A physical vapor deposition processing chamber is described. The processing chamber includes a target backing plate in a top portion of the processing chamber, a substrate support in a bottom portion of the processing chamber, a deposition ring positioned at an outer periphery of the substrate support and a shield. The substrate support has a support surface spaced a distance from the target backing plate to form a process cavity. The shield forms an outer bound of the process cavity. In-chamber cleaning methods are also described. In an embodiment, the method includes closing a bottom gas flow path of a processing chamber to a process cavity, flowing an inert gas from the bottom gas flow path, flowing a reactant into the process cavity through an opening in the shield, and evacuating the reaction gas from the process cavity.

A method of manufacturing a crystalline layer of material on a surface, the crystalline layer including lithium, at least one transition metal and at least one counter-ion. The method includes the following steps: generating a plasma using a remote plasma generator, plasma sputtering material from a first target including lithium onto a surface of or supported by a substrate, there being at least a first plume corresponding to trajectories of particles from the first target onto the surface, and plasma sputtering material from a second target including at least one transition metal onto the surface, there being at least a second plume corresponding to trajectories of particles from the second target onto the surface. The first target is positioned to be non-parallel with the second target, the first plume and the second plume converge at a region proximate to the surface of or supported by the substrate, and the crystalline layer is formed on the surface at the region.

A method of depositing a material on a substrate is provided. The method includes generating a plasma remote from one or more sputter targets suitable for plasma sputtering, wherein at least one distinct region of the one or more targets includes an alkali metal, alkaline earth metal, alkali metal containing compound, alkaline earth metal containing compound or a combination thereof; generating sputtered material from the target or targets using the plasma; and depositing the sputtered material on the substrate, the working distance between the target and the substrate being within +/−50% of the theoretical mean free path of the system.

The present disclosure appropriately shortens a processing step for processing a substrate in which a silicon layer and a silicon germanium layer are alternatively laminated. The present disclosure provides a substrate processing method of processing the substrate in which the silicon layer and the silicon germanium layer are alternatively laminated, which includes forming an oxide film by selectively modifying a surface layer of an exposed surface of the silicon germanium layer by using a processing gas including fluorine and oxygen and converted into plasma.

The present disclosure generally relates to an isolation device for use in processing systems. The isolation device includes a body having a flow aperture formed therethrough. In one embodiment, the isolation device is disposed between a remote plasma source and a process chamber. A closure mechanism is pivotally disposed within the body. The closure mechanism can be actuated to enable or disable fluid communication between the remote plasma source and the process chamber. In one embodiment, the closure mechanism includes a shaft and a seal plate coupled to the shaft. A cross-arm is coupled to the shaft opposite the seal plate. The cross-arm is configured to selectively rotate the shaft and the seal plate of the closure mechanism.

In the present invention, a high-voltage side electrode component further includes a conductive film disposed on an upper surface of a dielectric electrode independently of a metal electrode. The conductive film is disposed between at least one gas ejection port and the metal electrode in plan view, and the conductive film is set to ground potential.

A sputter deposition apparatus including: a remote plasma generation arrangement arranged to provide a plasma for sputter deposition of target material within a sputter deposition zone; a confining arrangement arranged to provide a confining magnetic field to substantially confine the plasma in the sputter deposition zone a substrate provided within the sputter deposition zone; and one or more target support assemblies arranged to support one or more targets in the sputter deposition zone so as to provide for sputter deposition of the target material on the substrate. The confining arrangement confines the remote plasma to the target support assemblies such that in use there is deposited: target material as a first region on the substrate; target material as a second region on the substrate; and an intermediate region between the first and second region with no target material.

A sputter deposition apparatus including: a plasma generation arrangement arranged to provide single plasma for sputter deposition of target material within a sputter deposition zone; a conveyor system arranged to convey a substrate through the sputter deposition zone in a conveyance direction; and one or more target support assemblies arranged to support one or more targets in the sputter deposition zone so as to provide for sputter deposition of the target material on the substrate utilising the plasma such that as the substrate is conveyed through the sputter deposition zone in use there is deposited: a first stripe on the substrate; and a second stripe on the substrate. The first stripe includes at least one of: a different density of the target material or a different composition of the target material than the second stripe.

A method for in situ protection of a surface (7a) of an aluminum layer (7) of a VUV radiation reflecting coating (6) of an optical element (4), arranged in an interior of an optical arrangement, against the growth of an aluminum oxide layer (8), including carrying out an atomic layer etching process for layer-by-layer removal of the aluminum oxide layer from the surface. The etching process includes a surface modification step and a material detachment step. At least one boron halide is supplied as a surface modifying reactant to the interior in pulsed fashion during the surface modification step. A plasma is generated at a surface (8a) of the aluminum oxide layer, at least during the material detachment step. The atomic layer etching process is performed until the aluminum oxide layer reaches a given thickness (D), or the aluminum oxide layer is kept below that thickness (D) by the process.

A sputter deposition apparatus including: a remote plasma generation arrangement arranged to provide a plasma for sputter deposition of target material within a sputter deposition zone; a confining arrangement arranged to provide a confining magnetic field to substantially confine the plasma in the sputter deposition zone a substrate provided within the sputter deposition zone; and one or more target support assemblies arranged to support one or more targets in the sputter deposition zone so as to provide for sputter deposition of the target material on the substrate. The confining arrangement confines the remote plasma to the target support assemblies such that in use there is deposited: target material as a first region on the substrate; target material as a second region on the substrate; and an intermediate region between the first and second region including a blend of target materials.