Film deposition system and method of controlling particles in film deposition system

Abstract

Some embodiments of the present disclosure provide a system and method for reducing particle contamination on a substrate in a deposition process using a particle control system. Film deposition systems and methods for controlling particles in film deposition systems are provided. In some embodiments, a film deposition system includes a process chamber sealable to create a pressurized environment configured to contain a plasma, a target, and a substrate in the pressurized environment; and a particle control unit, where the particle control unit is configured to provide an external force to each of at least one charged atom and at least one contaminant particle in the plasma, the at least one charged atom and the at least one contaminant particle being generated by direct contact of the target with the plasma, the external force is configured to direct at least one charged atom toward the top surface of the substrate and at least one contaminant particle away from the top surface of the substrate.

Description

[0001] This application is a divisional application of the invention patent application of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd. (the application date is August 13, 2019, the application number is 201910745121.1, and the invention name is "Film deposition system and method for controlling particles in a film deposition system"). Technical Field

[0002] Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to a film deposition system and a method for controlling particles in the film deposition system. Background Art

[0003] Magnetoresistive random-access memory (MRAM) is a non-volatile random-access memory technology, and is typically manufactured by depositing multiple layers of material using a physical vapor deposition system under vacuum. During deposition, the multiple layers of material may be contaminated by system or process related contaminants. One of the main types of contamination is target-related contaminants, such as particles (such as flakes) from the surface of the target. Such target-related contaminants are typically caused by arc discharge, morphology and composition heterogeneity, etc. These particles in the deposited film may negatively affect the growth, performance, and performance of the film and the performance of the device. Therefore, there is a need for a method and system that can effectively prevent particle contamination during the deposition of the film. Despite the long-standing need, there is no suitable system to meet the demand. Summary of the invention

[0004] Some embodiments of the present disclosure provide a film deposition system, comprising a process chamber that can be sealed to produce a pressurized environment and is configured to contain plasma, a target material and a substrate in the pressurized environment; and a particle control unit, wherein the particle control unit is configured to provide an external force to each of at least one charged atom and at least one contaminant particle in the plasma, the at least one charged atom and the at least one contaminant particle being generated by direct contact between the target material and the plasma, and the external force is configured to guide the at least one charged atom toward the top surface of the substrate and guide the at least one contaminant particle away from the top surface of the substrate.

[0005] Some embodiments of the present disclosure provide a method for controlling particles in a film deposition system, comprising: providing plasma to directly contact at least one target material in a process chamber, thereby generating at least one charged atom and at least one contaminant particle; generating an external force on each of the at least one charged atom and the at least one contaminant particle in the plasma to guide the at least one charged atom toward a substrate; and guiding the at least one charged atom to a first position on the surface of the substrate, wherein the first position is configured by a substrate holder offset from the center of the process chamber.

[0006] Some embodiments of the present disclosure provide a film deposition system, comprising: a process chamber that can be sealed to produce a pressurized environment and is configured to contain plasma, a target material and a substrate in the pressurized environment; and a particle control unit, the particle control unit being configured to provide an external force to each of at least one charged atom and at least one contaminant particle in the plasma, the at least one charged atom and the at least one contaminant particle being generated by direct contact between the target material and the plasma, the external force being configured to guide the at least one charged atom toward the top surface of the substrate and to guide the at least one contaminant particle away from the top surface of the substrate, the substrate being supported by a substrate holder offset from the center of the process chamber, and the particle control unit comprising at least one pair of electromagnetic coils or at least one pair of inductive electrodes. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0007] The following will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be noted that, in accordance with standard practice in the industry, various features are not shown in proportion and are only used for illustration. In fact, the size of the elements may be arbitrarily enlarged or reduced to clearly show the features of the present disclosure.

[0008] Figure 1A A cross-sectional view of a physical vapor deposition system with a particle control system according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown.

[0009] Figure 1B A top view of a physical vapor deposition system with a particle control system according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown.

[0010] Figure 2A A cross-sectional view of a physical vapor deposition system with a particle control system according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown.

[0011] Figure 2B A top view of a physical vapor deposition system with a particle control system according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown.

[0012] Figure 3 A flow chart illustrating a method for removing contaminant particles using a particle control system in a physical vapor deposition process according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0013] Explanation of symbols

[0014] 100, 200 Physical Vapor Deposition System

[0015] 102 Process Chamber

[0016] 104 Target

[0017] 106 Plasma cathode

[0018] 108 substrate

[0019] 110 base plate base

[0020] 112, 114 Power supply

[0021] 116 Induction Coil

[0022] 118 RF Power Supply

[0023] 120 Gas supply port

[0024] 122 Vacuum port

[0025] 124 Atom

[0026] 126 Pollution particles

[0027] 128 Plasma

[0028] 130, 130-1, 130-2, 130-3 magnet pairs

[0029] 130-1A, 130-2A, 130-3A, 130-1B, 130-2B, 130-3B Solenoid coil

[0030] 130A electromagnet (first electromagnet)

[0031] 130B Electromagnet (Second Electromagnet)

[0032] 132 Magnetic Field

[0033] 134, 136 Second Track

[0034] 138 Power Supply

[0035] 140 Control Unit

[0036] 142 Temperature control element

[0037] 144 Temperature Control Unit

[0038] 146 Initial trajectory

[0039] 148 Teleporting Arm

[0040] 150 Control Unit

[0041] 160 Particle Control System

[0042] 202A electrode (first electrode)

[0043] 202B electrode (second electrode)

[0044] 204 Power Supply

[0045] 206 Electric Field

[0046] 208 Control Unit

[0047] 300 Methods

[0048] 302, 304, 306 Operations DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0049] It should be understood that many different implementation methods or examples are disclosed below to implement the different features of the subject matter provided, and specific embodiments of the elements and their arrangements are described below to illustrate the present disclosure. Of course, these embodiments are only for illustration and should not be used to limit the scope of the present disclosure. For example, it should be understood that when an element is referred to as being "connected to" or "coupled to" another element, it may be directly connected to or coupled to the other element, or there may be one or more intermediate elements.

[0050] The present disclosure provides various embodiments of methods and systems for removing particle contamination on substrates during film deposition processes. During deposition, multilayer materials may be contaminated by system or process related contaminants. One of the main types of contamination is target related, such as particles (such as flakes) from the surface of the target. Such target related contaminants are usually caused by arc discharge, morphology and composition inhomogeneities, etc. These particles in the deposited film may negatively affect the growth, performance of the film, and performance of the device. The present disclosure proposes a system and method for effectively removing particle contamination in a deposition process. Therefore, the above problems can be advantageously avoided.

