Abstract: Methods of chemical vapor deposition (CVD) are disclosed wherein high quality films are deposited on patterned wafer substrates. In the methods, a patterned wafer is rotated about an axis thereof in a CVD reaction chamber and reactant gases are directed into the reaction chamber and toward the patterned wafer substrate in a direction generally perpendicular to the plane of rotation of the wafer. The reaction chamber is maintained at a suitable pressure and the wafer is heated to a suitable temperature whereby a high quality film is deposited by CVD on the patterned wafer substrate. The process is applicable to deposit elemental films, compound films, alloy films and solid solution films, and is particularly advantageous in that high film deposition rates and high reactant conversion rates are achieved.

Abstract: A device for the preparation of powdered metal samples for oxygen analysis includes a mold with a central cavity accessible through a tapered throat region on the top of the mold. A tin foil sheet is placed in the tapered throat region and pressed into the cavity and thereby formed into a generally cup shaped configuration. A measured amount of the powdered metal is poured into the cup shaped tin foil within the cavity of the mold. A tweezers is used to fold the tin foil over thereby encapsulating the powdered metal within the foil. The sample is then tamped to form a tightly packed specimen for analysis. The diameter of the cavity corresponds to the diameter of the crucible in the oxygen analyzer to thereby consistently provide an appropriately sized powdered metal sample with a minimum of operator time. The mold is preferably constructed in two pieces with an upper portion removable from a base portion.

Abstract: The aperture plate of the present invention is positioned between a sputter target and a substrate to be coated with a film of target material. The substantially non-collimating plate contains a plurality of apertures which intercept a percentage of the sputter particles while allowing other sputter particles to be deposited upon the substrate to form the film. The rate of deposition achieved by the aperture plate is less than the rate of sputtering so that the target may be sputtered at a sufficiently higher rate to reduce the formation of a reactant film on the sputter target while the deposition rate is sufficiently low to allow adequate reaction between a reactive gas and sputter particles to form the desired reactant film on the substrate. In accordance with another aspect of the invention, the apertures of the plate have different aspect ratios or different densities in various different regions of the plate to achieve various different deposition rates in different areas of the substrate.

Abstract: A target of a thickness, which varies across its radius according to the amount of material required to be sputtered, is supported in a nest in a chamber of a sputter coating apparatus. Positioned behind the nest is a rotating magnet carrier having arranged thereon in a closed loop a permanant or electro magnetic strip, but preferably a flexible permanently magnetic material, with portions near the rim of the target and portions near, but not on, the target center about which the magnet rotates. The magnetic loop is transversely polarized with one pole toward the target rim and one toward the target center so that its field will enclose the rim of the target within a magnetic tunnel that traps a plasma over the target. Lumped magnets across the center from the strip support the plasma near the center so as to cause some sputtering at the target center. Other lumped magnets adjacent the strip help sharpen the field so that a desired distribution of sputtering can be achieved.

Abstract: An ellipsometric measuring system is set-up in association with a vacuum chamber on a production line for thin film samples. The ellipsometer has a scanner for directing the incident light beam to different locations on a thin film sample, and the ellipsometer also has an aperture for limiting the reflected light beam received by the photodetector. The scanner implements a method of aligning the incident beam to a selected surface of the sample. The scanner and the aperture are used to provide a finer adjustment of the incident beam with respect to the selected surface. The ellipsometric measuring system further uses test thin film samples with known film thicknesses and index or refractions to calculate a value for the angle of incidence of the incident light beam.

Abstract: A wafer processing cluster tool, having one or more load-locks, is provided with one or more batch preheating modules that receive wafers only from the cluster tool transport module at the internal vacuum pressure of the machine. The loading, unloading, handling and processing of wafers in the machine can occur while other wafers are being preheated. The preheat module has a vertically moveable rack and is loaded with various sized batches of wafers with no vacant positions between them. Wafer shaped shields may occupy positions adjacent top and bottom wafers to cause them to heat the same as other wafers in the rack. Infrared lamps positioned outside of quartz windows heat wafers in the preheat module. The rack may rotate to improve heating uniformity. Temperature sensors, such as pyrometers, that do not contact the wafers being preheated, measure temperature for control of the heating of the lamps.

Abstract: An automatic positioning device for a ball mill can allows an operator to set a ball mill can on the rollers of a ball mill stand without centering or modifying the position of the can. The positioning device includes a mounting fixture secured to the ball mill stand at the end of a generally cylindrical ball mill can. The mounting fixture has a bore hole through which is inserted a post. The post is capable of rotating within the bore hole and has a generally U-shaped yoke secured to an end thereof which extends from the mounting fixture toward a bottom end wall of the ball mill can. Mounted on a pin between the yoke arms is a circular disk which is free to spin about the pin within the yoke. The positioning device is mounted on the ball mill stand such that a peripheral edge of the disk contacts the bottom end wall of the ball mill can during the milling process.

