Abstract: A substrate stage includes: a base portion having a mounting surface; an annular support configured to support a substrate; an annular partition wall configured to divide the mounting surface into an outer region and an inner region in a radial direction of the substrate; a plurality of protrusions provided on the mounting surface and configured to support the substrate with a gap left between an upper end surface of the partition wall and the substrate; an outer flow path in communication with the outer region, and configured to allow a heat transfer gas supplied to a space between the substrate and the mounting surface to flow therethrough; an inner flow path in communication with the inner region, and configured to allow the heat transfer gas to flow therethrough; and an annular diffusion portion configured to diffuse the heat transfer gas along a circumferential direction of the partition wall.

Abstract: A test system that is compatible with multiple specifications while maintaining a footprint is provided. The test system includes a plurality of test chambers, each test chamber of the plurality of test chambers including a test head used when a substrate on a stage is tested, and a heating medium supply configured to supply a heating medium to the stage. The heating medium supply is disposed in an area lower than a test area in which the plurality of test chambers are disposed.

Abstract: There is provided a transport apparatus including: an articulated arm including: a first arm in which a drive motor is installed; a second arm configured to be driven by the first arm; a transmission portion configured to convert a rotation of the drive motor into a rotation of the second arm via a joint; a first detector configured to detect a first sensor value corresponding to a rotation angle of an input shaft of the transmission portion; and a second detector configured to detect a second sensor value corresponding to a rotation angle of the second arm; and a controller configured to control the articulated arm, wherein the controller is further configured to control the second arm to a target rotation angle based on the first sensor value and the second sensor value.

Abstract: A measuring method includes placing a substrate on an electrostatic chuck disposed inside a chamber, attracting the substrate onto the electrostatic chuck, generating plasma inside the chamber, detecting an amount of light reflected at the substrate by light emission of the plasma, and calculating a natural frequency of the substrate based on the amount of light.

Abstract: Devices are made by self-aligned quad pitch patterning (SAQP) and methods for making devices by self-aligned quad pitch patterning (SAQP) use a single spacer in the process. An intermediate process step called self-aligned double patterning (SADP) is used to double the pitch following the spacer deposition. A pattern is formed on a substrate, the pattern having ultra-fine resolutions by repeating the SADP step twice for pitch quadrupling and introducing a reversal layer to form a fine trench pattern and hole pattern. An initial pattern is obtained by the X-Y double line exposures. Reverse material is applied on the initial pattern and subsequent etching process converts each initial trench pattern to a line. The pattern designs or pattern layouts have improved LER/LWR (line edge roughness and line width roughness respectively) for below 12 nm lines and trenches in order to create self-aligned cross pitch quad trenches.

Abstract: A substrate processing apparatus includes: a holding part for holding a substrate; a rotating part for rotating the holding part to rotate the substrate together with the holding part; a liquid supply part for supplying a cleaning liquid to a main surface of the substrate; a polishing head for polishing the main surface; a moving part for scanning the polishing head in a radial direction of the substrate while pressing the polishing head against the main surface; and a controller for controlling the rotating part, the liquid supply part, and the moving part. The controller sets a division line that divides the main surface into plural areas in the radial direction, and controls the liquid supply part to supply the cleaning liquid for each area and controls the moving part to scan the polishing head for each area while a subsequent supply of the cleaning liquid is stopped.

Abstract: An apparatus for performing a sputtering process on a substrate is provided. The apparatus includes a processing chamber having a substrate support on which the substrate is placed, a target for emitting target particles to be adhered to the substrate by plasma formed in the processing chamber, a magnet, provided on a rear surface of the target, for adjusting a state of the plasma on the surface of the target, and a magnet moving mechanism for repeatedly moving the magnet between a position on one side and a position on the other side set across a center portion on the rear surface of the target. The apparatus further includes a collimator having two regulating plates for limiting an incident angle of the target particles to the substrate, and an arrangement position adjustment mechanism adjusting positions of the two regulating plates according to the movement of the magnet.

Abstract: A method for forming a silicon film includes supplying a first processing gas including a silicon-containing gas to a substrate to deposit a first silicon film under a first processing condition; and supplying a second processing gas including the silicon-containing gas to the substrate to deposit a second silicon film under a second processing condition. A second in-plane distribution of film characteristic when the second silicon film is deposited under the second processing condition is different from a first in-plane distribution of the film characteristic when the first silicon film is deposited under the first processing condition.

Abstract: An additional set of interconnects is created in bulk material, allowing connections to active devices to be made from both above and below. The interconnects below the active devices can form a power distribution network, and the interconnects above the active devices can form a signaling network. Various accommodations can be made to suit different applications, such as encapsulating buried elements, using sacrificial material, and replacing the bulk material with a dielectric. Epitaxial material can be used throughout the formation process, allowing for the creation of a monolithic substrate.

Abstract: A plasma processing apparatus includes: a placement table serving as a lower electrode and configured to place thereon a workpiece to be subjected to a plasma processing; a DC power supply configured to alternately generate a positive DC voltage and a negative DC voltage to be applied to the placement table; and a controller configured to control an overall operation of the plasma processing apparatus. The controller is configured to: measure a voltage of the workpiece placed on the placement table; calculate, based on the measured voltage of the workpiece, a potential difference between the placement table and the workpiece in a period during which the negative DC voltage is applied to the placement table; and control the DC power supply such that a value of the negative DC voltage applied to the placement table is shifted by a shift amount that decreases the calculated potential difference.

