Applied Materials Patent Applications

Shutter Disk

Granted: March 14, 2024
Application Number: 20240087913
Describes are shutter disks comprising one or more of titanium (Ti), barium (Ba), or cerium (Ce) for physical vapor deposition (PVD) that allows pasting to minimize outgassing and control defects during etching of a substrate. The shutter disks incorporate getter materials that are highly selective to reactive gas molecules, including O2, CO, CO2, and water.

METHODS OF HIGHLY SELECTIVE SILICON OXIDE REMOVAL

Granted: March 14, 2024
Application Number: 20240087910
A semiconductor processing method may include providing a fluorine-containing precursor to a processing region of a semiconductor processing chamber. A substrate may be disposed within the processing region. The substrate may include an exposed region of silicon-and-oxygen-containing material. The substrate may include an exposed region of a liner material. The methods may include providing a hydrogen-containing precursor to the semiconductor processing region. The methods may include…

HIGH DENSITY CARBON FILMS FOR PATTERNING APPLICATIONS

Granted: March 14, 2024
Application Number: 20240087894
Embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to deposition of high transparency, high-density carbon films for patterning applications. In one embodiment, a method of forming a carbon film on a substrate is provided. The method includes flowing a hydrocarbon-containing gas mixture into a process chamber having a substrate positioned on an electrostatic chuck, wherein the substrate is maintained at a temperature of about ?10° C. to about 20° C. and a chamber pressure of about…

SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR RADICAL AND THERMAL PROCESSING OF SUBSTRATES

Granted: March 14, 2024
Application Number: 20240087889
The present disclosure provides systems and methods for processing channel structures of substrates that include positioning the substrate in a first processing chamber having a first processing volume. The substrate includes a channel structure with high aspect ratio features having aspect ratios greater than about 20:1. The method includes forming a silicon-containing layer over the channel structure to a hydrogen-or-deuterium plasma in the first processing volume at a flow rate of…

SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR DEPOSITING LOW-K DIELECTRIC FILMS

Granted: March 14, 2024
Application Number: 20240087881
Embodiments include semiconductor processing methods to form low-K films on semiconductor substrates are described. The processing methods may include flowing one or more deposition precursors to a semiconductor processing system, wherein the one or more deposition precursors include a silicon-containing precursor. The silicon-containing precursor may include a carbon chain. The methods may include generating a deposition plasma from the one or more deposition precursors. The methods may…

Z-PROFILING OF WAFERS BASED ON X-RAY MEASUREMENTS

Granted: March 14, 2024
Application Number: 20240085356
A computer-based method for non-destructive z-profiling of samples. The method includes: a measurement operation and a data analysis operation. The measurement operation includes, for each of a plurality of landing energies: (i) projecting an electron beam on a sample at a respective landing energy, such that light-emitting interactions between electrons from the electron beam and the sample occur within a respective probed region of the sample, which is centered about a respective…

DEPTH-PROFILING OF SAMPLES BASED ON X-RAY MEASUREMENTS

Granted: March 14, 2024
Application Number: 20240085351
Disclosed herein is a system for non-destructive depth-profiling of samples. The system includes an electron beam source, a light sensor, and processing circuitry. The electron beam source configured to project e-beams on an inspected sample at each of a plurality of landing energies, which induce X-ray emitting interactions within each of a plurality of probed regions in the inspected sample, respectively, whose depth is determined by the landing energy. The light sensor is configured…

OPTICAL ABSORPTION SENSOR FOR SEMICONDUCTOR PROCESSING

Granted: March 7, 2024
Application Number: 20240079220
Semiconductor processing systems and methods are disclosed. An exemplary semiconductor processing system may include a semiconductor processing chamber containing a solid boron deposit, a remote plasma unit disposed upstream of the semiconductor processing chamber, and an optical absorption sensor disposed downstream of the semiconductor processing chamber. The remote plasma unit may be configured to generate plasma effluents from a fluorine-containing precursor. The optical absorption…

SELECTIVE MOSI DEPOSITION

Granted: March 7, 2024
Application Number: 20240079241
Methods for forming a semiconductor structure and semiconductor structures are described. Some embodiments of the method comprise patterning a substrate to form a first opening and a second opening, the substrate comprising an n transistor and a p transistor, the first opening over the n transistor and the second opening over the p transistor. The substrate is pre-cleaned. A molybdenum film is selectively deposited on the p transistor.

SiC MOSFET Including Trench with Rounded Corners

Granted: March 7, 2024
Application Number: 20240079236
Disclosed herein are approaches for forming a SiC MOSFET including at least one trench with rounded corners. In one approach, a method may include providing a masking layer over a silicon carbide (SiC) layer, wherein an opening is formed in the masking layer, and providing a sidewall spacer along a sidewall of the opening of the masking layer. The method may further include forming an implant region within the SiC layer by directing ions through the opening defined by the sidewall…

LANTHANUM NITRIDE AS A DRAM MOLYBDENUM LINER

Granted: February 29, 2024
Application Number: 20240074162
Methods for DRAM device with a buried word line are described. The method includes forming a metal nitride layer comprising lanthanum nitride (LaN) and a molybdenum conductor layer in a feature on a substrate. The method includes depositing the molybdenum conductor layer by atomic layer deposition (ALD) on the metal nitride layer.

