Patent Description:
A plasma chamber is used to perform various processes on a wafer. For example, the plasma chamber is used for cleaning the wafer, depositing materials on the wafer, or etching the wafer. The plasma chamber includes various components, such as a variety of rings, that are used for processing different portions of the wafer.

It is in this context that embodiments described in the present disclosure arise.

<CIT> discloses an edge ring and process for fabricating an edge ring. In one example, an edge ring includes an annular body and a plurality of thermal breaks disposed within the annular body. The thermal breaks are disposed perpendicular to a center line of the annular body of the edge ring. <CIT> discloses a heat-transfer sheet made of a gel-like material being interposed between the focus ring and the electrostatic chuck. Since the heat-transfer sheet made of the gel-like material is fluid, the minute gaps are filled fully to increase the degree of adhesion between the focus ring and the electrostatic chuck, whereby heat transference between the focus ring and the electrostatic chuck can be improved. <CIT> discloses a substrate processing system including a processing chamber and a pedestal arranged in the processing chamber. An edge coupling ring is arranged adjacent to a radially outer edge of the pedestal. A first actuator is configured to selectively move the edge coupling ring to a raised position, relative to the pedestal to provide clearance between the edge coupling ring and the pedestal to allow a robot arm to remove the edge coupling ring from the processing chamber.

According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided an edge ring for use in a plasma processing chamber as specified in claim <NUM>. The edge ring may optionally be as specified in any of claims <NUM> to <NUM>.

According to a second aspect of the present invention there is provided a system for securing an edge ring of a plasma chamber as specified in claim <NUM>. The system may optionally be as specified in any one of claims <NUM> to <NUM>.

In the described embodiments, a plasma chamber is provided with an edge ring and a support ring. In one embodiment, the edge ring is coupled to the support ring that is disposed below the edge ring. The edge ring is, for example, coupled to the supporting ring by a plurality of screws that attach to an underside of the edge ring. To secure the support ring, a plurality of pull-down structures coupled to an underside of the support ring, which pull down to maintain the edge ring secured during processing. If the edge ring is not properly secured during processing, adhesives used to secure the edge ring are not enough. One reason that adhesives alone are not enough is that an adhesive force provided by an adhesive gel formed between the support ring and the edge ring is reduced due to high temperature cycles within the plasma chamber. Additionally, there is a constant force being applied to the gel and so the gel can disintegrate over time. Thus, it is desired that the edge ring and the support ring remain in place during processing of the substrate even when the adhesive force provided by the gel is reduced and/or the gel disintegrates. By way of example, it is desirable that the edge ring be fixed with respect to the support ring during the processing of the substrate. Otherwise, any displacement of the edge ring during processing of the substrate may result in an undesirable process being performed on the substrate or certain portions of the substrate that are not desired to be processed are processed. In one embodiment, a bottom surface of the edge ring has slots, e.g., screw holes, for receiving multiple fasteners to connect the edge ring to the support ring during processing of the substrate. This assists in preventing the edge ring from moving with respect to the support ring.

In one embodiment, it is desired that the edge ring have one or more curved edges to reduce chances of arcing when plasma is formed within the plasma chamber.

In another embodiment, it is desired that a cover ring is provided to surround the edge ring. The cover ring is further configured to have one or more edges that are curved to reduce chances of arcing when plasma is formed within the plasma chamber. Also, a width of the cover ring is selected such that a tracking distance along the width facilitates achievement of a stand-off voltage at a vertically oriented inner surface of the cover ring. For example, if radio frequency (RF) voltage dissipated within the cover ring ranges from and including about <NUM> volts (V) to <NUM> volts per <NUM> hundredths of a mm (thousandth of an inch) of the cover ring, to achieve a pre-determined <NUM> volts (V) stand-off voltage at the vertically oriented inner surface of the cover ring, the width of the cover ring corresponds to the tracking distance. The tracking distance is a ratio of a multiple, such as two or three, of the stand-off voltage and the voltage dissipation within per unit length, such as the <NUM> hundredths of a mm (thousandth of an inch), of the cover ring. In some embodiments, the width of the cover ring is the tracking distance that is provided by the ratio. In another embodiment, the surface length between the edge ring and ground, e.g., along a number of stepped surfaces defines the tracking distance.

In one embodiment, it is desirable that the support ring and the edge ring be fixed with respect to an insulator ring, which is situated under the support ring. Otherwise, any movement of the support ring with respect to the insulator ring moves the edge ring on top of the support ring. The movement of the edge ring is undesirable during processing of the substrate. Any displacement of the support ring during processing of the substrate may result in an undesirable process being performed on the substrate or certain portions of the substrate that are not desired to be processed are processed. Also, it is desirable that the support ring and the edge ring be removed easily for maintenance or replacement of the support ring or the edge ring or both the edge ring and the support ring.

In some embodiments, an edge ring for use in a plasma processing chamber is described. The edge ring has an annular body that surrounds a substrate support of the plasma processing chamber. The annular body has a bottom side, a top side, an inner side, and an outer side. The edge ring has a plurality of fastener holes disposed into the annular body along the bottom side. Each fastener hole has a threaded inner surface for receiving a fastener used for attaching the annular body to a support ring. The edge ring further includes a step disposed at the inner side of the annular body. The step has a lower surface separated from an upper surface of the top side by an angled surface. The edge ring has a curved edge formed between the upper surface of the top side and a side surface of the outer side.

In several embodiments, a cover ring for use in a plasma processing chamber is described. The cover ring has an annular body that surrounds an edge ring and is adjacent to a ground ring. The annular body has an upper body portion, a middle body portion, and a lower body portion. The middle body portion defines a step reduction from the upper body portion such that the middle body portion has a first annular width. The lower body portion defines a step reduction from the middle body portion such that the lower body portion has a second annular width that is smaller than the first annular width.

In various embodiments, a system for securing an edge ring of a plasma chamber is described. The system includes a support ring over which the edge ring is oriented. The system further includes a gel layer disposed between a bottom surface of the edge ring and a top surface of the support ring. The system also includes a plurality of screws configured to secure the edge ring to the support ring. Each of the plurality of screws is attached to screw holes disposed in the bottom surface of the edge ring and passing through the support ring. The system also includes a plurality of hold down rods connected to a bottom surface of the support ring. The system includes a plurality of pneumatic pistons. Each of the plurality of pistons is coupled to respective ones of the plurality of hold down rods.

Some advantages of the herein described systems and methods include providing the edge ring having the one or more curved edges, which are not sharp. A sharp edge, such as an edge having a <NUM>° angle, usually is responsible for arcing of RF power when plasma is formed within the plasma chamber. The one or more curved edges reduce chances of such arcing.

Further advantages of the systems and methods include providing the edge ring with one or more slots, such as screw holes, for receiving fasteners, such as screws, for coupling the edge ring to the support ring. The coupling of the edge ring with the support ring fixates the edge ring with respect to the support ring even when an adhesion force provided by the gel between the edge ring and the support ring is reduced or the gel wears off or the gel is disintegrated due to a force applied on the gel during the processing of the substrate. Moreover, the support ring is fixated with respect to the insulator ring via one or more hold down rods. Accordingly, the edge ring is fixed with respect to the insulator ring via the support ring and therefore, the edge ring cannot be displaced during the processing of the substrate. Such lack of displacement reduces chances of, such as avoids, any undesirable process being performed on the substrate or reduces chances of undesirable areas of the substrate from being processed.

Additional advantages of the systems and methods include providing one or more mechanisms, such as one or more pneumatic mechanisms, for pulling down or pushing up on the support ring via the one or more hold down rods. The pull down is performed during the processing of the substrate to reduce chances of the support ring from being displaced with respect to the insulator ring. As such, due to the pull down, and the edge ring and the support ring remain fixed within the plasma chamber during multiple processing operations, such as from processing operation to another, until being replaced or removed from the plasma chamber for maintenance. The push up is performed to remove the edge ring or the support ring for replacement or maintenance, such as cleaning.

Further advantages of the herein described systems and methods include providing the cover ring with the one or more curved edges to reduce chances of arcing when plasma is formed within the plasma chamber. Moreover, the cover ring has the annular width to achieve the stand-off voltage at the vertically oriented inner surface of the cover ring as described above.

Other aspects will become apparent from the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

The embodiments may best be understood by reference to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

The following embodiments describe systems and methods for securing an edge ring within a plasma chamber. It will be apparent that the present embodiments may be practiced without some or all of these specific details. In other instances, well known process operations have not been described in detail in order not to unnecessarily obscure the present embodiments.

<FIG> is a diagram of an embodiment of a system <NUM> to illustrate a manner of securing an edge ring <NUM> to a support ring <NUM>, which is sometimes referred to herein as a tunable edge sheath (TES) ring. The system <NUM> includes the edge ring <NUM>, a ground ring <NUM>, a base ring <NUM>, an insulator ring <NUM>, a cover ring <NUM>, and a chuck <NUM>. The edge ring <NUM> is made of a conductive material, such as silicon, boron doped single crystalline silicon, alumina, silicon carbide, or silicon carbide layer on top of alumina layer, or an alloy of silicon, or a combination thereof. It should be noted that the edge ring <NUM> has an annular body, such as a circular body, or ring-shaped body, or dish-shaped body. Moreover, the support ring <NUM> is made from a dielectric material, such as quartz, or ceramic, or alumina (Al<NUM>O<NUM>), or a polymer. As an example, the support ring <NUM> has an inner diameter of about <NUM> (<NUM> inches), an outer diameter of about <NUM> (<NUM> inches), and a thickness, along a y-axis of about <NUM> (<NUM> inch). To illustrate, the support ring <NUM> has the inner diameter ranging from and including about <NUM> (<NUM> inches) to about <NUM> (<NUM> inches), the outer diameter from and including about <NUM> (<NUM> inches) to about <NUM> (<NUM> inches), and the thickness from and including about <NUM> (. <NUM> inch) to about <NUM> (. <NUM> inch). This is just an example dimension for the plasma chamber used for processing a <NUM> millimeter wafer.

