Ultrathin conformal coatings for electrostatic dissipation in semiconductor process tools

{
  "publication_number": "US12004337B2",
  "country": "US",
  "kind": "B2",
  "title": "Ultrathin conformal coatings for electrostatic dissipation in semiconductor process tools",
  "abstract": "Disclosed in some embodiments is a chamber component (such as an end effector body) coated with an ultrathin electrically-dissipative material to provide a dissipative path from the coating to the ground. The coating may be deposited via a chemical precursor deposition to provide a uniform, conformal, and porosity free coating in a cost effective manner. In an embodiment wherein the chamber component comprises an end effector body, the end effector body may further comprise replaceable contact pads for supporting a substrate and the contact surface of the contact pads head may also be coated with an electrically-dissipative material.",
  "claims": [
    "1. An end effector for a robot arm, comprising: an end effector body; three or more contact pads on the end effector body; and a coating deposited on a surface of the end effector body, the coating comprising an electrically-dissipative material, wherein the electrically-dissipative material is to provide a dissipative path from the coating to ground, wherein the coating has a thickness ranging from about 20 nm to about 500 nm.",
    "2. The end effector of claim 1, wherein an electrical resistance of the coating ranges from about 1×10 5 ohm/sq to about 1×10 11 ohm/sq, and wherein the electrical resistance of the coating remains unchanged after thermal cycling at a temperature ranging from about 300° C. to about 700° C.",
    "3. The end effector of claim 1, wherein the end effector body comprises an electrically-conductive material, a ceramic, or quartz.",
    "4. The end effector of claim 3, wherein the end effector body comprises a conductive material that is a metal.",
    "5. The end effector of claim 3, wherein the end effector body comprises quartz and the coating is transparent.",
    "6. The end effector of claim 1, wherein the end effector body comprises a ceramic that is bulk alumina.",
    "7. The end effector of claim 6, wherein the electrically-dissipative material comprises alumina, titania, or a combination thereof.",
    "8. The end effector of claim 7, wherein the electrically-dissipative material comprises an alternating stack of alumina and titania.",
    "9. The end effector of claim 8, wherein a ratio of a thickness of each alumina layer to a thickness of each titania layer in the alternating stack of alumina and titania ranges from about 10:1 to about 1:1.",
    "10. The end effector of claim 1, wherein the coating is resistant to corrosive plasma and is uniform, conformal, and porosity free.",
    "11. The end effector of claim 1, wherein at least one of the three or more contact pads is a replaceable contact pad, the replaceable contact pad comprising a contact pad head having a contact surface configured to contact a substrate, and a shaft coupled to the contact pad head and received in an aperture formed in the end effector body and extending into a recess.",
    "12. The end effector of claim 11, wherein the coating is deposited on the surface of the end effector body and on the contact surface of the contact pad head.",
    "13. A method comprising: depositing a coating onto a surface of an end effector for a robot arm using an atomic layer deposition (ALD) process or a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) process, the coating comprising an electrically-dissipative material, wherein the electrically-dissipative material is to provide a dissipative path from the coating to ground, and wherein the coating has a thickness ranging from about 20 nm to about and wherein the robot arm comprises three or more contact pads.",
    "14. The method of claim 13, wherein depositing the coating using the ALD process comprises performing a deposition cycle comprising: injecting a first material-containing precursor into a deposition chamber containing the end effector to cause the first material-containing precursor to adsorb onto the surface of the end effector to form a first half-reaction; injecting a first reactant into the deposition chamber to form a second half reaction; repeating the injecting the first material-containing precursor and the injecting the first reactant one or more times until a first target thickness of a first material-containing layer of the coating is achieved; injecting a second material-containing precursor into the deposition chamber to cause the second material-containing precursor to adsorb onto the first material-containing layer to form a third half reaction; injecting a second reactant into the deposition chamber to form a fourth half reaction; and repeating the injecting the second material-containing precursor and the injecting the second reactant one or more times until a second target thickness of a second material-containing layer of the coating is achieved; and repeating the deposition cycle one or more times until the thickness ranging from about 20 nm to about 500 nm is achieved.",
