Patents Assigned to Applied Material
  • Publication number: 20210376187
    Abstract: Method for cleaning and encapsulating microLED features are disclosed. Some embodiments provide for a wet clean process and a dry clean process to remove contaminants from the microLED feature. Some embodiments provide for the encapsulation of a clean microLED feature. Some embodiments provide improved crystallinity of the microLED feature and the capping layer. Some embodiments provide improved EQE of microLED devices formed from the disclosed microLED features.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 26, 2020
    Publication date: December 2, 2021
    Applicant: Applied Materials, Inc.
    Inventors: Thomas Knisley, Bhaskar Jyoti Bhuyan, Mark Saly, Mingwei Zhu
  • Patent number: 11186906
    Abstract: A holding arrangement for holding a substrate is described. The holding arrangement includes a body having a first wall of flexible material; an adhesive arrangement configured for attaching the substrate, wherein the adhesive arrangement is provided on a first side of the first wall, and a force transmission arrangement configured for applying a force to a second side of the first wall opposing the first side of the first wall.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 10, 2016
    Date of Patent: November 30, 2021
    Assignee: Applied Materials, Inc.
    Inventor: Simon Lau
  • Patent number: 11189485
    Abstract: A substrate oxidation assembly includes: a chamber body defining a processing volume; a substrate support disposed in the processing volume; a plasma source coupled to the processing volume; a steam source fluidly coupled to the processing volume; and a substrate heater. A method of processing a semiconductor substrate includes: initiating conformal radical oxidation of high aspect ratio structures of the substrate comprising: heating the substrate; and exposing the substrate to steam; and conformally oxidizing the substrate. A semiconductor device includes a silicon and nitrogen containing layer; a feature formed in the silicon and nitrogen containing layer having an aspect ratio of at least 40:1; and an oxide layer on the face of the feature having a thickness in a bottom region of the silicon and nitrogen containing layer that is at least 95% of a thickness of the oxide layer in a top region.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 31, 2020
    Date of Patent: November 30, 2021
    Assignee: Applied Materials, Inc.
    Inventors: Christopher S. Olsen, Taewan Kim
  • Patent number: 11189460
    Abstract: An apparatus may include an RF power assembly, arranged to output an RF signal, and a drift tube assembly, arranged to transmit an ion beam, and coupled to the RF power assembly. The drift tube assembly may include a first ground electrode; an AC drift tube assembly, disposed downstream of the first ground electrode; and a second ground electrode, disposed downstream of the AC drift tube assembly, where the AC drift tube assembly comprises at least one variable length AC drift tube.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 6, 2020
    Date of Patent: November 30, 2021
    Assignee: Applied Materials, Inc.
    Inventors: Charles T. Carlson, Paul J. Murphy, Frank Sinclair, William Davis Lee
  • Patent number: 11188926
    Abstract: Implementations described herein generally relate to improved part authentication. In one implementation, a method includes acquiring information related to a part. The information may include identification information of the part and a unique code. The method further includes determining, using a stored algorithm, whether the unique code comprises a result of applying the stored algorithm to the identification information. The method further includes, responsive to determining that the unique code comprises the result of applying the stored algorithm to the identification information, activating a feature of the part or a feature of process equipment associated with the part.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 14, 2019
    Date of Patent: November 30, 2021
    Assignee: Applied Materials, Inc.
    Inventors: Earl Hunter, David Ganon, Amitabh Puri, Gerard Crean
  • Patent number: 11187836
    Abstract: Embodiments herein describe a sub-micron 3D diffractive optics element and a method for forming the sub-micron 3D diffractive optics element. In a first embodiment, a method is provided for forming a sub-micron 3D diffractive optics element on a substrate without planarization. The method includes depositing a material stack to be patterned on a substrate, depositing and patterning a thick mask material on a portion of the material stack, etching the material stack down one level, trimming a side portion of the thick mask material, etching the material stack down one more level, repeating trim and etch steps above ‘n’ times, and stripping the thick mask material from the material stack.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 5, 2019
    Date of Patent: November 30, 2021
    Assignee: Applied Materials, Inc.
    Inventors: Michael Yu-tak Young, Ludovic Godet, Robert Jan Visser, Naamah Argaman, Christopher Dennis Bencher, Wayne McMillan
  • Patent number: 11189511
    Abstract: Electronic device processing systems including an equipment front end module with at least one side storage pod are described. The side storage pod has a side storage container and a container plenum. A fan draws purge gas from the equipment front end module chamber into the container plenum where the purge gas is directed into the side storage container to pass over substrates stored therein and is then exhausted back into the equipment front end module chamber. Methods and systems are also disclosed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 17, 2019
    Date of Patent: November 30, 2021
    Assignee: Applied Materials, Inc.