Furthermore, the insulator ring <NUM> is made from an insulator material, such as the dielectric material, and the base ring <NUM> is also fabricated from the dielectric material. The ground ring <NUM> is made from the conductive material. The ground ring <NUM> is coupled to a ground potential. An example of the chuck <NUM> includes an electrostatic chuck. Each ring, such as the edge ring <NUM>, the support ring <NUM>, the ground ring <NUM>, the base ring <NUM>, and the insulator ring <NUM> has an annular shape, such as a shape of a ring or a shape of a disk. The cover ring <NUM> is made from a dielectric material, such as fused silica - quartz, or a ceramic material, such as, aluminum oxide (Al<NUM>O<NUM>) or Yttrium oxide (Y<NUM>O<NUM>). The cover ring <NUM> has an annular body, such as that of a disk-shape or a ring-shape.

A bottom surface of the edge ring <NUM> has a portion P1 that is coupled to the upper surface of the support ring <NUM> via a thermally conductive gel layer 110A to thermally sink the support ring <NUM> to the edge ring <NUM>. Examples of a thermally conductive gel, as used herein, include polyimide, polyketone, polyetherketone, polyether sulfone, polyethylene terephthalate, fluoroethylene propylene copolymers, cellulose, triacetates and silicone. Moreover, the bottom surface of the edge ring <NUM> has another portion P2 that is coupled to an upper surface of the chuck <NUM> via a thermally conductive gel layer 110B. In addition, the bottom surface of the edge ring <NUM> has yet another portion P3 that is located above and adjacent to the base ring <NUM>.

The edge ring <NUM> is located above the base ring <NUM>, the support ring <NUM>, and the chuck <NUM>. The bottom surface of the edge ring <NUM> faces the base ring <NUM>, the support ring <NUM>, and a portion of the chuck <NUM>. The edge ring <NUM> also surrounds a portion, such as a top portion PRTN1, of the chuck <NUM>. The support ring <NUM> surrounds a portion of the chuck <NUM> and the insulator ring <NUM> surrounds another portion of the chuck <NUM>. The base ring <NUM> surrounds the support ring <NUM> and a portion of the insulator ring <NUM>. The cover ring <NUM> surrounds the edge ring <NUM> and the base ring <NUM>. The ground ring <NUM> surrounds a portion of the cover ring <NUM> and the base ring <NUM>. A portion of the cover ring <NUM> is located above the ground ring <NUM> and the cover ring <NUM> is located adjacent to a side portion of the ground ring <NUM>.

The edge ring <NUM> has multiple edges, such as an edge <NUM>, and edge <NUM>, and edge <NUM>, and edge <NUM>, an edge <NUM>, and an edge <NUM>. Each edge <NUM> through <NUM> is curved, such as arced. To illustrate, each edge <NUM> through <NUM> lacks sharpness, has a radius, and has a smooth curve. It should be noted that in various embodiments, the radius of each of the edges <NUM> through <NUM> is greater than a range from and including about <NUM> (<NUM> inch) to about <NUM> (<NUM> inch). The radius of the edge from and including about <NUM> (<NUM> inch) to about <NUM> (<NUM> inch) reduces chances of chipping of the edge during fabrication of a semiconductor wafer. The chipping creates particles during processing of the semiconductor wafer.

In one embodiment, the edge ring <NUM> has a plurality of edges. The edges that define the edge ring <NUM>, in one embodiment, are rounded. By way of example, edge <NUM> of the edge ring <NUM> is rounded to a radius that is about <NUM> (. <NUM> inch) or greater, and preferably greater than <NUM> (. <NUM> inch). To illustrate, the edge <NUM> is rounded to have a radius ranging from and including about <NUM> (<NUM> inch) to about <NUM> (<NUM> inch). As another illustration, the edge <NUM> is rounded to have a radius ranging from and including about <NUM> (<NUM> inch) to about <NUM> (<NUM> inch). Edge <NUM> of the edge ring <NUM> is particularly susceptible to arcing, due to its proximity to ground ring <NUM>. Due to the increased power levels being used in plasma processing operations, a high electric field will be generated between edge ring <NUM> and ground ring <NUM>. The rounding of the edge <NUM> reduces chances of such arcing. It has been determined that less rounding of these edges may not suffice to prevent or reduce chances of arcing of RF power when the plasma chamber is in operation. The reduction of chances of arcing, influenced by sharper edges of features within the plasma chamber, may be detrimental to a fabrication process being performed over and on semiconductor wafers. Slight rounding of the edges, e.g. edge <NUM> ranging from and including about <NUM> (. <NUM> inch) to about <NUM> (. <NUM> inch), assists in reducing a possibility of particle generation during fabrication of semiconductor wafers, or chipping of the edges during the fabrication. Thus, although some rounding was performed on surfaces of features, e.g. edge <NUM>, disposed within the plasma chamber, this rounding is less than that for preventing or reducing arcing in light of the increased power levels being used in plasma processing operations.

The curved edges <NUM> through <NUM> reduce chances of chipping or arcing when plasma is formed within a plasma chamber in which the system <NUM> is situated. It should be noted that the edge <NUM> is rounded less compared to the edge <NUM> to reduce chances of plasma ions of the plasma from entering in a gap between the edge <NUM> and the chuck <NUM>. For example, a radius of the edge <NUM> is lower than a radius of the edge <NUM>. As an example, the edge ring <NUM> has an outer diameter, along an x-axis, that ranges from and including about <NUM> (<NUM> inches) to about <NUM> (<NUM> inches). As another example, the edge ring <NUM> has an outer diameter that ranges from and including about <NUM> (<NUM> inches) to about <NUM> (<NUM> inches). As yet another example, the edge ring <NUM> has a thickness, measured along the y-axis, of about <NUM> (. <NUM> inch). To illustrate, the thickness of the edge ring <NUM> ranges from and including about <NUM> (. <NUM> inch) to about <NUM> (. <NUM> inch). The x-axis is perpendicular to the y-axis. As the outer diameter of the edge ring <NUM> gets larger, a distance between an outer side surface contiguous with the edge <NUM> of the edge ring <NUM> and the cover ring <NUM> is reduced. The reduction in the distance reduces chances of arcing of RF power between the edge ring <NUM> and the cover ring <NUM> when plasma is formed within the plasma chamber.

The edge ring <NUM> includes multiple slots, such as a slot <NUM>, formed within the bottom surface of the edge ring <NUM>. An example of a slot within an edge ring is a screw hole. Each slot surrounds a fastener hole, such as a fastener hole 124A. The fastener holes do not extend fully along a length, along the y-axis, of the edge ring <NUM> to form through holes within the edge ring <NUM>. The multiple fastener holes are formed within the bottom surface of the edge ring <NUM>. An example of a fastener hole is a screw hole having spiral threads for receiving a screw. The slot <NUM> has a top surface TS and a side surface SS. The top surface TS and the side surface SS are surfaces formed by drilling into the bottom surface of the edge ring <NUM>. The side surface SS is substantially perpendicular to the top surface TS. For example, side surface SS is angled, such as forms an angle ranging between <NUM> degrees and <NUM> degrees, with respect to the top surface TS. As another example, the side surface SS is perpendicular to the top surface TS. The top surface TS partially encloses the fastener hole 124A and the side surface SS partially encloses the fastener hole 124A.

Moreover, a through hole 132A is formed within the support ring <NUM> for receiving a fastener <NUM>, such as a screw or a bolt or a pin. Similarly, additional through holes, such as the through hole 132A, are formed within the support ring <NUM> at other locations within the support ring <NUM> to receive multiple fasteners, such as the fastener <NUM>, for coupling the support ring <NUM> to an edge ring, described herein. For example, three through holes are formed within the support ring <NUM> at vertices of an equilateral triangle in a horizontal plane, which is along the x-axis. As another example, six or nine through holes are formed within the support ring <NUM> and a distance between a set of adj acent ones of the through holes is substantially equal to, such as equal to or within a predetermined limit from, a distance between another set of adjacent ones of the through holes. It should be noted that the set of adjacent ones of the through holes have at least one through hole that is not the same as at least one of the adjacent ones of the through holes of the other set.

