Patents by Inventor Jianhua Zhou

Jianhua Zhou 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).

  • MULTI-ZONE PEDESTAL FOR PLASMA PROCESSING
    Publication number: 20190035665
    Abstract: A method and apparatus for a heated pedestal is provided. In one embodiment, the heated pedestal includes a body comprising a ceramic material, a plurality of heating elements encapsulated within the body, and one or more grooves formed in a surface of the body adjacent each of the plurality of heating elements, at least one side of the grooves being bounded by a ceramic plate.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 1, 2018
    Publication date: January 31, 2019
    Inventors: Xing LIN, Bozhi YANG, Jianhua ZHOU, Dale R. DUBOIS, Juan Carlos ROCHA-ALVAREZ, Ramprakash SANKARAKRISHNAN
  • Apparatus and method for purging gaseous compounds
    Patent number: 10161035
    Abstract: A processing chamber is described having a gas evacuation flow path from the center to the edge of the chamber. Purge gas is introduced at an opening around a support shaft that supports a heater plate. A shaft wall around the opening directs the purge gas along the support shaft to an evacuation plenum. Gas flows from the evacuation plenum through an opening in a second plate near the shaft wall and along the chamber bottom to an opening coupled to a vacuum source. Purge gas is also directed to the slit valve.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 5, 2016
    Date of Patent: December 25, 2018
    Assignee: APPLIED MATERIALS, INC.
    Inventors: Juan Carlos Rocha-Alvarez, Amit Kumar Bansal, Ganesh Balasubramanian, Jianhua Zhou, Ramprakash Sankarakrishnan
  • Substrate temperature measurement in multi-zone heater
    Patent number: 10153185
    Abstract: Embodiments of the present disclosure generally provide apparatus and methods for monitoring one or more process parameters, such as temperature of substrate support, at various locations. One embodiment of the present disclosure provides a sensor column for measuring one or more parameters in a processing chamber. The sensor column includes a tip for contacting a chamber component being measured, a protective tube having an inner volume extending from a first end and second end, wherein the tip is attached to the first end of the protective tube and seals the protective tube at the first end, and a sensor disposed near the tip. The inner volume of the protective tube houses connectors of the sensor, and the tip is positioned in the processing chamber through an opening of the processing chamber during operation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 7, 2014
    Date of Patent: December 11, 2018
    Assignee: APPLIED MATERIALS, INC.
    Inventors: Dale R. Du Bois, Bozhi Yang, Jianhua Zhou, Sanjeev Baluja, Amit Kumar Bansal, Juan Carlos Rocha-Alvarez
  • Bottom and side plasma tuning having closed loop control
    Patent number: 10128118
    Abstract: An apparatus for plasma processing a substrate is provided. The apparatus comprises a processing chamber, a substrate support disposed in the processing chamber, and a lid assembly coupled to the processing chamber. The lid assembly comprises a conductive gas distributor coupled to a power source. A tuning electrode may be disposed between the conductive gas distributor and the chamber body for adjusting a ground pathway of the plasma. A second tuning electrode may be coupled to the substrate support, and a bias electrode may also be coupled to the substrate support.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 23, 2013
    Date of Patent: November 13, 2018
    Assignee: Applied Materials, Inc.
