824 results about "Chamber pressure" patented technology

A method and apparatus for gas control is provided. The apparatus may be used for controlling gases delivered to a chamber, controlling the chamber pressure, controlling the delivery of backside gas between a substrate and substrate support and the like. In one embodiment, an apparatus for controlling gas control includes at least a first flow sensor having a control valve, a first pressure sensor and at least a second pressure sensor. An inlet of the first flow sensor is adapted for coupling to a gas supply. A control valve is coupled to an outlet of the flow sensor. The first pressure sensor is adapted to sense a metric indicative of the pressure upstream of the first flow sensor. The second pressure sensor is adapted to sense a metric indicative of the pressure downstream of the control valve.

The present invention provides straight forward methods for plasma etching a trench having rounded top corners, or rounded bottom corners, or both in a silicon substrate. A first method for creating a rounded top corner on the etched silicon trench comprises etching both an overlying silicon oxide layer and an upper portion of the silicon substrate during a "break-through" step which immediately precedes the step in which the silicon trench is etched. The plasma feed gas for the break-through step comprises carbon and fluorine. In this method, the photoresist layer used to pattern the etch stack is preferably not removed prior to the break-through etching step. Subsequent to the break-through step, a trench is etched to a desired depth in the silicon substrate using a different plasma feed gas composition. A second method for creating a rounded top corner on the etched silicon trench comprises formation of a built-up extension on the sidewall of an overlying patterned silicon nitride hard mask during etch (break-through) of a silicon oxide adhesion layer which lies between the hard mask and a silicone substrate. The built-up extension upon the silicon nitride sidewall acts as a sacrificial masking material during etch of the silicon trench, delaying etching of the silicon at the outer edges of the top of the trench. This permits completion of trench etching with delayed etching of the top corner of the trench and provides a more gentle rounding (increased radius) at the top corners of the trench. During the etching of the silicon trench to its final dimensions, it is desirable to round the bottom corners of the finished silicon trench. We have discovered that a more rounded bottom trench corner is obtained using a two-step silicon etch process where the second step of the process is carried out at a higher process chamber pressure than the first step.

Substrate processing systems are described that may include a processing chamber having an interior capable of holding an internal chamber pressure different from an external chamber pressure. The systems may also include a remote plasma system operable to generate a plasma outside the interior of the processing chamber. In addition, the systems may include a first process gas channel operable to transport a first process gas from the remote plasma system to the interior of the processing chamber, and a second process gas channel operable to transport a second process gas that is not treated by the remote plasma system. The second process gas channel has a distal end that opens into the interior of the processing chamber, and that is at least partially surrounded by the first process gas channel.

A subsonic ammunition cartridge casing having an engineered internal volume designed to allow for the introduction of precisely the amount of propellant necessary at precisely the desired location to reproducibly produce the desired projectile velocity and internal pressure is provided. The subsonic shell casing has an engineered internal propellant cavity built into the internal body of the casing itself that does not necessarily depend on the introduction of a separate volume reducing device such as tubing, filler, foam filler and the like. This ensures the integrity of the case, does not result in anything being expelled through the muzzle of the weapon other than the projectile, does not have any burning or combusting components, allows for very precise control of the internal volume and thus chamber pressure, and is economical to produce.

A pressure controlled substrate processing chamber comprising a pressure control ring and a throttling ridge. The pressure control ring is movably disposed proximate the throttling ridge to define a variable flow orifice. The pressure control ring is translated by a ring actuator in response to pressure information retrieved from the processing chamber. The translation of the pressure control ring causes the size of the orifice to change, thus inducing a pressure change within the chamber.

A method for adjusting pressure within an air bed comprises providing an air bed that includes an air chamber and a pump having a pump housing, selecting a desired pressure setpoint for the air chamber, calculating a pressure target, adjusting pressure within the air chamber until a pressure within the pump housing is substantially equal to the pressure target, determining an actual chamber pressure within the air chamber, and comparing the actual chamber pressure to the desired pressure setpoint to determine an adjustment factor error. The pressure target may be calculated based upon the desired pressure setpoint and a pressure adjustment factor. Furthermore, the pressure adjustment factor may be modified based upon the adjustment factor error determined by comparing the actual chamber pressure to the desired pressure setpoint.

