PROCESSING CHAMBER DEPOSITION CONFINEMENT
Granted: April 17, 2025
Application Number:
20250125129
Exemplary semiconductor processing systems may include a chamber body including sidewalls and a base. The system may include a substrate support extending through the base of the chamber body. The chamber body may define an access circumferentially extending about the substrate support at the base of the chamber body. The system may include one or more isolators disposed within the chamber body. The one or more isolators may define an exhaust path between the one or more isolators and…
INTERFACIAL LAYER SCALING PROCESSES FOR SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES
Granted: April 17, 2025
Application Number:
20250126867
Methods of scaling the thickness of the interfacial layer in electronic devices, such as NMOS transistors and PMOS transistors are described. Some embodiments provide a metal film or a metal nitride film that reduces the thickness of the interfacial layer by scavenging unbound oxygen from the interfacial layer (e.g., silicon oxide (SiOx)) and the high-? dielectric layer (e.g., hafnium oxide (HfOx)). Some embodiments advantageously include annealing the semiconductor substrate to promote…
3-D DRAM WORDLINE PARTITION AND STAIRCASE CONTACTS
Granted: April 17, 2025
Application Number:
20250126774
Memory devices are provided which have stacked DRAM cells, resulting in an increase in DRAM cell bit-density. In a 3D DRAM with stacked unit cell layers of one or more embodiments, it is necessary to reduce the area of a unit cell in order to increase bit density per unit area for a given number of stacked cells. In one or more embodiments, n wordlines (nWL, n is an integer?2) share a contact pad. The shared nWLs are separated by n bitlines (BLs) to assign every cell independently one WL…
TWO-PIECE RF SHIELD DESIGN
Granted: April 17, 2025
Application Number:
20250126765
Exemplary semiconductor processing chambers may include a chamber body. The chambers may include a substrate support assembly disposed within the chamber body. The chambers may include a substrate support assembly having a support plate seated atop a support stem. The chambers may include a radio frequency (RF) shield seated atop the chamber body and extending about a peripheral edge of the support plate. The RF shield may include a lower annular member. The RF shield may include an…
OLIGOMER FILM FOR BOTTOM-UP GAP FILL PROCESSES
Granted: April 17, 2025
Application Number:
20250125195
Embodiments of the disclosure relate to methods using an oligomer film to protect a substrate surface. The oligomer film is formed on the substrate surface with a first feature and a second feature each having a feature depth. The first feature has a first critical dimension (CD) and the second feature has a second CD. The semiconductor substrate surface is exposed to one or more monomers to form the oligomer film, and the oligomer film forms selectively on the bottom and fills a portion…
SUSCEPTOR ASSEMBLY THERMAL BREAK AND METHODS FOR COOLING A SUSCEPTOR ASSEMBLY
Granted: April 17, 2025
Application Number:
20250125183
Apparatus and methods for cooling down a susceptor assembly are described. A heat exchange passage in a susceptor assembly thermal break transfers heat from processing gases that flow through the susceptor assembly to a cooling jacket and cools down the susceptor assembly and associated hardware.
LOW TEMPERATURE ELECTROSTATIC CHUCK
Granted: April 17, 2025
Application Number:
20250125181
Exemplary semiconductor processing chambers may include a chamber body. The chambers may include a showerhead positioned atop the body. The chambers may include an electrostatic chuck assembly disposed within the body. The assembly may include a puck that may include a first plate including an electrically insulating material and that defines a substrate support surface. The puck may include a multi-zone heating assembly thermally coupled with the first plate. The puck may include…
BIPOLAR ELECTROSTATIC CHUCK ELECTRODE WITH SELF-INDUCED DC VOLTAGE
Granted: April 17, 2025
Application Number:
20250125180
Substrate support assemblies may include an electrostatic chuck body defining a substrate support surface that defines a substrate seat. Assemblies may include a support stem coupled with the electrostatic chuck body. Assemblies may include a first bipolar electrode embedded within the electrostatic chuck body. Assemblies may include a second bipolar electrode embedded within the electrostatic chuck body radially inward of at least a portion of the first bipolar electrode and coaxial…
OXIDE QUALITY DIFFERENTIATION
Granted: April 17, 2025
Application Number:
20250125154
Exemplary methods and systems of semiconductor processing may include etching a portion of a silicon-containing material from a substrate disposed within a processing region of a semiconductor processing chamber. Methods may include forming a low quality oxide within one or more of the recesses, where the low quality oxide and a silicon-containing material each contain an exposed surface. Methods include contacting the low quality oxide and the high quality semiconductor material with a…
METHODS TO IMPROVE OXIDE SIDEWALL QUALITY
Granted: April 17, 2025
Application Number:
20250125145
Exemplary methods of forming a silicon-containing material may include providing a silicon-containing precursor to a processing region of a semiconductor processing chamber. A substrate may be housed within the processing region of the semiconductor processing chamber and include one or more features. The methods may include generating plasma effluents of the silicon-containing precursor in the processing region. The methods may include depositing a silicon-containing material on a…
SHOWERHEAD DESIGN FOR PLASMA-ENHANCED DEPOSITION
Granted: April 17, 2025
Application Number:
20250122622
Showerhead assemblies for semiconductor manufacturing processing chambers and semiconductor manufacturing processing chambers using the showerhead assemblies are described. The showerhead assemblies comprise a backing plate with an embedded heater and a faceplate. The embedded heater has a radius sufficient to located the heater over a sidewall of the processing chamber and reduces temperature non-uniformity of a wafer during processing.