[0051] The description of the exemplary embodiments is intended to be understood in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, which are considered to be a part of the entire specification. In the specification, spatially related words such as "lower", "upper", "horizontal", "vertical", "above", "below", "above", "below", "top", and "bottom" and similar words (e.g., "horizontally", "downward", "upward", etc.) may be used. The above spatially related words should be interpreted as the direction as described or as shown in the drawings discussed. These relative terms are only for convenience of description and do not require that the above-mentioned device be constructed or operated in a specific orientation.

[0052] Figure 1AA cross-sectional view of a physical vapor deposition system 100 having a particle control system 160 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown. The process chamber 102 includes at least one target 104 coupled to at least one plasma cathode 106. In the illustrated embodiment, at least one gas supply port 120 is connected to at least one gas supply line (not shown), and at least one vacuum port 122 is connected to a pressure control unit (e.g., a pump and a pressure gauge). In some embodiments, the pressure control unit is capable of providing an environment with a pressure of a few mTorr to a few Torr in the process chamber 102.

[0053] In some embodiments, the gas supplied to the process chamber 102 through the at least one gas supply port 120 may include at least one of O2, Ar, N2, H2, NH3, N2O, CF4, SF6, CCl4, CH4, H2S, SiH4, metal-containing precursors, etc., or a combination thereof. For example, the process gas (e.g., Ar) is supplied to the process chamber 102 through the at least one gas supply port 120 and pumped out from the at least one vacuum port 122 by a pump. In some embodiments, the at least one gas supply port 120 may be located near the target 104 (e.g., behind the cathode). The at least one plasma cathode 106 is each coupled to a power source 112. In some other embodiments, the power source 112 includes a radio frequency (RF) power source and a corresponding matching circuit (both not shown), and its operating frequency is tens of kilohertz (KHz) to tens of megahertz (MHz). By applying energy to at least one plasma cathode 106, a plasma 128 (i.e., a gas containing ionized atoms or molecules) can be formed in a space near at least one target 104 in the process chamber 102. In some embodiments, technologies such as inductively coupled plasma, electron cyclotron resonance, microwave, and helicon wave can be integrated with an RF power source to produce a high-density discharge to obtain desired deposition characteristics. In some embodiments, the physical vapor deposition system 100 can be a DC magnetron sputtering system configured in a cathode target / anode shielding arrangement, wherein at least one plasma cathode 106 and an anode (not shown) are connected to a power source 112 of a DC discharge. In some embodiments, at least one target 104 and at least one corresponding plasma cathode 106 can be cooled by a coolant running behind the target 104.

[0054] In the illustrated embodiment, the process chamber 102 further includes a substrate holder 110 having a substrate 108. In some embodiments, the substrate holder 110 is further coupled to a power source 114 to attract positively charged target atoms 124 in the plasma 128, the positively charged target atoms 124 being generated by charged process gas molecules (e.g., Ar). + ) bombards the surface of the target 104. In some embodiments, the back side of the substrate holder 110 can be electrically grounded. In some embodiments, the substrate holder 110 is also coupled to a power source 114 (e.g., an RF power source 114). According to some embodiments, by applying an AC voltage between the plasma cathode 106 and the substrate holder 110, a plasma 128 can be formed on the target 104, and the plasma 128 can extend to the surface of the substrate 108 in the space between the target 104 and the substrate holder 110. The process chamber 102 may further include an induction coil 116, which is coupled to the RF power source 118 to generate a magnetic field along the Y axis of the process chamber 102 so as to form the plasma 128.

[0055] Although not shown in the figures, it is understandable to a person of ordinary skill in the art that the process chamber 102 may also be equipped with a plurality of pressure gauges, a thickness monitoring system (a quartz crystal monitor, a spectroscopic ellipsometer, a reflection high-energy electron diffraction detector (RHEED)), shutters, a rotational manipulator, viewports, transfer ports, etc.

[0056] In some embodiments, the process chamber 102 further includes a particle control system 160. In some embodiments, the particle control system 160 includes at least one magnet pair 130 disposed inside the process chamber 102. In some embodiments, the at least one magnet pair 130 each includes two electromagnets 130A and 130B and magnetic coils disposed to face each other on both sides of the process chamber 102. Each electromagnet in the magnet pair 130 includes a conductive coil to act as a magnet when current passes through it. In some embodiments, the wire coil is wound around a core offerromagnetic materials that can be used to enhance the magnetic field generated by the coil. In some embodiments, the at least one magnet pair 130 is coupled to a power supply 138 and further coupled to a control unit 140. In some embodiments, the control unit 140 and the power supply 138 are configured to control the magnitude and direction of the current passing through the electromagnetic coils of the two electromagnets 130A / 130B in each magnet pair 130 to adjust the strength and direction of the magnetic field 132 between the two electromagnets in the magnet pair 130. The magnetic field 132 induces a magnetic force on the moving and charged particles (e.g., positively charged target atoms 124) from the target 104. For example, the positively charged target atoms 124 and the positively charged contaminant particles 126 are bombarded from the surface of the target 104 for deposition on the substrate 108. In some embodiments, in the absence of the magnetic field 132 provided by the magnet pair 130 of the particle control system 160, the positively charged target atoms 124 and the positively charged contaminant particles 126 each have an initial trajectory 146. When the magnetic field 132 having a direction from the first electromagnet 130A to the second electromagnet 130B is enabled, the positively charged target atoms 124 and the positively charged contaminant particles 126 have second trajectories 134 and 136, respectively. In some embodiments, the second trajectories 134 / 136 are caused by the electromagnetic force exerted on the target atoms 124 / contaminant particles 126. Due to the difference between the two particles (e.g., mass and charge), the difference between the initial trajectory and the second trajectory is greater on the positively charged target atoms 124 than on the positively charged contaminant particles 126. Therefore, the magnetic force can change the initial trajectory of the charged particles, thereby separating the contaminant particles from the remaining target atoms 124 to reduce contamination in the deposited film.

[0057] In some other embodiments, at least one magnet pair 130 comprises a pair of permanent magnets. In some embodiments, the permanent magnets comprise ferromagnetic materials that can generate a persistent magnetic field.

[0058] refer to Figure 1A, the substrate holder 110 in the physical vapor deposition system 100 is disposed offset from the center of the process chamber 102. In some embodiments, the substrate holder 110 is coupled to a mechanical transfer arm 148. The mechanical transfer arm 148 coupled to the substrate holder 110 can be controlled by a control unit 150 to adjust the position of the substrate holder 110 in the process chamber 102 according to the position of the target atoms.