    "15. The method of claim 14, wherein the coating comprises an alternating stack of alumina and titania, wherein the first material-containing precursor is an aluminum-containing precursor that comprises at least one of trimethylaluminum (TMA), diethylaluminum ethoxide, tris(ethylmethylamido)aluminum, aluminum sec-butoxide, aluminum tribromide, aluminum trichloride, triethylaluminum (TEA), triisobutylaluminum, trimethylaluminum, or tris(diethylamido)aluminum; wherein the second material-containing precursor is a titanium-containing precursor that comprises at least one of tetrakis(dimethylamido)titanium; wherein the first reactant and the second reactant comprises, independently, at least one of water, ozone, alcohol, and oxygen.",
    "16. The method of claim 15, wherein a ratio of a thickness of each alumina layer to a thickness of each titania layer in the alternating stack of alumina and titania ranges from about 10:1 to about 1:1.",
    "17. A robot, comprising: a robot arm, comprising: an end effector body; a replaceable contact pad disposed on the end effector body, the replaceable contact pad comprising a contact pad head having a contact surface configured to contact a substrate; and a coating deposited on at least one of a surface of the end effector body or the contact surface of the contact pad head, the coating comprising an electrically-dissipative material, wherein the electrically-dissipative material is to provide a dissipative path from the coating to ground, wherein the coating has a thickness ranging from about 20 nm to about 500 nm.",
    "18. The robot of claim 17, wherein the end effector body comprises an electrically-conductive material, a ceramic, or quartz, wherein the coating has an electrical resistance ranging from about 1×10 5 ohm/sq to about 1×10 11 ohm/sq, and wherein the coating is porosity free, uniform and conformal.",
    "19. The robot of claim 17, wherein the end effector body comprises bulk alumina, and wherein the electrically-dissipative material comprises an alternating stack of alumina and titania."
  ],
  "description_excerpt": "Embodiments of the present disclosure relate generally to coated semiconductor process tools (such as an apparatus for transferring objects in a processing system), electrically-dissipative coatings, and methods for depositing such coatings. In certain embodiments, the present disclosure relates to an end effector of a robot arm coated with an electrically-dissipative material.\n\nIn electronic device manufacturing, substrates (e.g., silicon-containing wafers, silicon-containing plates) may be moved about manufacturing facilities and within manufacturing equipment tools by robots. The robots can include robot arms having one or more end effectors coupled thereto that may contact and support the substrates during such transportation. End effectors include contact pads thereon that provide elevated contact surfaces upon which the substrates are supported.\n\nIn certain embodiments, the instant disclosure may be directed to a coated chamber component comprising a chamber component and a coating deposited on a surface of the chamber component. In certain embodiments, the coating may comprise an electrically-dissipative material. The electrically-dissipative material may provide a dissipative path from the coating to the ground. The coating may be uniform, conformal, and porosity free. The coating may have a thickness ranging from about 10 nm to about 900 nm and an electrical surface/sheet resistance ranging from about 1×10 5 ohm/sq to about 1×10 11 ohm/sq.",
  "cpc": [
    "H01J 37/32495",
    "B25J 18/00",
    "B25J 19/00",
    "C23C 16/18",
    "C23C 16/45525",
    "H01J 2237/3321",
    "H01J 37/20",
    "H01J 37/32009",
    "H01J 37/32477",
    "H01L 21/68707",
    "H01L 21/68757",
    "H05F 1/00",
    "H05F 1/02",
    "H05F 3/02",
    "H05K 9/0064",
    "H10P 72/7602",
    "H10P 72/7616"
  ],
  "ipc": [
    "H01J 37/20",
    "H01J 37/32",
    "H01L 21/687",
    "H05F 1/02",
    "H05K 9/00"
  ],
  "assignees": [
    "Applied Materials Inc"
  ],
  "inventors": [
    "Gayatri NATU",
    "Geetika Bajaj",
    "Prerna Goradia",
    "Darshan Thakare",
    "David Fenwick",
    "Xiaoming He",
    "Sanni Seppaelae",
    "Jennifer Sun",
    "Rajkumar THANU",
    "Jeff Hudgens",
    "Karuppasamy Muthukamatchy",
    "Arun Dhayalan"
  ],
  "filing_date": "2022-11-10",
  "publication_date": "2024-06-04",
  "grant_date": "2024-06-04",
  "priority_date": "2019-09-26",
  "application_number": "US-202217985065-A",
  "family_id": "75162433",
  "cited_by_count": 0,
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}