The fastener <NUM> is made from a metal, such as steel, aluminum, an alloy of steel, or an alloy of aluminum. The through hole 132A is formed to conform to a shape of the fastener <NUM>. For example, the fastener <NUM> has a head that has a larger diameter than the body of the fastener <NUM>. A lower portion of the through hole 132A is fabricated to have a diameter that is slightly larger, such as by a fraction of a millimeter (mm), compared to the head of the fastener <NUM>. Moreover, an upper portion of the through hole 132A is fabricated to have a diameter that is slightly larger, such as by a fraction of a millimeter, compared to the body of the fastener <NUM>. In addition, a diameter of the through hole 124A is fabricated to be slightly larger, such as by a fraction of a millimeter, compared to a threaded portion of the fastener <NUM>. Moreover, a space is formed, along the y-axis, between the top surface TS of the slot <NUM> and a tip of the fastener <NUM>. An example of the space is a gap <NUM> that ranges from and including about <NUM> to about <NUM>. Another example of the gap <NUM> is a space ranging from and including about <NUM> to about. Yet another example of the gap <NUM> is a space ranging from and including about <NUM> to about. The space of the gap <NUM> is in a vertical direction along the y-axis. The space between the top surface TS of the slot <NUM> and the threaded portion of the fastener <NUM> ranges from and including about <NUM> to about <NUM> to reduce chances of arcing of RF power within the space. If the arcing occurs, the fastener <NUM> may melt due to heat created as a result of the arcing.

The fastener <NUM> is inserted within the through hole 132A so that the head and the body of the fastener <NUM> is located within the support ring <NUM> and the threaded portion of the fastener <NUM> is inserted into the fastener hole 124A formed within the edge ring <NUM>. A space, such as a gap <NUM>, formed between a side surface of the fastener <NUM> and an inner side surface of the support ring <NUM> ranges from and including about <NUM> to about <NUM>.

The support ring <NUM> has embedded in it an electrode EL for receiving radio frequency (RF) power of an RF signal received from an auxiliary RF generator via an auxiliary match, such as an impedance matching circuit.

In some embodiments, the support ring <NUM> is a coupling ring.

In various embodiments, the fastener <NUM> is made from plastic.

In some embodiments, instead of a conductive gel layer, a two-sided conductive tape, which has a conductive gel on both of its sides, is used. In various embodiments, instead of a conductive gel layer, a caulking bead having a conductive gel is used.

In some embodiments, instead of a fastener hole having multiple threads, the fastener hole within a bottom surface of an edge ring, described herein, is fitted with an insert, such as a metal casing. To illustrate, the metal casing is screwed to a slot formed within a bottom surface of the edge ring. The insert has threads within an inner surface of the insert. A fastener is then screwed to the threads of the insert instead of being screwed to the fastener hole having the threads.

<FIG> is a diagram of an embodiment of a system <NUM> to illustrate coupling of a power pin <NUM> to the support ring <NUM>. The system <NUM> includes an edge ring <NUM>, a cover ring <NUM>, the ground ring <NUM>, the insulator ring <NUM>, a base ring <NUM>, a facilities plate <NUM>, the chuck <NUM>, the support ring <NUM>, a bowl <NUM>, and an insulator wall <NUM>. The insulator wall <NUM> is a wall of a bias housing of a plasma chamber, described herein. The insulator ring <NUM> is fixed, such as not moveable, with respect to the insulator wall <NUM>. The ground ring <NUM> is uncoated. The edge ring <NUM> is sometimes referred to herein as a hot edge ring (HER). The edge ring <NUM> is made of the same material as the edge ring <NUM> of <FIG> except the edge ring <NUM> has a different shape than the edge ring <NUM>. As an example, the edge ring <NUM> has an outer diameter, along the x-axis, that ranges from and including about <NUM> (<NUM> inches) to about <NUM> (<NUM> inches). As another example, the edge ring <NUM> has the outer diameter that ranges from and including about <NUM> (<NUM> inches) to about <NUM> (<NUM> inches). As yet another example, the edge ring <NUM> has a thickness, measured along the y-axis, of about <NUM> (. <NUM> inch). To illustrate, the thickness of the edge ring <NUM> ranges from and including about <NUM> (. <NUM> inch) to about <NUM> (. <NUM> inch). Multiple fastener holes, such as the fastener hole 124A of <FIG>, is formed within the edge ring <NUM> to secure the edge ring <NUM> to the support ring <NUM>.

Moreover, the cover ring <NUM> is made of the same material as the cover ring <NUM> of <FIG> except the cover ring <NUM> has a different shape than the cover ring <NUM>. The cover ring <NUM> has an annular body, such as that of a disk-shape or a ring-shape. A portion of the cover ring <NUM> is located above and adjacent to the ground ring <NUM> and another portion of the cover ring <NUM> is located adjacent to and above the base ring <NUM>. Similarly, the base ring <NUM> is made from the same material as the base ring <NUM> of <FIG> except that the base ring <NUM> has a different shape than the base ring <NUM>.

A portion P5 of edge ring <NUM> is coupled to the support ring <NUM> via a gel layer 110C to thermally sink the support ring <NUM> to the edge ring <NUM>. Similarly, another portion P4 of the edge ring <NUM> is coupled to a portion of the chuck <NUM> via the gel layer 110C. The edge ring <NUM> surrounds the top portion PRTN1 of the chuck <NUM>. Also, another portion P6 of the edge ring <NUM> is adjacent to a portion of a top surface of the base ring <NUM>. Moreover, the cover ring <NUM> surrounds the edge ring <NUM>. The support ring <NUM> is located below the edge ring <NUM> and surrounds a portion of the chuck <NUM>. The insulator ring <NUM> is located below the support ring <NUM> and surrounds a bottom portion of the chuck <NUM>. The base ring <NUM> is located below the cover ring <NUM> and surrounds a portion of the insulator ring <NUM>. The ground ring <NUM> surrounds the base ring <NUM> and a portion of the insulator ring <NUM>. The bowl <NUM> is located below the insulator ring <NUM>. The insulator wall <NUM> is located below the ground ring <NUM> and a portion of the insulator ring <NUM>. The insulator wall <NUM> is fabricated from the insulator material.

A power pin feed through <NUM> is inserted via a through hole in the insulator ring <NUM> and a hole formed in the support ring <NUM>. The power pin feed through <NUM> is a sleeve, made from an insulator, such as plastic or ceramic, to protect the power pin <NUM>. Within the power pin feed through <NUM> lies the power pin <NUM>. The power pin <NUM> is a conductive rod made from a metal, such as aluminum or steel, for conduction of RF power to the support ring <NUM> or to the electrode EL within the support ring <NUM>. A tip of the power pin <NUM> is in contact with the electrode EL to provide RF power to the electrode EL. A middle portion of the power pin feed through <NUM> is encased within a mount 216A, which is fabricated from the insulator material.

An O-ring <NUM> is located above the mount 216A and adjacent to the mount 216A to seal the mount 216A against the power pin feed through <NUM>. The O-ring <NUM> surrounds the bottom portion of the power pin feed through <NUM>. An example of an O-ring, described herein, is a ring made of a metal, such as aluminum or steel. Moreover, another O-ring <NUM> is situated at a top portion of the power pin feed through <NUM> to prevent air between the power pin <NUM> and the power pin feed through <NUM> from entering plasma within a plasma chamber in which the system <NUM> is included. There is no vacuum between the power pin <NUM> and the power pin feed through <NUM>. The O-ring <NUM> surrounds the top portion of the power pin feed through <NUM>.

It should be noted that in some embodiments, there are multiple power pins used. For example, two power pins can be used with power pin feed throughs, O-rings that surround the respective bottom portions of the power pin feed throughs, and O-rings that surround the respective top portions of the power pin feed throughs are used to provide power to the electrode EL at multiple locations.

A stand-off RF voltage is created from the RF power of the RF signal that is received from the auxiliary RF generator via the auxiliary match. The stand-off RF voltage has a trackable distance <NUM> from a vertically oriented inner surface <NUM> of the cover ring <NUM> to the ground ring <NUM>. The stand-off RF voltage is created via the trackable distance <NUM> from the vertically oriented inner surface <NUM> to the ground ring <NUM>. It should be noted that in some embodiments, an annular width of the cover ring <NUM> is selected so that the trackable distance <NUM> between the edge ring <NUM> and the ground ring <NUM> is sufficient to lose less than a pre-determined amount of the RF voltage from the edge ring <NUM> to the ground ring <NUM>. For example, if a pre-determined amount of stand-off voltage at the vertically oriented inner surface <NUM> of the cover ring <NUM> to be achieved is <NUM> volts (V) and between <NUM> and <NUM> volts are dissipated per <NUM> hundredths of a mm (thousandth of an inch) of the cover ring <NUM>, the annular width of the cover ring <NUM> is selected such that the trackable distance <NUM> or the annular width is a ratio of a multiple, such as two or three, of <NUM> volts and <NUM> volts. To illustrate, the ratio is (<NUM> X <NUM>)/ <NUM> volts. The trackable distance <NUM> is in an x-y plane of the cross-section of the cover ring <NUM>. The x-y plane is formed by the x-axis and the y-axis and is located between the x-axis and y-axis.

In some embodiments, multiple power pin feed throughs are coupled to the support ring <NUM> to provide RF power. Each power pin feed through has a power pin.

In some embodiments, the ground ring <NUM> is coated with a conductive material, such as alumina, to increase conductivity of the ground ring <NUM>.

In various embodiments, the gel layer 110C is placed at multiple locations along the lower surface of the edge ring <NUM> and along the upper surface of the support ring <NUM> and the chuck <NUM> to provide electrical and thermal conductivity between the edge ring <NUM> and the support ring <NUM> and between the edge ring <NUM> and the chuck <NUM>.