    Inventors: Paul B. Reuter, Dean C. Hruzek, Nir Merry, John C. Menk, Douglas B. Baumgarten
  • Patent number: 11187654
    Abstract: An imaging reflectometer includes a source module configured to generate a plurality of input beams at different nominal wavelengths. An illumination pupil having a first numerical aperture (NA) is arranged so that each of the plurality of input beams passes through the illumination pupil. A large field lens is configured to receive at least a portion of each of the plurality of input beams and provide substantially telecentric illumination over a sample being imaged. The large field lens is also configured to receive reflected portions of the substantially telecentric illumination reflected from the sample. The reflected portions pass through an imaging pupil having a second NA that is lower than the first NA and are received by an imaging sensor module that generates image information.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 31, 2020
    Date of Patent: November 30, 2021
    Assignee: Applied Materials, Inc.
    Inventors: Guoheng Zhao, Mehdi Vaez-Iravani, Todd J. Egan
  • Patent number: 11187992
    Abstract: Implementations described herein generally relate to improving silicon wafer manufacturing. In one implementation, a method includes receiving data from one or more manufacturing tools about a manufacturing process of a silicon wafer. The method further includes determining, based on the data, predictive information about a quality of the silicon wafer. The method further includes providing the predictive information to a manufacturing system, wherein the predictive information is used to determine whether to take corrective action.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 3, 2018
    Date of Patent: November 30, 2021
    Assignee: Applied Materials, Inc.
    Inventors: Raman K. Nurani, Anantha R. Sethuraman, Koushik Ragavan
  • Patent number: 11189479
    Abstract: A method of forming an electronic device is disclosed. The method comprises forming a barrier layer on a silicon layer, and depositing a silicon oxide layer on the barrier layer. The formation of the barrier layer on the silicon layer minimizes parasitic oxidation of the underlying silicon layer and minimizes defects in the silicon layer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 4, 2020
    Date of Patent: November 30, 2021
    Assignee: Applied Materials, Inc.
    Inventors: Benjamin Colombeau, Johanes F. Swenberg, Steven C. H. Hung
  • Patent number: 11189710
    Abstract: Method of forming an electronic device with a bottom isolation dielectric between a pair of gate stacks is described. Each of the gate stacks comprises a plurality of gate layers. A sacrificial film having a liner on a top and side thereof is on top of the gate layers. A capping layer is on the top of the liner.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 15, 2020
    Date of Patent: November 30, 2021
    Assignee: Applied Materials, Inc.
    Inventors: Byeong Chan Lee, Tejinder Singh, Bencherki Mebarki
  • Patent number: 11189517
    Abstract: Embodiments described herein relate to apparatus and methods for substantially reducing an occurrence of radio frequency (RF) coupling through a chucking electrode. The chucking electrode is disposed in an electrostatic chuck positioned on a substrate support. The substrate support is coupled to a process chamber body. An RF source is used to generate a plasma in a process volume adjacent to the substrate support. An impedance matching circuit is disposed between the RF source and the chucking electrode is disposed in the electrostatic chuck. An electrostatic chuck filter is coupled between the chucking electrode and the chucking power source.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 14, 2020
    Date of Patent: November 30, 2021
    Assignee: Applied Materials, Inc.
    Inventors: Zheng John Ye, Edward Haywood, Adam Fischbach, Timothy Joseph Franklin
  • Patent number: 11189508
    Abstract: Embodiments described herein generally relate to an in-situ metrology system that can constantly provide an uninterrupted optical access to a substrate disposed within a process chamber. In one embodiment, a metrology system for a substrate processing chamber is provided. The metrology system includes a sensor view pipe coupling to a quartz dome of a substrate processing chamber, a flange extending radially from an outer surface of the sensor view pipe, and a viewport window disposed on the flange, the viewport window having spectral ranges chosen for an optical sensor that is disposed on or adjacent to the viewport window.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 24, 2019
    Date of Patent: November 30, 2021
    Assignee: Applied Materials, Inc.
    Inventors: Ji-Dih Hu, Brian H. Burrows, Janardhan Devrajan, Schubert Chu
  • Patent number: 11185815
    Abstract: A plasma abatement process for abating effluent containing compounds from a processing chamber is described. A plasma abatement process takes gaseous foreline effluent from a processing chamber, such as a deposition chamber, and reacts the effluent within a plasma chamber placed in the foreline path. The plasma dissociates the compounds within the effluent, converting the effluent into more benign compounds. Abating reagents may assist in the abating of the compounds. The abatement process may be a volatizing or a condensing abatement process. Representative volatilizing abating reagents include, for example, CH4, H2O, H2, NF3, SF6, F2, HCl, HF, Cl2, and HBr. Representative condensing abating reagents include, for example, H2, H2O, O2, N2, O3, CO, CO2, NH3, N2O, CH4, and combinations thereof.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 9, 2018
    Date of Patent: November 30, 2021
    Assignee: Applied Materials, Inc.