Abstract: A semiconductor wafer processing apparatus or module for a cluster tool is provided with a single wafer rotating susceptor that thins the gas boundary layer to facilitate the transfer of material to or from the wafer, in, for example, CVD for blanket or selective deposition of tungsten or titanium nitride, and degassing and annealing processes. Preferably, a downwardly facing showerhead directs a gas mixture from a cooled mixing chamber onto a rapidly rotating wafer, for example at from 500 to 1500 RPM, thinning a boundary layer for gas flowing radially outwardly from a stagnation point at the wafer center. Smoothly shaped interior reactor surfaces include baffles and plasma cleaning electrodes to minimize turbulence. Inert gases from within the rotating susceptor minimize turbulence by filling gaps in structure, prevent contamination of moving parts, conduct heat between the susceptor and the wafer, and vacuum clamp the wafer to the susceptor.

Abstract: A semiconductor wafer processing apparatus is provided with a susceptor for supporting a wafer for CVD of films such as blanket or selective deposition of tungsten or titanium nitride, and degassing and annealing processes. Preferably, a downwardly facing showerhead directs a gas mixture from a cooled mixing chamber onto an upwardly facing wafer on the susceptor. Smooth interior reactor surfaces include baffles and a susceptor lip and wall shaped to minimize turbulence. Inert gases flow to minimize turbulence by filling gaps in susceptor structure, prevent contamination of moving parts, conduct heat between the susceptor and the wafer, and vacuum clamp the wafer to the susceptor. A susceptor lip surrounds the wafer and is removable for cleaning, to accommodate different size wafers, and allows change of lip materials to for different processes, such as, one which will resist deposits during selective CVD, or one which scavenges unspent gases in blanket CVD.

Abstract: A method of measuring and controlling the temperature of articles stacked in parallel in a chamber. A pyrometer is positioned outside of a chamber and directed, either directly or with mirrors, through a window in the chamber wall so that only energy from wafers removed from the ends of the stack is received by the pyrometer. The pyrometer is inclined at an angle so that substantially all energy from the opposite side of the stack and reflected through spaces between facing parallel pairs of wafer surfaces will have been reflected a large number of times by the wafers before entering the pyrometer. Thus, regardless of the emissivity or transmissivity of the wafers, the energy incident upon the pyrometer will approach that emitted by a black body of the same temperature as the wafers, and the temperature read by the pyrometer will be independent of the emissivity or transmissivity of the wafers.

Abstract: A cold wall CVD reactor, particularly one for use in depositing TiN in a TiCl.sub.4 +NH.sub.3 reaction, is provided with a metallic liner insert in partially thermally insulated from the reactor wall which serves as one plasma electrode to form a weak secondary plasma when energized along with a second electrode near the vacuum exhaust port of the reactor. The plasma, in cooperation with radiant lamps provided to heat a wafer substrate onto which the primary CVD film is to be applied, heats the liner and a portion of the space adjacent the reactor walls and susceptor surfaces downstream of the reaction volume to cause the formation of deposits to be of the nature that can be removed by plasma cleaning without opening the reactor volume. Deposits such as TiN.sub.x Cl.sub.y and TiN form at temperatures of approximately 200.degree. C. to 650.degree. C., preferably between 300.degree. C. and 450.degree. C., rather than adduct ammonia salts of TiCl.sub.4, which would tend to form at temperatures of 200.degree. C.

Abstract: Nucleation of a refractory metal such as tungsten is initiated on a substrate of TiN without the use of silane by introducing hydrogen into a CVD reactor before the introduction of the reactant gas containing the metal, brought to reaction temperature and to reaction pressure. The process is most useful for CVD of tungsten onto patterned TiN coated silicon semiconductor wafers. Alternatively, hydrogen is introduced in a mixture with the metal containing gas, such as WF.sub.6, and maintained at subreaction pressure, of for example 100 mTorr, until the substrate is stabilized at a reaction temperature of approximately 400.degree. C. or higher, to cause the dissociation of hydrogen on the wafer surface, then elevated to a relatively high reaction pressure of, for example, 60 Torr at which nucleation is achieved. Also, the reduction reaction that deposits the tungsten film proceeds without the need for a two step nucleation-deposition process.

Abstract: A sputtering target and target assembly includes a target member having a substantially continuously concave top surface and a bottom surface with a central, downwardly directed hub and at least three annular regions of differing radius of curvature. The shape of the target member bottom surface conforms to a backplate to which it is mounted, thereby facilitating accurate mounting of the target member during sputtering. The corresponding shapes of the target member and backplate promote maximum utilization of sputtering material.

