Patents by Inventor Erika HANSEN

Erika HANSEN has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 11959169
    Abstract: A gas injector for processing a substrate includes a body having an inlet connectable to a gas source that is configured to provide a gas flow in a first direction into the inlet when processing a substrate on a substrate support disposed within a processing volume of a processing chamber, and an a gas injection channel formed in the body. The gas injection channel is in fluid communication with the inlet and configured to deliver the gas flow to an inlet of the processing chamber. The gas injection channel has a first interior surface and a second interior surface that are parallel to a second direction and a third direction. The second and third directions are misaligned with a center of the substrate, and are at an angle to the first direction towards a first edge of the substrate support.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 30, 2022
    Date of Patent: April 16, 2024
    Assignee: APPLIED MATERIALS, INC.
    Inventors: Eric Kihara Shono, Vishwas Kumar Pandey, Christopher S. Olsen, Kartik Shah, Hansel Lo, Tobin Kaufman-Osborn, Rene George, Lara Hawrylchak, Erika Hansen
  • Publication number: 20230133402
    Abstract: The present disclosure relates to a gas injection module for a process chamber. The process chamber includes a chamber body, a rotatable substrate support disposed inside a process volume of the chamber body, the substrate support configured to have a rotational spin rate; an inlet port formed in the chamber body, and an injection module coupled to the inlet port. The injection module includes a body, one or more gas inlets coupled to the body, and a plurality of nozzles formed in a supply face of the body, the supply face configured to face inside the chamber body, and gas exiting from the injection module is configured to have a flow rate; the process chamber also includes a controller configured to operate the process chamber such that the ratio of the flow rate to the rotational spin rate is between about 1/3 and 3.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 18, 2022
    Publication date: May 4, 2023
    Inventors: Christopher S. OLSEN, Kartik Bhupendra SHAH, Chaitanya Anjaneyalu PRASAD, Vishwas Kumar PANDEY, AnilKumar BODEPUDI, Erika HANSEN
  • Publication number: 20230028054
    Abstract: A gas injector for processing a substrate includes a body having an inlet connectable to a gas source that is configured to provide a gas flow in a first direction into the inlet when processing a substrate on a substrate support disposed within a processing volume of a processing chamber, and an a gas injection channel formed in the body. The gas injection channel is in fluid communication with the inlet and configured to deliver the gas flow to an inlet of the processing chamber. The gas injection channel has a first interior surface and a second interior surface that are parallel to a second direction and a third direction. The second and third directions are misaligned with a center of the substrate, and are at an angle to the first direction towards a first edge of the substrate support.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 30, 2022
    Publication date: January 26, 2023
    Inventors: Eric Kihara SHONO, Vishwas Kumar PANDEY, Christopher S. OLSEN, Kartik SHAH, Hansel LO, Tobin KAUFMAN-OSBORN, Rene GEORGE, Lara HAWRYLCHAK, Erika HANSEN
  • Publication number: 20220411927
    Abstract: Embodiments described herein generally relate to a processing system and a method of delivering a reactant gas. The processing system includes a substrate support system, an injection cone, and an intake. The injection cone includes a linear rudder. The linear rudder is disposed such that the flow of reactant gas through the injection cone results in film growth on a specific portion of a substrate. The method includes flowing the gas through the injection cone and delivering the gas onto the substrate below. The localization of the reactant gas, allows for film growth on a specific portion of the substrate.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 9, 2020
    Publication date: December 29, 2022
    Inventors: Vishwas Kumar PANDEY, Christopher OLSEN, Rene GEORGE, Eric SHONO, Lara HAWRYLCHAK, Erika HANSEN, Tobin KAUFMAN-OSBORN, Hansel LO, Kartik SHAH
  • Patent number: 11486038
    Abstract: A gas injector for processing a substrate includes a body having an inlet connectable to a gas source that is configured to provide a gas flow in a first direction into the inlet when processing a substrate on a substrate support disposed within a processing volume of a processing chamber, and an a gas injection channel formed in the body. The gas injection channel is in fluid communication with the inlet and configured to deliver the gas flow to an inlet of the processing chamber. The gas injection channel has a first interior surface and a second interior surface that are parallel to a second direction and a third direction. The second and third directions do not intersect a center of the substrate, and are at an angle to the first direction towards a first edge of the substrate support.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 29, 2020
    Date of Patent: November 1, 2022
    Assignee: APPLIED MATERIALS, INC.
