A sputtering system that includes a sputtering chamber having a target material serving as a cathode, and an anode and a work piece. A direct current (DC) power supply supplies electrical power to the anode and the cathode sufficient to generate a plasma within the sputtering chamber. A detection module detects the occurrence of an arc in the sputtering chamber by monitoring an electrical characteristic of the plasma. In one embodiment the electrical characteristic monitored is the impedance of the plasma. In another embodiment the electrical characteristic is the conductance of the plasma.

The present disclosure describes an ion implantation system that includes a bushing designed to reduce the accumulation of IMP by-produces on the bushing's inner surfaces. The ion implantation system can include a chamber, an ion source configured to generate an ion beam, and a bushing coupling the ion source and the chamber. The bushing can include (i) a tubular body having an inner surface, a first end, and a second end and (ii) multiple angled trenches disposed within the inner surface of the tubular body, where each of the multiple angled trenches extends towards the second end of the tubular body.

A charged particle beam system includes a charged particle beam device 101 and the detection circuit 114. The charged particle beam device 101 includes a first antenna 102 having a first resonant frequency and a second antenna 103 having a second resonant frequency. The detection circuit 114 includes a first amplitude detection unit 110 which detects a first amplitude of a signal after passing a first filter 107, a second amplitude detection unit 111 which detects a second amplitude of a signal after passing a second filter 108, and an amplitude comparison unit 113 which compares the first amplitude with the second amplitude.

Methods and apparatus leverage dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma to treat samples for surface modification prior to photomask application and for photomask cleaning. In some embodiments, a method of treating a surface with AP plasma includes igniting plasma over an ignition plate where the AP plasma is formed by one or more plasma heads of an AP plasma reactor positioned above the ignition plate, monitoring characteristics of the AP plasma with an optical emission spectrometer (OES) sensor to determine if stable AP plasma is obtained and, if so, moving the AP reactor over a central opening of an assistant plate where the central opening contains a sample under treatment and where the assistant plate reduces AP plasma arcing on the sample during treatment. The AP reactor scans back and forth over the central opening of the assistant plate while maintaining stabilized AP plasma to treat the sample.

A Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD) tool that suppresses or altogether eliminates arcing between a substrate pedestal and substrate. The CVD tool includes a Direct Current (DC) bias control system arranged to maintain a substrate pedestal provided in a processing chamber at a same or substantially the same DC bias voltage as developed by a plasma in the processing chamber. By maintaining the substrate pedestal and the substrate having the same potential as the plasma at the same or substantially the same voltage potential, arcing is suppressed or altogether eliminated.

A glitch monitoring system is disclosed. The glitch monitoring system allows the capture of voltage and current data from one or more channels. Additionally, voltage and current data that occurred prior to the glitch can also be captured for further analysis. The amount of data may be thousands or millions of bytes. Additionally, the description of a glitch, including an upper threshold, a lower threshold and a duration, can be programmed. This allows spurious perturbation in voltage or current to be ignored if desired. Further, the voltage and current data may be filtered if desired prior to being stored in memory. This data can later be retried by a main controller and analyzed to determine a potential cause of the glitch and potential remedial actions.

The present invention is directed to circuits, systems, and methods to quickly to quench an arc that may form between high voltage electrodes associated with an ion source to shorten the duration of the arc and mitigate non-uniform ion implantations. In one example, an arc detection circuit for detecting an arc in an ion implantation system includes an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) and an analysis circuit. The ADC is configured to convert a sensing current indicative of a current being supplied to an electrode in the ion implantation system to a digital current signal that quantifies the sensing current. The analysis circuit is configured to analyze the digital current signal to determine if the digital current signal meets threshold parameter value and in response to the digital current signal meeting the threshold parameter value, provide an arc detection signal to a trigger control circuit that activates an arc quenching mechanism.

A stage apparatus for a particle-beam apparatus is disclosed. A particle beam apparatus may comprise a conductive object and an object table, the object table being configured to support an object. The object table comprises a table body and a conductive coating, the conductive coating being provided on at least a portion of a surface of the table body. The conductive object is disposed proximate to the conductive coating and the table body is provided with a feature proximate to an edge portion of the conductive coating. Said feature is arranged so as to reduce an electric field strength in the vicinity of the edge portion of the conductive coating when a voltage is applied to both the conductive object and the conductive coating.

In large area plasma processing systems, process gases may be introduced to the chamber via the showerhead assembly which may be driven as an RF electrode. The gas feed tube, which is grounded, is electrically isolated from the showerhead. The gas feed tube may provide not only process gases, but also cleaning gases from a remote plasma source to the process chamber. The inside of the gas feed tube may remain at either a low RF field or a zero RF field to avoid premature gas breakdown within the gas feed tube that may lead to parasitic plasma formation between the gas source and the showerhead. By feeding the gas through an RF choke, the RF field and the processing gas may be introduced to the processing chamber through a common location and thus simplify the chamber design.

In large area plasma processing systems, process gases may be introduced to the chamber via the showerhead assembly which may be driven as an RF electrode. The gas feed tube, which is grounded, is electrically isolated from the showerhead. The gas feed tube may provide not only process gases, but also cleaning gases from a remote plasma source to the process chamber. The inside of the gas feed tube may remain at either a low RF field or a zero RF field to avoid premature gas breakdown within the gas feed tube that may lead to parasitic plasma formation between the gas source and the showerhead. By feeding the gas through an RF choke, the RF field and the processing gas may be introduced to the processing chamber through a common location and thus simplify the chamber design.