Patents by Inventor Rongjun Wang

Rongjun Wang 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: 8129280
    Abstract: Substrate devices having tuned work functions and methods of forming thereof are provided. In some embodiments, forming devices on substrates may include depositing a dielectric layer atop a substrate having a conductivity well; depositing a work function layer comprising titanium aluminum or titanium aluminum nitride having a first nitrogen composition atop the dielectric layer; etching the work function layer to selectively remove at least a portion of the work function layer from atop the dielectric layer; depositing a layer comprising titanium aluminum or titanium aluminum nitride having a second nitrogen composition atop the work function layer and the substrate, wherein at least one of the work function layer or the layer comprises nitrogen; etching the layer and the dielectric layer to selectively remove a portion of the layer and the dielectric layer from atop the substrate; and annealing the substrate at a temperature less than about 1500 degrees Celsius.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 24, 2009
    Date of Patent: March 6, 2012
    Assignee: Applied Materials, Inc.
    Inventors: Rongjun Wang, Xianmin Tang, Dengliang Yang, Zhendong Liu, Srinivas Gandikota
  • Patent number: 8119525
    Abstract: Methods of controlling deposition of metal on field regions of a substrate in an electroplating process are provided. In one aspect, a dielectric layer is deposited under plasma on the field region of a patterned substrate, leaving a conductive surface exposed in the openings. Electroplating on the field region is reduced or eliminated, resulting in void-free features and minimal excess plating. In another aspect, a resistive layer, which may be a metal, is used in place of the dielectric. In a further aspect, the surface of the conductive field region is modified to change its chemical potential relative to the sidewalls and bottoms of the openings.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 26, 2008
    Date of Patent: February 21, 2012
    Assignee: Applied Materials, Inc.
    Inventors: Jick M. Yu, Wei D. Wang, Rongjun Wang, Hua Chung
  • Publication number: 20110311735
    Abstract: Methods and apparatus to improve target life and deposition uniformity in PVD chambers are provided herein. In some embodiments, a magnetron assembly includes a shunt plate having a central axis, the shunt plate rotatable about the central axis, a first open loop magnetic pole arc coupled to the shunt plate at a first radius from the central axis, and a second open loop magnetic pole arc coupled the shunt plate at a first distance from the first open loop magnetic pole arc, wherein at least one of the first radius varies along the first open loop magnetic pole arc or the first distance varies along the second open loop magnetic pole arc. In some embodiments, a first polarity of the first open loop magnetic pole arc opposes a second polarity of the second open loop magnetic pole arc.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 20, 2011
    Publication date: December 22, 2011
    Applicant: APPLIED MATERIALS, INC.
    Inventors: RONGJUN WANG, SALLY LOU, MUHAMMAD RASHEED, JIANXIN LEI, XIANMIN TANG, SRINIVAS GANDIKOTA, RYAN HANSON, TZA-JING GUNG, KEITH A. MILLER, THANH X. NGUYEN
  • Publication number: 20110278165
    Abstract: Apparatus for improved particle reduction are provided herein. In some embodiments, an apparatus may include a process kit shield comprising a one-piece metal body having an upper portion and a lower portion and having an opening disposed through the one-piece metal body, wherein the upper portion includes an opening-facing surface configured to be disposed about and spaced apart from a target of a physical vapor deposition chamber and wherein the opening-facing surface is configured to limit particle deposition on an upper surface of the upper portion of the one-piece metal body during sputtering of a target material from the target of the physical vapor deposition chamber.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 12, 2011
    Publication date: November 17, 2011
    Applicant: APPLIED MATERIALS, INC.
    Inventors: MUHAMMAD RASHEED, RONGJUN WANG, ZHENDONG LIU, XINYU FU, XIANMIN TANG
  • Publication number: 20110036709
    Abstract: Embodiments of the invention generally relate to a process kit for a semiconductor processing chamber, and a semiconductor processing chamber having a kit. More specifically, embodiments described herein relate to a process kit including a cover ring, a shield, and an isolator for use in a physical deposition chamber. The components of the process kit work alone and in combination to significantly reduce particle generation and stray plasmas. In comparison with existing multiple part shields, which provide an extended RF return path contributing to RF harmonics causing stray plasma outside the process cavity, the components of the process kit reduce the RF return path thus providing improved plasma containment in the interior processing region.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 4, 2010
    Publication date: February 17, 2011
    Applicant: APPLIED MATERIALS, INC.