A subsonic ammunition cartridge casing having an engineered internal volume designed to allow for the introduction of precisely the amount of propellant necessary at precisely the desired location to reproducibly produce the desired projectile velocity and internal pressure is provided. The subsonic shell casing has an engineered internal propellant cavity built into the internal body of the casing itself that does not necessarily depend on the introduction of a separate volume reducing device such as tubing, filler, foam filler and the like. This ensures the integrity of the case, does not result in anything being expelled through the muzzle of the weapon other than the projectile, does not have any burning or combusting components, allows for very precise control of the internal volume and thus chamber pressure, and is economical to produce.

Cylinders of a diesel engine 1 are provided with cylinder pressure sensors 29a to 29d for detecting combustion chamber pressures. An electronic control unit (ECU) 20 of the engine selects optimum combustion parameters in accordance with a fuel injection mode of fuel injectors 10a to 10d of the engine and a combustion mode determined by the amount of EGR gas supplied from the EGR valve 35 from among a plurality of types of combustion parameters expressing the combustion state of the engine calculated based on the cylinder pressure sensor output and feedback controls the fuel injection amount and fuel injection timing so that the values of the combustion parameters match target values determined in accordance with the engine operating conditions. Due to this, the engine combustion state is controlled to the optimum state at all times regardless of the fuel injection mode or combustion mode.

An apparatus and method for measuring paravalvular leakage from a prosthetic heart valve in vitro. The apparatus has a pulse chamber pressure vessel and a pulsatile pump. The sewing ring of a prosthetic heart valve is mounted to a mounting member which is affixed to the pressure chamber, and paravalvular leakage from the heart valve is collected and measured.

Implementations disclosed herein relate to methods for controlling substrate outgassing. In one implementation, the method includes removing oxides from an exposed surface of a substrate in an inductively coupled plasma chamber, forming an epitaxial layer on the exposed surface of the substrate in an epitaxial deposition chamber, and performing an outgassing control of the substrate by subjecting the substrate to a first plasma formed from a first etch precursor in the inductively coupled plasma chamber at a first chamber pressure, wherein the first etch precursor comprises a hydrogen-containing precursor, a chlorine-containing precursor, and an inert gas, and subjecting the substrate to a second plasma formed from a second etch precursor in the inductively coupled plasma chamber at a second chamber pressure that is higher than the first chamber pressure, wherein the second etch precursor comprises a hydrogen-containing precursor and an inert gas.

We have discovered that is possible to tune the stress of a single-layer silicon nitride film by manipulating certain film deposition parameters. These parameters include: use of multiple (typically dual) power input sources operating within different frequency ranges; the deposition temperature; the process chamber pressure; and the composition of the deposition source gas. In particular, we have found that it is possible to produce a single-layer, thin (300 Å to 1000 Å thickness) silicon nitride film having a stress tuned to be within the range of about −1.4 GPa (compressive) to about +1.5 GPa (tensile) by depositing the film by PECVD, in a single deposition step, at a substrate temperature within the range of about 375° C. to about 525 ° C., and over a process chamber pressure ranging from about 2 Torr to about 15 Torr.

A pressure capsule embedded in a pacemaker lead to monitor intracardiac chamber pressure is described. This pressure monitor capsule provides highly accurate pressure readings while insuring a high integrity seal against bodily fluids and tissue growth. The capsule is intended to be embedded into a pacemaker cardiac lead or a catheter with the distal (Tip) isolation diaphragm sensing pressure, coupling the pressure through an air column to a protected sensing MEMS device and providing a secure fluid seal to the lead walls. The proximal (Back) end of the capsule provides the electrical interface through the lead to the pacemaker pulse generator.

A method is disclosed for expanding the mid load operation limit in a four-stroke gasoline direct-injection controlled auto-ignition combustion engine. A system is employed for variably actuating the intake and exhaust valves and for operating the valves with an exhaust re-compression or exhaust re-breathing valve strategy. A spark plug is provided. A fuel injector having multiple injection capability is employed. A first fuel charge is injected into the combustion chamber to form a lean air-fuel mixture. A second fuel charge is injected into the combustion chamber to form a stratified air-fuel mixture having an ignitable mixture located near the spark plug. The ignitable mixture is ignited at the spark gap, thereby causing spark-ignition combustion that causes a sufficient increase in chamber pressure and temperature to trigger auto-ignition of the lean air-fuel mixture, resulting in the obtaining of a higher engine load before a pressure rise rate in the combustion chamber exceeds a prescribed threshold value.

