The present disclosure relates to systems and methods of additive manufacturing that reduce or eliminates defects in the bulk deposition material microstructure resulting from the additive manufacturing process. An additive manufacturing system comprises evaporating a deposition material to form an evaporated deposition material and ionizing the evaporated deposition material to form an ionized deposition material flux. After forming the ionized deposition material flux, the ionized deposition material flux is directed through an aperture, accelerated to a controlled kinetic energy level and deposited onto a surface of a substrate. The aperture mechanism may comprise a physical, electrical, or magnetic aperture mechanism. Evaporation of the deposition material may be performed with an evaporation mechanism comprised of resistive heating, inductive heating, thermal radiation, electron heating, and electrical arc source heating.

Provided is a substrate treating method of removing a thin film formed on a substrate. The substrate treating method includes a reaction process of transferring an etchant to the thin film, and a removal process of removing process by-products generated by reacting the thin film with the etchant, in which the reaction process and the removal process are repeated at least twice or more, and any one of the removal processes is to remove partially the process by-products.

A plasma enhanced atomic layer deposition (PEALD) system includes a process chamber. A target substrate is supported in the process chamber. A grid is positioned in the process chamber above the target substrate. The grid includes a plurality of apertures extending from a first side of the grid to a second side of the grid. During a PEALD process, a plasma generator generates a plasma. The energy of the plasma is reduced by passing the plasma through the apertures in the grid prior to reacting the plasma with the target substrate.

An ion extraction assembly for an ion source is provided. The ion extraction assembly may include a plurality of electrodes, wherein the plurality of electrodes comprises: a plasma-facing electrode, arranged for coupling to a plasma chamber; and a substrate-facing electrode, disposed outside of the plasma-facing electrode. The at least one electrode of the plurality of electrodes may include a grid structure, defining a plurality of holes, wherein the at least one electrode has a non-uniform thickness, wherein a first grid thickness in a middle region of the at least one electrode is different than a second grid thickness, in an outer region of the at least one electrode.

An apparatus for patterned processing includes a source of input gas, a source of energy suitable for generating a plasma from the input gas in a plasma region and a grounded sample holder configured for receiving a solid sample. The apparatus includes a mask arranged between the plasma region and the grounded sample holder, the mask having a first face oriented toward the plasma region and a second face oriented toward a surface of the solid sample to be processed, the mask including a mask opening extending from the first face to the second face, and an electrical power supply adapted for applying a direct-current bias voltage to the mask, and the mask opening being dimensioned and shaped so as to generate spatially selective patterned processing on the surface of the solid sample.

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.

Methods for depositing a dielectric material using RF bias pulses along with remote plasma source deposition for manufacturing semiconductor devices, particularly for filling openings with high aspect ratios in semiconductor applications are provided. For example, a method of depositing a dielectric material includes providing a gas mixture into a processing chamber having a substrate disposed therein, forming a remote plasma in a remote plasma source and delivering the remote plasma to an interior processing region defined in the processing chamber, applying a RF bias power to the processing chamber in pulsed mode, and forming a dielectric material in an opening defined in a material layer disposed on the substrate in the presence of the gas mixture and the remote plasma.

A substrate processing method and a substrate processing device capable of obtaining good embedding characteristics are provided. The substrate processing method includes: embedding a first insulating film in a recess of a substrate by repeating forming an adsorption layer on the substrate by supplying a silicon-containing gas and causing plasma of a reaction gas to react with the adsorption layer by generating the plasma of the reaction gas; and etching the first insulating film by generating plasma of an etching gas, wherein a shape of the first insulating film embedded in the recess after etching is controlled by controlling plasma generation parameters in the causing the plasma to react with the adsorption layer.

Methods of generating a plasma in a semiconductor processing chamber comprise: applying a radio frequency (RF) power to generate a plasma in a plasma region of the processing chamber, the processing chamber containing: a showerhead, an ion blocker plate, and a substrate, and the plasma region being defined by a front surface of the showerhead and a back surface of the ion blocker plate; and applying a bias the ion blocker plate so that there is no light-up in the processing chamber. Some methods further include dynamically tuning the bias by assessing conditions of light-up or no light-up and adjusting the bias. Some methods further include applying the bias zonally.

Methods for pre-cleaning substrates having metal and dielectric surfaces are described. A substrate comprising a surface structure with a metal bottom, dielectric sidewalls, and a field of dielectric is exposed to a dual plasma treatment in a processing chamber to remove chemical residual and/or impurities from the metal bottom, the dielectric sidewalls, and/or the field of the dielectric and/or repair surface defects in the dielectric sidewalls and/or the field of the dielectric. The dual plasma treatment comprises a direct plasma and a remote plasma.