    Inventors: Lara Hawrylchak, Kirankumar Savandaiah, Muhammad M. Rasheed, Rongjun Wang, Adolph Miller Allen, Zhigang Xie
  • Publication number: 20110018073
    Abstract: Substrate devices having tuned work functions and methods of forming thereof are provided. In some embodiments, forming devices on substrates may include depositing a dielectric layer atop a substrate having a conductivity well; depositing a work function layer comprising titanium aluminum or titanium aluminum nitride having a first nitrogen composition atop the dielectric layer; etching the work function layer to selectively remove at least a portion of the work function layer from atop the dielectric layer; depositing a layer comprising titanium aluminum or titanium aluminum nitride having a second nitrogen composition atop the work function layer and the substrate, wherein at least one of the work function layer or the layer comprises nitrogen; etching the layer and the dielectric layer to selectively remove a portion of the layer and the dielectric layer from atop the substrate; and annealing the substrate at a temperature less than about 1500 degrees Celsius.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 24, 2009
    Publication date: January 27, 2011
    Applicant: APPLIED MATERIALS, INC.
    Inventors: RONGJUN WANG, XIANMIN TANG, DENGLIANG YANG, ZHENDONG LIU, SRINIVAS GANDIKOTA
  • Publication number: 20100252417
    Abstract: Embodiments of the invention generally provide a processing chamber used to perform a physical vapor deposition (PVD) process and methods of depositing multi-compositional films. The processing chamber may include: an improved RF feed configuration to reduce any standing wave effects; an improved magnetron design to enhance RF plasma uniformity, deposited film composition and thickness uniformity; an improved substrate biasing configuration to improve process control; and an improved process kit design to improve RF field uniformity near the critical surfaces of the substrate.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 5, 2010
    Publication date: October 7, 2010
    Applicant: APPLIED MATERIALS, INC.
    Inventors: Adolph Miller Allen, Lara Hawrylchak, Zhigang Xie, Muhammad M. Rasheed, Rongjun Wang, Xianmin Tang, Zhendong Liu, Tza-Jing Gung, Srinivas Gandikota, Mei Chang, Michael S. Cox, Donny Young, Kirankumar Savandaiah, Zhenbin Ge
  • Publication number: 20100252416
    Abstract: Target assemblies and PVD chambers including target assemblies are disclosed. The target assembly includes a target that has a concave shaped target. When used in a PVD chamber, the concave target provides more radially uniform deposition on a substrate disposed in the sputtering chamber.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 12, 2010
    Publication date: October 7, 2010
    Applicant: Applied Materials, Inc.
    Inventors: Zhendong Liu, Rongjun Wang, Xianmin Tang, Srinivas Gandikota, Tza-Jing Gung, Muhammad M. Rasheed
  • Patent number: 7737028
    Abstract: Embodiments of the invention provide processes for selectively forming a ruthenium-containing film on a copper surface over exposed dielectric surfaces. Thereafter, a copper bulk layer may be deposited on the ruthenium-containing film. In one embodiment, a method for forming layers on a substrate is provided which includes positioning a substrate within a processing chamber, wherein the substrate contains a copper-containing surface and a dielectric surface, exposing the substrate to a ruthenium precursor to selectively form a ruthenium-containing film over the copper-containing surface while leaving exposed the dielectric surface, and depositing a copper bulk layer over the ruthenium-containing film.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 29, 2008
    Date of Patent: June 15, 2010
    Assignee: Applied Materials, Inc.