A method of forming barrier layers in a via hole extending through an inter-level dielectric layer and including a preformed first barrier coated onto the bottom and sidewalls of the via holes. In a single plasma sputter reactor, a first step sputters the wafer rather than the target with high energy ions to remove the barrier layer from the bottom of the via but not from the sidewalls and a second step sputter deposits a second barrier layer, for example of Ta / TaN, onto the via bottom and sidewalls. The two steps may be differentiated by power applied to the target, by chamber pressure, or by wafer bias. The second step may include the simultaneous removal of the first barrier layer from the via bottom and sputter deposition of the second barrier layer onto the via sidewalls.

A method of forming barrier layers in a via hole extending through an inter-level dielectric layer and including a preformed first barrier coated onto the bottom and sidewalls of the via holes. In a single plasma sputter reactor, a first step sputters the wafer rather than the target with high energy ions to remove the barrier layer from the bottom of the via but not from the sidewalls and a second step sputter deposits a second barrier layer, for example of Ta / TaN, onto the via bottom and sidewalls. The two steps may be differentiated by power applied to the target, by chamber pressure, or by wafer bias. The second step may include the simultaneous removal of the first barrier layer from the via bottom and sputter deposition of the second barrier layer onto the via sidewalls.

A high pressure, high throughput, single wafer, semiconductor processing reactor is disclosed which is capable of thermal CVD, plasma-enhanced CVD, plasma-assisted etchback, plasma self-cleaning, and deposition topography modification by sputtering, either separately or as part of in-situ multiple step processing. The reactor includes cooperating arrays of interdigitated susceptor and wafer support fingers which collectively remove the wafer from a robot transfer blade and position the wafer with variable, controlled, close parallel spacing between the wafer and the chamber gas inlet manifold, then return the wafer to the blade. A combined RF / gas feed-through device protects against process gas leaks and applies RF energy to the gas inlet manifold without internal breakdown or deposition of the gas. The gas inlet manifold is adapted for providing uniform gas flow over the wafer. Temperature-controlled internal and external manifold surfaces suppress condensation, premature reactions and decomposition and deposition on the external surface. The reactor also incorporates a uniform radial pumping gas system which enables uniform reactant gas flow across the wafer and directs purge gas flow downwardly and upwardly toward the periphery of the wafer for sweeping exhaust gases radially away from the wafer to prevent deposition outside the wafer and keep the chamber clean. The reactor provides uniform processing over a wide range of pressures including very high pressures. A low temperature CVD process for forming a highly conformal layer of silicon dioxide is also disclosed. The process uses very high chamber pressure and low temperature, and TEOS and ozone reactants. The low temperature CVD silicon dioxide deposition step is particularly useful for planarizing underlying stepped dielectric layers, either alone or in conjunction with a subsequent isotropic etch. A preferred in-situ multiple-step process for forming a planarized silicon dioxide layer uses (1) high rate silicon dioxide deposition at a low temperature and high pressure followed by (2) the deposition of the conformal silicon dioxide layer also at high pressure and low temperature, followed by (3) a high rate isotropic etch, preferably at low temperature and high pressure in the sane reactor used for the two oxide deposition steps. Various combinations of the steps are disclosed for different applications, as is a preferred reactor self-cleaning step.

In imprint lithography, the mold is coated with a surface release layer for a non-sticking separation. Bonding strength of the release layer to the mold depends on the cleanness of the surface and the process of release layer deposition. In accordance with the invention, the mold is disposed in an evacuable chamber, cleaned to remove surface organic contamination and coated with the surface release layer in a chamber, all without relocation or undesired time delay. The chamber encloses a support chuck for the mold or substrate, a surface cleaner unit adjacent the support, a heating source adjacent the support, and advantageously, sensors of measuring chamber pressure, vapor partial pressure and moisture concentration. A vapor source connected to the chamber supplies release surfactant vapor. The mold is cleaned, and the cleaning is followed by vapor phase deposition of the surfactant. The mold is advantageously heated. Typical ways of cleaning include exposure to ozone or plasma ion etch. Surfactant vapor may be generated by liquid surface vaporization, liquid injection or spray vaporization. A surface adhesion promoter can be coated on the substrate by a similar method with the same apparatus.