<FIG> is a diagram of an embodiment of a system <NUM>. Each hold down rod 302A and 302B is inserted via a respective slot in a bottom surface <NUM> of the support ring <NUM>. For example, the hold down rod 302A is inserted into a first slot at the location L1 in the bottom surface <NUM> to secure the support ring <NUM> to the insulator ring <NUM> at the location L1. Similarly, the hold down rod 302B is inserted into a second slot at the location L2 in the bottom surface <NUM> to secure the support ring <NUM> to the insulator ring <NUM> at the location L2. As another example, each hold down rod 302A- and 302B has a thread at its top portion and the thread mates with a thread of the respective slot formed within the bottom surface <NUM>. As yet another example, each hold down rod 302A- and 302B has a spring based retractable and extendable mechanism that retracts before insertion into the respective slot within the bottom surface <NUM> and extends after the insertion.

It should be noted that a size of each through hole formed along a length measured along the y-axis of the support ring <NUM> varies with an outer diameter (OD) and an inner diameter (ID) of the support ring <NUM>. The inner diameter of the support ring <NUM> varies with a diameter of the chuck <NUM> of <FIG> and <FIG>.

In various embodiments, any number of hold down rods, such as two or more than two, are used to couple to the support ring <NUM>.

<FIG> is an isometric view to illustrate a coupling of the hold down rod 302A with the bottom surface <NUM> of the support ring <NUM>. Formed within the bottom surface is a slot <NUM> that extends partially along the length of the support ring <NUM>. The length of the support ring <NUM> is along the y-axis. The slot <NUM> is fitted with a receptor <NUM>, which is made from a metal, such as aluminum or steel or titanium or an alloy of aluminum or an alloy of steel or an alloy of titanium. For example, the receptor <NUM> is attached via an attachment mechanism, such as threads, to a surface of the slot <NUM>. To further illustrate, the slot <NUM> has threads to which threads of the receptor <NUM> are fitted. A tip of the hold down rod 302A is inserted into the receptor <NUM> to fit to the receptor <NUM> to connect the hold down rod 302A to the support ring <NUM>.

<FIG> is a side view of an embodiment of a system <NUM> for securing an edge ring <NUM> and the support ring <NUM> to the insulator ring <NUM>. Examples of the edge ring <NUM> include the edge ring <NUM> of <FIG> and the edge ring <NUM> of <FIG>. The system <NUM> includes the clasp mechanism 920A, the insulator ring <NUM>, the support ring <NUM>, and the edge ring <NUM>. The clasp mechanism 920A includes an air cylinder <NUM>, a pneumatic piston <NUM>, a threaded adapter <NUM>, a push connector <NUM>, and the mount 604A for mounting the hold down rod 302A to the insulator wall <NUM>. The mount 604A is mounted to the insulator wall <NUM> via multiple shoulder screws <NUM>. The clasp mechanism 920A is coupled to multiple air fittings <NUM>, which include an air fitting 914A and an air fitting 914B at a side of the clasp mechanism 920A. A clasp mechanism, described herein, is made from a metal, such as steel, aluminum, an alloy of steel, or an alloy of aluminum, etc. Moreover, the air fittings <NUM> are also made from a metal, such as steel, aluminum, an alloy of steel, or an alloy of aluminum, etc..

The piston <NUM> has a piston body <NUM> and a piston rod <NUM>. Within the air cylinder <NUM> is the piston body <NUM>. The piston body <NUM> has a greater diameter than the piston rod <NUM>. The piston body <NUM> is integrated with or attached to the piston rod <NUM>. The mount 604A is attached to the air cylinder <NUM> via multiple screws <NUM> at a top surface of the air cylinder <NUM>. That threaded adapter <NUM> is inserted into a center opening <NUM> of the mount 604A. That threaded adapter <NUM> is fitted into a slot formed within a top surface of the piston rod <NUM>. Moreover, the threaded adapter <NUM> has a slot for fitting the push connector <NUM> within the slot. The push connector <NUM> is fitted with the hold down rod 302A that is inserted via the center opening <NUM> of the mount 604A. The push connector <NUM> is attached to, such as screwed to, a bottom portion of the hold down rod 302A.

Similarly, the other hold down rod 302B (<FIG>) is coupled to another pneumatic mechanisms of clasp mechanism 920B, which are described below. For example, the clasp mechanism 920B includes a piston, such as the piston <NUM>, that is coupled to the hold down rod 302B to move up and down the hold down rod 302B in the vertical direction along the y-axis. The hold down rod 302A has threads <NUM> at its tip for mating with corresponding threads <NUM> of a slot <NUM> formed within the bottom surface <NUM> of the support ring <NUM>. A top portion PR1 of the hold down rod 302A extends into a slot within the support ring <NUM> via the bottom surface of the support ring <NUM> and a middle portion PR2 of the hold down rod 302A extends via a through hole in the insulator ring <NUM>. Similarly, a top portion of the hold down rod 302B extends into a slot within the bottom surface of the support ring <NUM> and a middle portion of the hold down rod 302B extends into a through hole within the insulator ring <NUM>.

The support ring <NUM> is physically connected to the edge ring <NUM> via one or more fasteners, as described above. When air is supplied to a lower portion of the air cylinder <NUM> via the air fitting 914B, pressure is created by the air under a lower surface of the piston body <NUM>. Due to the pressure created under the lower surface of the piston body <NUM>, the piston <NUM> moves in a vertically upward direction, along the y-axis, to push up the hold down rod 302A. When the hold down rod 302A is pushed up, the support ring <NUM> is raised up in the vertically upward direction with respect to the insulator ring <NUM>. Simultaneous with the support ring <NUM>, the edge ring <NUM> is also raised in the vertically upward direction away from the insulator ring <NUM>. The support ring <NUM> and the edge ring <NUM> are pushed up away from the insulator ring <NUM> in the vertically upward direction for removing the support ring <NUM> and the edge ring <NUM> from the plasma chamber <NUM>. The support ring <NUM> and the edge ring <NUM> are removed for replacement or maintenance of the support ring <NUM>, or the edge ring <NUM>, or a combination thereof.

On the other hand, when air is supplied to an upper portion of the air cylinder <NUM>, via the air fitting 914A, pressure is created by the air above an upper surface of the piston body <NUM>. Due to the pressure created above the upper surface of the piston body <NUM>, the piston <NUM> moves in a vertically downward direction, along the y-axis, to pull down the hold down rod 302A. When the hold down rod 302A is pulled down, the support ring <NUM> is pulled down in the vertically downward direction with respect to the insulator ring <NUM>. Simultaneous with the support ring <NUM>, the edge ring <NUM> is also pulled down in the vertically downward direction towards the insulator ring <NUM>. The support ring <NUM> and the edge ring <NUM> are pulled down towards the insulator ring <NUM> for and during processing of a substrate placed over the chuck <NUM>.

<FIG> is an isometric view of an embodiment of the clasp mechanism 920A. Shown in <FIG> is one of the screws <NUM> and the mount 604A.

<FIG> is a diagram of an embodiment of a system <NUM> for illustrating a synchronous pull down of the multiple hold down rods 302A and 302B (<FIG>). The system <NUM> includes an air routing 1102A, the clasp mechanism 920A, the clasp mechanism 920B, and the clasp mechanism 920C. The clasp mechanisms 920B and 920C have the same structure and function as the clasp mechanism 920A. As an example, each clasp mechanism 920A through 920C is has a double-acting cylinder. The clasp mechanism 920B is connected to the hold down rod 320B via the mount 604B of <FIG> and the clasp mechanism 920C is connected to the hold down rod 320C via the mount 604C of <FIG>.

An air routing, as described herein has multiple tubes, each of which made from the insulator material, such as a combination of plastic and plasticizer, or plastic. The air routing is flexible to be able to connect to the upper portions or the lower portions of the clasp mechanisms 920A-920C.

The air routing 1102A includes multiple tubes 1106A, 1106B, 1106C, 1106D, and 1106E. The tubes 1106A and 1106D are connected to the tube 1106B via connector C1 and the tubes 1106B and 1106E are connected to the tube 1106C via a connector C2. Each connector, described herein, that connects multiple tubes has a hollow space for allowing passage of air via the hollow space. As an example, each connector that connects multiple tubes is made from the insulator material.

The tube 1106D is connected via the air fitting 914A (<FIG>) to an upper portion 1104A of the clasp mechanism 920A. Similarly, the tube 1106E is connected via an air fitting, such as the air fitting 914A, to an upper portion 1104C of the clasp mechanism 920B and the tube 1106C is connected via an air fitting, such as the air fitting 914A, to an upper portion 1104E of the clasp mechanism 920C.

Air is supplied via the tube 1106A, the connector C1, and the tube 1106D to the upper portion 1104A of the clasp mechanism 920A. Similarly, air is supplied via the tube 1106A, the connector C1, the tube 1106B, the connector C2, and the tube 1106E to the upper portion 1104C of the clasp mechanism 920B. Moreover, air is supplied via the tube 1106A, the connector C1, the tube 1106B, the connector C2, and the tube 1106C to the upper portion 1104E of the clasp mechanism 920C. When air is supplied to the upper portions 1104A, 1104C, and 1104E, pistons of the clasp mechanism 920A-920C are pulled down synchronously, such as simultaneously, along the y-axis, to move the support ring <NUM> (<FIG>) and the edge ring <NUM> (<FIG>) towards the insulator ring <NUM> (<FIG>).