[0059] The substrate holder 110 in the physical vapor deposition system 100 may also be equipped with a plurality of temperature control elements 142. The temperature control elements 142 are controlled by a temperature control unit 144. The temperature control unit 144 may be located inside the process chamber 102 enclosed in a Faraday shield to protect the electronic circuit from interference by radio frequency signals, or outside the process chamber 102.

[0060] According to the exemplary embodiments described herein, the physical vapor deposition system 100 can be used to process the surface layer of the substrate 108. For example, any photoresist layer, mask layer, or other layer of the semiconductor wafer can be processed according to a specified recipe before or after an etching step, or any combination thereof, as desired. The recipe also specifies the parameters for establishing an appropriate environment in the process chamber 102 to achieve the desired features and feature sizes on the substrate 108. The recipe can specify the type of reactant gas to be introduced into the plasma chamber and its flow rate, the pressure during the reaction, and the power and frequency of the radio frequency signal provided to the plasma cathode 106 or the substrate holder 110.

[0061] The substrate 108 may be a bulk silicon substrate, but other semiconductor materials including group III, group IV, and group V elements may also be used. Alternatively, the substrate may be a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) substrate. In some embodiments, the device layer may be a polysilicon layer disposed on a substrate (not shown) to form one or more polysilicon gates in the substrate 108. In other embodiments, the device layer may be a metallization layer used to form an internal connection structure (e.g., metal wires and / or vias), such as an inter-layer dielectric layer (ILD layer) or an inter-metal dielectric layer (IMD layer). In other embodiments, the device layer may be any layer in the substrate 108, and photolithography and etching processes may be used to pattern the device layer. The substrate 108 may include many device layers. In addition, the device layer may include a buffer layer (e.g., an oxide interface layer, not shown), an etch stop layer (e.g., a silicon nitride layer, a silicon carbide layer, etc.), etc. A hard mask may be formed on the device layer to serve as a patterned mask. The hard mask may include oxide, silicon oxynitride (SiON), silicon nitride (Si3N4), titanium nitride (TiN), or the like.

[0062] Figure 1B A top view of a physical vapor deposition system 100 with a particle control system 160 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown. In the illustrated embodiment, the particle control system 160 in the process chamber 102 includes three magnet pairs 130-1, 130-2, and 130-3. Although the physical vapor deposition 100 includes three magnet pairs, it should be noted that the physical vapor deposition system 100 may include any number of magnet pairs and still be within the scope of the present disclosure. In some embodiments, the three magnet pairs 130-1, 130-2, and 130-3 each include two electromagnetic coils (e.g., 130-1A and 130-1B, 130-2A and 130-2B, 130-3A and 130-3B). In some embodiments, each electromagnetic coil has a circular or square shape. In some embodiments, the process chamber 102 has a diameter of 50-60 cm. In some embodiments, each electromagnetic coil includes 10-20 turns and a diameter in the range of 30-40 cm. In some embodiments, each electromagnetic coil contains at least one of the following metals: iron and manganese. In some embodiments, the three magnet pairs 130-1, 130-2, and 130-3 are arranged around the inner wall of the process chamber 102, and each of the three magnet pairs 130-1, 130-2, and 130-3 has a 2-fold rotational symmetry with respect to the center of the process chamber 102. In some embodiments, the physical vapor deposition system 100 includes at least one target 104 located at the center of the process chamber 102. In some embodiments, the physical vapor deposition system 100 also includes a substrate holder 110 having a substrate 108. In some embodiments, in a top view, the substrate holder 110 is offset from the center of the process chamber 102 and located at the top of the process chamber 102 to collect positively charged target atoms 124 displaced by the magnetic field 132 generated by the three magnet pairs 130-1, 130-2, and 130-3.

[0063] Figure 2A A cross-sectional view of a physical vapor deposition system 200 with a particle control system according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown. The process chamber 102 includes at least one target 104 coupled to at least one plasma cathode 106. In the illustrated embodiment, at least one gas supply port 120 is connected to at least one gas supply line (not shown), and at least one vacuum port 122 is connected to a pressure control unit (e.g., a pump and a pressure gauge). In some embodiments, the pressure control unit is capable of providing an environment with a pressure of several millitorr to several torr in the process chamber 102.

[0064] In some embodiments, the gas supplied to the process chamber 102 through the gas supply port 120 may include at least one of O2, Ar, N2, H2, NH3, N2O, CF4, SF6, CCl4, CH4, H2S, SiH4, metal-containing precursors, etc., or a combination thereof. For example, a process gas (e.g., Ar) is added to the process chamber through at least one gas supply port 120 and pumped out through at least one vacuum port 122 by a pump. In some embodiments, at least one gas supply port 120 may be located near the target 104 (e.g., behind the cathode). At least one plasma cathode 106 is coupled to a discharge power source 112. In some other embodiments, the discharge power source 112 includes a radio frequency power source and a corresponding matching circuit (both not shown), and its operating frequency is tens of kilohertz (KHz) to tens of megahertz (MHz). By applying energy to the at least one plasma cathode 106, a plasma 128 (i.e., a gas containing ionized atoms or molecules) may be formed in a space near the at least one target 104 in the process chamber 102. In some embodiments, techniques such as inductively coupled plasma, electron cyclotron resonance, microwaves, and helicon waves can be integrated with RF power to produce a high density discharge to obtain desired deposition characteristics. In some embodiments, the physical vapor deposition system 200 can be a DC electromagnetic controlled sputtering system configured in a cathode target / anode shielding arrangement, wherein at least one plasma cathode 106 and an anode (not shown) are connected to a power supply 112 of a DC discharge. In some embodiments, at least one target 104 and at least one corresponding plasma cathode 106 can be cooled by a coolant running behind the target 104.

[0065] In the illustrated embodiment, the process chamber 102 further includes a substrate holder 110 having a substrate 108. In some embodiments, the substrate holder 110 is further coupled to a power source 114 to attract positively charged target atoms 124 in a plasma 128, which is generated by bombarding the surface of the target 104 with charged process gas molecules (e.g., Ar+). In some embodiments, the back side of the substrate holder 110 can be grounded. In some embodiments, the substrate holder 110 is also coupled to a power source 114 (e.g., an RF power source 114). According to some embodiments, by applying a DC voltage between the plasma cathode 106 and the substrate holder 110, a plasma 128 can be formed on the target 104, and the plasma 128 can extend from a space between the target 104 and the substrate holder 110 to the surface of the substrate 108. The process chamber 102 can also include an induction coil 116, which is coupled to an RF power source 118 to generate a magnetic field along the Y-axis of the process chamber 102 to form the plasma 128.