A method for processing a semiconductor substrate in a chamber includes forming a silicon oxynitride film using a two-step anneal process. The first anneal step includes annealing the silicon oxynitride film in the presence of an oxidizing gas that has a partial pressure of about 1 to about 100 mTorr, and the second anneal step includes annealing the silicon oxynitride film with oxygen gas that has a flow rate of about 1 slm. The first anneal step is performed at a higher chamber temperature and higher chamber pressure than the second anneal step.

Provided is a methodology and system for applying coatings onto the interior surfaces of components. The approach comprises a vapor creation device (for example an electron beam or laser that evaporates a single or multiplicity of solid or liquid sources), a vacuum chamber having a moderate gas pressure (between about 10−4 to about 103 Torr) and a inert gas jet having controlled velocity and flow fields of gas jet. The gas jet is created by a rarefied, inert gas supersonic expansion through a nozzle. By controlling the carrier gas flow into a region upstream of the nozzle an upstream pressure is achieved (i.e. the gas pressure prior to its entrance into the processing chamber through the nozzle). The carrier gas flow and chamber pumping rate control the downstream (or chamber) pressure (i.e., downstream of the nozzle). The ratio of the upstream to downstream pressure along with the size and shape of the nozzle opening controls the speed of the gas entering the chamber. The carrier gas molecular weight (compared to that of the vapor) and the carrier gas speed controls its effectiveness in redirecting the vapor atoms via binary collisions towards the substrate. The speed and flux of the atoms entering the chamber, the nozzle parameters, and the operating chamber pressure can all vary leading to a wide range of accessible processing conditions. Vapor created from a source is transported into the interior regions of a component using binary collisions between the vapor and gas jet atoms. Under certain process conditions these collisions enable the vapor atoms to scatter onto the interior surfaces of the component and deposit.

A fuel system for a gas turbine engine that utilizes a centrifugal pump is presented. The system includes a fuel metering valve that is adapted to set a metered flow of fuel, and a throttle valve that is adapted to accurately control pressure drop across the fuel metering valve. The throttle valve has at least two variable orifices and a compensation chamber between the variable orifices. The throttle valve includes a differential valve piston slidable in a valve body. The differential valve piston comprises working surfaces of at least two different diameters such that changes in chamber pressures effect different axial forces upon the piston.

Part load operating point for a controlled auto-ignition four-stroke internal combustion engine is reduced without compromising combustion stability through negative valve overlap control operative to retain and compress combusted gases within the combustion chamber into which fuel is introduced. Combustion chamber pressures and temperatures are increased as engine load decreases. Various split-injection fuel controls are implemented during low and intermediate part load operation whereas a single-injection fuel control is implemented during high part load operation. Split-injections are characterized by lean fuel / air ratios and single-injections are characterized by either lean or stoichiometric fuel / air ratios. Controlled autoignition is thereby enabled through an extended range of engine loads while maintaining acceptable combustion stability and emissions.

Part load operating point for a controlled auto-ignition four-stroke internal combustion engine is reduced without compromising combustion stability through negative valve overlap control operative to retain and compress combusted gases within the combustion chamber into which fuel is introduced. Combustion chamber pressures and temperatures are increased as engine load decreases. Various split-injection fuel controls are implemented during low and intermediate part load operation whereas a single-injection fuel control is implemented during high part load operation. Split-injections are characterized by lean fuel / air ratios and single-injections are characterized by either lean or stoichiometric fuel / air ratios. Controlled autoignition is thereby enabled through an extended range of engine loads while maintaining acceptable combustion stability and emissions.

We have discovered that controlling a combination of PECVD deposition process parameters during deposition of silicon-containing thin film provides improved control over surface standing wave effects. By minimizing surface standing wave effects, the uniformity of film properties (particularly film thickness) across a substrate surface onto which the films have been deposited is improved. The process parameters which have the greatest effect on surface standing wave effects include: the spacing between the upper and lower electrodes in the plasma reactor; the RF frequency of the plasma source; the amount RF power to the plasma source; the process chamber pressure; the relative concentrations of the various components in the precursor gas composition; and the precursor gas overall flow rate relative to the substrate processing volume.