FDSOI DEVICE INCLUDING SELF-ALIGNED DIFFUSION BREAK

Granted: February 29, 2024
Application Number: 20240072059
Disclosed herein are approaches for forming a FDSOI, single diffusion break device. In one approach, a method may include providing a plurality of gates in a stack of layers, wherein each gate of the plurality of gates comprises a sidewall spacer, and forming a mask over the stack of layers, wherein an opening through the mask exposes a dummy gate of the plurality of gates. The method may further comprise etching a gate material of the dummy gate to form a recess in a…

TANTALUM DOPED RUTHENIUM LAYERS FOR INTERCONNECTS

Granted: February 29, 2024
Application Number: 20240071927
Methods of forming interconnects and electronic devices are described. Methods of forming interconnects include forming a tantalum nitride layer on a substrate; forming a ruthenium layer on the tantalum nitride layer; and exposing the tantalum nitride layer and ruthenium layer to a plasma comprising a mixture of hydrogen (H2) and argon (Ar) to form a tantalum doped ruthenium layer thereon. Apparatuses for performing the methods are also described.

ADHESION IMPROVEMENT BETWEEN LOW-K MATERIALS AND CAP LAYERS

Granted: February 29, 2024
Application Number: 20240071817
Exemplary semiconductor processing methods may include providing one or more deposition precursors to a processing region of a semiconductor processing chamber. A semiconductor substrate may be positioned within the processing region. The methods may include forming a layer of low dielectric constant material on the semiconductor substrate. The methods may include purging the processing region of the one or more deposition precursors. A plasma power may be maintained at less than or…

ION IMPLANTATION FOR INCREASED ADHESION WITH RESIST MATERIAL

Granted: February 29, 2024
Application Number: 20240071773
Exemplary methods of semiconductor processing may include forming a layer of silicon-containing material on a semiconductor substrate. The methods may include performing a post-formation treatment on the layer of silicon-containing material to yield a treated layer of silicon-containing material. The methods may include contacting the treated layer of silicon-containing material with an adhesion agent. The methods may include forming a layer of a resist material on the treated layer of…

OPTICAL AUTO-FOCUS UNIT AND A METHOD FOR AUTO-FOCUS

Granted: February 29, 2024
Application Number: 20240071715
A charged particle evaluation system that may include a column that includes an opening; an illumination unit that is configured to scan an area of a sample with an electron beam that passes through the opening; and an optical auto-focus unit that is configured to (i) illuminate the sample with an optical beam that is proximate to the electron beam, during the scan of the area with the electron beam; (ii) receive a reflected optical beam from the sample, (iii) determine a focus status of…

GAS DISTRIBUTION APPARATUSES FOR IMPROVING MIXING UNIFORMITY

Granted: February 29, 2024
Application Number: 20240068095
Gas distribution apparatuses described herein include a mixing plate adjacent a back plate of a showerhead. The mixing plate has a back surface and a front surface defining a thickness of the mixing plate. The mixing plate has a mixing channel comprising a top portion and a bottom portion defining a mixing channel length and at least two gas inlets in fluid communication with the top portion of the mixing channel. The gas distribution apparatus also includes a mixer disposed within the…

ENERGY DISPERSIVE X-RAY SPECTROSCOPY SENSING UNIT BACKGROUND

Granted: February 22, 2024
Application Number: 20240060912
An EDX sensing unit that includes an x-ray sensor including one or more sensing regions, and a protective unit that is configured to introduce a change in one or more properties of electrons emitted from the sample, thereby preventing the electrons emitted from the sample from reaching the one or more sensing regions; wherein the electrons are emitted from the sample due to an illuminating of the sample by a primary electron beam. The x-ray sensor is configured to (i) receive, by the one…

RESONATOR, LINEAR ACCELERATOR, AND ION IMPLANTER HAVING DIELECTRIC-FREE RESONATOR CHAMBER

Granted: February 22, 2024
Application Number: 20240064888
An apparatus may include a resonator chamber, arranged in a vacuum enclosure; an RF electrode assembly, arranged within the vacuum enclosure; and a resonator coil, disposed within the resonator chamber, the resonator coil having a high voltage end, directly connected to at least one RF electrode of the RF electrode assembly.

ENHANCED DEPOSITION RATE BY THERMAL ISOLATION COVER FOR GIS MANIPULATOR

Granted: February 22, 2024
Application Number: 20240062990
A system for depositing material over a sample in a localized region of the sample, the system including: a vacuum chamber; a thermal mass disposed outside the vacuum chamber; a sample support configured to hold a sample within the vacuum chamber during a sample evaluation process; a charged particle beam column configured to direct a charged particle beam into the vacuum chamber toward the sample such that the charged particle beam collides with the sample in a deposition region; a gas…