[0066] Although not shown in the figure, it is understandable to those skilled in the art that the process chamber 102 may also be equipped with a plurality of pressure gauges, a thickness monitoring system (quartz crystal monitor, a spectroscopic ellipsometer, a reflection high-energy electron diffraction detector, a shutter, a rotating robot arm, a viewing port, a transmission port, etc.

[0067] In some embodiments, the particle control system 160 includes at least one electrode pair 202 disposed inside the process chamber 102. In some embodiments, each of the at least one electrode pair 202 includes two electrodes 202A and 202B configured to face each other on both sides of the process chamber 102. When a potential is applied between the two electrodes, each electrode pair 202 can act as a capacitor. In some embodiments, the at least one electrode pair 202 is coupled to a power supply 204 and further coupled to a control unit 208. In some embodiments, the control unit 208 and the power supply 204 are configured to control the magnitude and polarity of the potential to control the strength and direction of the electric field 206 between the two electrodes 202A / 202B. The electric field 206 induces an electrostatic force on the moving and charged particles (e.g., positively charged target atoms 124 and positively charged contaminant particles 126) from the target 104. For example, the positively charged target atoms 124 and positively charged contaminant particles 126 are bombarded from the surface of the target 104 for deposition on the substrate 108. In some embodiments, when no electric field 206 is applied between the two electrodes 202A / 202B, the positively charged target atoms 124 and the positively charged contaminant particles 126 both have an initial trajectory 146. When an electric field 206 having a direction from the first electrode 202A to the second electrode 202B is initiated by applying a potential across the two electrodes 202A / 202B, the positively charged target atoms 124 and the positively charged contaminant particles 126 are displaced by electrostatic forces and produce second trajectories 134 and 136, respectively. Due to the difference between the two particles (e.g., mass and charge), the difference between the initial trajectory and the second trajectory is greater for the positively charged target atoms 124 than for the positively charged contaminant particles 126. Therefore, the electrostatic force provided by the particle control system 160 can change the initial trajectory of the charged particles, thereby separating the contaminant particles 126 from the remaining target atoms 124.

[0068] refer to Figure 2A , the substrate holder 110 in the physical vapor deposition system 200 is disposed offset from the center of the process chamber 102. In some embodiments, the substrate holder 110 is coupled to a mechanical transfer arm 148. The mechanical transfer arm 148 coupled to the substrate holder 110 can be controlled by the control unit 150 to adjust the position of the substrate holder 110 in the process chamber 102 according to the position of the target atoms.

[0069] The substrate holder 110 in the physical vapor deposition system 200 may also be equipped with a plurality of temperature control elements 142. The temperature control elements 142 are controlled by a temperature control unit 144. The temperature control unit 144 may be located inside the process chamber 102 enclosed in a Faraday shield to protect the electronic circuit from interference by radio frequency signals, or outside the process chamber 102.

[0070] According to the exemplary embodiments described herein, the physical vapor deposition system 200 can be used to process the surface layers of the substrate 108. For example, any photoresist layer, mask layer, or other layer of the semiconductor wafer can be processed before or after the etching step or any combination thereof according to the specified recipe, as desired. The recipe also specifies the parameters for establishing the appropriate environment in the process chamber 102 to achieve the desired features and feature sizes on the substrate 108. The recipe can specify the type of reactant gas to be introduced into the plasma chamber and its flow rate, the pressure during the reaction, and the power and frequency of the radio frequency signal provided to the plasma cathode 106 or the substrate holder 110.

[0071] The substrate 108 may be a bulk silicon substrate, but other semiconductor materials including group III, group IV, and group V elements may also be used. Alternatively, the substrate may be a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) substrate. In some embodiments, the device layer may be a polysilicon layer disposed on a substrate (not shown) to form one or more polysilicon gates in the substrate 108. In other embodiments, the device layer may be a metallization layer, such as an interlayer dielectric layer or an intermetallic dielectric layer, to form an internal connection structure (such as a metal wire and / or a via). In other embodiments, the device layer may be any layer in the substrate 108, and the device layer may be patterned using photolithography and etching processes. The substrate 108 may include many device layers. In addition, the device layer may include a buffer layer (such as an oxide interface layer, not shown), an etch stop layer (such as a silicon nitride layer, a silicon carbide layer, etc.), etc. A hard mask may be formed on the device layer as a patterned mask. The hard mask may include oxide, silicon oxynitride (SiON), silicon nitride (Si3N4), titanium nitride (TiN), etc.

[0072] Figure 2BA top view of a physical vapor deposition system 200 with a particle control system 160 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown. In the illustrated embodiment, the particle control system 160 in the process chamber 102 includes an electrode pair 202. Although the physical vapor deposition system 200 includes an electrode pair, it should be noted that the physical vapor deposition system 200 may include any number of electrode pairs 202 and still be within the scope of the present disclosure. In some embodiments, the electrode pair 202 includes two electrodes 202A and 202B. In some embodiments, the process chamber 102 has a diameter of 50-60 centimeters. In some embodiments, each electrode has a circular shape and has a diameter of 10 centimeters. In some embodiments, each electrode has a square shape and has a size of 100 square centimeters. In some embodiments, each electrode includes at least one of the following metals: iron and manganese. In some embodiments, the electrode pair 202 is arranged to surround the target 104 in the process chamber 102 and has a two-fold rotational symmetry relative to the center of the process chamber 102. In some embodiments, the physical vapor deposition system 200 includes at least one target 104 located at the center of the process chamber 102. In some embodiments, the physical vapor deposition system 200 further includes a substrate holder 110 having a substrate 108. In some embodiments, the substrate holder 110 is offset from the center of the process chamber 102 and is located on the right side of the process chamber 102 in a top view to collect positively charged target atoms 124 displaced by the electric field 206 generated by the electrode pair 202.

[0073] As mentioned above Figure 1A , Figure 1B and Figure 2A , Figure 2BAs discussed in the foregoing, control units 140, 144, 150, and 208 are representative devices and each may include a processor, memory, an input / output interface, a communication interface, and a system bus. The processor may include any processing circuitry operable to control the operation and performance of the control units 140, 144, 150, and 208. In various embodiments, the processor may be implemented as a general purpose processor, a chip multiprocessor (CMP), a dedicated processor, an embedded processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), a network processor, an input / output (I / O) processor, a media access control (MAC) processor, a radio baseband processor, a co-processor, a microprocessor such as a complex instruction set computer (CISC) microprocessor, a reduced instruction set computing (RISC) microprocessor, and / or a very long instruction word (VLIW) microprocessor, or other processing devices. The processor can also be implemented by a controller, a microcontroller, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA), a programmable logic device (PLD), etc.