Certain example embodiments of this invention relate to evacuation and sealing techniques for VIG units, and / or multi-chamber vacuum ovens for accomplishing the same. In certain example embodiments, a VIG assembly is inserted into a multi-chamber apparatus to successively reduce the chamber pressure and thus the pressure between substrates comprising the VIG assembly until a final evacuation pressure is reached. Once the final evacuation pressure is reached, a pump-out port or tube of the VIG assembly is sealed forming a VIG unit while the VIG assembly is still in the vacuum chamber. After sealing, chamber pressures are gradually increased to atmospheric while the gap between the substrates of the VIG unit remains at a pressure less than atmospheric which is close to the final evacuation pressure.

Workpieces, such as, semiconductor wafers, are continuously manufactured by repetitively alternately switching a common radio frequency power source between a plurality of downstream or in-chamber processing reactors and actively processing one workpiece in a vacuum in an operating one of the processing chambers while simultaneously executing with a robot at atmospheric pressure the overhead tasks relative to next processing another workpiece in the other processing chamber. The active processing of the workpieces in alternate chambers does not overlap, and the robot starts and completes all of its preparatory tasks during the active processing step during the time when a chamber's door is closed thereby providing virtual zero overhead. System architecture allows eliminating all redundant components other than the dual chambers which operate in parallel. For a modest cost increase for the second chamber throughput is trebled and overall costs significantly reduced. Preferred modes include switching a common microwave power source between the pair of processing chambers, pumping down with a common vacuum pump, and stabilizing the chamber pressure with a common throttle valve.

Embodiments of the invention describe TiN deposition methods suitable for high volume manufacturing of semiconductor devices on large patterned substrates (wafers). One embodiment describes a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) process using high gas flow rate of a tetrakis(ethylmethylamino) titanium (TEMAT) precursor vapor along with an inert carrier gas at a low process chamber pressure that provides high deposition rate of conformal TiN films with good step coverage in surface reaction limited regime. Other embodiments describe cyclical TiN deposition methods using TEMAT precursor vapor and a nitrogen precursor.

The method for forming superconducting films of complex oxide compounds in a process chamber according to the present invention includes the steps of: (a) placing a substrate near a target in a chamber so that the substrate is positioned to be generally perpendicular to a surface of the target, the target comprising a target material of complex oxide compounds; and (b) irradiating a laser beam to the surface of the target to vaporize or sublime the target material forming over the target a flame-shaped plume having on axis generally perpendicular to the surface of the target so that the target material is deposited onto a surface of the substrate, the surface of the substrate maintaining the position to be generally perpendicular to the surface of the target and being generally parallel to the axis of the plume, wherein the target rotates on an axis perpendicular to the surface of the target and the substrate rotates on an axis perpendicular to the surface of the substrate (off-axis geometry), and wherein the laser beam scans the surface of the target. The chamber pressure Pc for the off-axis geometry laser ablation should be 0.8 Torr< / =PC< / =1.5 Torr for Y1Ba2Cu3O7-x film.

A method for an engine capable of burning gaseous fuel, the engine also including a combustion chamber, at least one intake valve, and at least one exhaust valve, an injector to directly inject pressurized gaseous fuel into the combustion chamber, and a variable valve timing system coupled to the intake valves and exhaust valves, the method comprising closing the exhaust valve before top dead center of piston position to increase combustion chamber pressure achieved at top dead center and to trap exhaust gas in the cylinder; and starting injection of a gaseous fuel directly into the combustion chamber after the exhaust valve is closed and before the intake valve is opened.

The invention involves a method of processing a workpiece on workpiece support pedestal in a plasma reactor chamber in accordance with user-selected values of plural (i.e., N) plasma parameters by controlling plural chamber parameters. The plasma parameters may be selected from of a group including ion density, wafer voltage, etch rate, wafer current and possibly other plasma parameters. The chamber parameters may be selected from a group including source power, bias power, chamber pressure, magnet coil current of different coils, gas flow rate in different gas injection zones, gas species composition in different gas injection zones, and possibly other chamber parameters. The method begins with a first step carried out for each one of the selected plasma parameters. This first step consists of fetching from a memory a relevant surface of constant value corresponding to the user-selected value of the one plasma parameter, the surface being defined in a N-dimensional space of which each of the N chamber parameters is a dimension. This step further includes determining an intersection of these relevant surfaces, the intersection corresponding to a target value of each of the N chamber parameter. The method further includes setting each of the N chamber parameters to the corresponding target value.