Patents by Inventor Kevin R. Anglin

Kevin R. Anglin 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: 20230238264
    Abstract: A system and method for etching workpieces in a uniform manner are disclosed. The system includes a semiconductor processing system that generates a ribbon ion beam, and a workpiece holder that scans the workpiece through the ribbon ion beam. The workpiece holder includes a plurality of independently controlled thermal zones so that the temperature of different regions of the workpiece may be separately controlled. In certain embodiments, etch rate uniformity may be a function of distance from the center of the workpiece, also referred to as radial non-uniformity. Further, when the workpiece is scanned, there may also be etch rate uniformity issues in the translated direction, referred to as linear non-uniformity. The present workpiece holder comprises a plurality of independently controlled thermal zones to compensate for both radial and linear etch rate non-uniformity.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 31, 2023
    Publication date: July 27, 2023
    Inventors: Kevin R. Anglin, Simon Ruffell
  • Patent number: 11664193
    Abstract: A system and method for etching workpieces in a uniform manner are disclosed. The system includes a semiconductor processing system that generates a ribbon ion beam, and a workpiece holder that scans the workpiece through the ribbon ion beam. The workpiece holder includes a portion that extends beyond the workpiece, referred to as a halo. The halo may be independently heated to compensate for etch rate non-uniformities. In some embodiments, the halo may be independently biased such that its potential is different from the potential applied to the workpiece. In certain embodiments, the halo may be divided into a plurality of thermal zones that can be separately controlled. In this way, various etch rate non-uniformities may be addressed by controlling the potential and/or temperature of the various thermal zones of the halo.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 4, 2021
    Date of Patent: May 30, 2023
    Assignee: Applied Materials, Inc.
    Inventors: Kevin R. Anglin, Simon Ruffell, Kevin Verrier
  • Patent number: 11646213
    Abstract: A system and method for etching workpieces in a uniform manner are disclosed. The system includes a semiconductor processing system that generates a ribbon ion beam, and a workpiece holder that scans the workpiece through the ribbon ion beam. The workpiece holder includes a plurality of independently controlled thermal zones so that the temperature of different regions of the workpiece may be separately controlled. In certain embodiments, etch rate uniformity may be a function of distance from the center of the workpiece, also referred to as radial non-uniformity. Further, when the workpiece is scanned, there may also be etch rate uniformity issues in the translated direction, referred to as linear non-uniformity. The present workpiece holder comprises a plurality of independently controlled thermal zones to compensate for both radial and linear etch rate non-uniformity.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 4, 2020
    Date of Patent: May 9, 2023
    Assignee: Applied Materials, Inc.
    Inventors: Kevin R. Anglin, Simon Ruffell
  • Publication number: 20230124509
    Abstract: An extraction assembly may include an extraction plate for placement along a side of a plasma chamber, and having an extraction aperture, elongated along a first direction, and having an aperture height, extending along a second direction, perpendicular to the first direction. The extraction plate defines an inner surface along the extraction aperture, lying in a first plane. A beam blocker is disposed over the extraction aperture, and has an outer surface, disposed in a second plane, different than the first plane. As such, the beam blocker overlaps with the extraction plate along a first edge of the extraction aperture by a first overlap distance, and overlaps with the extraction plate along a second edge of the extraction aperture by a second overlap distance, so as to define a first extraction slit, along the first edge, and a second extraction slit along the second edge.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 17, 2021
    Publication date: April 20, 2023
    Applicant: Applied Materials, Inc.
    Inventors: Costel Biloiu, Jay R. Wallace, Solomon Belangedi Basame, Kevin R. Anglin, Tyler Rockwell
  • Publication number: 20220384156
    Abstract: A substrate holder assembly including a substrate platen, the substrate platen disposed to support a substrate at a substrate position, a halo ring, the halo ring being disposed around the substrate position, and an outer halo being disposed around the halo ring and defining a first aperture, wherein the outer halo is disposed to engage the halo ring, the halo ring being disposed at least partially within the first aperture, the halo ring defining a second aperture, concentrically positioned within the first aperture, wherein the outer halo and the halo ring are formed at least partially of silicon, silicon carbide, doped silicon, quartz, and ceramic.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 25, 2021
    Publication date: December 1, 2022
    Applicant: Applied Materials, Inc.