[0074] In various embodiments, the processor may be arranged to execute an operating system (OS) and various application programs. Examples of operating systems include, for example, those commonly known by the trademarks Apple OS, Microsoft Windows OS, Android OS, and any other proprietary or open source operating system. Examples of application programs include, for example, phone applications, camera (e.g., digital cameras, video cameras) applications, browser applications, multimedia player applications, game applications, messaging applications (e.g., email, text messaging, multimedia), reader applications, etc.

[0075] In some embodiments, at least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium containing computer-executable instructions is provided, wherein when the computer-executable instructions are executed by at least one processor, the at least one processor is caused to perform an embodiment of the method described herein. The computer-readable storage medium may be contained in a memory.

[0076] In some embodiments, the memory may include any machine-readable or computer-readable medium capable of storing data, including volatile / non-volatile memory and removable / non-removable memory. The memory may include at least one non-volatile memory unit. The non-volatile memory unit may store one or more software programs. To name a few examples, the software program may include, for example, an application program, user data, device data, and / or configuration data, or a combination thereof. The software program may include instructions that can be executed by various components of the control circuitry of the control unit 140, 144, 150, 208.

[0077] For example, the memory may include read-only memory (ROM), random-access memory (RAM), dynamic RAM (DRAM), double-data-rate dynamic random access memory (DDR-RAM), synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), static RAM (SRAM), programmable read-only memory (PROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory (such as NOR or NAND flash memory), content addressable memory (CAM), polymer memory (such as ferroelectric polymer memory), phase-change memory (such as ovonic memory), ferroelectric memory, silicon-oxide-nitride-oxide-silicon (SONOS) memory, disk memory (such as floppy disk, hard drive, optical disk, magnetic disk) or memory card (such as magnetic memory card, optical memory card) or any other type of medium suitable for storing information.

[0078] In some embodiments, the memory may include an instruction set in the form of a file for performing the method of generating one or more timing libraries as described herein. The instruction set may be stored in any acceptable form of machine-readable instructions (including source code or various suitable programming languages). Some examples of programming languages ​​that can be used to store the instruction set include, but are not limited to: Java, C, C++, C#, Python, Objective-C, Visual Basic, or .NET programs. In some embodiments, a compiler or interpreter is included to convert the instruction set into machine executable code for execution by the processor.

[0079] In some embodiments, the I / O interface may include any suitable mechanism or element to at least allow a user to provide input to the control unit 140, 144, 150, 208 and allow the control unit 140, 144, 150, 208 to provide output to the user. For example, the I / O interface may include any suitable input mechanism, including but not limited to buttons, keypads, keyboards, click dials, touch screens, or motion sensors. In some embodiments, the I / O interface may include a capacitive detection mechanism or a multi-touch capacitive detection mechanism (such as a touch screen).

[0080] In some embodiments, the I / O interface may include a visual peripheral output device for providing a display visible to a user. For example, the visual peripheral output device may include a screen, such as a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) screen, which is incorporated into the control unit 140, 144, 150, 208. In another example, the visual peripheral output device may include a removable display or projection system for displaying content on a surface away from the control unit 140, 144, 150, 208. In some embodiments, the visual peripheral output device may include an encoder / decoder (also known as a codec) to convert digital media data into an analog signal. For example, the visual peripheral output device may include a movie codec, an audio codec, or any other suitable type of codec.

[0081] The visual peripheral output device may also include a display driver, a circuit for driving the display driver, or both. The visual peripheral output device may be used to display content under the instruction of the processor. To name a few examples, the visual peripheral output device may play media playback information, an application screen of an application implemented on the control unit 140, 144, 150, 208, information about ongoing communication operations, information about incoming communication requests, or an operation screen of the device.

[0082] In some embodiments, the communication interface may include any suitable hardware, software, or combination of hardware and software capable of coupling the control unit 140, 144, 150, 208 to one or more networks and / or additional devices. The communication interface may be arranged to operate using any suitable technology to use a desired set of communication protocols, services, or operating procedures to control information signals. The communication interface may include an appropriate physical connector to connect to a corresponding communication medium (whether wired or wireless).

[0083] According to some embodiments, the communication system and method include a network. In various embodiments, the network may include local area networks (LAN) and wide area networks (WAN), including but not limited to the Internet, wired channels, wireless channels, communication devices including telephones, computers, wired, radio, optical or other electromagnetic channels and combinations thereof, including other devices and / or elements that are compatible / related to transmitting data. For example, the communication environment includes in-body communication, various devices and various communication modes, such as wireless communication, wired communication and combinations thereof.

[0084] Wireless communication modes include any communication mode between points (such as nodes) that at least in part utilize wireless technology including various protocols and protocol combinations related to wireless transmission, data and devices. These points include wireless devices (such as wireless headphones), audio and multimedia devices and equipment (such as audio players and multimedia players), phones (including mobile phones and wireless phones), and computers and computer-related devices and components (such as printers, network connection machines) and / or any other suitable devices or third-party devices.

[0085] Wired communication modes include any communication mode between points using wired technology, including various protocols and combinations of protocols associated with wired transmission, data and devices. These points include audio and multimedia devices and equipment (such as audio players and multimedia players), phones (including mobile phones and wireless phones), and computers and computer-related devices and components (such as printers, network-connected machines), and / or any other suitable devices or third-party devices. In various embodiments, the wired communication module can communicate according to multiple wired protocols. Some examples of wired protocols may include Universal Serial Bus (USB) communication, RS-232, RS-422, RS-423, RS-485 serial protocols, FireWire, Ethernet, Fiber Channel, MIDI, ATA, Serial ATA, PCI Express, T-1 (and variants), Industry Standard Architecture (ISA) parallel communication, Small Computer System Interface (SCSI) communication or Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) communication.

[0086] Therefore, in various embodiments, the communication interface may include one or more interfaces, such as a wireless communication interface, a wired communication interface, a network interface, a transmission interface, a reception interface, a media interface, a system interface, a component interface, a switch interface, a chip interface, a controller, etc. For example, when the communication interface is implemented by a wireless device or a wireless system, it may include a wireless interface, and the wireless interface includes one or more of an antenna, a transmitter, a receiver, a transceiver, an amplifier, a filter, a control logic, etc.

