In some embodiments, a method for cleaning a processing chamber is provided. The method may be performed by introducing a processing gas into a processing chamber that has a by-product disposed along sidewalls of the processing chamber. A plasma is generated from the processing gas using a radio frequency signal. A lower electrode is connected to a first electric potential. Concurrently, a bias voltage having a second electric potential is applied to a sidewall electrode to induce ion bombardment of the by-product, in which the second electric potential has a larger magnitude than the first electric potential. The processing gas is evacuated from the processing chamber.

A system includes an electrode. The electrode includes a showerhead having a first stem portion and a head portion. A plurality of dielectric layers is vertically stacked between the electrode and a first surface of a conducting structure. The plurality of dielectric layers includes M dielectric layers arranged adjacent to the head portion and P dielectric portions arranged around the first stem portion. The plurality of dielectric layers defines a first gap between the electrode and one of the plurality of dielectric layers, a second gap between adjacent ones of the plurality of dielectric layers, and a third gap between a last one of the plurality of dielectric layers and the first surface. A number of the plurality of dielectric layers and sizes of the first gap, the second gap, and the third gap are selected to prevent parasitic plasma between the first surface and the electrode.

There is provided a plasma generating device that includes a first electrode connected to a high-frequency power supply, and a second electrode to be grounded, a buffer structure configured to form a buffer chamber that accommodates the first and second electrodes wherein the first electrode and the second electrode are alternately arranged such that a number of electrodes of the first electrode and the second electrode are in an odd number of three or more in total, and wherein the second electrode is used in common for two of the first electrode being respectively adjacent to the second electrode used in common, and wherein a gas supply port that supplies gas into a process chamber is installed on a wall surface of the buffer structure.

A method of attracting an object to a mounting table is provided. The object is a substrate, an edge ring, or a combination of the substrate and the edge ring. The mounting table is provided with an electrostatic chuck including electrodes. After the object is placed on the electrostatic chuck, n-phase alternating current (AC) voltages (n≥2) are applied to the electrodes. Each phase voltage of the n-phase AC voltages has a phase different from each other, and the phase voltage of the n-phase AC voltages is applied based on a self-bias voltage of the object.

Forming a protective coating ex situ in an atomic layer deposition process to coat one or more chamber components subsequently installed in a reaction chamber provides a number of benefits over more conventional coating methods such as in situ deposition of an undercoat. In certain cases the protective coating may have a particular composition such as aluminum oxide, aluminum fluoride, aluminum nitride, yttrium oxide, and/or yttrium fluoride. The protective coating may help reduce contamination on wafers processed using the coated chamber component. Further, the protective coating may act to stabilize the processing conditions within the reaction chamber, thereby achieving very stable/uniform processing results over the course of processing many batches of wafers, and minimizing radical loss. Also described are a number of techniques that may be used to restore the protective coating after the coated chamber component is used to process semiconductor wafers.

A separated gas inlet structure for blocking plasma backflow includes a gas inlet flange and an upper gas inlet nozzle and a lower gas inlet nozzle made of ceramic materials. The upper gas inlet nozzle is coaxially nested or stacked at the top of the lower gas inlet nozzle; a broken line type gas inlet channel is in the upper gas inlet nozzle and the lower gas inlet nozzle and the gas inlet channel includes an upper axial channel, a radial channel, a lower axial channel and a gas outlet; the radial channel or the lower axial channel is at a mounting matching part of the upper gas inlet nozzle and the lower gas inlet nozzle; and the top of the lower axial channel points to a bottom wall surface of the upper gas inlet nozzle.

This plasma processing apparatus for performing plasma processing on an end part of a substrate includes a processing container, a substrate supporting member configured to support a portion of the substrate and to which a high frequency power is applied, at least a side of the substrate supporting member being composed of a dielectric, an opposing dielectric member composed of a dielectric and disposed to oppose the substrate supporting member, and a gas supply configured to supply a processing gas for generating plasma on at least the end part of the substrate. The plasma processing apparatus further includes a side ground electrode provided at a side of the substrate so as to be close to the substrate to such an extent that an electrical coupling is formed between an end surface of the substrate and the side ground electrode, the side ground electrode having a ground potential.

The present technology encompasses plasma sources including a first plate defining a first plurality of apertures arranged in a first set of rows. The first plate may include a first set of electrodes extending along a separate row of the first set of rows. The plasma sources may include a second plate defining a second plurality of apertures arranged in a second set of rows. The second plate may include a second set of electrodes extending along a separate row of the second set of rows. Each aperture of the second plurality of apertures may be axially aligned with an aperture of the first plurality of apertures. The plasma sources may include a third plate positioned between the first plate and the second plate. The third plate may define a third plurality of apertures.

Additively manufactured showerheads for semiconductor processing operations are disclosed that may have various features enabled by the use of such manufacturing techniques. In some implementations, such showerheads may have multiple independent flow paths featuring transverse passages arranged to form a rhombic lattice pattern and gas distribution ports and/or riser passages that are located at various intersections between such transverse passages. Such showerheads may also include features that improve their manufacturability while providing desired gas flow performance. For example, the cross-sections of the transverse passages may be designed such that they are generally triangular or pentagonal in shape, which may allow for more efficient use of available material volume within the showerhead for the purposes of providing gas flow passages while also providing geometries that take into account the limitations of typical additive manufacturing processes that may be used.

A gas ring for a PVD-source with a cathode having a target for material deposition. The gas ring includes an inner rim and an outer rim and at least one flange between the inner and the outer rim. The gas ring further includes: —a gas inlet; —gas openings arranged circumferentially in or near the inner rim; —at least one circumferential gas channel connected to the gas inlet and/or the gas openings; —a cooling duct.