    Inventors: Michael S. Cox, Monique McIntosh, Colin John Dickinson, Paul E. Fisher, Yutaka Tanaka, Zheng Yuan
  • Patent number: 11185915
    Abstract: A method and apparatus for manufacturing a flexible layer stack, and to a flexible layer stack. Implementations of the present disclosure particularly relate to a method and apparatus for coating flexible substrates with a low melting temperature metal or metal alloy. In one implementation, a method is provided. The method includes delivering a transfer liquid to a quenching surface of a rotating casting drum. The method further includes forming a material layer stack over the rotating casting drum by delivering a molten metal or molten metal alloy toward the quenching surface of the rotating casting drum. The method further includes transferring the material layer stack from the rotating casting drum to a continuous flexible substrate, wherein the quenching surface of the rotating casting drum is cooled to a temperature at which the layers of the material layer stack solidify.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 18, 2020
    Date of Patent: November 30, 2021
    Assignee: Applied Materials, Inc.
    Inventor: Subramanya P. Herle
  • Publication number: 20210366759
    Abstract: An apparatus may include a clamp to clamp a substrate wherein the clamp is arranged opposing a back side of the substrate; and an illumination system, disposed to direct radiation to the substrate, when the substrate is disposed on the clamp, wherein the radiation comprises a radiation energy, equal to or above a threshold energy to generate mobile charge in the substrate, where the illumination system is disposed to direct radiation to the back side of the substrate.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 21, 2020
    Publication date: November 25, 2021
    Applicant: Applied Materials, Inc.
    Inventors: Qin Chen, Julian G. Blake, Michael W. Osborne, Steven M. Anella, Jonathan D. Fischer
  • Publication number: 20210366722
    Abstract: Described is a process to clean up junction interfaces for fabricating semiconductor devices involving forming low-resistance electrical connections between vertically separated regions. An etch can be performed to remove silicon oxide on silicon surface at the bottom of a recessed feature. Described are methods and apparatus for etching up the bottom oxide of a hole or trench while minimizing the effects to the underlying epitaxial layer and to the dielectric layers on the field and the corners of metal gate structures. The method for etching features involves a reaction chamber equipped with a combination of capacitively coupled plasma and inductive coupled plasma. CHxFy gases and plasma are used to form protection layer, which enables the selectively etching of bottom silicon dioxide by NH3—NF3 plasma. Ideally, silicon oxide on EPI is removed to ensure low-resistance electric contact while the epitaxial layer and field/corner dielectric layers are—etched only minimally or not at all.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 22, 2020
    Publication date: November 25, 2021
    Applicant: Applied Materials, Inc.
    Inventors: Yu Lei, Xuesong Lu, Tae Hong Ha, Xianmin Tang, Andrew Nguyen, Tza-Jing Gung, Philip A. Kraus, Chung Nang Liu, Hui Sun, Yufei Hu
  • Publication number: 20210366689
    Abstract: An apparatus may include a clamp to clamp a substrate wherein the clamp is arranged opposing a back side of the substrate; and an illumination system, disposed to direct radiation to the substrate, when the substrate is disposed on the clamp, wherein the radiation comprises a radiation energy equal to or above a threshold energy to generate mobile charge in the substrate, where the illumination system is disposed to direct radiation to a front side of the substrate, opposite the back side of the substrate.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 21, 2020
    Publication date: November 25, 2021
    Applicant: Applied Materials, Inc.
    Inventors: Qin Chen, Julian G. Blake, Michael W. Osborne, Steven M. Anella, Jonathan D. Fischer
  • Publication number: 20210366756
    Abstract: A method may include providing a substrate on a clamp, and directing radiation from an illumination source to the substrate when the substrate is disposed on the clamp during substrate processing, wherein the radiation is characterized by a radiation energy, wherein at least a portion of the radiation energy is equal to or greater than 2.5 eV.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 21, 2020
    Publication date: November 25, 2021
    Applicant: Applied Materials, Inc.
    Inventors: Qin Chen, Julian G. Blake, Michael W. Osborne, Steven M. Anella, Jonathan D. Fischer
  • Publication number: 20210366776
    Abstract: Disclosed are approaches for forming finFET devices having asymmetric fins achieved via fin trimming. In some embodiments, a method may include providing a substrate within a process chamber, the substrate including a plurality of fins, and forming a capping layer over the plurality of fins, wherein the capping layer extends along a first sidewall and a second sidewall of each of the plurality of fins. The method may further include removing a portion of the capping layer to expose a target area of the first sidewall of each of the plurality of fins, and trimming the target area of the first sidewall of each of the plurality of fins to reduce a lateral width of an upper section of each of the plurality of fins.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 20, 2020
    Publication date: November 25, 2021
    Applicant: Applied Materials, Inc.
    Inventors: Min Gyu Sung, Johannes M. van Meer