Abstract: There is provided an injector that extends in a longitudinal direction, including: a gas introduction part having a circular or a regular polygonal shape in a cross section perpendicular to the longitudinal direction and having no discharge holes; and a gas supply part having a protruded portion in one direction in the cross section perpendicular to the longitudinal direction, and having a plurality of discharge holes formed in a leading end of the protruded portion along the longitudinal direction, wherein a first end of the gas supply part in the longitudinal direction is connected to the gas introduction portion.

Abstract: A substrate processing method includes supplying a developing liquid configured to form a resist pattern onto a surface of a substrate on which a resist film is formed; performing multiple cycles of a cleaning processing of supplying a modifying liquid containing a modifying agent having a hydrophilic group onto the surface of the substrate on which the resist pattern is formed and supplying a rinse liquid configured to remove the modifying liquid onto the surface of the substrate; and drying the surface of the substrate after performing the multiple cycles of the cleaning processing.

Abstract: Process flows and methods are provided for recessing a fill material within openings formed within a patterned substrate. The openings are formed within a multilayer stack comprising a target material layer and one or more additional material layers, which overly and differ from the target material layer. After the openings are formed within the multilayer stack, a grafting material comprising a solubility-shifting agent is selectively deposited within the openings, such that the grafting material adheres to the target material layer without adhering to the additional material layer(s) overlying the target material layer. Next, a fill material is deposited within the openings and the solubility-shifting agent is activated to change the solubility of a portion of the fill material adjacent to and surrounding the grafting material. Then, a wet development process is used to remove the soluble/insoluble portions of fill material to the recess the fill material within the openings.

Abstract: A plasma processing apparatus includes: a processing chamber, and an electrode mechanism used for plasma processing. The electrode mechanism includes: an electrode portion configured to be applied with radio-frequency power, a dielectric portion disposed to laminate with the electrode portion, an electric circuit at least partially disposed in the dielectric portion, and a shield member disposed in the dielectric portion to overlap at least a part of the electric circuit in at least one of a plan view or a side view.

Abstract: A plasma processing apparatus includes: a plasma processing chamber; a substrate support disposed in the plasma processing chamber; an edge ring disposed on the substrate support to surround a substrate on the substrate support; an actuator configured to vertically move the edge ring; a gas supply configured to supply a cleaning gas into the plasma processing chamber; a power source configured to supply a power to the substrate support; and a controller configured to: (a) maintain the edge ring at a first position spaced apart from the substrate support; and (b) supply a power to the substrate support while supplying the cleaning gas into the plasma processing chamber to generate a local plasma in a gap between the edge ring maintained at the first position and the substrate support, thereby cleaning the edge ring and the substrate support.

Abstract: An etching method is implementable with a plasma processing apparatus including a chamber. The method includes (a) providing, in the chamber, a substrate including an etching target film and a mask on the etching target film, and (b) etching the etching target film using plasma generated from a process gas including a hydrogen fluoride gas. The mask contains at least one metal selected from the group consisting of tungsten, molybdenum, ruthenium, titanium, indium, gallium, and zinc.

Abstract: A semiconductor device may include a transistor structure. The transistor structure can include a first source/drain structure. The transistor structure can include a first channel structure disposed above the first source/drain structure. The transistor structure can include a second source/drain structure disposed above the first channel structure. A sidewall of a first portion of the first source/drain structure, a sidewall of the first channel structure, and a sidewall of the second source/drain structure can be vertically aligned with one another. The transistor structure can include a first metal electrode disposed around the sidewall of the first channel structure and the sidewall of the second source/drain structure.

Abstract: A method of forming a pattern on a substrate is provided. The method includes forming a first layer on an underlying layer of the substrate, where the first layer is patterned to have a first structure. The method also includes depositing a grafting material on side surfaces of the first structure, where the grafting material includes a solubility-shifting material. The method further includes diffusing the solubility-shifting material by a predetermined distance into a neighboring structure that abuts the solubility-shifting material, where the solubility-shifting material changes solubility of the neighboring structure in a developer, and removing soluble portions of the neighboring structure using the developer to form a second structure.

Abstract: Embodiments of process flows and methods are provided for forming a resistive switching random access memory (ReRAM). More specifically, process flows and methods are provided for reducing the forming voltage needed to form a conductive path in the ReRAM cells. A wide variety of plasma doping processes are used to introduce a plurality of different dopants into a metal-oxide dielectric film. By utilizing at least two different dopants, the plasma doping processes described herein reduce the forming voltage of the subsequently formed ReRAM cell compared to conventional processes that use only one dopant. In some embodiments, the forming voltage may be further reduced by applying a bias power during the plasma doping process, wherein the bias power is preselected to increase the number of ions introduced into the metal-oxide dielectric film during the plasma doping process.

Abstract: A plasma processing method includes: supplying a gas into a processing container; and intermittently supplying microwave powers output from a plurality of microwave introducing modules into the processing container. In the intermittently supplying the microwave powers, the supply of all the microwave powers from the plurality of microwave introducing modules is periodically in an OFF state for a given time.