Patents by Inventor Kartik Ramaswamy

Kartik Ramaswamy 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).

  • Publication number: 20180323042
    Abstract: The present disclosure generally relates to methods of and apparatuses for controlling a plasma sheath near a substrate edge. The apparatus includes an auxiliary electrode that may be positioned adjacent an electrostatic chuck. The auxiliary electrode is recursively fed from a power source using equal length and equal impedance feeds. The auxiliary electrode is vertically actuatable, and is tunable with respect to ground or other frequencies responsible for plasma generation. Methods of using the same are also provided.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 19, 2018
    Publication date: November 8, 2018
    Inventors: Haitao WANG, Anwar HUSAIN, Kartik RAMASWAMY, Jason A. KENNEY, Jeffrey LUDWIG, Chunlei ZHANG, Wonseok LEE
  • Patent number: 10115566
    Abstract: Methods and apparatus for controlling a magnetic field in a plasma chamber are provided herein. In some embodiments, a process chamber liner may include a cylindrical body, an inner electromagnetic cosine-theta (cos ?) coil ring including a first plurality of inner coils embedded in the body and configured to generate a magnetic field in a first direction, and an outer electromagnetic cosine-theta (cos ?) coil ring including a second plurality of outer coils embedded in the body and configured to generate a magnetic field in a second direction orthogonal to the first direction, wherein the outer electromagnetic cos ? coil ring is disposed concentrically about the inner electromagnetic cos ? coil ring.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 21, 2017
    Date of Patent: October 30, 2018
    Assignee: APPLIED MATERIALS, INC.
    Inventors: Steven Lane, Tza-Jing Gung, Kartik Ramaswamy, Travis Koh, Joseph F. Aubuchon, Yang Yang
  • Publication number: 20180308664
    Abstract: A plasma reactor includes a chamber body having an interior space that provides a plasma chamber, a gas distributor to deliver a processing gas to the plasma chamber, a pump coupled to the plasma chamber to evacuate the chamber, a workpiece support to hold a workpiece, and an intra-chamber electrode assembly including a plurality of filaments extending laterally through the plasma chamber between a ceiling of the plasma chamber and the workpiece support. At least one bus is electrically connected to a conductor of each filament. An RF power source is configured to apply a first RF signal of a first frequency to the plurality of filaments at a first location on at least one bus, and to apply a second RF signal of different second frequency to the plurality of filaments at a different second location on the at least one bus.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 23, 2018
    Publication date: October 25, 2018
    Inventors: Kenneth S. Collins, Kartik Ramaswamy, Yue Guo, Shahid Rauf, Kallol Bera, James D. Carducci, Michael R. Rice
  • Publication number: 20180308661
    Abstract: A plasma reactor includes a chamber body having an interior space that provides a plasma chamber and having a ceiling, a gas distributor to deliver a processing gas to the plasma chamber, a pump coupled to the plasma chamber to evacuate the chamber, a workpiece support to hold a workpiece facing the ceiling, an intra-chamber electrode assembly that includes an insulating frame and a filament extending laterally through the plasma chamber between the ceiling and the workpiece support, the filament including a conductor at least partially surrounded by an insulating shell that extends from the insulating frame, and a first RF power source to supply a first RF power to the conductor of the intra-chamber electrode assembly.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 22, 2017
    Publication date: October 25, 2018
    Inventors: Kenneth S. Collins, Michael R. Rice, Kartik Ramaswamy, James D. Carducci
  • Publication number: 20180308666
    Abstract: A plasma reactor includes a chamber body having an interior space that provides a plasma chamber and having a ceiling, a gas distributor to deliver a processing gas to the plasma chamber, a pump coupled to the plasma chamber to evacuate the chamber, a workpiece support to hold a workpiece, and an intra-chamber electrode assembly. The intra-chamber electrode assembly includes an insulating frame, a first plurality of coplanar filaments that extend laterally through the plasma chamber between the ceiling and the workpiece support along a first direction, and a second plurality of coplanar filaments that extend in parallel through the plasma chamber along a second direction perpendicular to the first direction. Each filament of the first and second plurality of filaments includes a conductor at least partially surrounded by an insulating shell. A first RF power source supplies a first RF power to the conductor of the intra-chamber electrode assembly.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 22, 2017