    Inventors: Eric Kihara Shono, Vishwas Kumar Pandey, Christopher S. Olsen, Kartik Shah, Hansel Lo, Tobin Kaufman-Osborn, Rene George, Lara Hawrylchak, Erika Hansen
  • Publication number: 20220165547
    Abstract: Provided herein is a gas source comprising a flow conduit having an interior volume and an open end, a remote plasma source fluidly coupled to the flow conduit, a secondary gas source extending inwardly of the interior volume of the flow conduit, the secondary gas source including at least one gas port therein positioned to flow a secondary gas inwardly of the interior volume of the flow conduit.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 24, 2020
    Publication date: May 26, 2022
    Inventors: Vishwas Kumar PANDEY, Eric Kihara SHONO, Christopher S. OLSEN, Tobin KAUFMAN-OSBORN, Erika HANSEN, Rene GEORGE, Lara HAWRYLCHAK, Hansel LO, Kartik Bhupendra SHAH
  • Patent number: 11322347
    Abstract: Embodiments described herein generally relate to conformal oxidation processes for flash memory devices. In conventional oxidation processes for gate structures, growth rates have become too fast, ultimately creating non-conformal films. To create a preferred growth rate for SiO2 on SiNx films, embodiments in this disclosure use a thermal combustion of a ternary mixture of H2+O2+N2O to gain SiO2 out of Si containing compounds. Using this mixture provides a lower growth in comparison with using only H2 and O2, resulting in a lower sticking coefficient. The lower sticking coefficient allows an optimal amount of atoms to reach the bottom of the gate, improving the conformality in 3D NAND SiO2 oxidation layers, specifically for ONO replacement tunneling gate formation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 22, 2019
    Date of Patent: May 3, 2022
    Assignee: Applied Materials, Inc.
    Inventors: Johanes F. Swenberg, Taewan Kim, Christopher S. Olsen, Erika Hansen
  • Patent number: 11081340
    Abstract: Methods for conformal radical oxidation of structures are provided. The method comprises positioning a substrate in a processing region of a processing chamber. The method further comprises flowing hydrogen gas into a precursor activator at a first flow rate, wherein the precursor activator is fluidly coupled with the processing region. The method further comprises flowing oxygen gas into the precursor activator at a second flow rate. The method further comprises flowing argon gas into the precursor activator at a third flow rate. The method further comprises generating a plasma in the precursor activator from the hydrogen gas, oxygen gas, and argon gas. The method further comprises flowing the plasma into the processing region. The method further comprises exposing the substrate to the plasma to form an oxide film on the substrate, wherein a growth rate of the oxide film is controlled by adjusting the third flow rate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 15, 2020
    Date of Patent: August 3, 2021
    Assignee: Applied Materials, Inc.
