60710 results about "Atomic physics" patented technology

A system and method for rapid atomic layer etching (ALET) including a pulsed plasma source, with a spiral coil electrode, a cooled Faraday shield, a counter electrode disposed at the top of the tube, a gas inlet and a reaction chamber including a substrate support and a boundary electrode. The method includes positioning an etchable substrate in a plasma etching chamber, forming a product layer on the surface of the substrate, removing a portion of the product layer by pulsing a plasma source, then repeating the steps of forming a product layer and removing a portion of the product layer to form an etched substrate.

The present invention relates to an apparatus for treating the surface with neutral particle beams comprising an antenna container, a plasma generating part, a neutral particle beam generating part and a treating part, wherein the antenna container comprises antennas connected to high frequency electric power supply through which high frequency electric power supplies, the plasma generating part transfers gases from a gas injector into plasmas with the supplied power, the neutral particle beam generating part reverts the obtained plasmas to neutral particle beams via the collision thereof with metal plates, and the treating part treats the surface of a target with the neutral particle beams.

A programmable metallization cell ("PMC") comprises a fast ion conductor such as a chalcogenide-metal ion and a plurality of electrodes (e.g., an anode and a cathode) disposed at the surface of the fast ion conductor and spaced a set distance apart from each other. Preferably, the fast ion conductor comprises a chalcogenide with Group IB or Group IIB metals, the anode comprises silver, and the cathode comprises aluminum or other conductor. When a voltage is applied to the anode and the cathode, a non-volatile metal dendrite grows from the cathode along the surface of the fast ion conductor towards the anode. The growth rate of the dendrite is a function of the applied voltage and time. The growth of the dendrite may be stopped by removing the voltage and the dendrite may be retracted by reversing the voltage polarity at the anode and cathode. Changes in the length of the dendrite affect the resistance and capacitance of the PMC. The PMC may be incorporated into a variety of technologies such as memory devices, programmable resistor / capacitor devices, optical devices, sensors, and the like. Electrodes additional to the cathode and anode can be provided to serve as outputs or additional outputs of the devices in sensing electrical characteristics which are dependent upon the extent of the dendrite.

A pair of plasma beam sources are connected across an AC power supply to alternatively produce an ion beam for depositing material on a substrate transported past the ion beams. Each plasma beam source includes a discharge cavity having a first width and a nozzle extending outwardly therefrom to emit the ion beam. The aperture or outlet of the nozzle has a second width, which second width is less than the first width. An ionizable gas is introduced to the discharge cavity. At least one electrode connected to the AC power supply, alternatively serving as an anode or a cathode, is capable of supporting at least one magnetron discharge region within the discharge cavity when serving as a cathode electrode. A plurality of magnets generally facing one another, are disposed adjacent each discharge cavity to create a magnetic field null region within the discharge cavity.

A programmable sub-surface aggregating metallization sructure ("PSAM") includes an ion conductor such as a chalcogenide-glass which includes metal ions and at least two electrodes disposed at opposing surfaces of the ion conductor. Preferably, the ion conductor includes a chalcogenide material with Group IB or Group IIB metals. One of the two electrodes is preferably configured as a cathode and the other as an anode. When a voltage is applied between the anode and cathode, a metal dendrite grows from the cathode through the ion conductor towards the anode. The growth rate of the dendrite may be stopped by removing the voltage or the dendrite may be retracted back towards the cathode by reversing the voltage polarity at the anode and cathode. When a voltage is applied for a sufficient length of time, a continuous metal dendrite grows through the ion conductor and connects the electrodes, thereby shorting the device. The continuous metal dendrite then can be broken by applying another voltage. The break in the metal dendrite can be reclosed by applying yet another voltage. Changes in the length of the dendrite or the presence of a break in the dendrite affect the resistance, capacitance, and impedance of the PSAM.

By incorporating an atomic species of increased covalent radius, which may at least partially substitute germanium, a highly efficient strain mechanism may be provided, in which the risk of stress relief due to germanium conglomeration and lattice defects may be reduced. The atomic species of increased radius, such as tin, may be readily incorporated by epitaxial growth techniques on the basis of tin hydride.

A high k dielectric film and methods for forming the same are disclosed. The high k material includes two peaks of impurity concentration, particularly nitrogen, such as at a lower interface and upper interface, making the layer particularly suitable for transistor gate dielectric applications. The methods of formation include low temperature processes, particularly CVD using a remote plasma generator and atomic layer deposition using selective incorporation of nitrogen in the cyclic process. Advantageously, nitrogen levels are tailored during the deposition process and temperatures are low enough to avoid interdiffusion and allow maintenance of the desired impurity profile.

