Substrate warpage reduction
Embodiments disclosed herein include a processing system. The processing system includes a processing chamber, a processing volume; a substrate support assembly including a substrate support surface, a backside gas cavity, and a heater. The system includes a vacuum source in communication with the processing volume and the backside gas cavity. The system includes a backside gas resource in communication with the backside gas cavity. The system includes a controller, and the computer-readable instructions when executed by a processor of the controller cause: a delivery of electrical power to the heater of the substrate support assembly, a delivery of a series of vacuum pressure pulses the backside gas cavity, and a delivery of a series of backside gas pulses to the backside gas cavity where the series of vacuum pressure pulses and the series of backside gas pulses are alternately provided.
1 . A processing system, comprising:
a processing chamber comprising one or more walls that define a processing volume;
a substrate support assembly disposed within the processing volume, wherein the substrate support assembly comprises:
a substrate support surface;
a backside gas cavity formed in the substrate support surface; and
a heater in communication with a power source;
a vacuum source in communication with the processing volume, and in communication with the backside gas cavity;
a backside gas resource in communication with the backside gas cavity; and
a controller comprising a memory that includes computer-readable instructions stored therein, the computer-readable instructions when executed by a processor of the controller cause:
a delivery, by use of the power source, of electrical power to the heater of the substrate support assembly, wherein the delivery of electrical power generates a temperature above ambient temperature at the substrate support surface;
a delivery, by use of the vacuum source, of a series of vacuum pressure pulses to at least the backside gas cavity, wherein the series of vacuum pressure pulses comprises a vacuum pressure high time period and a vacuum pressure low time period; and
a delivery, by use of the backside gas resource, of a series of backside gas pulses to the backside gas cavity, wherein the series of backside gas pulses comprises a backside gas pressure high time period and a backside gas pressure low time period, wherein the series of vacuum pressure pulses and the series of backside gas pulses are alternately provided such that:
the vacuum pressure high time period and the backside gas pressure low time period overlap in time; and
the vacuum pressure low time period and the gas backside pressure high time period overlap in time.
2 . The processing system of claim 1 , wherein the backside gas resource is configured to provide a gas that comprises (He), neon (Ne), argon (Ar), krypton (Kr), nitrogen (N 2 ), and xenon (Xe).
3 . The processing system of claim 2 , further comprising a process gas resource configured to provide a gas to the process volume, wherein the process gas resource is configured to provide a gas that comprises argon (Ar), oxygen (O), hydrogen (H), fluorine (F), chlorine (Cl), or any combination thereof.
4 . The processing system of claim 1 , wherein the computer-readable instructions when executed by the processor of the controller further cause:
a delivery of a series of process gas pulses to the processing volume,
a delivery of one or more electrical power pulses to the heater,
wherein each of the series of process gas pulses and the one or more electrical power pulses has a configurable duty cycle, wherein each configurable duty cycle comprises a first configurable period of time, and a second configurable period of time.
5 . The processing system of claim 4 , wherein the computer-readable instructions when executed by the processor of the controller further cause the first configurable period of time to be between 0.1 seconds to about 5 seconds.
6 . The processing system of claim 4 , wherein the computer-readable instructions when executed by the processor of the controller further cause the second configurable period of time to be between 0.1 seconds to about 5 seconds.
7 . The processing system of claim 4 , wherein the computer-readable instructions when executed by the processor of the controller further cause the first configurable period of time to be about 1 second to about 3 seconds.
8 . The processing system of claim 4 , wherein the computer-readable instructions when executed by the processor of the controller further cause the second configurable period of time to be about 1 second to about 3 seconds.
9 . The processing system of claim 4 , wherein the computer-readable instructions when executed by the processor of the controller further cause the configurable duty cycle to be about 100%.
10 . The processing system of claim 4 , wherein
during the first configurable period of time, a delivery of a process gas to the processing volume is performed, and
during the second configurable period of time, an interruption of the delivery of the process gas to the processing volume is performed.
11 . The processing system of claim 4 , wherein
during the first configurable period of time includes, a delivery by use of the power source of a first electrical power level to the heater of the substrate support assembly is performed, and
during the second configurable period of time, a delivery by use of the power source of a second electrical power level to the heater of the substrate support assembly is performed.
