Systems and methods that enable printing of conformal materials and other waterproof coating materials at high resolution. An initial printing of a material on edges of a component is performed at high resolution in a first printing step, and a subsequent printing of the material on remaining surfaces of the component is applied in a second printing step, with or without curing of the material printed on the edges between the two printing steps. The printing of the material may be performed by a laser-assisted deposition or using another dispensing system to achieve a high resolution printing of the material and a high printing speed.

A physical vapor deposition (PVD) chamber and a method of operation thereof are disclosed. Chambers and methods are described that provide a chamber comprising an upper shield with two holes that are positioned to permit alternate sputtering from two targets.

Methods and apparatus for controlling plasma in a process chamber leverage an RF termination filter which provides an RF path to ground. In some embodiments, an apparatus may include a DC filter configured to be electrically connected between a DC power supply and electrodes embedded in an electrostatic chuck where the DC filter is configured to block DC current from the DC power supply from flowing through the DC filter and an RF termination filter configured to be electrically connected between the DC filter and an RF ground of the process chamber where the RF termination filter is configured to adjust an impedance of the electrodes relative to the RF ground.

Systems and methods that enable printing of conformal materials and other waterproof coating materials at high resolution. An initial printing of a material on edges of a component is performed at high resolution in a first printing step, and a subsequent printing of the material on remaining surfaces of the component is applied in a second printing step, with or without curing of the material printed on the edges between the two printing steps. The printing of the material may be performed by a laser-assisted deposition or using another dispensing system to achieve a high resolution printing of the material and a high printing speed.

Methods and apparatus for performing physical vapor deposition in a reactor chamber to form aluminum material on a substrate including: depositing a first aluminum layer atop a substrate to form a first aluminum region having a first grain size and a first temperature; and cooling the first aluminum region atop a substrate to a second temperature at a rate sufficient to increase the first grain size to a second grain size.

Certain example embodiments relate to techniques for improving the uniformity of, and/or conformance to a desired pattern for, metal island layers (MILs) formed on a substrate (e.g., a glass or other substrate), and/or associated products. Certain example embodiments form MILs using a laser or other energy source or magnetic field assisted technique, e.g., to compensate for non-uniformities that otherwise likely would result in the MIL diverging from its desired configuration. For example, a laser or other energy source may introduce heat onto a substrate, enable pulsed laser deposition, raster a target including the MIL metal to be deposited, raster a substrate where the MIL is to be formed, etc. These and/or other techniques may be used to enable the MIL to be formed on the substrate in a desired pattern, e.g., by compensating for implicit non-uniformities of the substrate and/or by selectively creating non-uniformities in how the MIL is formed.

Disclosed are method and apparatus for treating a substrate. The apparatus is a dual-function process chamber that may perform both a material process and a thermal process on a substrate. The chamber has an annular radiant source disposed between a processing location and a transportation location of the chamber. Lift pins have length sufficient to maintain the substrate at the processing location while the substrate support is lowered below the radiant source plane to afford radiant heating of the substrate. A method of processing a substrate having apertures formed in a first surface thereof includes depositing material on the first surface in the apertures and reflowing the material by heating a second surface of the substrate opposite the first surface. A second material can then be deposited, filling the apertures partly or completely. Alternately, a cyclical deposition/reflow process may be performed.

Systems and methods that enable printing of conformal materials and other waterproof coating materials at high resolution. An initial printing of a material on edges of a component is performed at high resolution in a first printing step, and a subsequent printing of the material on remaining surfaces of the component is applied in a second printing step, with or without curing of the material printed on the edges between the two printing steps. The printing of the material may be performed by a laser-assisted deposition or using another dispensing system to achieve a high resolution printing of the material and a high printing speed.

An apparatus and a method for preparing glow discharge sputtering samples for materials microscopic characterization are provided. The apparatus includes a glow discharge sputtering unit, a glow discharge power supply, a gas circuit automatic control unit, a spectrometer, and a computer. The structure of the glow discharge sputtering unit is optimized to be more suitable for sample preparation by simulation. By adding a magnetic field to the glow discharge plasma, uniform sample sputtering is realized within a large size range of the sample surface. The spectrometer monitors multi-element signal in a depth direction of the sample sputtering, so that precise preparation of different layer microstructures is realized. In conjunction with the acquisition of the sample position marks and the precise spatial coordinates (x, y, z) information, the correspondence between the surface space coordinates and the microstructure of the sample is conveniently realized.

Embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to semiconductor processing, and specifically to methods and apparatus for surface modification of substrates. In an embodiment, a substrate modification method is provided. The method includes positioning a substrate within a processing chamber; and depositing a material on a portion of the substrate by a deposition process, wherein the deposition process comprises: thermally heating the substrate to a temperature of less than about 500° C.; delivering a first electromagnetic energy from an electromagnetic energy source to the substrate to modify a first region of the substrate, the first region of the substrate being at or near an upper surface of the substrate; and depositing a first material on the first region while delivering the first electromagnetic energy.