A system for further enhancing speed, i.e. improving throughput in a SEM-type inspection apparatus is provided. An inspection apparatus for inspecting a surface of a substrate produces a crossover from electrons emitted from an electron beam source 25••1, then forms an image under a desired magnification in the direction of a sample W to produce a crossover. When the crossover is passed, electrons as noises are removed from the crossover with an aperture, an adjustment is made so that the crossover becomes a parallel electron beam to irradiate the substrate in a desired sectional form. The electron beam is produced such that the unevenness of illuminance is 10% or less. Electrons emitted from the sample W are detected by a detector 25•11.

A method of forming semiconductor junctions in a semiconductor material of a workpiece includes ion implanting dopant impurities in selected regions of the semiconductor material, introducing an optical absorber material precursor gas into a chamber containing the workpiece, generating an RF oscillating toroidal plasma current in a reentrant path that includes a process zone overlying the workpiece by applying RF source power, so as to deposit a layer of an optical absorber material on the workpiece, and optically annealing the workpiece so as to activate dopant impurities in the semiconductor material.

A method of depositing a carbon layer on a workpiece includes placing the workpiece in a reactor chamber, introducing a carbon-containing process gas into the chamber, generating a reentrant toroidal RF plasma current in a reentrant path that includes a process zone overlying the workpiece by coupling plasma RF source power to an external portion of the reentrant path, and coupling RF plasma bias power or bias voltage to the workpiece.

An atomic layer etching apparatus using reactive radicals and neutral beams and an etching method using the same are provided. The atomic layer etching apparatus includes a reaction chamber including a stage on which a substrate to be etched is seated, a plasma generator including a plasma chamber configured to supply reactive radicals and neutral beams into the reaction chamber and receive a source gas to generate plasma, an inductive coil configured to surround the exterior of the plasma chamber to generate an electric field, a grid assembly disposed at a lower part of the plasma chamber and including first, second and third grids for extracting ion beams, and a reflective body disposed under the grid assembly and configured to supply electrons to the ion beams to convert the ion beams into neutral beams, a shutter installed between the plasma generator and the reactive chamber and configured to adjust supply of the neutral beams into the reaction chamber, a purge gas supply part configured to supply a purge gas into the reaction chamber, and a controller configured to control supply of the source gas, an etching gas and the purge gas, and opening / closing of the shutter.

A method of processing a workpiece includes introducing an optical absorber material precursor gas into a chamber containing the workpiece, generating an RF oscillating toroidal plasma current in a reentrant path that includes a process zone overlying the workpiece by applying RF source power, so as to deposit a layer of an optical absorber material on the workpiece, and exposing the workpiece to optical radiation that is at least partially absorbed in the optical absorber layer.

A novel field emitter material, field emission electron source, and commercially feasible fabrication method is described. The inventive field emission electron source produces reliable electron currents of up to 400 mA / cm2 at 200 volts. The emitter is robust and the current it produces is not sensitive to variability of vacuum or the distance between the emitter tip and the cathode. The novel emitter has a sharp turn-on near 100 volts.

In programmable conductor memory cells, metal ions precipitate out of a glass electrolyte element in response to an applied electric field in one direction only, causing a conductive pathway to grow from cathode to anode. The amount of conductive pathway growth, and therefore the programming, depends, in part, on the availability of metal ions. It is important that the metal ions come only from the solid solution of the memory cell body. If additional metal ions are supplied from other sources, such as the sidewall edge at the anode interface, the amount of metal ions may not be directly related to the strength of the electric field, and the programming will not respond consistently from cell to cell. The embodiments described herein provide new and novel structures that block interface diffusion paths for metal ions, leaving diffusion from the bulk glass electrolyte as the only supply of metal ions for conductive pathway formation.

A salicide layer is deposited on the source / drain regions of a PMOS transistor. A dielectric capping layer having residual compressive stress is formed on the salicide layer by depositing a plurality of PECVD dielectric sublayers and plasma-treating each sublayer. Compressive stress from the dielectric capping layer is uniaxially transferred to the PMOS channel through the source-drain regions to create compressive strain in the PMOS channel. To form a compressive dielectric layer, a deposition reactant mixture containing A1 atoms and A2 atoms is provided in a vacuum chamber. Element A2 is more electronegative than element A1, and A1 atoms have a positive oxidation state and A2 atoms have a negative oxidation state when A1 atoms are bonded with A2 atoms. A deposition plasma is generated by applying HF and LF radio-frequency power to the deposition reactant mixture, and a sublayer of compressive dielectric material is deposited. A post-treatment plasma is generated by applying HF and LF radio-frequency power to a post-treatment gas that does not contain at least one of A1 atoms and A2 atoms. Compressive stress in the dielectric sublayer is increased by treating the sublayer in the post-treatment plasma. Processes of depositing a dielectric sublayer and post-treating the sublayer in plasma are repeated until a desired thickness is achieved. The resulting dielectric layer has residual compressive stress.