There are multiple barrel seals around the power pin <NUM>, the hold down rods 302A and 302B, and a temp probe shaft <NUM>, described below. These barrel seals exert a force in a vertically upward direction, along the y-axis, on the support ring <NUM>. The clasp mechanisms 920A-920C overcome the up in the vertically upward direction to prevent the support ring <NUM> from lifting up in the vertical direction with respect to the chuck <NUM>. Moreover, the clasp mechanisms 920A-920C apply a clamp force to the gel layers 110B and 110C (<FIG> and <FIG>) between the edge ring <NUM> and the chuck <NUM>. The double-acting cylinder applies a constant force on the support ring <NUM> in the vertically upward direction or in the vertically downward direction independent of temperature of the support ring <NUM>.

<FIG> is a diagram of an embodiment of a system <NUM> for illustrating asynchronous push up of the multiple hold down rods 302A and 302B (<FIG>). The system <NUM> includes an air routing 1102B, the clasp mechanism 920A, the clasp mechanism 920B, and the clasp mechanism 920C.

The air routing 1102B includes multiple tubes 1106F, <NUM>, <NUM>, 1106I, 1106J, and <NUM>. The tubes 1106F and 1106I are connected to the tube <NUM> via connector C3 and the tubes <NUM> and 1106J are connected to the tube <NUM> via a connector C4. The tube 1106I is connected via the air fitting 914B (<FIG>) to a lower portion 1104B of the clasp mechanism 920A. Similarly, the tube 1106J is connected via an air fitting, such as the air fitting 914B, to a lower portion 1104D of the clasp mechanism 920B and the tube <NUM> is connected via an air fitting, such as the air fitting 914B, to a lower portion 1104F of the clasp mechanism 920C.

Air is supplied via the tube 1106F, the connector C3, and the tube 1106I to the lower portion 1104B of the clasp mechanism 920A. Similarly, air is supplied via the tube 1106F, the connector C3, the tube <NUM>, the connector C4, and the tube 1106J to the lower portion 1104D of the clasp mechanism 920B. Moreover, air is supplied via the tube 1106F, the connector C3, the tube <NUM>, the connector C4, and the tube <NUM> to the lower portion 1104F of the clasp mechanism 920C. When air is supplied to the lower portions 1104B, 1104D, and 1104F, pistons of the clasp mechanism 920A-920C are pushed up synchronously, such as simultaneously, along the y-axis, to move the support ring <NUM> (<FIG>) and the edge ring <NUM> (<FIG>) away from the insulator ring <NUM> (<FIG>).

<FIG> is a block diagram of an embodiment of a system <NUM> to illustrate a supply of air to the clasp mechanisms 920A through 920C. The system <NUM> includes multiple air compressors 1202A and 1202B, multiple air pressure regulators 1204A and 1204B, multiple orifices 1206A and 1206B, the air routings 1102A and 1102B, and the clasp mechanisms 920A through 920C. The air compressor 1202A is coupled via the regulator 1204A and the orifice 1206A and the air routing 1102A to the upper portions of the clasp mechanisms 920A through 920C. Similarly, the air compressor 1202B is coupled via the regulator 1204B and the orifice 1206B and the air routing 1102B to the lower portions of the clasp mechanisms 920A through 920C.

The air compressor 1202A compresses air to generate compressed air. The compressed air is supplied to the air pressure regulator 1204A. The air pressure regulator 1204A controls, such as changes in pressure of the compressed air to a predetermined air pressure, and supplies the compressed air having the predetermined air pressure via the orifice 1206A and the air routing 1102A to the upper portions of the clasp mechanisms 920A. An example of a predetermined air pressure, described herein, is an air pressure of <NUM> kPa (<NUM> pounds per square inch (psi)). Other examples of a predetermined air pressure, as described herein, is an air pressure ranging between <NUM> kPa (<NUM> psi) and <NUM> kPa (<NUM> psi).

Similarly, the air compressor 1202B compresses air to generate compressed air. The compressed air is supplied to the air pressure regulator 1204B. The air pressure regulator 1204B controls, such as changes in pressure of the compressed air to the predetermined air pressure, and supplies the compressed air having the predetermined air pressure via the orifice 1206B and the air routing 1102B to the lower portions of the clasp mechanisms 920B.

<FIG> is an isometric view of an embodiment of the edge ring <NUM>. The edge ring <NUM> has a top surface <NUM>. <FIG> illustrates a see-through view of multiple fastener holes 124A, 124B, and 124C formed within a bottom surface <NUM> of the edge ring <NUM>.

In some embodiments, any other number of fastener holes, such as six or nine fastener holes, are formed within the bottom surface <NUM> for fitting the same number of fasteners within the respective holes. For example, a distance between two adjacent holes of a set formed within the bottom surface <NUM> of the edge ring <NUM> is the same as a distance between two adjacent holes of another set formed within the bottom surface <NUM> of the edge ring <NUM>. To illustrate, any one of two adjacent holes of the set is the same as or not the same as one of two adjacent holes of the other set.

<FIG> is a top view an embodiment of the edge ring <NUM>. The edge ring <NUM> has an inner diameter ID1 and an outer diameter OD1. The outer diameter OD1 ranges from and including about <NUM> (<NUM> inches) to about <NUM> (<NUM> inches). As another example, the diameter OD1 ranges from and including about <NUM>. <NUM> (<NUM> inches) to about <NUM> (<NUM> inches). As yet another example, the diameter OD1 ranges from and including about <NUM> (<NUM> inches) to about <NUM> (<NUM> inches). When the outer diameter OD1 exceeds <NUM> (<NUM> inches), such as is greater than <NUM> (<NUM> inches) or close to <NUM> (<NUM> inches), chances of arcing of RF power between the edge ring <NUM> and the cover ring <NUM> are reduced. The inner diameter ID1 is a diameter of an inner peripheral edge of the edge ring <NUM> and the outer diameter OD1 is a diameter of an outer peripheral edge of the edge ring <NUM>. The top surface <NUM> is visible in the top view of the edge ring <NUM>.

<FIG> is a cross-sectional view of the edge ring <NUM> along an A-A cross-section illustrated in <FIG>. The edge ring <NUM> has the top surface <NUM>, sometimes referred to herein as a top side, and the bottom surface <NUM>, which is sometimes referred to herein as a bottom side. Each of the top surface <NUM> and the bottom surface <NUM> is a horizontally oriented surface. The edge ring <NUM> further has an inner surface <NUM>, sometimes referred to herein as an inner side, and an outer surface <NUM>, which is sometimes referred to herein as an outer side. The outer surface <NUM> is a vertically oriented surface. It should be noted that the edge ring <NUM> has an annular body, such as a circular body, or ring-shaped body, or dish-shaped body.

The edge ring <NUM> has a step <NUM> that includes an angled inner surface <NUM> and a horizontally oriented inner surface <NUM>. The angled inner surface <NUM> forms an angle A2, which is about <NUM>° or about <NUM>°, with respect to a vertically oriented inner surface <NUM>. In one embodiment, the angle A2 ranges between about <NUM>° and about <NUM>°. In another embodiment, the angle A2 ranges between about <NUM>° and about <NUM>°. In yet another embodiment, the angle A2 ranges between about <NUM>° and about <NUM>°. The angled inner surface <NUM> is contiguous with the top surface <NUM>. For example, the angled inner surface <NUM> forms a radius R3 with respect to the top surface <NUM>. To illustrate, the radius R3 is about <NUM> (. <NUM> inch) maximum. For example, a curve having the radius R3 is formed between the angled inner surface <NUM> and the top surface <NUM>. As an example, the radius R3 ranges from and including about <NUM> (. <NUM> inch) to about <NUM> (. <NUM> inch).

The horizontally oriented inner surface <NUM> is contiguous with the angled surface <NUM>. For example, the horizontally oriented inner surface <NUM> forms a radius R4 with respect to the angled inner surface <NUM>. To illustrate, the radius R4 is about <NUM> (<NUM> inch). For example, a curve having the radius R4 is formed between the horizontally oriented inner surface <NUM> and the angled inner surface <NUM>. As an example, the radius R4 ranges from and including about <NUM> (. <NUM> inch) to about <NUM> (. <NUM> inch). A middle diameter (MD) of a location on the edge ring <NUM> at which the radius R4 is formed is about <NUM> (<NUM> inches). For example the middle diameter ranges from and including about <NUM> (<NUM> inches) to about <NUM> (<NUM> inches).

A horizontally oriented surface, as described herein, is substantially parallel to the x-axis and a vertically oriented surface, as described herein, is substantially parallel to the y-axis. For example, a horizontally oriented surface forms an angle ranging from -<NUM>° to +<NUM>° with respect to the x-axis and a vertically oriented surface forms an angle ranging from -<NUM>° to +<NUM>° with respect to the y-axis. To illustrate, a horizontally oriented surface is parallel to the x-axis and perpendicular to the y-axis and a vertically oriented surface is parallel to the y-axis and perpendicular to the x-axis. An angled surface, as described herein, is neither a vertically oriented surface nor a horizontally oriented surface.

