Ankur B Agarwal

8382999, Feb 26, 2013

Feb 23, 2010

12/711061

Ankur Agarwal - San Jose CA, US
Kenneth S. Collins - San Jose CA, US
Shahid Rauf - Pleasanton CA, US
Kartik Ramaswamy - San Jose CA, US
Thorsten B. Lill - Santa Clara CA, US

Applied Materials, Inc. - Santa Clara CA

G01L 21/30
G01R 31/00

216 59, 216 58

Radial distribution of etch rate is controlled by controlling the respective duty cycles of pulsed VHF source power applied to the ceiling and pulsed HF or MF bias power on the workpiece. Net average electrical charging of the workpiece is controlled by providing an electronegative process gas and controlling the voltage of a positive DC pulse on the workpiece applied during pulse off times of the pulsed VHF source power.

8404598, Mar 26, 2013

Aug 6, 2010

12/851606

Bryan Liao - Saratoga CA, US
Katsumasa Kawasaki - Los Gatos CA, US
Yashaswini Pattar - Palo Alto CA, US
Sergio Fukuda Shoji - San Jose CA, US
Duy D. Nguyen - Milpitas CA, US
Kartik Ramaswamy - San Jose CA, US
Ankur Agarwal - Mountain View CA, US
Phillip Stout - Santa Clara CA, US
Shahid Rauf - Pleasanton CA, US

Applied Materials, Inc. - Santa Clara CA

H01L 21/302

438714, 438706, 438710, 216 68

Methods for processing a substrate are provided herein. In some embodiments, a method of etching a dielectric layer includes generating a plasma by pulsing a first RF source signal having a first duty cycle; applying a second RF bias signal having a second duty cycle to the plasma; applying a third RF bias signal having a third duty cycle to the plasma, wherein the first, second, and third signals are synchronized; adjusting a phase variance between the first RF source signal and at least one of the second or third RF bias signals to control at least one of plasma ion density non-uniformity in the plasma or charge build-up on the dielectric layer; and etching the dielectric layer with the plasma.

8562742, Oct 22, 2013

Oct 19, 2010

12/907947

Jared Ahmad Lee - Santa Clara CA, US
Martin Jeff Salinas - San Jose CA, US
Ankur Agarwal - Mountain View CA, US
Ezra Robert Gold - Sunnyvale CA, US
James P. Cruse - Santa Cruz CA, US
Aniruddha Pal - Santa Clara CA, US
Andrew Nguyen - San Jose CA, US

Applied Materials, Inc. - Santa Clara CA

C23C 16/00
C23C 16/455
H01L 21/3065

118715, 118733, 15634533, 15634534

Apparatus for the delivery of a gas to a chamber and methods of use thereof are provided herein. In some embodiments, a gas distribution system for a process chamber may include a body having a first surface configured to couple the body to an interior surface of a process chamber, the body having a opening disposed through the body; a flange disposed proximate a first end of the opening opposite the first surface of the body, the flange extending inwardly into the opening and configured to support a window thereon; and a plurality of gas distribution channels disposed within the body and fluidly coupling a channel disposed within the body and around the opening to a plurality of holes disposed in the flange, wherein the plurality of holes are disposed radially about the flange.

20070077754, Apr 5, 2007

Oct 3, 2005

11/240468

Minh Ngo - Fremont CA, US
Angela Hui - Fremont CA, US
Amol Joshi - Sunnyvale CA, US
Wenmei Li - Sunnyvale CA, US
Ning Cheng - San Jose CA, US
Ankur Agarwal - San Jose CA, US
Norimitsu Takagi - Sunnyvale CA, US

H01L 21/4763

438627000

A contact structure in a semiconductor device includes a layer of dielectric material and a via formed through the dielectric material. The contact structure further includes a spacer formed on sidewalls of the via using atomic layer deposition (ALD) and a metal deposited in the via.

20110094994, Apr 28, 2011

Jun 23, 2010

12/821609

VALENTIN N. TODOROW - Palo Alto CA, US
SAMER BANNA - San Jose CA, US
ANKUR AGARWAL - Mountain View CA, US
ZHIGANG CHEN - San Jose CA, US
ANDREW NGUYEN - San Jose CA, US
MARTIN JEFF SALINAS - San Jose CA, US
SHAHID RAUF - Pleasanton CA, US

APPLIED MATERIALS, INC. - Santa Clara CA

C23F 1/08
C23F 1/00

216 68, 15634548

Methods and apparatus for plasma processing are provided herein. In some embodiments, a plasma processing apparatus includes a process chamber having an interior processing volume; a first RF coil disposed proximate the process chamber to couple RF energy into the processing volume; and a second RF coil disposed proximate the process chamber to couple RF energy into the processing volume, the second RF coil disposed coaxially with respect to the first RF coil, wherein the first and second RF coils are configured such that RF current flowing through the first RF coil is out of phase with RF current flowing through the RF second coil.

20110097901, Apr 28, 2011

Jun 23, 2010

12/821636

SAMER BANNA - San Jose CA, US
VALENTIN N. TODOROW - Palo Alto CA, US
KENNETH S. COLLINS - San Jose CA, US
ANDREW NGUYEN - San Jose CA, US
MARTIN JEFF SALINAS - San Jose CA, US
ZHIGANG CHEN - San Jose CA, US
ANKUR AGARWAL - Mountain View CA, US
ANNIRUDDHA PAL - Santa Clara CA, US
SHAHID RAUF - Pleasanton CA, US

APPLIED MATERIALS, INC. - Santa Clara CA

H01L 21/465
H01L 21/46

438710, 15634548, 15634537, 118723 I, 438758, 257E21482, 257E21485

Embodiments of dual mode inductively coupled plasma reactors and methods of use of same are provided herein. In some embodiments, a dual mode inductively coupled plasma processing system may include a process chamber having a dielectric lid and a plasma source assembly disposed above the dielectric lid. The plasma source assembly includes a plurality of coils configured to inductively couple RF energy into the process chamber to form and maintain a plasma therein, a phase controller for adjusting the relative phase of the RF current applied to each coil in the plurality of coils, and an RF generator coupled to the phase controller and the plurality of coils.

20120273341, Nov 1, 2012

Apr 9, 2012

13/442478

ANKUR AGARWAL - Mountain View CA, US
AJIT BALAKRISHNA - Sunnyvale CA, US
SHAHID RAUF - Pleasanton CA, US

APPLIED MATERIALS, INC. - Santa Clara CA

H05H 1/24
B44C 1/22

204164, 15634528

Methods and apparatus for controlling a plasma are provided herein. In some embodiments, a method may include supplying a first RF signal having a first frequency and a first period from an RF power source to a first electrode, wherein the first period is a first integer number of first cycles at the first frequency; supplying a second RF signal having a second frequency and a second period from the RF power source to the first electrode, wherein the second period is a second integer number of second cycles at the second frequency and wherein a first multiplicative product of the first frequency and the first integer number is equal to a second multiplicative product of the second frequency and the second integer number; and controlling the phase between the first and second periods to control an ion energy distribution of the plasma formed in a process chamber.

20130098555, Apr 25, 2013

Aug 27, 2012

13/595612

Kallol Bera - San Jose CA, US
Shahid Rauf - Pleasanton CA, US
Ankur Agarwal - Mountain View CA, US

Applied Materials, Inc. - Santa Clara CA

H05H 1/46

15634535

In a plasma reactor employing a planar electron beam as a plasma source, the electron beam source chamber has an internal conductive fin that is profiled along a direction transverse to the beam propagation diction and parallel to the plane of the electron beam, in order to correct electron beam density distribution.