Plasma processing system and method

Abstract

A substrate processing system includes a processing chamber (10), an electrically floating substrate holder (12) positioned in the chamber, a gas source (54) for supplying a process gas to the chamber, at least one ion source (20) located in the chamber, and a power source (19b) for energizing the ion source by positively biasing the anode (40) and negatively biasing the cathode (22) in a train of pulses of selectably variable duty cycle and magnitude to maintain a selected time averaged current, the bias in each instance being relative to the chamber. The ion source (20) ionizes the process gas producing ions for processing a substrate disposed on the floating substrate holder (12) in the chamber. The floating substrate is biased in accord with the net charge thereon as controlled by the energetic electron flux. One embodiment includes two such ion sources (22, 42). In this case, the power source energizes the first and second anodes (30, 40) and the cathodes (22, 42) in a time multiplexed manner, such that only one of the first or second ion sources is energized at any time and interactions between ion sources are eliminated.

Description

[0001] This application is a continuation of pending application Serial No. 09 / 235,943, filed 01 / 22 / 99, on pending application Serial No. 09 / 076,971 filed May 13, 1998 (title for: "Processing System with Dual Ion Source"), both co-pending applications are hereby incorporated by reference. field of invention [0002] The present invention relates to systems and methods for machining electrically floating substrates on one or both sides by generated ion-generated plasma, and more particularly, to machining systems and methods for controllable treatment of substrate surfaces. Background of the invention [0003] Industrial plasma sources are used for the controlled deposition and etching of surfaces and are widely used in industrial applications, especially semiconductor, optical and magnetic thin film processing. Plasmas formed by these sources produce reactive neutral and ionic forms that can chemically and / or physically interact with surfaces to deposit or remove material. ...

AI Technical Summary

Problems solved by technology

Furthermore, it has proven difficult to achieve films that meet the specifications required for protective films such as those used in computer data storage applications on hard disks. The thinner the coating, the closer the head is to the magnetic region on the surface of the hard disk, which increases the Arial density of the recorded information.

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