    Inventors: Rongjun Wang, Hua Chung, Jick M. Yu, Praburam Gopalraja
  • Publication number: 20100108500
    Abstract: Embodiments of the invention provide encapsulated sputtering targets and methods for preparing such targets prior to a physical vapor deposition (PVD) process. In one embodiment, an encapsulated target for PVD is provided which includes a target layer containing lanthanum disposed on a backing plate and an encapsulation layer containing titanium disposed on or over the target layer. In one example, the target layer contains metallic lanthanum or lanthanum oxide and the encapsulation layer contains titanium. The encapsulation layer may have a thickness within a range from about 1,000 ? to about 2,000 ?. In another embodiment, a method for preparing an encapsulated target prior to a PVD process is provided which includes positioning an encapsulated target within a PVD chamber and exposing the encapsulation layer to a plasma while removing the encapsulation layer and revealing an upper surface of the target layer.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 31, 2008
    Publication date: May 6, 2010
    Inventors: LARA HAWRYLCHAK, Xianmin Tang, Vijay Parhke, Rongjun Wang
  • Publication number: 20100089748
    Abstract: The present invention generally includes a sputtering target assembly that may be used in an RF sputtering process. The sputtering target assembly may include a backing plate and a sputtering target. The backing plate may be shaped to have one or more fins that extend from the backing plate towards the sputtering target. The sputtering target may be bonded to the fins of the backing plate. The RF current utilized during a sputtering process will be applied to the sputtering target at the one or more fin locations. The fins may extend from the backing plate at a location that corresponds to a magnetic field produced by a magnetron that may be disposed behind the backing plate. By controlling the location where the RF current is coupled to the sputtering target to be aligned with the magnetic field, the erosion of the sputtering target may be controlled.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 15, 2008
    Publication date: April 15, 2010
    Inventors: JOHN C.FORSTER, Daniel J. Hoffman, John A. Pipitone, Xianmin Tang, RongJun Wang
  • Patent number: 7691742
    Abstract: In one embodiment, a method for forming a tantalum-containing material on a substrate is provided which includes heating a liquid tantalum precursor containing tertiaryamylimido-tris(dimethylamido) tantalum (TAIMATA) to a temperature of at least 30° C. to form a tantalum precursor gas and exposing the substrate to a continuous flow of a carrier gas during an atomic layer deposition process. The method further provides exposing the substrate to the tantalum precursor gas by pulsing the tantalum precursor gas into the carrier gas and adsorbing the tantalum precursor gas on the substrate to form a tantalum precursor layer thereon. Subsequently, the tantalum precursor layer is exposed to at least one secondary element-containing gas by pulsing the secondary element-containing gas into the carrier gas while forming a tantalum barrier layer on the substrate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 4, 2009
    Date of Patent: April 6, 2010
    Assignee: Applied Materials, Inc.
    Inventors: Christophe Marcadal, Rongjun Wang, Hua Chung, Nirmalya Maity
  • Publication number: 20100032289
    Abstract: In a plasma-enhanced physical vapor deposition reactor, uniformity of radial distribution of the deposition rate across the workpiece is enhanced by applying both RF and D.C. power to the target and adjusting the power levels of the RF and D.C. power independently. Further optimization is obtained by adjusting the height of the magnet above the target, adjusting the radius of the orbital motion of the magnet above the target and providing an angle edge surface of the target.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 8, 2008
    Publication date: February 11, 2010
    Applicant: Applied Materials, Inc.
    Inventors: RONGJUN WANG, Xianmin Tang, Zhendong Liu, Tza-Jing Gung, Maurice E. Ewert
  • Patent number: 7659204
    Abstract: A method and resultant produce of forming barrier layer based on ruthenium tantalum in a via or other vertical interconnect structure through a dielectric layer in a multi-level metallization. The RuTa layer in a RuTa/RuTaN bilayer, which may form discontinuous islands, is actively oxidized, preferably in an oxygen plasma, to thereby bridge the gaps between the islands. Alternatively, ruthenium tantalum oxide is reactive sputtered onto the RuTaN or directly onto the underlying dielectric by plasma sputtering a RuTa target in the presence of oxygen.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 26, 2007
    Date of Patent: February 9, 2010
    Assignee: Applied Materials, Inc.
    Inventors: Xianmin Tang, Hua Chung, Rongjun Wang, Praburam Gopalraja, Jick M. Yu, Jenn Yue Wang
  • Publication number: 20100012480
    Abstract: The method of performing physical vapor deposition on a workpiece includes performing at least one of the following: (a) increasing ion density over a workpiece center while decreasing ion density over a workpiece edge by decreasing impedance to ground at a target source power frequency fs through a bias multi-frequency impedance controller relative to the impedance to ground at the source power frequency fs through the side wall; or (b) decreasing ion density over the workpiece center while increasing ion density over the workpiece edge by increasing the impedance to ground at fs through the bias multi-frequency impedance controller relative to the impedance to ground at fs through the side wall.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 15, 2008
    Publication date: January 21, 2010
    Applicant: Applied Materials, Inc.