Abstract: A process for forming low resistivity titanium nitride films on a silicon substrate by chemical vapor deposition includes a post-deposition ammonia anneal to provide hydrogen atoms which chemically react with chlorine atoms entrained within the titanium nitride film. The titanium nitride film is deposited by placing the silicon substrate in a reaction chamber, heating the silicon substrate within the reaction chamber, initially passing both TiCl.sub.4 gas and NH.sub.3 gas into the reaction chamber over the silicon substrate to deposit titanium nitride upon a surface of the silicon substrate, and thereafter discontinuing the flow of TiCl.sub.4 gas while continuing to pass NH.sub.3 gas into the reaction chamber over the silicon substrate to react with and remove residual chlorine atoms retained by the deposited titanium nitride film.

Abstract: A wafer transport module interconnects a horizontal wafer handler with a vertical wafer processor and includes an evacuatable housing with a first port in communication with the horizontal wafer handler and sized to permit passage of a wafer therethrough in horizontal orientation and a second port in communication with a load/unload station of the vertical wafer processor and sized to permit passage of wafers therethrough in vertical orientation. The transport module includes a wafer holder which supports a wafer on a pedestal and rotates the pedestal and wafer about an inclined axis between horizontal orientation adjacent the first port and vertical orientation adjacent and in alignment with the second port. The wafer holder horizontally extends the vertically oriented platen and wafer from the second position through the second port to the load/unload station of the vertical processor. After wafer processing, the sequence is reversed to return the wafer to the horizontal wafer handler.

Abstract: An expendable target of sputter coating material is provided having secured thereto a storage medium having recorded thereon, in machine readable indicia, information relating to a characteristic of the target. The information preferably includes target identifying information and may also include information relating to the target composition, the history of the use of the target, and other information usable by the apparatus to automatically set machine parameters or to record process information. Information, particularly of the use of the target, may be updated and written to a medium on the target or target assembly, or to a machine readable medium which may be affixed to the target assembly when the target is removed. The apparatus preferably includes a read head in the sputtering chamber and may also include a write head for writing information to the target assembly.

Abstract: An electron cyclotron resonance plasma generator is provided in a semiconductor wafer plasma processing apparatus and cluster tool module, particularly for use in soft etching. The generator generates a uniform plasma by rotating a plasma producing resonance supporting magnetic field about the axis of a resonance cavity within the vacuum chamber of a plasma processor. The rotated field preferably is a single-cusp or multicusp field. Gas uniformly flows into and through the cavity from a gas distribution shower. Microwave energy is evenly divided and coupled into the cavity in a TM.sub.01 mode by a plurality of axially and radially aligned loops.

Abstract: A process for forming low resistivity titanium nitride films on a silicon substrate by chemical vapor deposition includes a post-deposition ammonia anneal to provide hydrogen atoms which chemically react with chlorine atoms entrained within the titanium nitride film. The titanium nitride film is deposited by placing the silicon substrate in a reaction chamber, heating the silicon substrate within the reaction chamber, initially passing both TiCl.sub.4 gas and NH.sub.3 gas into the reaction chamber over the silicon substrate to deposit titanium nitride upon a surface of the silicon substrate, and thereafter discontinuing the flow of TiCl.sub.4 gas while continuing to pass NH.sub.3 gas into the reaction chamber over the silicon substrate to react with and remove residual chlorine atoms retained by the deposited titanium nitride film.

Abstract: A semiconductor wafer processing apparatus, particularly a CVD reactor, is provided with plasma cleaning electrodes integrated into process gas flow shaping structure that smoothly directs the gas past the wafer on a susceptor. The processing apparatus preferably has a showerhead or other inlet to direct a gas mixture onto a wafer and a plurality of baffles to reduce turbulence. Plasma cleaning electrodes are included in the baffles or the showerhead or both, one or more of which preferably have cleaning gas outlet orifices therein, preferably evenly distributed around the axis of the susceptor to provide uniform cleaning gas flow.

Abstract: A cold wall CVD reactor, particularly one for use in depositing TiN in a TiCl.sub.4 +NH.sub.3 reaction, is provided with a metallic liner insert in partially thermally insulated from the reactor wall which serves as one plasma electrode to form a weak secondary plasma when energized along with a second electrode near the vacuum exhaust port of the reactor. The plasma, in cooperation with radiant lamps provided to heat a wafer substrate onto which the primary CVD film is to be applied, heats the liner and a portion of the space adjacent the reactor walls and susceptor surfaces downstream of the reaction volume to cause the formation of deposits to be of the nature that can be removed by plasma cleaning without opening the reactor volume. Deposits such as TiN.sub.x Cl.sub.y and TiN form at temperatures of approximately 200.degree. C. to 650.degree. C., preferably between 300.degree. C. and 450.degree. C., rather than adduct ammonia salts of TiCl.sub.4, which would tend to form at temperatures of 200.degree. C.