Atomic layer deposition is enhanced using plasma. Plasma begins prior to flowing a second precursor into a chamber. The second precursor reacts with a first precursor to deposit a layer on a substrate. The layer may include at least one element from each of the first and second precursors. The layer may be TaN, and the precursors may be TaF5 and NE3. The plasma may begin during purge gas flow between a pulse of the first precursor and a pulse of the second precursor. Thermal energy assists the reaction of the precursors to deposit the layer on the substrate. The thermal energy may be greater than generally accepted for ALD (e.g., more than 300 degrees Celsius).

A method of processing a workpiece includes placing the workpiece on a workpiece support pedestal in a main chamber with a gas distribution showerhead, introducing a process gas into a remote plasma source chamber and generating a plasma in the remote plasma source chamber, transporting plasma-generated species from the remote plasma source chamber to the gas distribution showerhead so as to distribute the plasma-generated species into the main chamber through the gas distribution showerhead, and applying plasma RF power into the main chamber.

Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to methods for forming a SiGe layer. In one embodiment, a seed SiGe layer is first formed using plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD), and a bulk SiGe layer is formed directly on the PECVD seed layer also using PECVD. The processing temperature for both seed and bulk SiGe layers is less than 450 degrees Celsius.

Method and apparatus for determining the instantaneous location, the orientation of an object moving through a three-dimensional space by applying to the object a coil assembly including a plurality of sensor coils (20) having axes of known orientation with respect to each other including components in the three orthogonal planes; generating a time-varying, three-dimensional magnetic field gradient having known instantaneous values of magnitude and direction; applying the magnetic field gradient to the space, and object moving therethrough to induce electrical potentials in the sensor coils; measuring the instantaneous values of the induced electrical potentials generated in the sensor coils; processing the measured instantaneous values generated in the sensor coils together with the known magnitude, direction of the generated magnetic field gradient, the known relative orientation of the sensor coils in the coil assembly to compute the instantaneous location, orientation of the object within the space.

The present inventions is related to a superconducting or non-superconducting isochronous sector-focused cyclotron, comprising an electromagnet with an upper pole and a lower pole that constitute the magnetic circuit, the poles being made of at least three pair of sectors (3,4) called "hills" where the vertical gap between said sectors is small, these hill-sectors being separated by sector-formed spaces called "valleys" (5) where the vertical gap is large, said cyclotron being energized by at least one pair of main coils (6), characterised in that at least one pair of upper and lower hills is significantly longer than the remaining pair of hill sectors in order to have at least one pair of extended hill sectors (3) and at least one pair of non-extended hill sectors (4) in that a groove (7) or a "plateau" (7') which follows the shape of the extracted orbit is present in said pair of extended hill sectors (3) in order to produce a dip (200) in the magnetic field.

A structure and method for a metal replacement gate of a high performance device is provided. A sacrificial gate structure is first formed on an etch stop layer provided on a semiconductor substrate. A pair of spacers is provided on sidewalls of the sacrificial gate structure. The sacrificial gate structure is then removed, forming an opening. Subsequently, a metal gate including an first layer of metal such as tungsten, a diffusion barrier such as titanium nitride, and a second layer of metal such as tungsten is formed in the opening between the spacers.

A charged particle beam irradiation apparatus includes two electromagnets arranged in series along a direction of an incident axis of a charged particle beam, for deflecting the charged particle beam in opposite directions, an energy modulator including a cylindrical member having a length and a distribution of wall thickness in a circumferential direction, a first rotational drive for rotating the cylindrical member around a rotation axis, and a detector for detecting the angular position of the cylindrical member. The energy modulator is disposed at a downstream side of the scanning electromagnets so that the deflected charged particle beam passes through the rotation axis. The apparatus includes an energy degrader for limiting energy of the charged particle beam, and a second rotational drive for rotating the scanning electromagnets and the energy modulator together around the incident axis of the charged particle beam.

An apparatus and method that generates plasma using a microwave radiation supply. The plasma is used to treat a surface of a workpiece at approximately atmospheric pressure. Plasma excites a working gas to create an excited gaseous species without degradation from undue heat caused by the plasma. The gaseous species exit an outlet of the apparatus to treat the surface of a workpiece when the outlet is juxtaposed with the workpiece.

The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for forming a plasma in the exhaust line of a primary process reactor. The plasma is generated in an inductive source (5) to examine the chemical concentrations of the waste or exhaust gas in vacuum lines that are below atmospheric pressure. The optical radiation emitted by the plasma is analyzed by an optical spectrometer (9) and the resulting information is used to diagnose, monitor, or control operating states in the main vacuum vessel.