    Inventors: John C. Forster, Daniel J. Hoffman, John A. Pipitone, Xianming Tang, Rongjun Wang
  • Publication number: 20100012029
    Abstract: In a physical vapor deposition plasma reactor, a multi-frequency impedance controller is coupled between RF ground and one of (a) the bias electrode, (b) the sputter target, the controller providing adjustable impedances at a first set of frequencies, said first set of frequencies including a first set of frequencies to be blocked and a first set of frequencies to be admitted. The first multi-frequency impedance controller includes a set of band pass filters connected in parallel and tuned to said first set of frequencies to be admitted, and a set of notch filters connected in series and tuned to said first set of frequencies to be blocked.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 15, 2008
    Publication date: January 21, 2010
    Applicant: Applied Materials, Inc.
    Inventors: John C. FORSTER, Daniel J. Hoffman, John A. Pipitone, Xianmin Tang, Rongjun Wang
  • Patent number: 7595263
    Abstract: Methods for processing substrate to deposit barrier layers of one or more material layers by atomic layer deposition are provided. In one aspect, a method is provided for processing a substrate including depositing a metal nitride barrier layer on at least a portion of a substrate surface by alternately introducing one or more pulses of a metal containing compound and one or more pulses of a nitrogen containing compound and depositing a metal barrier layer on at least a portion of the metal nitride barrier layer by alternately introducing one or more pulses of a metal containing compound and one or more pulses of a reductant. A soak process may be performed on the substrate surface before deposition of the metal nitride barrier layer and/or metal barrier layer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 27, 2007
    Date of Patent: September 29, 2009
    Assignee: Applied Materials, Inc.
    Inventors: Hua Chung, Rongjun Wang, Nirmalya Maity
  • Publication number: 20090215264
    Abstract: Methods of controlling deposition of metal on field regions of a substrate in an electroplating process are provided. In one aspect, a dielectric layer is deposited under plasma on the field region of a patterned substrate, leaving a conductive surface exposed in the openings. Electroplating on the field region is reduced or eliminated, resulting in void-free features and minimal excess plating. In another aspect, a resistive layer, which may be a metal, is used in place of the dielectric. In a further aspect, the surface of the conductive field region is modified to change its chemical potential relative to the sidewalls and bottoms of the openings.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 26, 2008
    Publication date: August 27, 2009
    Inventors: Jick M. Yu, Wei D. Wang, Rongjun Wang, Hua Chung
  • Publication number: 20090202710
    Abstract: In one embodiment, a method for forming a tantalum-containing material on a substrate is provided which includes heating a liquid tantalum precursor containing tertiaryamylimido-tris(dimethylamido) tantalum (TAIMATA) to a temperature of at least 30° C. to form a tantalum precursor gas and exposing the substrate to a continuous flow of a carrier gas during an atomic layer deposition process. The method further provides exposing the substrate to the tantalum precursor gas by pulsing the tantalum precursor gas into the carrier gas and adsorbing the tantalum precursor gas on the substrate to form a tantalum precursor layer thereon. Subsequently, the tantalum precursor layer is exposed to at least one secondary element-containing gas by pulsing the secondary element-containing gas into the carrier gas while forming a tantalum barrier layer on the substrate.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 4, 2009
    Publication date: August 13, 2009
    Inventors: Christophe Marcadal, Rongjun Wang, Hua Chung, Nirmalya Maity
  • Patent number: 7524762
    Abstract: In one embodiment, a method for forming a tantalum-containing material on a substrate is provided which includes heating a liquid tantalum precursor containing tertiaryamylimido-tris(dimethylamido) tantalum (TAIMATA) to a temperature of at least 30° C. to form a tantalum precursor gas and exposing the substrate to a continuous flow of a carrier gas during an atomic layer deposition process. The method further provides exposing the substrate to the tantalum precursor gas by pulsing the tantalum precursor gas into the carrier gas and adsorbing the tantalum precursor gas on the substrate to form a tantalum precursor layer thereon. Subsequently, the tantalum precursor layer is exposed to at least one secondary element-containing gas by pulsing the secondary element-containing gas into the carrier gas while forming a tantalum barrier layer on the substrate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 3, 2007
    Date of Patent: April 28, 2009
    Assignee: Applied Materials, Inc.
    Inventors: Christophe Marcadal, Rongjun Wang, Hua Chung, Nirmalya Maity