    Inventors: Juan Carlos Rocha-Alvarez, Amit Kumar Bansal, Ganesh Balasubramanian, Jianhua Zhou, Ramprakash Sankarakrishnan, Mohamad A. Ayoub, Jian J. Chen
  • Bad sector repair method and apparatus
    Patent number: 10127099
    Abstract: A bad sector repair method includes receiving a first write operation instruction sent by a host, reading data of a physical page including the first sector according to a logical block address (LBA) of a first sector included in the first write operation instruction, allocating storage space with a same size as the physical page in a cache and setting data in the storage space to preset data when reading the data of the physical page fails, updating preset data of a storage area corresponding to the first sector and in the storage space with data that needs to be written to the first sector, and writing data in the storage space to the physical page to repair the first sector.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 29, 2016
    Date of Patent: November 13, 2018
    Assignee: HUAWEI TECHNOLOGIES CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Meng Zhou, Yan Li, Jianhua Zhou
  • High impedance RF filter for heater with impedance tuning device
    Patent number: 10125422
    Abstract: Embodiments provide a plasma processing apparatus, substrate support assembly, and method of controlling a plasma process. The apparatus and substrate support assembly include a substrate support pedestal, a tuning assembly that includes a tuning electrode that is disposed in the pedestal and electrically coupled to a radio frequency (RF) tuner, and a heating assembly that includes one or more heating elements disposed within the pedestal for controlling a temperature profile of the substrate, where at least one of the heating elements is electrically coupled to an RF filter circuit that includes a first inductor configured in parallel with a formed capacitance of the first inductor to ground. The high impedance of the RF filters can be achieved by tuning the resonance of the RF filter circuit, which results in less RF leakage and better substrate processing results.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 27, 2014
    Date of Patent: November 13, 2018
    Assignee: Applied Materials, Inc.
    Inventors: Jian J. Chen, Mohamad A. Ayoub, Juan Carlos Rocha-Alvarez, Zheng John Ye, Ramprakash Sankarakrishnan, Jianhua Zhou
  • Multi-zone pedestal for plasma processing
    Patent number: 10090187
    Abstract: A method and apparatus for a heated pedestal is provided. In one embodiment, the heated pedestal includes a body comprising a ceramic material, a plurality of heating elements encapsulated within the body, and one or more grooves formed in a surface of the body adjacent each of the plurality of heating elements, at least one side of the grooves being bounded by a ceramic plate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 30, 2017
    Date of Patent: October 2, 2018
    Assignee: APPLIED MATERIALS, INC.
    Inventors: Xing Lin, Bozhi Yang, Jianhua Zhou, Dale R. Dubois, Juan Carlos Rocha-Alvarez, Ramprakash Sankarakrishnan
  • PECVD PROCESS
    Publication number: 20180258535
    Abstract: A method of processing a substrate according to a PECVD process is described. Temperature profile of the substrate is adjusted to change deposition rate profile across the substrate. Plasma density profile is adjusted to change deposition rate profile across the substrate. Chamber surfaces exposed to the plasma are heated to improve plasma density uniformity and reduce formation of low quality deposits on chamber surfaces. In situ metrology may be used to monitor progress of a deposition process and trigger control actions involving substrate temperature profile, plasma density profile, pressure, temperature, and flow of reactants.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 10, 2018
    Publication date: September 13, 2018
    Inventors: Nagarajan RAJAGOPALAN, Xinhai HAN, Michael Wenyoung TSIANG, Masaki OGATA, Zhijun JIANG, Juan Carlos ROCHA-ALVAREZ, Thomas NOWAK, Jianhua ZHOU, Ramprakash SANKARAKRISHNAN, Amit Kumar BANSAL, Jeongmin LEE, Todd EGAN, Edward BUDIARTO, Dmitriy PANASYUK, Terrance Y. LEE, Jian J. CHEN, Mohamad A. AYOUB, Heung Lak PARK, Patrick REILLY, Shahid SHAIKH, Bok Hoen KIM, Sergey STARIK, Ganesh BALASUBRAMANIAN
  • PECVD process
    Patent number: 10060032
    Abstract: A method of processing a substrate according to a PECVD process is described. Temperature profile of the substrate is adjusted to change deposition rate profile across the substrate. Plasma density profile is adjusted to change deposition rate profile across the substrate. Chamber surfaces exposed to the plasma are heated to improve plasma density uniformity and reduce formation of low quality deposits on chamber surfaces. In situ metrology may be used to monitor progress of a deposition process and trigger control actions involving substrate temperature profile, plasma density profile, pressure, temperature, and flow of reactants.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 3, 2017
    Date of Patent: August 28, 2018
    Assignee: APPLIED MATERIALS, INC.
