Tokyo Electron Limited patent applications published on November 30th, 2023

Summary of the patent applications from Tokyo Electron Limited on November 30th, 2023

Tokyo Electron Limited has recently filed several patents related to substrate processing and plasma processing apparatus. These patents aim to improve the efficiency, accuracy, and selectivity of various substrate processing techniques.

Summary:

- Patent 1: The first patent describes an apparatus for estimating the warpage amount of a substrate. It includes an acquirer to capture an image of the substrate's surface, a calculator to calculate the rate of change in pixel value along the radial direction of the substrate, and an estimator to estimate the warpage amount based on a pre-determined correlation.

- Patent 2: The second patent presents a method for processing a substrate with a SiO film and a Low-k film or SiN film. It involves exposing the Low-k film or SiN film to oxygen plasma, applying a self-assembled monolayer (SAM) material to form a protective film, and etching the SiO film with hydrofluoric acid while protecting the Low-k film or SiN film.

- Patent 3: The third patent describes a plasma processing apparatus with a roughened adsorption member to enhance the adsorption of by-products released during the plasma process. It includes a processing container, a mounting stage, and an exhaust passage surrounding the stage.

- Patent 4: The fourth patent introduces a plasma processing apparatus that focuses and sorts ions in the plasma to improve efficiency and accuracy. It includes a processing vessel, a plasma forming device, a focusing device, and a sorting device.

- Patent 5: The fifth patent presents a method for substrate processing using a substrate processing apparatus. It involves selecting a polarity modification pattern for electromagnets, generating plasma from a processing gas, and etching the substrate based on the selected pattern.

- Patent 6: The sixth patent describes a substrate processing apparatus with an inner and outer edge ring for aligning and supporting the substrate. It includes a plasma processing chamber, a support, an outer edge ring electrostatic chuck, and a lifter.

- Patent 7: The seventh patent presents a method for processing a substrate using a substrate processing apparatus. It involves plasma processing with a process gas containing fluorocarbon and a rare gas, and repeating the plasma processing in a cycle.

- Patent 8: The eighth patent describes a plasma processing apparatus that uses electromagnetic waves to generate plasma. It includes a waveguide structure with a resonator and a load impedance portion.

- Patent 9: The ninth patent presents a method for performing a plasma process using a signal generator and a plasma chamber. It involves adjusting variable components of a matching circuit based on feedback from an RF signal to sustain the plasma.

- Patent 10: The tenth patent describes a method for processing a substrate in a substrate processing device. It involves performing plasma processing with different plasma generation conditions, including radio-frequency power and processing time.

Notable Applications:

• Estimating warpage amount of a substrate based on image analysis.
• Selective etching of SiO film while protecting Low-k film or SiN film.
• Enhanced adsorption of by-products during plasma processing.
• Improved efficiency and accuracy of plasma processing through ion focusing and sorting.
• Improved efficiency and effectiveness of substrate processing through polarity modification.
• Alignment and support of substrate using inner and outer edge rings.
• Repeated plasma processing with different plasma generation conditions.
• Efficient plasma generation using VHF or UHF waves.
• Sustaining plasma using feedback-based adjustment of matching circuit.
• Plasma processing with different plasma generation conditions for etching target films.

Patent applications for Tokyo Electron Limited on November 30th, 2023

SUBSTRATE CLEANING APPARATUS AND SUBSTRATE CLEANING METHOD (18322855)

Main Inventor

Yoshiki Okamoto

SUBSTRATE PROCESSING APPARATUS (18324469)

Main Inventor

Naoki UMEHARA

SUBSTRATE PROCESSING METHOD AND SUBSTRATE PROCESSING APPARATUS (18032786)

Main Inventor

Atsutoshi INOKUCHI

Systems and Methods for Plasma Process (17804496)

Main Inventor

Charles Schlechte

PLASMA PROCESSING APPARATUS (18249552)

Main Inventor

Taro IKEDA

SUBSTRATE PROCESSING METHOD AND SUBSTRATE PROCESSING APPARATUS (18231278)

Main Inventor

Satoru NAKAMURA

SUBSTRATE PROCESSING APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR ALIGNING RING MEMBER (18199401)

Main Inventor

Mohd Fairuz BIN BUDIMAN

SUBSTRATE PROCESSING METHOD AND SUBSTRATE PROCESSING APPARATUS (18200910)

Main Inventor

Tomohiko NIIZEKI

PLASMA PROCESSING APPARATUS (18251077)

Main Inventor

Tsuyoshi Moriya

PLASMA PROCESSING APPARATUS (18232834)

Main Inventor

Toshimasa KOBAYASHI

SUBSTRATE PROCESSING METHOD AND SUBSTRATE PROCESSING APPARATUS (18248900)

Main Inventor

Koji Kagawa

WARPAGE AMOUNT ESTIMATION APPARATUS AND WARPAGE AMOUNT ESTIMATION METHOD (18249630)

Main Inventor

Akiko KIYOTOMI