[0087] In various embodiments, the communication interface may provide voice and / or data communication functions according to a plurality of wireless protocols. Examples of wireless protocols may include various wireless local area network (WLAN) protocols, including the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.xx series of protocols, such as IEEE 802.11a / b / g / n, IEEE 802.16, IEEE 802.20, etc. Other examples of wireless protocols may include various wireless wide area network (WWAN) protocols, such as GSM cellular wireless telephone system protocols with GPRS, CDMA cellular wireless telephone communication systems with 1xRTT, EDGE systems, EV-DO systems, EV-DV systems, HSDPA systems, etc. Other examples of wireless protocols may include wireless personal area network (PAN) protocols (e.g., infrared protocols), protocols from the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) family of protocols, Bluetooth specifications including v1.0, v1.1, v1.2, v2.0, v2.0 with Enhanced Data Rate (EDR), and one or more Bluetooth specifications, etc. Another example of a wireless protocol may include near-field communication technology and protocols, such as electromagnetic induction (EMI) technology. Examples of electromagnetic induction technology may include passive or active radio-frequency identification (RFID) protocols and devices. Other suitable protocols may include Ultra Wide Band (UWB), Digital Office (DO), Digital Home, Trusted Platform Module (TPM), ZigBee, etc.

[0088] In some embodiments, the control unit 140, 144, 150, 208 may include a system bus that couples various system components including a processor, memory, and I / O interfaces. The system bus may be any of several types of bus structures including a memory bus or memory controller, a peripheral bus or external bus, and / or a local bus using any of a variety of available bus architectures including, but not limited to, a 9-bit bus, Industry Standard Architecture (ISA), Micro-Channel Architecture (MCA), Extended ISA (EISA), Integrated Drive Electronics (IDE), VESA Local Bus (VLB), Personal Computer Memory Card International Association (PCMCIA) bus, Small Computer System Interface (SCSI) or other proprietary bus, or any custom bus suitable for computing device applications.

[0089] Figure 3 FIG. 1 is a flow chart showing a method 300 for removing contaminant particles using a particle control system 160 in a physical vapor deposition process according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. It should be understood that the method may be performed in a manner similar to that described in the embodiment of the present disclosure. Figure 3 Additional operations may be provided before, during, and after method 300, and some operations may also be omitted or reordered.

[0090] According to some embodiments, the method 300 begins with an operation 302 of generating a plasma in the process chamber 102. In some embodiments, the plasma is generated on the plasma cathode 106 using the target 104. In some embodiments, before the plasma is generated, a process gas (e.g., Ar) is added to the process chamber 102 through at least one gas supply port 120 and pumped out from at least one vacuum port 122 by a pump to prepare the process chamber 102 to a desired pressure. In some embodiments, the desired pressure is a pressure of several millitorr to several torr. In some other embodiments, the at least one plasma cathode 106 is coupled to a radio frequency (RF) power source and a corresponding matching circuit (not shown), which operates at a frequency of tens of kilohertz (KHz) to tens of megahertz (MHz). By applying energy to the at least one plasma cathode 106, a plasma 128 (i.e., a gas containing ionized atoms or molecules) can be formed in the space near the at least one target 104 in the process chamber 102. In some embodiments, technologies such as inductively coupled plasma, electron cyclotron resonance, microwaves, and helicon waves can be integrated with the RF power source to generate a high-density discharge to obtain desired deposition characteristics. In some embodiments, the physical vapor deposition system 100 can be a DC electromagnetic sputtering system configured in a cathode target / anode shielding arrangement, wherein at least one plasma cathode 106 and an anode (not shown) are connected to a DC discharge power supply 112. In some embodiments, the at least one target 104 and at least one corresponding plasma cathode 106 can be cooled by a coolant running behind the target 104.

[0091] The method 300 proceeds to operation 304, where the particle control system 160 is capable of preventing contaminating particles from being deposited on the substrate 108 according to some embodiments. In some embodiments, the particle control system 160 includes at least one magnet pair 130 configured in the process chamber 102. In some embodiments, the at least one magnet pair 130 includes two electromagnets 130A and 130B and magnetic coils configured to face each other on both sides of the process chamber 102. Each electromagnet includes a conductive coil to act as a magnet when an electric current is passed through it. In some embodiments, the wire coil is wound around a ferromagnetic material core that can be used to enhance the magnetic field generated by the coil. In some embodiments, the at least one magnet pair 130 is coupled to a power supply 138 and further coupled to a control unit 140. In some embodiments, the control unit 140 and the power supply 138 are configured to control the magnitude and direction of the current passing through the magnetic coils of the two electromagnets 130A / 130B in each at least one magnet pair 130 to adjust the strength and direction of the magnetic field 132. The magnetic field 132 induces a magnetic force on the moving and charged particles from the target 104. For example, target atoms 124 and contaminant particles 126 for deposition on substrate 108 are bombarded from the surface of target 104. In some embodiments, in the absence of magnetic field 132, target atoms 124 and contaminant particles 126 each have an initial trajectory 146. When magnetic field 132 having a direction from first electromagnet 130A to second electromagnet 130B is enabled, target atoms 124 and contaminant particles 126 are converted from initial trajectory 146 to second trajectory 134 and 136, respectively. Due to the difference between the two particles (e.g., mass and charge), the difference between the initial trajectory and the second trajectory is greater on target atoms 124 than on contaminant particles 126. Therefore, magnetic force can separate contaminant particles 126 from the rest of target atoms 124, thereby reducing contamination in the deposited film. In some embodiments, magnet pairs 130 are arranged around the inner wall of process chamber 102, and each magnet pair 130 has two-fold rotational symmetry relative to the center of process chamber 102. In some embodiments, at least one target 104 is located at the center of the process chamber 102. In some embodiments, a substrate holder 110 has a substrate 108. In a top view, the substrate holder 110 is offset from the center of the process chamber 102 and is located at the top of the process chamber to collect target atoms 124 displaced by a magnetic field 132 generated by a magnet pair 130.

[0092] In some other embodiments, the particle control system 160 includes at least one electrode pair 202 configured inside the process chamber 102. In some embodiments, the at least one electrode pair 202 each includes two electrodes 202A and 202B configured to face each other on both sides of the process chamber 102. When a potential is applied between the two electrodes 202A and 202B, each electrode pair 202 acts as a capacitor. In some embodiments, the at least one electrode pair 202 is coupled to a power supply 204 and further coupled to a control unit 208. In some embodiments, the control unit 208 and the power supply 204 are configured to control the magnitude and polarity of the potential to control the strength and direction of the electric field between the two electrodes 202A / 202B. The two electrodes induce an electrostatic force on the moving and charged particles from the target 104. For example, target atoms 124 and contaminant particles 126 for deposition on the substrate 108 are bombarded from the surface of the target 104. In some embodiments, when the two electrodes 202A / 202B do not provide the electric field 206, the positively charged target atoms 124 and the positively charged contaminant particles 126 each have an initial trajectory 146. When the electric field 206 having a direction from the first electrode 202A to the second electrode 202B is initiated, the target atoms 124 and the contaminant particles 126 are converted from the initial trajectory 146 to the second trajectory 134 and 136, respectively. Due to the difference between the two particles (e.g., mass and charge), the difference between the initial trajectory and the second trajectory is greater on the target atoms 124 than on the contaminant particles 126. Therefore, the electrostatic force can change the initial trajectory of the charged particles, thereby separating the contaminant particles from the remaining target atoms 124.