    Inventors: Nagarajan Rajagopalan, Xinhai Han, Michael Wenyoung Tsiang, Masaki Ogata, Zhijun Jiang, Juan Carlos Rocha-Alvarez, Thomas Nowak, Jianhua Zhou, Ramprakash Sankarakrishnan, Amit Kumar Bansal, Jeongmin Lee, Todd Egan, Edward Budiarto, Dmitriy Panasyuk, Terrance Y. Lee, Jian J. Chen, Mohamad A. Ayoub, Heung Lak Park, Patrick Reilly, Shahid Shaikh, Bok Hoen Kim, Sergey Starik, Ganesh Balasubramanian
  • DATA PROCESSING METHOD AND APPARATUS, AND FLASH DEVICE
    Publication number: 20180210828
    Abstract: A method for adjusting over provisioning space and a flash device are provided. The flash device includes user storage space for storing user data and over provisioning space for garbage collection within the flash device. The flash device receives an operation instruction, and then performs an operation on user data stored in the user storage space according to the operation instruction. Further, the flash device identifies a changed size of user data after performing the operation. Based on the changed size of data, a target adjustment parameter is identified. Further, the flash device adjusts the capacity of the over provisioning space according to the target adjustment parameter. According to the method, the over provisioning ratio can be dynamically adjusted.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 21, 2018
    Publication date: July 26, 2018
    Applicant: HUAWEI TECHNOLOGIES CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Jianhua Zhou, Po Zhang
  • PECVD apparatus and process
    Patent number: 10030306
    Abstract: Apparatus and method of processing a substrate according to a PECVD process is described. Temperature profile of the substrate is adjusted to change deposition rate profile across the substrate. Plasma density profile is adjusted to change deposition rate profile across the substrate. Chamber surfaces exposed to the plasma are heated to improve plasma density uniformity and reduce formation of low quality deposits on chamber surfaces. In situ metrology may be used to monitor progress of a deposition process and trigger control actions involving substrate temperature profile, plasma density profile, pressure, temperature, and flow of reactants.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 23, 2013
    Date of Patent: July 24, 2018
    Assignee: Applied Materials, Inc.
    Inventors: Nagarajan Rajagopalan, Xinhai Han, Michael Tsiang, Masaki Ogata, Zhijun Jiang, Juan Carlos Rocha-Alvarez, Thomas Nowak, Jianhua Zhou, Ramprakash Sankarakrishnan, Ganesh Balasubramanian, Amit Kumar Bansal, Jeongmin Lee, Todd Egan, Edward Budiarto, Dmitriy Panasyuk, Terrance Y. Lee, Jian J. Chen, Mohamad A. Ayoub, Heung Lak Park, Patrick Reilly, Shahid Shaikh, Bok Hoen Kim, Sergey Starik
  • Diffusion bonded plasma resisted chemical vapor deposition (CVD) chamber heater
    Patent number: 9975320
    Abstract: Embodiments of the disclosure generally relate to heated substrate supports having a protective coating thereon. The protective coating is formed from pure yttria or alloys predominantly of yttria. The protective coating is diffusion bonded to the heater plate of the substrate support. Two distinct silicon containing layers are formed between the heater plate and the protective coating as the result of the diffusion bonding.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 13, 2014
    Date of Patent: May 22, 2018
    Assignee: APPLIED MATERIALS, INC.
    Inventors: Ren-Guan Duan, Juan Carlos Rocha-Alvarez, Jianhua Zhou
  • APPARATUS FOR RADICAL-BASED DEPOSITION OF DIELECTRIC FILMS
    Publication number: 20180080125
    Abstract: Embodiments disclosed herein generally include an apparatus for radical-based deposition of dielectric films. The apparatus includes a processing chamber, a radical source coupled to the processing chamber, a substrate support disposed in the processing chamber, and a dual-channel showerhead disposed between the radical source and the substrate support. The dual-channel showerhead includes a plurality of tubes and an internal volume surrounding the plurality of tubes. The plurality of tubes and the internal volume are surrounded by one or more annular channels embedded in the dual-channel showerhead. The dual-channel showerhead further includes a first inlet connected to the one or more channels and a second inlet connected to the internal volume. The processing chamber may be a PECVD chamber, and the apparatus is capable of performing a cyclic process (alternating radical based CVD and PECVD).
