Embodiments described herein relate to plasma processes. A plasma process includes generating a plasma containing negatively charged oxygen ions. A substrate is exposed to the plasma. The substrate is disposed on a pedestal while being exposed to the plasma. While exposing the substrate to the plasma, a negative direct current (DC) bias voltage is applied to the pedestal to repel the negatively charged oxygen ions from the substrate.

The current disclosure relates to a semiconductor processing chamber comprising a showerhead, the showerhead comprising a showerplate for providing a reactant into the processing chamber. The processing chamber further comprises a moveable susceptor for holding a substrate; wherein the processing chamber has a showerplate axis extending vertically through the showerplate; a substrate axis extending vertically at a position at which the center of the substrate is configured and arranged to be during providing reactant into the processing chamber; and wherein the substrate axis is offset from the showerhead axis. The disclosure further relates to a semiconductor processing assembly and to a method of treating a semiconductor substrate.

A disclosed etching method includes (a) forming a protective film containing carbon on a surface in a chamber of a plasma processing apparatus. The etching method further includes (b) etching an etch film of a substrate with plasma generated from an etching gas that includes a hydrogen fluoride gas and a hydrofluorocarbon gas within the chamber. The substrate includes the etch film, which is a silicon-containing film, and a mask containing carbon and provided on the etch film.

Embodiments provided herein generally include apparatus, plasma processing systems and methods for controlling ion energy distribution in a processing chamber. One embodiment of the present disclosure is directed to a method for plasma processing. The method generally includes: determining a voltage and/or power associated with a bias signal to be applied to a first electrode of a processing chamber, the voltage being determined based on a pressure inside a processing region of the processing chamber such that the voltage is insufficient to generate a plasma inside the chamber by application of the voltage and/or power to the first electrode; applying the first bias signal in accordance with the determined voltage and/or power to the first electrode; and applying a second bias signal to a second electrode of the processing chamber, wherein the second bias signal is configured to generate a plasma in the processing region and the first bias is applied while the second bias is applied.

A low-cost, durable silicon carbide member for a plasma processing apparatus. The silicon carbide member for a plasma processing apparatus can be obtained by processing a sintered body which is produced with a method in which metal impurity is reduced to more than 20 ppm and 70 ppm or less, and an α-structure silicon carbide power having an average particle diameter of 0.3 to 3 μm and including 50 ppm or less of an Al impurity is mixed with 0.5 to 5 weight parts of a B.sub.4C sintering aid, or with a sintering aid comprising Al.sub.2O.sub.3 and Y.sub.2O.sub.3 with total amount of 3 to 15 weight parts, and then a mixture of the α-structure silicon carbide power with the sintering aid is sintered in an argon atmosphere furnace or a high-frequency induction heating furnace.

In certain embodiments, a method of processing a semiconductor substrate includes positioning a semiconductor substrate in a plasma chamber of a plasma tool. The semiconductor substrate includes a film stack that includes silicon layers and germanium-containing layers in an alternating stacked arrangement, with at least two silicon layers and at least two germanium-containing layers. The method includes exposing, in a first plasma step executed in the plasma chamber, the film stack to a first plasma. The first plasma is generated from first gases that include nitrogen gas, hydrogen gas, and fluorine gas. The method includes exposing, in a second plasma step executed in the plasma chamber, the film stack to a second plasma. The second plasma is generated from second gases comprising fluorine gas and oxygen gas. The second plasma selectively etches the silicon layers.

A method for patterning a material layer on a substrate includes forming a hard mask layer on a material layer disposed on a substrate, and etching the material layer through the hard mask layer by simultaneously supplying an etching gas mixture and an oxygen containing gas. The etching gas mixture is supplied continuously and the oxygen containing gas is pulsed.

Embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to a system used in a semiconductor device manufacturing process. More specifically, embodiments provided herein generally include apparatus and methods for synchronizing and controlling the delivery of an RF bias voltage signal and a pulsed voltage waveform to one or more electrodes within a plasma processing chamber. Embodiments of the disclosure include a method and apparatus for synchronizing a pulsed radio frequency (RF) waveform to a pulsed voltage (PV) waveform, such that the pulsed RF waveform is on during a first stage of the PV waveform and off during a second stage. The first stage of the PV waveform includes a sheath collapse stage. The second stage of the PV waveform includes an ion current stage.

Embodiments for processing a substrate in a pulsed plasma chamber are provided. A processing apparatus with two chambers, separated by a plate fluidly connecting the chambers, includes a continuous wave (CW) controller, a pulse controller, and a system controller. The CW controller sets the voltage and the frequency for a first radio frequency (RF) power source coupled to a top electrode. The pulse controller is operable to set voltage, frequency, ON-period duration, and OFF-period duration for a pulsed RF signal generated by a second RF power source coupled to the bottom electrode. The system controller is operable to regulate the flow of species between the chambers to assist in the negative-ion etching, to neutralize excessive positive charge on the wafer surface during afterglow in the OFF-period, and to assist in the re-striking of the bottom plasma during the ON-period.

An annular member is disposed to surround a pedestal for receiving a substrate in a plasma processing apparatus. The annular member contains quartz and silicon. A content percentage of the silicon in the quartz and the silicon is 2.5% or more and 10% and less by weight.