[0093] According to some embodiments, the method 300 continues to operation 306 of performing deposition of a film on the substrate 108. In some embodiments, the film deposited on the substrate 108 includes at least one element from the target 104. In some embodiments, the number of defects in the film caused by the contaminant particles 126 is reduced by the particle control system 160 of the present disclosure. In some embodiments, the particle control system 160 provides effective separation of the contaminant particles from the target atoms, and by adjusting the position of the substrate, the particle control system 160 can also allow the target atoms to reach the surface of the substrate. The substrate 108 can be a bulk silicon substrate, but other semiconductor materials including group III, group IV, and group V elements can also be used. Or the substrate 108 can be a silicon-on-insulator substrate. In some embodiments, the device layer can be a polysilicon layer disposed on a substrate (not shown) to form one or more polysilicon gates in the substrate 108. In other embodiments, the device layer can be a metallization layer, such as an interlayer dielectric layer or an intermetallic dielectric layer, to form an internal connection structure (such as a metal wire and / or a via). In other embodiments, the device layer may be any layer in the substrate 108, and the device layer may be patterned using photolithography and etching processes. The substrate 108 may include many device layers. In addition, the device layer may include a buffer layer (e.g., an oxide interface layer, not shown), an etch stop layer (e.g., a silicon nitride layer, a silicon carbide layer, etc.), etc. A hard mask may be formed on the device layer to serve as a patterned mask. The hard mask may include oxide, silicon oxynitride (SiON), silicon nitride (Si3N4), titanium nitride (TiN), etc.

[0094] The foregoing merely illustrates the principles of the present disclosure. Therefore, it should be understood that a person of ordinary skill in the art will be able to design various arrangements that, although not explicitly described or shown herein, still embody the principles of the present disclosure and are included in the spirit and scope of the present disclosure. In addition, all examples and conditional language described herein are primarily intended to be used explicitly only for teaching purposes and to help the reader understand the principles and inventive concepts of the present disclosure, and should be interpreted as not being limited to these specifically cited examples and conditions. In addition, all statements describing the principles, aspects, and embodiments of the present disclosure and their specific examples herein are intended to include structural and functional equivalents. In addition, these equivalents are intended to include currently known equivalents and equivalents developed in the future, that is, regardless of the structure, as long as any element that can perform the same function is developed.

[0095] The description of the exemplary embodiments is intended to be understood in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, which are considered to be a part of the entire specification. In the specification, spatially related words such as "lower", "upper", "horizontal", "vertical", "above", "below", "above", "below", "top", and "bottom" and similar words (e.g., "horizontally", "downward", "upward", etc.) may be used. The above spatially related words should be interpreted as representing directions as described or as shown in the drawings discussed. These relative terms are only for convenience of description and do not require that the above-mentioned device be constructed or operated in a specific orientation.

[0096] Some embodiments of the present disclosure provide a film deposition system, comprising a process chamber that can be sealed to produce a pressurized environment and is configured to contain plasma, a target material and a substrate in the pressurized environment; and a particle control unit, wherein the particle control unit is configured to provide an external force to each of at least one charged atom and at least one contaminant particle in the plasma, the at least one charged atom and the at least one contaminant particle being generated by direct contact between the target material and the plasma, and the external force is configured to guide the at least one charged atom toward the top surface of the substrate and guide the at least one contaminant particle away from the top surface of the substrate.

[0097] In some embodiments, the particle control unit includes at least one pair of electromagnetic coils or at least one pair of sensing electrodes. In some embodiments, each of the at least one pair of electromagnetic coils and the at least one pair of sensing electrodes includes at least one of iron and manganese. In some embodiments, each of the at least one pair of electromagnetic coils and the at least one pair of sensing electrodes is configured to be close to at least one target and have a two-fold rotational symmetry relative to the center of the process chamber. In some embodiments, each of the at least one pair of electromagnetic coils and the at least one pair of sensing electrodes has a square or circular shape. In some embodiments, the at least one pair of sensing electrodes is configured to provide an electric field between a first sensing electrode and a second sensing electrode in the particle control unit. In some embodiments, the at least one pair of electromagnetic coils is configured to provide a magnetic field between the first electromagnetic coil and the second electromagnetic coil.

[0098] Some embodiments of the present disclosure provide a method for controlling particles in a film deposition system, comprising: providing plasma to directly contact at least one target material in a process chamber, thereby generating at least one charged atom and at least one contaminant particle; generating an external force on each of the at least one charged atom and the at least one contaminant particle in the plasma to guide the at least one charged atom toward a substrate; and guiding the at least one charged atom to a first position on the surface of the substrate, wherein the first position is configured by a substrate holder offset from the center of the process chamber.

[0099] In some embodiments, the external force is provided by at least one pair of electromagnetic coils or at least one pair of induction electrodes. In some embodiments, each of the at least one pair of electromagnetic coils and the at least one pair of induction electrodes includes at least one of iron and manganese. In some embodiments, each of the at least one pair of electromagnetic coils and the at least one pair of induction electrodes is configured to be close to at least one target and have two-fold rotational symmetry relative to the center of the process chamber. In some embodiments, each of the at least one pair of electromagnetic coils and the at least one pair of induction electrodes has a square or circular shape. In some embodiments, the at least one pair of induction electrodes is configured to provide an electric field between a first induction electrode and a second induction electrode in the particle control unit. In some embodiments, the at least one pair of electromagnetic coils is configured to provide a magnetic field between the first electromagnetic coil and the second electromagnetic coil.

[0100] Some embodiments of the present disclosure provide a film deposition system, comprising: a process chamber that can be sealed to produce a pressurized environment and is configured to contain plasma, a target material and a substrate in the pressurized environment; and a particle control unit, the particle control unit being configured to provide an external force to each of at least one charged atom and at least one contaminant particle in the plasma, the at least one charged atom and the at least one contaminant particle being generated by direct contact between the target material and the plasma, the external force being configured to guide the at least one charged atom toward the top surface of the substrate and to guide the at least one contaminant particle away from the top surface of the substrate, the substrate being supported by a substrate holder offset from the center of the process chamber, and the particle control unit comprising at least one pair of electromagnetic coils or at least one pair of inductive electrodes.