    Inventors: Jay R. Wallace, Simon Ruffell, Kevin R. Anglin, Tyler Rockwell, Christopher Campbell, Kevin M. Daniels, Richard J. Hertel, Kevin T. Ryan
  • Publication number: 20220246397
    Abstract: A system and method for etching workpieces in a uniform manner are disclosed. The system includes a semiconductor processing system that generates a ribbon ion beam, and a workpiece holder that scans the workpiece through the ribbon ion beam. The workpiece holder includes a portion that extends beyond the workpiece, referred to as a halo. The halo may be independently heated to compensate for etch rate non-uniformities. In some embodiments, the halo may be independently biased such that its potential is different from the potential applied to the workpiece. In certain embodiments, the halo may be divided into a plurality of thermal zones that can be separately controlled. In this way, various etch rate non-uniformities may be addressed by controlling the potential and/or temperature of the various thermal zones of the halo.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 4, 2021
    Publication date: August 4, 2022
    Inventors: Kevin R. Anglin, Simon Ruffell, Kevin Verrier
  • Publication number: 20210375626
    Abstract: A method of patterning a substrate may include providing a cavity in a layer, disposed on the substrate. The cavity may have a first length along a first direction and a first width along a second direction, perpendicular to the first direction. The method may include directing first angled ions in a first exposure to the cavity, wherein after the first exposure the cavity has a second length, greater than the first length; directing normal ions in a second exposure to the cavity, wherein the cavity retains the second length after the second exposure; and directing second angled ions to the cavity is a third exposure, subsequent to the second exposure, wherein the cavity has a third length, greater than the second length, after the third exposure.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 17, 2021
    Publication date: December 2, 2021
    Applicant: Varian Semiconductor Equipment Associates, Inc.
    Inventors: Kevin R. Anglin, Simon Ruffell
  • Publication number: 20210343550
    Abstract: A system and method for etching workpieces in a uniform manner are disclosed. The system includes a semiconductor processing system that generates a ribbon ion beam, and a workpiece holder that scans the workpiece through the ribbon ion beam. The workpiece holder includes a plurality of independently controlled thermal zones so that the temperature of different regions of the workpiece may be separately controlled. In certain embodiments, etch rate uniformity may be a function of distance from the center of the workpiece, also referred to as radial non-uniformity. Further, when the workpiece is scanned, there may also be etch rate uniformity issues in the translated direction, referred to as linear non-uniformity. The present workpiece holder comprises a plurality of independently controlled thermal zones to compensate for both radial and linear etch rate non-uniformity.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 4, 2020
    Publication date: November 4, 2021
    Inventors: Kevin R. Anglin, Simon Ruffell
  • Patent number: 11127593
    Abstract: A method of patterning a substrate may include providing a cavity in a layer, disposed on the substrate. The cavity may have a first length along a first direction and a first width along a second direction, perpendicular to the first direction. The method may include directing first angled ions in a first exposure to the cavity, wherein after the first exposure the cavity has a second length, greater than the first length; directing normal ions in a second exposure to the cavity, wherein the cavity retains the second length after the second exposure; and directing second angled ions to the cavity is a third exposure, subsequent to the second exposure, wherein the cavity has a third length, greater than the second length, after the third exposure.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 2, 2018
    Date of Patent: September 21, 2021
    Assignee: Varian Semiconductor Equipment Associates, Inc.
    Inventors: Kevin R. Anglin, Simon Ruffell
  • Patent number: 10665421
    Abstract: A system for determining various parameters of an ion beam is disclosed. A test workpiece may be modified to incorporate a detection pattern. The detection pattern may be configured to measure the height of the ion beam, the uniformity of the ion beam, or the central angle of the ion beam. In certain embodiments, the amount of current striking the detection pattern may be measured using an optical emission spectrometer (OES) system. In other embodiments, a power supply used to bias the workpiece may be used to measure the amount of current striking the detection pattern. Alternative, the detection patterns may be incorporated into the workpiece holder.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 10, 2018
    Date of Patent: May 26, 2020
    Assignee: Applied Materials, Inc.
    Inventors: Tsung-Liang Chen, Kevin R. Anglin, Simon Ruffell
  • Publication number: 20200118790
    Abstract: A system for determining various parameters of an ion beam is disclosed. A test workpiece may be modified to incorporate a detection pattern. The detection pattern may be configured to measure the height of the ion beam, the uniformity of the ion beam, or the central angle of the ion beam. In certain embodiments, the amount of current striking the detection pattern may be measured using an optical emission spectrometer (OES) system. In other embodiments, a power supply used to bias the workpiece may be used to measure the amount of current striking the detection pattern. Alternative, the detection patterns may be incorporated into the workpiece holder.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 10, 2018
    Publication date: April 16, 2020
    Inventors: Tsung-Liang Chen, Kevin R. Anglin, Simon Ruffell
  • Publication number: 20190355581
    Abstract: A method of patterning a substrate may include providing a cavity in a layer, disposed on the substrate. The cavity may have a first length along a first direction and a first width along a second direction, perpendicular to the first direction. The method may include directing first angled ions in a first exposure to the cavity, wherein after the first exposure the cavity has a second length, greater than the first length; directing normal ions in a second exposure to the cavity, wherein the cavity retains the second length after the second exposure; and directing second angled ions to the cavity is a third exposure, subsequent to the second exposure, wherein the cavity has a third length, greater than the second length, after the third exposure.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 2, 2018
    Publication date: November 21, 2019
    Applicant: Varian Semiconductor Equipment Associates, Inc.
    Inventors: Kevin R. Anglin, Simon Ruffell