United States Patent im
Ye et al.
US005710486A [ii] Patent Number: [45] Date of Patent:
[54] INDUCTIVELY AND MULTI-C APACTIIVELY COUPLED PLASMA REACTOR
[75] Inventors: Yan Ye, Campbell; Hiroji Hanawa.
Sunnyvale; Diana Xiaobing Ma,
Saratoga; Gerald Zheyao Yin,
Cupertino, all of Calif.
[73] Assignee: Applied Materials, Inc.. Santa Clara, Calif.
315/111.21
WIPO 315/111.21
The invention is embodiment in a plasma reactor for processing a semiconductor wafer, the reactor having a pair of parallel capacitive electrodes at the ceiling and base of the processing chamber, respectively, each of the capacitive electrodes capacitvely coupling RF power into the chamber in accordance with a certain RF phase relationship between the pair of electrodes during processing of the semiconductor wafer for ease of plasma ignition and precise control of plasma ion energy and process reproducibility, and an inductive coil wound around a portion of the chamber and inductively coupling RF power into the chamber for independent control of plasma ion density. Preferably, in order to minimize the number of RF sources while providing independent power control, the invention includes power splitting to separately provide power from a common source or sources to the pair of electrodes and to the coil.
31 Claims, 5 Drawing Sheets