The horizontally oriented inner surface <NUM> is separated from the top surface <NUM> by the angled inner surface <NUM>. For example, the angled inner surface <NUM> is adjacent to the top surface <NUM> and to the horizontally oriented inner surface <NUM> but the horizontally oriented inner surface <NUM> is not adjacent to the top surface <NUM>.

Moreover, the inner surface <NUM> has the vertically oriented inner surface <NUM>, which is contiguous with the horizontally oriented inner surface <NUM>. For example, the vertically oriented inner surface <NUM> forms a radius R5 with respect to the horizontally oriented inner surface <NUM>. To illustrate, a curve having the radius R5 is formed between the vertically oriented inner surface <NUM> and the horizontally oriented inner surface <NUM>. As an example, the radius R5 is about <NUM> (<NUM> inch). To illustrate, the radius R5 ranges from and including about <NUM> (. <NUM> inch) to about <NUM> (. <NUM> inch). A distance d3 of the vertically oriented inner surface <NUM>, along the y-axis, is about <NUM> (. <NUM> inch). For example, the distance d3 ranges from and including about <NUM> (. <NUM> inch) to about <NUM> (<NUM> inch). A distance of a vertically oriented surface is a length along the y-axis in the vertical direction of the vertically oriented surface. Moreover, a distance of a horizontally oriented surface is a width of the horizontally oriented surface along the x-axis in the horizontal direction. Furthermore, a distance of an angled surface is measured in the vertical direction along the y-axis. The vertically oriented inner surface <NUM> has the inner diameter ID1, which is about <NUM> (<NUM> inches). For example the inner diameter ID1 ranges from and including about <NUM> (<NUM> inches) to about <NUM> (<NUM> inches).

Furthermore, the inner surface <NUM> has an angled inner surface <NUM> that is angled with respect to the vertically oriented inner surface <NUM> and the bottom surface <NUM>. The angled inner surface <NUM> is contiguous with the vertically oriented inner surface <NUM>. For example, the angled inner surface <NUM> forms a radius R6 with respect to the vertically oriented inner surface <NUM>. To illustrate, a curve having the radius R6 is formed between the angled inner surface <NUM> and the vertically oriented inner surface <NUM>. As an example, the radius R6 is about <NUM> (. <NUM> inch). To illustrate, the radius R6 ranges from and including about <NUM> (. <NUM> inch) to about <NUM> (. <NUM> inch). Moreover, the angled inner surface <NUM> is contiguous with the bottom surface <NUM>. For example, the angled inner surface <NUM> forms a radius R7 with respect to the bottom surface <NUM>. To illustrate, a curve having the radius R7 is formed between the angled inner surface <NUM> and the bottom surface <NUM>. As an example, the radius R7 is about twice the radius R6. To illustrate, the radius R6 ranges from and including about <NUM> X <NUM> (. <NUM> inch) to about <NUM> X <NUM> (. <NUM> inch).

The angled inner surface <NUM> has a length d2, which is about <NUM> (<NUM> inch). For example, the length d2 ranges from and including about <NUM> (. <NUM> inch) to about <NUM> (. <NUM> inch). The angled inner surface <NUM> forms an angle A1, which is about <NUM>°, with respect to the vertically oriented inner surface <NUM>. For example, the angle A1 ranges from and including about <NUM>° to about <NUM>°. It should be noted that a combination of the angled inner surface <NUM>, the horizontally oriented inner surface <NUM>, the vertically oriented inner surface <NUM>, and the angled inner surface <NUM> is sometimes referred to herein as the inner side of the edge ring <NUM>.

The outer surface <NUM> is contiguous with, such as adjacent to or continuous with, the bottom surface <NUM>. For example, the outer surface <NUM> forms a radius R2 with respect to the bottom surface <NUM>. To illustrate, a curve having the radius R2 is formed between the outer surface <NUM> and the bottom surface <NUM>. As an example, the radius R2 is about <NUM> (. <NUM> inch). To illustrate, the radius R2 ranges between <NUM> (. <NUM> inch) and <NUM> (. <NUM> inch).

The edge ring <NUM> includes a curved edge <NUM> that is formed between the top surface <NUM> and the outer surface <NUM> of the edge ring <NUM>. For example, the curved edge <NUM> is adjacent to, such as next to, the top surface <NUM> and the outer surface <NUM>. The curved edge <NUM> has a radius R1. As an example, the radius R1 is about <NUM> (. <NUM> inch). To illustrate, the radius R1 ranges between <NUM> (. <NUM> inch) and <NUM> (. <NUM> inch). The curvature of the curved edge <NUM> reduces chances of arcing of RF power between the edge ring <NUM> and the cover ring <NUM>. The arcing occurs when plasma is formed and sustained within the plasma chamber <NUM>. A sharp edge increases chances of arcing. A distance d1, which is a sum of a vertical distance of a height of the curved edge <NUM> along the y-axis and a length of the side surface <NUM> along the y-axis, is about <NUM> (. <NUM> inch). As an example, the distance d1 ranges from and including about <NUM> (<NUM> inch) to about <NUM> (. <NUM> inch). The outer surface <NUM> has the outer diameter OD1, which is about <NUM> (<NUM> inches), as an example, the outer diameter OD1 ranges between <NUM> (<NUM> inches) and <NUM> (<NUM> inches). It should be noted that an inner diameter or an outer diameter or a middle diameter of an edge ring, described herein, is formed with respect to a center axis that passes through a centroid of the edge ring.

It should be noted that an edge ring, described herein, is consumable. For example, an edge ring can wear out after multiple uses of the edge ring for processing the substrate <NUM> of figure <NUM>. To illustrate, remnant materials are output after the plasma that is used to process the substrate <NUM>, and the remnant materials corrode the edge ring. Moreover, the plasma corrodes the edge ring.

In addition, the edge ring is replaceable. For example, after repeated uses of the edge ring, the edge ring is replaced. To illustrate, the edge ring is vertically pushed up away from the insulator ring <NUM> (<FIG>) using the hold down rods 302A and 302B of <FIG> to be released from the insulator ring <NUM> of <FIG> and <FIG>. The edge ring is then replaced with another edge ring. The other edge ring is then vertically pulled down towards the insulator ring <NUM> using the hold down rods 302A- and 302B for processing the substrate <NUM> or another substrate.

In some embodiments, each radius R1 through R7 of an edge of the edge ring <NUM> is greater than about <NUM> (<NUM> inch) to reduce chances of arcing of RF power towards the edge or away from the edge. To further illustrate, each radius R1 through R7 of the edge of the edge ring <NUM> ranges from and including about <NUM> (<NUM> inch) to about <NUM> (<NUM> inch) to reduce chances of arcing of RF power towards the edge or away from the edge. It should be noted that in various embodiments, each radius R1 through R7 is greater than a range from and including about <NUM> (<NUM> inch) to about <NUM> (<NUM> inch). The radius from and including about <NUM> (<NUM> inch) to about <NUM> (<NUM> inch) reduces chances of chipping of an edge of the radius during fabrication of a semiconductor wafer.

In one embodiment, the edge ring <NUM> has a plurality of edges. The edges that define the edge ring <NUM>, in one embodiment, are rounded. By way of example, the edges having the radiuses RA and RC, of the edge ring <NUM> are rounded to a radius that is about <NUM> (. <NUM> inch) or greater. It has been determined that less rounding of these edges may not suffice to prevent or reduce chances of arcing of RF power when the plasma chamber is in operation. The reduction of chances of arcing, influenced by sharper edges of features within the plasma chamber, may be detrimental to a fabrication process being performed over and on semiconductor wafers. Slight rounding of the edges, e.g. each radius RA and RC less than about <NUM> (. <NUM> inch), each radius RA and RC ranging from and including about <NUM> (. <NUM> inch) to about <NUM> (. <NUM> inch), assists in reducing a possibility of particle generation during fabrication of semiconductor wafers, or chipping of the edges during the fabrication. Thus, although some rounding was performed on surfaces of features, e.g. radiuses RA and RC, disposed within the plasma chamber, this rounding is less than that for preventing or reducing arcing in light of the increased power levels being used in plasma processing operations.

<FIG> is a diagram of an embodiment of a system <NUM> to illustrate a coupling of the fastener <NUM> to the edge ring <NUM>. A cross-sectional view of the edge ring <NUM> is taken along a cross-section a-a illustrated in <FIG>. Drilled within the bottom surface <NUM> of the edge ring <NUM> is the slot <NUM>. In addition to drilling the slot <NUM>, a thread <NUM> is formed on the side surface SS of the slot <NUM>. The side surface SS is substantially perpendicular, such as perpendicular to or ranging between <NUM> and <NUM>°, with respect to the top surface TS of the slot <NUM>. The slot <NUM> encloses the fastener hole 124A.

The fastener <NUM> has a thread <NUM> formed at a tip of the fastener <NUM>. Moreover, the fastener <NUM> has a body <NUM>, which is below the thread <NUM>. A head <NUM> of the fastener <NUM> is located below the body <NUM>.