    Inventors: Hansel Lo, Christopher S. Olsen, Eric Kihara Shono, Johanes S. Swenberg, Erika Hansen, Taewan Kim, Lara Hawrylchak
  • Publication number: 20200251331
    Abstract: Methods for conformal radical oxidation of structures are provided. The method comprises positioning a substrate in a processing region of a processing chamber. The method further comprises flowing hydrogen gas into a precursor activator at a first flow rate, wherein the precursor activator is fluidly coupled with the processing region. The method further comprises flowing oxygen gas into the precursor activator at a second flow rate. The method further comprises flowing argon gas into the precursor activator at a third flow rate. The method further comprises generating a plasma in the precursor activator from the hydrogen gas, oxygen gas, and argon gas. The method further comprises flowing the plasma into the processing region. The method further comprises exposing the substrate to the plasma to form an oxide film on the substrate, wherein a growth rate of the oxide film is controlled by adjusting the third flow rate.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 15, 2020
    Publication date: August 6, 2020
    Inventors: Hansel LO, Christopher S. OLSEN, Eric Kihara SHONO, Johanes S. SWENBERG, Erika HANSEN, Taewan KIM, Lara HAWRYLCHAK
  • Publication number: 20200240014
    Abstract: A gas injector for processing a substrate includes a body having an inlet connectable to a gas source that is configured to provide a gas flow in a first direction into the inlet when processing a substrate on a substrate support disposed within a processing volume of a processing chamber, and an a gas injection channel formed in the body. The gas injection channel is in fluid communication with the inlet and configured to deliver the gas flow to an inlet of the processing chamber. The gas injection channel has a first interior surface and a second interior surface that are parallel to a second direction and a third direction. The second and third directions do not intersect a center of the substrate, and are at an angle to the first direction towards a first edge of the substrate support.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 29, 2020
    Publication date: July 30, 2020
    Inventors: Eric Kihara Shono, Vishwas Kumar Pandey, Christopher S. Olsen, Kartik Shah, Hansel Lo, Tobin Kaufman-Osborn, Rene George, Lara Hawrylchak, Erika Hansen
  • Publication number: 20200194251
    Abstract: Embodiments described herein generally relate to conformal oxidation processes for flash memory devices. In conventional oxidation processes for gate structures, growth rates have become too fast, ultimately creating non-conformal films. To create a preferred growth rate for SiO2 on SiNx films, embodiments in this disclosure use a thermal combustion of a ternary mixture of H2+O2+N2O to gain SiO2 out of Si containing compounds. Using this mixture provides a lower growth in comparison with using only H2 and O2, resulting in a lower sticking coefficient. The lower sticking coefficient allows an optimal amount of atoms to reach the bottom of the gate, improving the conformality in 3D NAND SiO2 oxidation layers, specifically for ONO replacement tunneling gate formation.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 22, 2019
    Publication date: June 18, 2020
    Inventors: Johanes F. SWENBERG, Taewan KIM, Christopher S. OLSEN, Erika HANSEN
  • Patent number: 10636650
    Abstract: Methods for conformal radical oxidation of structures are provided. In one implementation, the method comprises flowing hydrogen into a processing chamber at a first flow rate, wherein the processing chamber has a substrate positioned therein. The method further comprises flowing oxygen into a precursor activator at a second flow rate. The method further comprises flowing argon into the precursor activator at a third flow rate. The method further comprises generating a plasma in the precursor activator from the oxygen and argon. The method further comprises flowing the plasma into the processing chamber, wherein the plasma mixes with the hydrogen gas to create an activated processing gas. The method further comprises exposing the substrate to the activated gas to form an oxide film on the substrate. A growth rate of the oxide film is controlled by adjusting the third flow rate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 20, 2018
    Date of Patent: April 28, 2020
    Assignee: APPLIED MATERIALS, INC.
    Inventors: Hansel Lo, Christopher S. Olsen, Eric Kihara Shono, Johanes S. Swenberg, Erika Hansen, Taewan Kim, Lara Hawrylchak
  • Publication number: 20190221427
    Abstract: Methods for conformal radical oxidation of structures are provided. In one implementation, the method comprises flowing hydrogen into a processing chamber at a first flow rate, wherein the processing chamber has a substrate positioned therein. The method further comprises flowing oxygen into a precursor activator at a second flow rate. The method further comprises flowing argon into the precursor activator at a third flow rate. The method further comprises generating a plasma in the precursor activator from the oxygen and argon. The method further comprises flowing the plasma into the processing chamber, wherein the plasma mixes with the hydrogen gas to create an activated processing gas. The method further comprises exposing the substrate to the activated gas to form an oxide film on the substrate. A growth rate of the oxide film is controlled by adjusting the third flow rate.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 20, 2018
    Publication date: July 18, 2019
    Inventors: Hansel LO, Christopher S. OLSEN, Eric Kihara SHONO, Johanes S. SWENBERG, Erika HANSEN, Taewan KIM, Lara HAWRYLCHAK