[0101] In some embodiments, each of the at least one pair of electromagnetic coils and the at least one pair of sensing electrodes comprises at least one of iron and manganese. In some embodiments, each of the at least one pair of electromagnetic coils and the at least one pair of sensing electrodes is configured to be close to at least one target and have two-fold rotational symmetry with respect to the center of the process chamber. In some embodiments, each of the at least one pair of electromagnetic coils and the at least one pair of sensing electrodes has a square or circular shape. In some embodiments, the at least one pair of sensing electrodes is configured to provide an electric field between a first sensing electrode and a second sensing electrode in the particle control unit. In some embodiments, the at least one pair of electromagnetic coils is configured to provide a magnetic field between the first electromagnetic coil and the second electromagnetic coil.

[0102] Although the present disclosure has been described in terms of exemplary embodiments, the present disclosure is not limited thereto. Rather, the claims should be interpreted broadly to include other variations and embodiments of the present disclosure, which can be made by a person of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the scope and limits of the equivalents of the present disclosure.

Claims

1. A film deposition system, comprising: a process chamber having a vertical sidewall, sealable to create a pressurized environment, and configured to contain a plasma, a target, and a substrate in the pressurized environment; a particle control unit disposed on the vertical sidewall and in the process chamber, wherein the particle control unit is configured to provide an external force to each of at least one charged atom and at least one contamination particle in the plasma, wherein the at least one charged atom and the at least one contamination particle are generated by direct contact between the target and the plasma, wherein the particle control unit comprises at least one pair of electromagnetic coils or at least one pair of inductive electrodes, each of the at least one pair of electromagnetic coils and the at least one pair of inductive electrodes being configured to be close to the target and have two-fold rotational symmetry with respect to a center of the process chamber; a substrate holder, disposed in the process chamber and offset from a center of the process chamber, wherein the substrate is disposed on the substrate holder, and in a top view, the substrate holder is misaligned with the particle control unit; a mechanical transfer arm coupled to the substrate holder for adjusting the position of the substrate holder; as well as an induction coil disposed in the process chamber and configured to generate an induction magnetic field; The external force is configured to guide the at least one charged atom toward a top surface of the substrate and guide the at least one contamination particle away from the top surface of the substrate, and the direction of the induced magnetic field is perpendicular to the direction of the external force. 2 . The film deposition system of claim 1 , wherein each of the at least one pair of electromagnetic coils and the at least one pair of inductive electrodes comprises at least one of iron and manganese. 3 . The film deposition system of claim 1 , wherein each of the at least one pair of electromagnetic coils and the at least one pair of sensing electrodes has a square or circular shape. 4 . The film deposition system as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the at least one pair of sensing electrodes is configured to provide an electric field between a first sensing electrode and a second sensing electrode in the particle control unit.

5. The film deposition system of claim 1, wherein the at least one pair of electromagnetic coils is configured to provide a magnetic field between a first electromagnetic coil and a second electromagnetic coil.

6. A method for controlling particles in a film deposition system, comprising: By using an induction coil disposed in the process chamber, an induction magnetic field is generated to provide a plasma to directly contact at least one target material in the process chamber, thereby generating at least one charged atom and at least one contamination particle; generating an external force on each of the at least one charged atom and the at least one contaminant particle in the plasma to guide the at least one charged atom toward a substrate, and the direction of the induced magnetic field is perpendicular to the direction of the external force, wherein the external force is provided by at least one pair of electromagnetic coils or at least one pair of inductive electrodes, and each of the at least one pair of electromagnetic coils and the at least one pair of inductive electrodes is disposed on a vertical sidewall of the process chamber and disposed in the process chamber, and is arranged close to the at least one target and has two-fold rotational symmetry with respect to the center of the process chamber; and The at least one charged atom is guided to a first position on a surface of the substrate, wherein the first position is configured by a substrate holder offset from a center of the process chamber, and the position of the substrate holder is adjusted by a mechanical transfer arm coupled to the substrate holder, and in a top-down perspective, the substrate holder is misaligned with the particle control unit. 7 . The method of controlling particles in a film deposition system as claimed in claim 6 , wherein each of the at least one pair of electromagnetic coils and the at least one pair of sensing electrodes comprises at least one of iron and manganese. 8 . The method of controlling particles in a film deposition system as claimed in claim 6 , wherein each of the at least one pair of electromagnetic coils and the at least one pair of sensing electrodes has a square or circular shape. 9 . The method for controlling particles in a film deposition system as claimed in claim 6 , wherein the at least one pair of sensing electrodes is configured to provide an electric field between a first sensing electrode and a second sensing electrode in the particle control unit.

10. The method of controlling particles in a film deposition system as claimed in claim 6, wherein the at least one pair of electromagnetic coils is configured to provide a magnetic field between a first electromagnetic coil and a second electromagnetic coil.

11. A film deposition system comprising: a process chamber having a vertical sidewall, sealable to create a pressurized environment, and configured to contain a plasma, a target, and a substrate in the pressurized environment; a particle control unit disposed on the vertical sidewall and located in the process chamber, wherein the particle control unit is configured to provide an external force to each of at least one charged atom and at least one contamination particle in the plasma, wherein the at least one charged atom and the at least one contamination particle are generated by direct contact between the target and the plasma; a substrate holder, disposed in the process chamber and offset from a center of the process chamber, wherein the substrate is disposed on the substrate holder, and in a top view, the substrate holder is misaligned with the particle control unit; a mechanical transfer arm coupled to the substrate holder for adjusting the position of the substrate holder; as well as an induction coil disposed in the process chamber and configured to generate an induction magnetic field; The external force is configured to direct the at least one charged atom toward a top surface of the substrate and direct the at least one contaminant particle away from the top surface of the substrate, the particle control unit comprises at least one pair of electromagnetic coils or at least one pair of sensing electrodes, and the direction of the induced magnetic field is perpendicular to the direction of the external force, wherein each of the at least one pair of electromagnetic coils and the at least one pair of sensing electrodes is configured to be close to the target and have two-fold rotational symmetry relative to the center of the process chamber. 12 . The film deposition system of claim 11 , wherein each of the at least one pair of electromagnetic coils and the at least one pair of sensing electrodes comprises at least one of iron and manganese. 13 . The film deposition system of claim 11 , wherein each of the at least one pair of electromagnetic coils and the at least one pair of sensing electrodes has a square or circular shape. 14 . The film deposition system of claim 11 , wherein the at least one pair of sensing electrodes is configured to provide an electric field between a first sensing electrode and a second sensing electrode in the particle control unit.

15. The film deposition system of claim 11, wherein the at least one pair of electromagnetic coils is configured to provide a magnetic field between a first electromagnetic coil and a second electromagnetic coil.

Images