    Publication date: October 25, 2018
    Inventors: Kenneth S. Collins, Michael R. Rice, Kartik Ramaswamy, James D. Carducci
  • Publication number: 20180308667
    Abstract: A plasma reactor includes a chamber body having an interior space that provides a plasma chamber, a gas distributor to deliver a processing gas to the plasma chamber, a pump coupled to the plasma chamber to evacuate the chamber, a workpiece support to hold a workpiece, and an intra-chamber electrode assembly that includes a plurality of filaments extending laterally through the plasma chamber between a ceiling of the plasma chamber and the workpiece support. Each filament including a conductor surrounded by a cylindrical insulating shell. The plurality of filaments includes a first multiplicity of filaments and a second multiplicity of filaments arranged in an alternating pattern with the first multiplicity of filaments. An RF power source is configured to apply a first RF input signal to the first multiplicity of filaments.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 23, 2018
    Publication date: October 25, 2018
    Inventors: Kenneth S. Collins, Kartik Ramaswamy, Yue Guo, Shahid Rauf, Kallol Bera, James D. Carducci, Michael R. Rice
  • Publication number: 20180308663
    Abstract: A plasma reactor includes a chamber body having an interior space that provides a plasma chamber, a gas distributor to deliver a processing gas to the plasma chamber, a pump coupled to the plasma chamber to evacuate the chamber, a workpiece support to hold a workpiece, an intra-chamber electrode assembly including a plurality of filaments extending laterally through the plasma chamber between a ceiling of the plasma chamber and the workpiece support, each filament including a conductor surrounded by a cylindrical insulating shell, and an RF power source configured to apply a first RF signal to at least some of the plurality of filaments, to apply a second RF signal of equal frequency to at least some of the plurality of filaments, and to modulate a phase offset between the first RF signal and the second RF signal.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 23, 2018
    Publication date: October 25, 2018
    Inventors: Kenneth S. Collins, Kartik Ramaswamy, Yue Guo, Shahid Rauf, Kallol Bera, James D. Carducci, Michael R. Rice
  • Publication number: 20180308736
    Abstract: Embodiments include an electrostatic chuck assembly having an electrostatic chuck mounted on an insulator. The electrostatic chuck and insulator may be within a chamber volume of a process chamber. In an embodiment, a ground shield surrounds the electrostatic chuck and the insulator, and a gap between the ground shield and the electrostatic chuck provides an environment at risk for electric field emission. A dielectric filler can be placed within the gap to reduce a likelihood of electric field emission. The dielectric filler can have a flexible outer surface that covers or attaches to the electrostatic chuck, or an interface between the electrostatic chuck and the insulator Other embodiments are also described and claimed.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 24, 2017
    Publication date: October 25, 2018
    Inventors: Kartik Ramaswamy, Anwar Husain, Haitao Wang, Evans Yip Lee, Jaeyong Cho, Hamid Noorbakhsh, Kenny L. Doan, Sergio Fukuda Shoji, Chunlei Zhang
  • Patent number: 10095114
    Abstract: A method and apparatus disclosed herein apply to processing a substrate, and more specifically to a method and apparatus for improving photolithography processes. The apparatus includes a chamber body, a substrate support disposed within the chamber body, and an electrode assembly. The substrate support has a top plate disposed above the substrate support, a bottom plate disposed below the substrate support, and a plurality of electrodes connecting the top plate to the bottom plate. A voltage is applied to the plurality of electrodes to generate an electric field. Methods for exposing a photoresist layer on a substrate to an electric field are also disclosed herein.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 5, 2015
    Date of Patent: October 9, 2018
    Assignee: Applied Materials, Inc.