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 27, 2017
    Publication date: March 22, 2018
    Inventors: Jianhua ZHOU, Juan Carlos ROCHA-ALVAREZ, Yihong CHEN, Abhijit Basu MALLICK, Oscar LOPEZ, Ningli LIU
  • HEATER PEDESTAL ASSEMBLY FOR WIDE RANGE TEMPERATURE CONTROL
    Publication number: 20180082866
    Abstract: Implementations of the disclosure generally relate to a semiconductor processing chamber and, more specifically, a heated support pedestal for a semiconductor processing chamber. In one implementation, a pedestal assembly is disclosed and includes a substrate support comprising a dielectric material and having a support surface for receiving a substrate, a resistive heater encapsulated within the substrate support, a hollow shaft coupled to a support member of the substrate support at a first end of the shaft, and a thermally conductive material disposed at an interface between the support member and the first end of the shaft.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 13, 2017
    Publication date: March 22, 2018
    Inventors: Kaushik ALAYAVALLI, Ajit BALAKRISHNA, Sanjeev BALUJA, Amit Kumar BANSAL, Matthew James BUSCHE, Juan Carlos ROCHA-ALVAREZ, Swaminathan T. SRINIVASAN, Tejas ULAVI, Jianhua ZHOU
  • PECVD PROCESS
    Publication number: 20180066364
    Abstract: A method of processing a substrate according to a PECVD process is described. Temperature profile of the substrate is adjusted to change deposition rate profile across the substrate. Plasma density profile is adjusted to change deposition rate profile across the substrate. Chamber surfaces exposed to the plasma are heated to improve plasma density uniformity and reduce formation of low quality deposits on chamber surfaces. In situ metrology may be used to monitor progress of a deposition process and trigger control actions involving substrate temperature profile, plasma density profile, pressure, temperature, and flow of reactants.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 3, 2017
    Publication date: March 8, 2018
    Inventors: Nagarajan RAJAGOPALAN, Xinhai HAN, Michael Wenyoung TSIANG, Masaki OGATA, Zhijun JIANG, Juan Carlos ROCHA-ALVAREZ, Thomas NOWAK, Jianhua ZHOU, Ramprakash SANKARAKRISHNAN, Amit Kumar BANSAL, Jeongmin LEE, Todd EGAN, Edward BUDIARTO, Dmitriy PANASYUK, Terrance Y. LEE, Jian J. CHEN, Mohamad A. AYOUB, Heung Lak PARK, Patrick REILLY, Shahid SHAIKH, Bok Hoen KIM, Sergey STARIK, Ganesh BALASUBRAMANIAN
  • CRITICAL METHODOLOGY IN VACUUM CHAMBERS TO DETERMINE GAP AND LEVELING BETWEEN WAFER AND HARDWARE COMPONENTS
    Publication number: 20180046088
    Abstract: Implementations described herein generally relate to methods for leveling a component above a substrate. In one implementation, a test substrate is placed on a substrate support inside of a processing chamber. A component, such as a mask, is located above the substrate. The component is lowered to a position so that the component and the substrate are in contact. The component is then lifted and the particle distribution on the test substrate is reviewed. Based on the particle distribution, the component may be adjusted. A new test substrate is placed on the substrate support inside of the processing chamber, and the component is lowered to a position so that the component and the new test substrate are in contact. The particle distribution on the new test substrate is reviewed. The process may be repeated until a uniform particle distribution is shown on a test substrate.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 11, 2017
    Publication date: February 15, 2018
    Inventors: Hiroyuki OGISO, Jianhua ZHOU, Zonghui SU, Juan Carlos ROCHA-ALVAREZ, Jeongmin LEE, Karthik Thimmavajjula NARASIMHA, Rick GILBERT, Sang Heon PARK, Abdul Aziz KHAJA, Vinay PRABHAKAR
  • Apparatus for radical-based deposition of dielectric films
    Patent number: 9840777
    Abstract: Embodiments disclosed herein generally include an apparatus for radical-based deposition of dielectric films. The apparatus includes a processing chamber, a radical source coupled to the processing chamber, a substrate support disposed in the processing chamber, and a dual-channel showerhead disposed between the radical source and the substrate support. The dual-channel showerhead includes a plurality of tubes and an internal volume surrounding the plurality of tubes. The plurality of tubes and the internal volume are surrounded by one or more annular channels embedded in the dual-channel showerhead. The dual-channel showerhead further includes a first inlet connected to the one or more channels and a second inlet connected to the internal volume. The processing chamber may be a PECVD chamber, and the apparatus is capable of performing a cyclic process (alternating radical based CVD and PECVD).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 26, 2014
    Date of Patent: December 12, 2017
    Assignee: APPLIED MATERIALS, INC.
