottom, and a corner at an intersection of the sidewall and the bottom. The method may further include implanting the device structure by delivering ions into the corner and into the bottom of the trench, and etching the trench to increase rounding of the corner.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 27, 2023
    Publication date: January 30, 2025
    Applicant: Applied Materials, Inc.
    Inventors: Qintao ZHANG, Ludovico MEGALINI, Wei ZOU, Hans-Joachim L. GOSSMANN, William O. CHARLES
  • Publication number: 20250037997
    Abstract: A semiconductor device and a method for manufacturing thereof. A substrate is provided. One or more groups of layers are formed on top of the substrate. A compensation layer is formed on top of at least one group of layers. At least one silicon layer is formed on top of the compensation layer. At least a portion of one or more layers in the one or more groups of layers is etched. The semiconductor device is formed.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 23, 2024
    Publication date: January 30, 2025
    Applicant: Applied Materials, Inc.
    Inventors: Ruiying HAO, Thomas John KIRSCHENHEITER, Fredrick FISHBURN, Abhishek DUBE, Raghuveer S. MAKALA, Balasubramanian PRANATHARTHIHARAN
  • Publication number: 20250037987
    Abstract: Exemplary semiconductor processing methods may include performing a pre-treatment on a substrate housed within a processing region of a semiconductor processing chamber. The substrate may include a layer of silicon-and-carbon-containing material. The pre-treatment may remove native oxide or residue from a surface of the layer of silicon-and-carbon-containing material. The methods may include providing a silicon-containing precursor to the processing region of the semiconductor processing chamber. The methods may include contacting the substrate with the silicon-containing precursor. The contacting may deposit a layer of silicon-containing material on the layer of silicon-and-carbon-containing material. The methods may include providing an oxygen-containing precursor to the processing region of the semiconductor processing chamber. The methods may include contacting the substrate with the oxygen-containing precursor.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 26, 2023
    Publication date: January 30, 2025
    Applicant: Applied Materials, Inc.
    Inventors: Stephen Weeks, Hansel Lo, John Tolle, Christopher S. Olsen, Siddarth Krishnan
  • Patent number: 12211947
    Abstract: A method includes forming, on a substrate by performing physical vapor deposition in vacuum, an absorber layer including copper (Cu), indium (In), gallium (Ga) and selenium (Se), forming a stack including the substrate and an oxygen-annealed absorber layer by performing in-situ oxygen annealing of the absorber layer to improve quantum efficiency of the image sensor by passivating selenium vacancies due to dangling bonds, and forming a cap layer over the oxygen-annealed absorber layer by performing physical vapor deposition in vacuum. The cap layer includes at least one of: Ga2O3·Sn, ZnS, CdS, CdSe, ZnO, ZnSe, ZnIn2Se4, CuGaS2, In2S3, MgO, or Zn0.8Mg0.2O.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 12, 2023
    Date of Patent: January 28, 2025
    Assignee: Applied Materials, Inc.
    Inventors: Philip Hsin-hua Li, Seshadri Ramaswami
  • Patent number: 12211673
    Abstract: Exemplary semiconductor processing systems may include a chamber body including sidewalls and a base. The system may include a substrate support extending through the base of the chamber body. The chamber body may define an access circumferentially extending about the substrate support at the base of the chamber body. The system may include one or more isolators disposed within the chamber body. The one or more isolators may define an exhaust path between the one or more isolators and the chamber body. The exhaust path may extend to the base of the chamber body. The systems may include a fluid source fluidly coupled with the chamber body at the access extending about the substrate support.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 22, 2020
    Date of Patent: January 28, 2025
    Assignee: Applied Materials, Inc.
    Inventors: Sarah Michelle Bobek, Venkata Sharat Chandra Parimi, Sungwon Ha, Kwangduk Douglas Lee
  • Patent number: 12209307
    Abstract: Disclosed herein is a rare-earth oxide coating on a surface of an article with one or more interruption layers to control crystal growth and methods of its formation. The coating may be deposited by atomic layer deposition and/or by chemical vapor deposition. The rare-earth oxides in the coatings disclosed herein may have an atomic crystalline phase that is different from the atomic crystalline phase or the amorphous phase of the one or more interruption layers.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 21, 2019
    Date of Patent: January 28, 2025
    Assignee: Applied Materials, Inc.