    Inventors: Kartik Ramaswamy, Srinivas D. Nemani
  • Publication number: 20180277340
    Abstract: An electron beam plasma reactor includes a plasma chamber having a side wall, an upper electrode, a workpiece support to hold a workpiece facing the upper electrode with the workpiece on the support having a clear view of the upper electrode, a first RF power source coupled to said upper electrode, a gas supply, a vacuum pump coupled to the chamber to evacuate the chamber, and a controller. The controller is configured to operate the first RF power source to apply an RF power to upper electrode, and to operate the gas distributor and vacuum pump, so as to create a plasma in an upper portion of the chamber that generates an electron beam from the upper electrode toward the workpiece and a lower electron-temperature plasma in a lower portion of the chamber including the workpiece.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 9, 2018
    Publication date: September 27, 2018
    Inventors: Yang Yang, Kartik Ramaswamy, Kenneth S. Collins, Steven Lane, Gonzalo Antonio Monroy, Lucy Chen, Yue Guo, Eswaranand Venkatasubramanian
  • Publication number: 20180274089
    Abstract: A method of performing deposition of diamond-like carbon on a workpiece in a chamber includes supporting the workpiece in the chamber facing an upper electrode suspended from a ceiling of the chamber, introducing a hydrocarbon gas into the chamber, and applying first RF power at a first frequency to the upper electrode that generates a plasma in the chamber and produces a deposition of diamond-like carbon on the workpiece. Applying the RF power generates an electron beam from the upper electrode toward the workpiece to enhance ionization of the hydrocarbon gas.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 27, 2017
    Publication date: September 27, 2018
    Inventors: Yang Yang, Kartik Ramaswamy, Kenneth S. Collins, Steven Lane, Gonzalo Antonio Monroy, Lucy Chen, Yue Guo
  • Publication number: 20180274100
    Abstract: A method of forming a layer of diamond-like carbon on a workpiece includes supporting the workpiece in a chamber with the workpiece facing an upper electrode, and forming a plurality of successive sublayers to form the layer of layer of diamond-like carbon by alternating between depositing a sublayer of diamond-like carbon on the workpiece in the chamber and treating the sublayer with a plasma of the inert gas or an electron beam from the upper electrode.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 27, 2017
    Publication date: September 27, 2018
    Inventors: Yang Yang, Kartik Ramaswamy, Eswaranand Venkatasubramanian, Kenneth S. Collins, Steven Lane, Gonzalo Antonio Monroy, Lucy Chen, Yue Guo
  • Patent number: 10083883
    Abstract: Embodiments include devices and methods for detecting particles, monitoring etch or deposition rates, or controlling an operation of a wafer fabrication process. In an embodiment, a particle monitoring device for particle detection includes several capacitive micro sensors mounted on a wafer substrate to detect particles under all pressure regimes, e.g., under vacuum conditions. In an embodiment, one or more capacitive micro sensors is mounted on a wafer processing tool to measure material deposition and removal rates in real-time during the wafer fabrication process. Other embodiments are also described and claimed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 20, 2016
    Date of Patent: September 25, 2018
    Assignee: Applied Materials, Inc.
    Inventors: Leonard Tedeschi, Kartik Ramaswamy, Daniel Thomas McCormick, Robert Paul Meagley
  • Publication number: 20180261429
    Abstract: A reactor with an overhead electron beam source is capable of generating an ion-ion plasma for performing an atomic layer etch process.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 15, 2018
    Publication date: September 13, 2018
    Inventors: Kenneth S. Collins, Kartik Ramaswamy, James D. Carducci, Shahid Rauf, Leonid Dorf, Yang Yang
  • Publication number: 20180254171
    Abstract: Methods and apparatus for boosting ion energies are contemplated herein. In one embodiment, the methods and apparatus comprises a controller, a process chamber with a symmetrical plasma source configured to process a wafer, one or more very high frequency (VHF) sources, coupled to the process chamber, to generate plasma density and two or more frequency generators that generate low frequencies relative to the one or more VHF sources, coupled to a bottom electrode of the process chamber, the two or more low frequency generators configured to dissipate energy in the plasma sheath, wherein the controller controls the one or more VHF sources to generate a VHF signal and the two or more low frequency sources to generate two or more low frequency signals.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 3, 2017
    Publication date: September 6, 2018
    Inventors: WONSEOK LEE, KARTIK RAMASWAMY, Ankur AGARWAL, Haitao WANG
  • Patent number: 10067070
    Abstract: Embodiments include devices and methods for detecting particles in a wafer processing tool. In an embodiment, a particle monitoring device having a wafer form factor includes several micro sensors capable of operating in all pressure regimes, e.g., under vacuum conditions. The particle monitoring device may include a clock to output a time value when a parameter of a micro sensor changes in response to receiving a particle within a chamber of the wafer processing tool. A location of the micro sensor or the time value may be used to determine a source of the particle. Other embodiments are also described and claimed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 6, 2015
    Date of Patent: September 4, 2018
    Assignee: Applied Materials, Inc.