The fastener <NUM> is inserted into the fastener hole 124A and is turned in a clockwise direction to engage the thread <NUM> with the thread <NUM> to connect the support ring <NUM> (<FIG>) with the edge ring <NUM>. Similarly, additional fasteners, such as the fastener <NUM>, are inserted into multiple fastener holes 124B and 124C to connect the support ring <NUM> with the edge ring <NUM>. The multiple fastener holes 124B and 124C are formed in respective slots within the bottom surface <NUM> of the edge ring <NUM>. For example, the fastener holes 124A-124C form vertices of an equilateral triangle within a horizontal plane of the bottom surface <NUM> of the edge ring <NUM>. In case more than three fastener holes are formed within the bottom surface <NUM>, the fastener holes are located at substantially equal, such as equal, distances. For example, a distance between a set of two adjacent fastener holes within the bottom surface <NUM> is the same as a distance between another set of two adjacent fastener holes within the bottom surface <NUM>. A set of two fastener holes is different from another set when at least one of the fastener holes of the set is not the same as one of the fastener holes of the other set. To illustrate, two different sets of fastener holes have at least one uncommon fastener hole. As another example, a distance between two adjacent fastener holes of the set is within a pre-determined limit from a distance between two adjacent fastener holes of the other set within the bottom surface <NUM>. When the support ring <NUM> is connected with the edge ring <NUM> and the edge ring <NUM> or the support ring <NUM> is moved, the edge ring <NUM> and the support ring <NUM> move simultaneously in a vertical direction along the y-axis or a horizontal direction along the x-axis.

<FIG> is an isometric view of an embodiment of a cover ring <NUM>. The cover ring <NUM> is used, in some embodiments, in place of the cover ring <NUM> of <FIG>. The cover ring <NUM> has a top surface <NUM>. It should be noted that a cover ring, described herein, is consumable. For example, a cover ring can wear out after multiple uses of the cover ring during processing the substrate <NUM> of figure <NUM>. To illustrate, as a result of processing of the substrate <NUM> by plasma, the remnant materials are generated and the remnant materials corrode the cover ring. Moreover, the plasma corrodes the cover ring.

In addition, a cover ring is replaceable. For example, after repeated uses of the cover ring, the cover ring is replaced. To illustrate, the cover ring is removed from the plasma chamber <NUM> for replacement with another cover ring.

<FIG> is a bottom view of an embodiment of the cover ring <NUM>. The cover ring has a bottom surface <NUM>.

<FIG> is a top view of an embodiment of the cover ring <NUM>. The cover ring <NUM> has an inner diameter ID2 and a width W1. The inner diameter ID2 is a diameter of an inner peripheral edge of the cover ring <NUM>. The width W1 is a width of an annular body, of the cover ring <NUM>, between the inner diameter ID1 and an outer diameter of the cover ring <NUM>.

<FIG> is a cross-sectional view of an embodiment of the cover ring <NUM> taken along a cross-section A-A of <FIG>. The cover ring <NUM> has a vertically oriented inner surface <NUM>, another vertically oriented inner surface <NUM>, a vertically oriented outer surface <NUM>, another vertically oriented outer surface <NUM>, and a vertically oriented outer surface <NUM>. A diameter of the vertically oriented inner surface <NUM> is ID2. The diameter ID2 is about <NUM> (<NUM> inches). For example, the diameter ID2 ranges from and including about <NUM> (<NUM> inches) to about <NUM> (<NUM> inches). Moreover, a diameter of the vertically oriented inner surface <NUM> is D1. The diameter D1 is about <NUM> (<NUM> inches). For example, the diameter D1 ranges from and including about <NUM> (<NUM> inches) to about <NUM> (<NUM> inches). Additionally, a diameter of the vertically oriented outer surface <NUM> is D2. The diameter D2 is about <NUM> (<NUM> inches). For example, the diameter D2 ranges from and including about <NUM> (<NUM> inches) to about <NUM> (<NUM> inches). A diameter of the vertically oriented outer surface <NUM> is D3 and a diameter of the vertically oriented outer surface <NUM> is OD2. The diameter D3 is about <NUM> (<NUM> inches). For example, the diameter D3 ranges from and including about <NUM> (<NUM> inches) to about <NUM> (<NUM> inches). The diameter OD2 is about <NUM> (<NUM> inches). For example, the diameter OD2 ranges from and including about <NUM> (<NUM> inches) to about <NUM> (<NUM> inches).

The diameter D1 is greater than the diameter ID2. Moreover, the diameter D2 is greater than the diameter D1 and a diameter D3 is greater than the diameter D2. The diameter OD2 is greater than the diameter D3.

<FIG> is a cross-sectional view of an embodiment of the cover ring <NUM>. The cover ring <NUM> includes an upper body portion <NUM>, a middle body portion <NUM>, and a lower body portion <NUM>. The upper body portion <NUM> has the vertically oriented outer surface <NUM>, a horizontally oriented outer surface <NUM>, another horizontally oriented inner surface <NUM>, the vertically oriented inner surface <NUM>, and the top surface <NUM>, which is horizontally oriented. A curved edge <NUM> is formed between the vertically oriented outer surface <NUM> and the top surface <NUM>. The curved edge <NUM> has a radius RC, which is about <NUM> (<NUM> inch). For example the radius RC ranges from and including about <NUM> (<NUM> inch) to about <NUM> <NUM> inch. The curved edge <NUM> is contiguous, such as continuous with or adjacent to, the top surface <NUM> and the vertically oriented outer surface <NUM>.

The vertically oriented outer surface <NUM> is contiguous with the horizontally oriented surface <NUM>. For example, a curve having a radius RD is formed between the vertically oriented outer surface <NUM> and the horizontally oriented surface <NUM>. The radius RD is about <NUM> (. <NUM> inch). For example, the radius RD ranges from and including about <NUM> (<NUM> inch) to about <NUM> (. <NUM> inch).

Moreover, the horizontally oriented inner surface <NUM> is contiguous with the vertically oriented inner surface <NUM>. For example, a curve having a radius RK is formed between the vertically oriented inner surface <NUM> and the horizontally oriented inner surface <NUM>. To illustrate, the radius RK is about <NUM> (. <NUM> inch). As an example, the radius RK ranges from and including about <NUM> (. <NUM> inch) to about <NUM> (. <NUM> inch).

Additionally, the top surface <NUM> is contiguous with the vertically oriented inner surface <NUM>. For example, a curve having a radius RA is formed between the vertically oriented inner surface <NUM> and the top surface <NUM>. To illustrate, the radius RA is about <NUM> (. <NUM> inch). As an example, the radius RA ranges from and including about <NUM> (. <NUM> inch) to about <NUM> (. <NUM> inch). The radius RA reduces chances of arcing of RF power between the cover ring <NUM> and the edge ring <NUM>. The arcing occurs during a time plasma is formed within the plasma chamber <NUM>.

The middle body portion <NUM> includes the vertically oriented inner surface <NUM>, the vertically oriented outer surface <NUM>, and a horizontally oriented outer surface <NUM>. The vertically oriented outer surface <NUM> is contiguous with the horizontally oriented outer surface <NUM> of the upper body portion <NUM>. For example, a curve having a radius RE is formed between the vertically oriented outer surface <NUM> and the horizontally oriented outer surface <NUM>. As an example, the radius RE is about <NUM> (. <NUM> inch). To illustrate, the radius RE ranges from and including about <NUM> (. <NUM> inch) to about <NUM> (. <NUM> inch).

Moreover, the vertically oriented inner surface <NUM> is contiguous with the horizontally oriented inner surface <NUM> of the upper body portion <NUM>. For example, a curve having a radius RB is formed between the horizontally oriented inner surface <NUM> and the vertically oriented inner surface <NUM>. As an example, the radius RB is about <NUM> (. <NUM> inch). To illustrate, the radius RB ranges from and including about <NUM> (. <NUM> inch) to about <NUM> (. <NUM> inch).

The horizontally oriented outer surface <NUM> is contiguous with the vertically oriented outer surface <NUM>. For example, a curve having a radius RF is formed between the horizontally oriented outer surface <NUM> and the vertically oriented outer surface <NUM>. As an example, the radius RF is about <NUM> (. <NUM> inch). To illustrate, the radius RF ranges from and including about <NUM> (. <NUM> inch) to about <NUM> (. <NUM> inch).

The lower body portion <NUM> includes a vertically oriented inner surface <NUM>, a bottom surface <NUM>, and a vertically oriented outer surface <NUM>. The vertically oriented inner surface <NUM> is contiguous with the vertically oriented inner surface <NUM> of the middle body portion <NUM>. For example, the vertically oriented inner surfaces <NUM> and <NUM> are integrated as one surface and have the same diameter D1 (<FIG>). The vertically oriented inner surface <NUM> is contiguous with the bottom surface <NUM>. For example, a curve having a radius RJ is formed between the vertically oriented inner surface <NUM> and the bottom surface <NUM>. As an example, the radius RJ is about <NUM> (. <NUM> inch). To illustrate, the radius RJ ranges from and including about <NUM> (. <NUM> inch) to about <NUM> (. <NUM> inch).

The vertically oriented outer surface <NUM> is contiguous with the bottom surface <NUM>. For example a curve having a radius RH is formed between the bottom surface <NUM> and the vertically oriented outer surface <NUM>. As an example, the radius RH is about <NUM> (. <NUM> inch). To illustrate, the radius RH ranges from and including about <NUM> (. <NUM> inch) to about <NUM> (. <NUM> inch).

The vertically oriented outer surface <NUM> is contiguous with the horizontally oriented outer surface <NUM> of the middle body portion <NUM>. For example, a curve having a radius RG is formed between the vertically oriented outer surface <NUM> and the horizontally oriented outer surface <NUM>. As an example, the radius RG is about <NUM> (. <NUM> inch). To illustrate, the radius RG ranges from and including about <NUM> (. <NUM> inch) to about <NUM> (. <NUM> inch).