POLISHING ARTICLES FOR HYBRID BONDING APPLICATIONS
Granted: April 17, 2025
Application Number:
20250121472
Printable resin precursor compositions and polishing articles including printable resin precursors are provided that are particularly suited for polishing substrates utilized in hybrid bonding applications. Methods and articles may include a plurality of first polishing elements, where at least one of the plurality of first polymer layers forms the polishing surface; and one or more second polishing elements, where at least a region of each of the one or more second polishing elements is…
RETAINING-RING-LESS CMP PROCESS
Granted: April 10, 2025
Application Number:
20250114903
Exemplary carrier heads for a chemical mechanical polishing apparatus may include a carrier body. The carrier heads may include a flexible membrane coupled with the carrier body. The flexible membrane may include a substrate-receiving surface that faces away from the carrier body. The substrate-receiving surface may include a plurality of gripping elements that protrude away from the substrate-receiving surface. Each of the plurality of gripping elements may have a maximum lateral…
MICROWAVE HIGH-DENSITY PLASMA FOR SELECTIVE ETCH
Granted: April 10, 2025
Application Number:
20250118536
Semiconductor processing systems and methods for increased etch selectivity and rate are provided. Methods include etching a target material of a semiconductor substrate by flowing one or more plasma precursors through a microwave applicator into a remote plasma region of a semiconductor processing chamber. Generating a remote plasma within the remote plasma region at a microwave frequency, where the generated remote plasma comprises a density of greater than 1×1010 per cm3, an ion…
STRUCTURE AND TECHNIQUE OF PHOTO-DEFINED SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICE WITH SELECTIVE DIELECTRIC CONSTANT REDUCTION
Granted: April 10, 2025
Application Number:
20250117561
A semiconductor device may include a substrate. The semiconductor device may also include a dielectric material characterized, at least in part, by a dielectric constant. The semiconductor device may include a metallic pathway formed in the dielectric material. The semiconductor device may include a region about the metallic pathway of the semiconductor device may include a plurality of air gaps within the dielectric material and arranged three-dimensionally throughout the region, where…
MODEL-BASED ACOUSTO-OPTIC DEPTH-METROLOGY OF SPECIMENS
Granted: April 10, 2025
Application Number:
20250116597
Disclosed herein is a method for non-destructive depth-profiling including projecting a pulsed pump beam into a specimen, projecting a pulsed probe beam thereinto, and sensing light returned therefrom to obtain a measured signal. Each probe pulse is configured to undergo Brillouin scattering off a primary acoustic pulse induced by the directly preceding pump pulse, so as to be scattered there off at a respective depth within the specimen. The method further includes executing an…
ELECTROPLATING CHAMBER USING JET ARRAY TO ENABLE HIGH MASS-TRANSFER
Granted: April 10, 2025
Application Number:
20250116028
Exemplary electroplating systems may include a vessel. The systems may include a head that is configured to hold a substrate. The head may be positionable within an interior of the vessel. The systems may include a spray jet array disposed within the interior of the vessel. The spray jet array may include a plate defining a plurality of apertures through a thickness of the plate. The systems may include at least one fluid pump that is fluidly coupled with an inlet end of each of the…
CURABLE FORMULATIONS FOR POLISHING PADS
Granted: April 10, 2025
Application Number:
20250115698
Printable resin precursor compositions and polishing articles including printable resin precursors are provided. Printable resin precursors include a curable precursor formulation having a viscosity of less than or about 15 cP at 70° which include at least one urethane acrylate oligomer, at least one reactive monomer, and a photoinitiator. The curable precursor formulation exhibits an ultimate tensile strength measured in mPa and an elongation at break (%), where a product of the…
CURABLE FORMULATIONS FOR POLISHING PADS
Granted: April 10, 2025
Application Number:
20250115697
Printable resin precursor compositions and polishing articles including printable resin precursors are provided. Printable resin precursors include a curable precursor formulation having a viscosity of less than or about 15 cP at 70° which include at least one urethane acrylate oligomer, at least one reactive monomer, and a photoinitiator. The curable precursor formulation exhibits an ultimate tensile strength measured in mPa and an elongation at break (%), where a product of the…
HIGH PERFORMANCE CMP MULTIDISK APPARATUS
Granted: April 10, 2025
Application Number:
20250114908
A system may include a gimbal defining a plurality of pockets, where each pocket may include a first portion and a second portion that extends between the first portion and a base of the pocket. The second portion may have a greater diameter than the first portion. The system may include a plurality of conditioning disks, where each conditioning disk is seated within the first portion of a respective pocket. The system may include a plurality of gaskets, where each gasket is seated…