    Inventors: Xiaowei Wu, Jennifer Y. Sun, Michael R. Rice
  • Patent number: 12211908
    Abstract: Exemplary semiconductor structures and processing methods may include forming a first portion of a first semiconductor layer characterized by a first etch rate for an etch treatment, forming a second portion of the first semiconductor layer characterized by a second etch rate that is less than the first etch rate for the etch treatment, and forming a third portion of the first semiconductor layer characterized by a third etch rate that is greater than the second etch rate. The processing methods may further include etching an opening through the first semiconductor layer, where the opening has a height and a width, and where the opening is characterized by a variation in the width between a midpoint of the height of the opening and an endpoint of the opening that is less than or about 5 ?.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 1, 2023
    Date of Patent: January 28, 2025
    Assignee: Applied Materials, Inc.
    Inventors: Akhil Singhal, Allison Yau, Sang-Jin Kim, Zeqiong Zhao, Zhijun Jiang, Deenesh Padhi, Ganesh Balasubramanian
  • Patent number: 12211693
    Abstract: A method for forming a metal containing feature includes performing a deposition process, the deposition process comprising conformally depositing an over layer on top surfaces of a patterned mandrel layer and over a spacer layer on sidewalls of the patterned mandrel layer, and performing an etch process, the etch process comprising removing the over layer from the top surfaces of the patterned mandrel layer and shoulder portions of the spacer layer, and removing the shoulder portions of the spacer layer, using a fluorine containing etching gas.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 4, 2022
    Date of Patent: January 28, 2025
    Assignee: Applied Materials, Inc.
    Inventors: Chao Li, Gene Lee
  • Patent number: 12209325
    Abstract: The present technology includes methods for rinsing an electroplating apparatus, a component thereof, and/or a substrate. The method includes removing at least a portion of a bath solution having a first pH from an electroplating bath. The method includes filtering the removed bath solution through a nanofiltration membrane, forming a permeating containing a recycled rinse agent, and a retentate. The method includes transferring the recycled rinse agent to the one or more nozzles and rinsing the electroplating apparatus, component thereof, and/or substrate. The method includes where the recycled rinse agent is characterized by a second pH, where the second pH varies from the first pH by less than or about 5.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 1, 2023
    Date of Patent: January 28, 2025
    Assignee: Applied Materials, Inc.
    Inventor: John L. Klocke
  • Patent number: 12211714
    Abstract: A mainframe of a device fabrication system comprises a base and a plurality of facets on the base. Each facet of the plurality of facets comprises a frame. The mainframe further comprises a plurality of replaceable interface plates. Each replaceable interface plate of the plurality of replaceable interface plates is attached to a respective facet such that at most one replaceable interface plate is attached to each facet. At least one replaceable interface plate comprises one or more access ports. The mainframe further comprises a lid over the plurality of facets. The base, the lid and the plurality of facets with the attached plurality of replaceable interface plates together define an interior volume of the mainframe. The mainframe further comprises a robot arm in the interior volume.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 17, 2021
    Date of Patent: January 28, 2025
    Assignee: Applied Materials, Inc.
    Inventor: Michael R. Rice
  • Patent number: 12211717
    Abstract: A method includes identifying first structure data of a first region of a substrate and receiving optical metrology data of the substrate associated with one or more substrate deposition processes in a processing chamber. The method further includes determining, based on the optical metrology data and the first structure data, a first growth rate of the first region of the substrate associated with the one or more substrate deposition processes. The method further includes predicting, based on the optical metrology data and the first growth rate, thickness data of a second region of the substrate without second structure data of the second region.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 29, 2021
    Date of Patent: January 28, 2025
    Assignee: Applied Materials, Inc.
    Inventors: Eric Chin Hong Ng, Edward Wibowo Budiarto, Mehdi Vaez-Iravani, Todd Jonathan Egan, Venkatakaushik Voleti
  • Patent number: 12211296
    Abstract: Certain aspects of the present disclosure provide techniques for automatically detecting and classifying tumor regions in a tissue slide. The method generally includes obtaining a digitized tissue slide from a tissue slide database and determining, based on output from a tissue classification module, a type of tissue of shown in the digitized tissue slide. The method further includes determining, based on output from a tumor classification model for the type of tissue, a region of interest (ROI) of the digitized tissue slide and generating a classified slide showing the ROI of the digitized tissue slide and an estimated diameter of the ROI. The method further includes displaying on an image display unit, the classified slide and user interface (UI) elements enabling a pathologist to enter input related to the classified slide.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 12, 2023
    Date of Patent: January 28, 2025
    Assignee: Applied Materials, Inc.
    Inventors: Parijat Prakash Prabhudesai, Ganesh Kumar Mohanur Raghunathan, Sumit Kumar Jha, Aditya Sista, Narasimha Murthy Chandan