    Inventors: Leonard Tedeschi, Kartik Ramaswamy
  • Publication number: 20180221949
    Abstract: An additive manufacturing system includes a platen, a dispenser configured to deliver a powder in a linear region that extends across less than all of a width of the platen, a drive system configured to move the dispenser along the first axis and a perpendicular second axis, a controller, and an energy source configured to selectively fuse a layer of powder. The controller is configured to cause the drive system to move the dispenser along the second axis a first time such that the linear region makes a first sweep along the second axis to deposit the powder in a first swath over the platen, thereafter along the first axis, and thereafter along the second axis a second time such that the first linear region makes a second sweep along the second axis to deposit the powder in a parallel second swath over the platen.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 30, 2018
    Publication date: August 9, 2018
    Inventors: Christopher A. Rowland, Anantha K. Subramani, Kasiraman Krishnan, Kartik Ramaswamy, Thomas B. Brezoczky, Swaminathan Srinivasan, Jennifer Y. Sun, Simon Yavelberg, Srinivas D. Nemani, Nag B. Patibandla, Hou T. Ng
  • Publication number: 20180221948
    Abstract: An additive manufacturing system includes a platen to support an object to be fabricated, a dispenser assembly positioned above the platen, and an energy source configured to selectively fuse a layer of powder. The dispenser assembly includes a first dispenser, a second dispenser, and a drive system. The first dispenser delivers a first powder in a first linear region that extends along a first axis, and the second dispenser delivers a second powder in a second linear region that extends parallel to the first linear region and is offset from the first linear region along a second axis perpendicular to the first axis. The drive system a drive system moves the support with the first dispenser and second dispenser together along the second axis.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 30, 2018
    Publication date: August 9, 2018
    Inventors: Christopher A. Rowland, Anantha K. Subramani, Kasiraman Krishnan, Kartik Ramaswamy, Thomas B. Brezoczky, Swaminathan Srinivasan, Jennifer Y. Sun, Simon Yavelberg, Srinivas D. Nemani, Nag B. Patibandla, Hou T. Ng
  • Publication number: 20180218873
    Abstract: A plasma reactor includes a window assembly, inner, middle and outer coil antennas adjacent the window assembly, inner, middle and outer current distributors respectively coupled to the inner, middle and outer coil antennas, a ceiling plate overlying the window assembly, first, second and third RF power terminals, and first, second and third axial RF power feeds connected between respective ones of the first, second and third RF power terminals and respective ones of the inner, middle and outer current distributors. The third axial RF power feed includes an outer RF power distribution cylinder surrounding the first and second RF axial power feeds. Plural spaced-apart reactance elements are electrically connected to the outer RF power distribution cylinder.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 26, 2018
    Publication date: August 2, 2018
    Inventors: Jason A. Kenney, James D. Carducci, Kenneth S. Collins, Richard Fovell, Kartik Ramaswamy, Shahid Rauf
  • Publication number: 20180211811
    Abstract: A plasma reactor includes inner, middle and outer current distributors to carry RF power to be supplied to a plasma in the processing region, and a plurality of RF power feeds connected between a plurality of RF power terminals and the inner, middle and outer current distributors. The current distributors are successive concentric axially symmetric hollow bodies. The plurality of current feeds include a middle RF power feed that includes an axial upper portion connected to one of the plurality of RF power terminals, a plurality of arms extending radially outwardly from the axial upper portion, and a plurality of axially extending RF connection rods extending from outer ends of the plurality of arms to the middle current distributor.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 23, 2018
    Publication date: July 26, 2018
    Inventors: Jason A. Kenney, James D. Carducci, Kenneth S. Collins, Richard Fovell, Kartik Ramaswamy, Shahid Rauf