    Inventors: Jianhua Zhou, Juan Carlos Rocha-Alvarez, Yihong Chen, Abhijit Basu Mallick, Oscar Lopez, Ningli Liu
  • ELECTROSTATIC CHUCK HAVING PROPERTIES FOR OPTIMAL THIN FILM DEPOSITION OR ETCH PROCESSES
    Publication number: 20170352569
    Abstract: A heated support assembly is disclosed which includes a body comprising aluminum nitride doped with magnesium oxide having a volume resistivity of about 1×1010 ?-cm at about 600 degrees Celsius, an electrode embedded in the body, and a heater mesh embedded in the body.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 2, 2017
    Publication date: December 7, 2017
    Inventors: Abdul Aziz KHAJA, Xing LIN, Edward P. HAMMOND, IV, Juan Carlos ROCHA-ALVAREZ, Chidambara A. RAMALINGAM, Ganesh BALASUBRAMANIAN, Ren-Guan DUAN, Jianhua ZHOU, Jonathan J. STRAHLE
  • PECVD process
    Patent number: 9816187
    Abstract: A method of processing a substrate according to a PECVD process is described. Temperature profile of the substrate is adjusted to change deposition rate profile across the substrate. Plasma density profile is adjusted to change deposition rate profile across the substrate. Chamber surfaces exposed to the plasma are heated to improve plasma density uniformity and reduce formation of low quality deposits on chamber surfaces. In situ metrology may be used to monitor progress of a deposition process and trigger control actions involving substrate temperature profile, plasma density profile, pressure, temperature, and flow of reactants.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 28, 2016
    Date of Patent: November 14, 2017
    Assignee: APPLIED MATERIALS, INC.
    Inventors: Nagarajan Rajagopalan, Xinhai Han, Michael Wenyoung Tsiang, Masaki Ogata, Zhijun Jiang, Juan Carlos Rocha-Alvarez, Thomas Nowak, Jianhua Zhou, Ramprakash Sankarakrishnan, Amit Kumar Bansal, Jeongmin Lee, Todd Egan, Edward Budiarto, Dmitriy Panasyuk, Terrance Y. Lee, Jian J. Chen, Mohamad A. Ayoub, Heung Lak Park, Patrick Reilly, Shahid Shaikh, Bok Hoen Kim, Sergey Starik, Ganesh Balasubramanian
  • SUBSTRATE SUPPORT PEDESTAL HAVING PLASMA CONFINEMENT FEATURES
    Publication number: 20170306494
    Abstract: A method and apparatus for a heated substrate support pedestal is provided. In one embodiment, the heated substrate support pedestal includes a body comprising a ceramic material, a plurality of heating elements encapsulated within the body A stem is coupled to a bottom surface of the body. A plurality of heater elements, a top electrode and a shield electrode are disposed within the body. The top electrode is disposed adjacent a top surface of the body, while the shield electrode is disposed adjacent the bottom surface of the body. A conductive rod is disposed through the stem and is coupled to the top electrode.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 26, 2017
    Publication date: October 26, 2017
    Inventors: Xing LIN, Vijay D. PARKHE, Jianhua ZHOU, Edward P. HAMMOND, IV, Jaeyong CHO, Zheng John YE, Zonghui SU, Juan Carlos ROCHA-ALVAREZ