12 . The processing system of claim 1 , wherein the computer-readable instructions when executed by the processor of the controller further cause the series of backside gas pulses to the backside gas cavity to have a configurable duty cycle comprising a first configurable period of time and a second configurable period of time, wherein
during the first configurable period of time, a delivery by use of the backside gas resource of the series of backside gas pulses to the backside gas cavity is performed, and
during the second configurable period of time, an interruption of the delivery of the series of backside gas pulses to the backside gas cavity is performed.
13 . The processing system of claim 1 , wherein the computer-readable instructions when executed by the processor of the controller further cause the series of vacuum pressure pulses to at least the backside gas cavity to have a configurable duty cycle comprising a first configurable period of time and a second configurable period of time, wherein
during the first configurable period of time, a generation by the vacuum source of a first vacuum pressure to at least the backside gas cavity is performed, and
during the second configurable period of time, a generation by the vacuum source of a second vacuum pressure to at least the backside gas cavity is performed.
14 . The processing system of claim 1 , wherein the computer-readable instructions when executed by the processor of the controller further cause a series electrical power pulses to an electrode disposed within the substrate support assembly to have a configurable duty cycle comprising a first configurable period of time and a second configurable period of time, wherein
during the first configurable period of time, a delivery by use of the power source of electrical power to the electrode of the substrate support assembly is performed, and
during the second configurable period of time, an interruption of the electrical power to the electrode of the substrate support assembly is performed.
15 . The processing system of claim 4 , wherein the computer-readable instructions when executed by the processor of the controller further cause the process volume to remain at about a constant pressure while the series of vacuum pressure pulses and the series of backside gas pulses are being alternately provided.
16 . The processing system of claim 4 , wherein the computer-readable instructions when executed by the processor of the controller further cause the substrate support surface to remain at a constant temperature during the first configurable period of time and the second configurable period of time.
17 . A method of reducing substrate warpage comprising:
transferring a substrate to a substrate support surface of a substrate support assembly, wherein the substrate support assembly is disposed within a processing volume, wherein the substrate support assembly further comprises:
a backside gas cavity formed in the substrate support surface;
a vacuum source in communication with the processing volume, and in communication with the backside gas cavity;
a backside gas resource in communication in the backside gas cavity;
a heater, in communication with a power source;
delivering, by use of the power source, electrical power to the heater of the substrate support assembly, wherein the delivering of the electrical power generates a temperature above ambient temperature at the substrate support surface;
delivering, by use of the vacuum source, a series of vacuum pressure pulses to at least the backside gas cavity, wherein the series of vacuum pressure pulses comprises a vacuum pressure high time period and a vacuum pressure low time period; and
delivering, by use of the backside gas resource, a series of backside gas pulses to the backside gas cavity, wherein the series of backside gas pulses comprises a backside gas pressure high time period and a backside gas pressure low time period, wherein the series of vacuum pressure pulses and the series of backside gas pulses are alternately provided such that:
the vacuum pressure high time period and the backside gas pressure low time period overlap in time; and
the vacuum pressure low time period and the gas backside pressure high time period overlap in time.
18 . The method of claim 17 , further comprising delivering a series of process gas pulses to the processing volume, wherein a configurable duty cycle of the series of process gas pulses comprises a first configurable period of time and a second configurable period of time, wherein
the first configurable period of time coincides with the vacuum pressure high time period and the second configurable period of time coincides with the vacuum pressure low time period, wherein
during the first configurable period of time, a process gas from a process gas resource is delivered to the processing volume; and
during the second configurable period of time, the process gas to the processing volume from the process gas resource is interrupted.
19 . The method of claim 17 , further comprising delivering a series electrical power pulses to an electrode disposed within the substrate support assembly, wherein a configurable duty cycle of the series electrical pulses comprises a first configurable period of time and a second configurable period of time, wherein
the first configurable period of time coincides with an electrical power high time period and the second configurable period of time coincides with an electrical power low time period, wherein:
during the first configurable period of time, a delivery of electrical power to the electrode of the substrate support assembly is performed; and
during the second configurable period of time, an interruption of the electrical power to the electrode of the substrate support assembly is performed.