A vertical distance dB, such as a distance along the y-axis, is formed between the horizontally oriented inner surface <NUM> and the top surface <NUM>. As an example, the vertical distance dB is about <NUM> (. <NUM> inch). To illustrate, the vertical distance dB ranges from and including about <NUM> (. <NUM> inch) to about <NUM> (. <NUM> inch).

Moreover, a vertical distance dA is formed between the horizontally oriented outer surface <NUM> and the horizontally oriented inner surface <NUM>. As an example, the distance dA is about <NUM> (. <NUM> inch). To illustrate, the distance dA ranges from and including about <NUM> (. <NUM> inch) to about <NUM> (. <NUM> inch).

Additionally, a vertical distance between the horizontally oriented inner surface <NUM> and the horizontally oriented outer surface <NUM> is dD. As an example, the distance dD is about <NUM> (. <NUM> inch). To illustrate, the distance dD ranges from and including about <NUM> (. <NUM> inch) to about <NUM> (. <NUM> inch).

Also, a vertical distance between the horizontally oriented inner surface <NUM> and the bottom surface <NUM>, which is horizontally oriented, is represented as dC. As an example, the distance dC is about <NUM> (. <NUM> inch). To illustrate, the distance dC ranges from and including about <NUM> (. <NUM> inch) to about <NUM> (. <NUM> inch).

It should be noted that the bottom surface <NUM> of the cover ring <NUM> includes the horizontally oriented inner surface <NUM>, the vertically oriented inner surfaces <NUM> and <NUM>, the bottom surface <NUM>, the vertically oriented outer surface <NUM>, the horizontally oriented outer surface <NUM>, the vertically oriented outer surface <NUM>, and the horizontally oriented outer surface <NUM>.

It should further be noted that all edges of the cover ring <NUM> are arced, such as curved. For example, the radiuses RA, RB, RC, RD, RE, RF, RG, RH, RJ, and RK define the edges that are arced.

<FIG> is a cross-sectional view of an embodiment of a system that includes the edge ring <NUM>, the cover ring <NUM>, the base ring <NUM>, and the ground ring <NUM>. A step reduction <NUM>, which includes a change in direction from the vertically oriented inner surface <NUM> to the vertically oriented inner surface <NUM> is formed. The step reduction <NUM> is in a horizontal direction, such as a +x or x direction, along the x-axis. The step reduction <NUM> is between the upper body portion <NUM> and the middle body portion <NUM>. The step reduction <NUM> is in the +x direction away from the edge ring <NUM>.

Moreover, another step reduction <NUM> that occurs from the vertically oriented outer surface <NUM> to the vertically oriented outer surface <NUM> is formed. Again the step reduction <NUM> is in a horizontal direction, such as a -x direction of the x-axis, except that the step reduction <NUM> is in a direction opposite that of the step reduction <NUM>. The step reduction <NUM> is in a direction towards the edge ring <NUM>.

A depth <NUM>, which is a distance from the horizontally oriented inner surface <NUM> to the horizontally oriented outer surface <NUM>, of the middle body portion <NUM> is formed. A depth, as used herein, is in a direction, such as a -y direction, of the y-axis.

In addition, another step reduction <NUM> is formed from the vertically oriented outer surface <NUM> to the vertically oriented outer surface <NUM>. The step reduction <NUM> is in the -x direction.

Another depth <NUM> is formed between the horizontally oriented outer surface <NUM> and the bottom surface <NUM> of the lower body portion <NUM>. The depth <NUM> is of the lower body portion <NUM>. It should be noted that the depth <NUM> is less than the depth <NUM>. Moreover, a depth of the vertically oriented inner surface <NUM> is greater than the depth <NUM>.

An annular width <NUM> is created between the vertically oriented inner surface <NUM> and the vertically oriented outer surface <NUM>. An annular width, as used herein, is along the x-axis. Moreover, another annular width <NUM> is created between the vertically oriented inner surface <NUM> and the vertically oriented outer surface <NUM>. The annular width <NUM> is less than annular width <NUM>.

A tracking distance <NUM> is between the edge ring <NUM> and the ground ring <NUM>. The tracking distance <NUM> is along a width L11 of the horizontally oriented inner surface <NUM>, a combined length L12 of the vertically oriented inner surfaces <NUM> and <NUM>, a width L13 of the bottom surface <NUM>, a length L14 of the vertically oriented outer surface <NUM>, and a width L15 of the horizontally oriented outer surface <NUM>. The combined length L12 is a sum of a length of the vertically oriented inner surface <NUM> and a length of the vertically oriented inner surface <NUM>. The tracking distance <NUM> is a path along which voltage received from the RF power pin <NUM> is dissipated along the cover ring <NUM>. The edge ring <NUM> acts as a capacitor plate of a capacitor and the electrode EL (<FIG>) acts as another capacitor plate of the capacitor with a dielectric material of the support ring <NUM> in between the two capacitor plates. A distance <NUM> is a horizontal distance, along the x-axis, between the edge ring <NUM> and the ground ring <NUM> for the voltage provided by the RF power pin <NUM> to dissipate.

The tracking distance <NUM> or the distance <NUM> defines an annular width of the cover ring <NUM>. Moreover, voltage dissipation along the tracking distance <NUM> or the distance <NUM> defines the annular width of the cover ring <NUM>. The annular width of the cover ring <NUM> is a difference between the inner diameter ID2 of the cover ring <NUM> and the outer diameter OD2 of the cover ring <NUM>. The annular width of the cover ring <NUM> is defined such that the pre-determined amount of stand-off voltage is achieved at the vertically oriented inner surface <NUM>. For example, given that <NUM>-<NUM> volts is dissipated along <NUM> hundredths of a mm (a thousandth of an inch) of the cover ring <NUM> and the stand-off voltage at the vertically oriented inner surface <NUM> is <NUM> volts, the annular width of the cover ring <NUM> is equal to a ratio of a multiple, such as two or three, of <NUM> volts and the dissipation of <NUM>-<NUM> volts per <NUM> hundredths of a mm (thousandth of an inch) of the cover ring <NUM>.

In some embodiments, the depth <NUM> is greater than the depth <NUM>. Moreover, in various embodiments, the depth of the vertically oriented inner surface <NUM> is less than the depth <NUM>.

<FIG> is a cross-sectional view of an embodiment of a system that includes the edge ring <NUM>, the cover ring <NUM>, the base ring <NUM>, and the ground ring <NUM>. The cover ring <NUM> includes an upper body portion <NUM>, a middle body portion <NUM>, and a lower body portion <NUM>.

The upper body portion <NUM> includes a vertically oriented inner surface <NUM>, a horizontally oriented top surface <NUM>, a vertically oriented outer surface <NUM>, and a horizontally oriented outer surface <NUM>. The vertically oriented outer surface <NUM> is contiguous with the top surface <NUM> and the horizontally oriented outer surface <NUM> is contiguous with the vertically oriented outer surface <NUM>. For example, a curve having a radius is formed between the vertically oriented outer surface <NUM> and the top surface <NUM> and a curve having a radius is formed between the horizontally oriented outer surface <NUM> and the vertically oriented outer surface <NUM>. Moreover, the vertically oriented inner surface <NUM> is contiguous with the top surface <NUM>. For example, a curve having a radius is formed between the vertically oriented inner surface <NUM> and the top surface <NUM>.

The middle body portion <NUM> includes a vertically oriented outer surface <NUM>, a vertically oriented inner surface <NUM>, and a horizontally oriented inner surface <NUM>. The vertically oriented outer surface <NUM> is contiguous with the horizontally oriented outer surface <NUM> of the upper body portion <NUM>. For example, a curve having a radius is formed between the vertically oriented outer surface <NUM> and the horizontally oriented outer surface <NUM>.

Moreover, the vertically oriented inner surface <NUM> is contiguous with, such as adjacent to, the vertically oriented inner surface <NUM>. To illustrate, the vertically oriented inner surface <NUM> lies in the same vertical plane as that of the vertically oriented inner surface <NUM>.

The horizontally oriented inner surface <NUM> is contiguous with the vertically oriented inner surface <NUM>. For example, a curve having a radius is formed between the horizontally oriented inner surface <NUM> and the vertically oriented inner surface <NUM>.

The lower body portion <NUM> includes a vertically oriented outer surface <NUM>, a horizontally oriented bottom surface <NUM> and a vertically oriented inner surface <NUM>. The vertically oriented inner surface <NUM> is contiguous with the horizontally oriented inner surface <NUM> of the middle body portion <NUM>. For example, a curve having a radius is formed between the vertically oriented inner surface <NUM> and the horizontally oriented inner surface <NUM>.

Moreover, the bottom surface <NUM> is contiguous with the vertically oriented inner surface <NUM>. For example, a curve having a radius is formed between the bottom surface <NUM> and the vertically oriented inner surface <NUM>.

Also, the bottom surface <NUM> is contiguous with the vertically oriented outer surface <NUM>. For example, a curve having a radius is formed between the bottom surface <NUM> and the vertically oriented outer surface <NUM>. The vertically oriented outer surface <NUM> lies in the same vertical plane as that of the vertically oriented outer surface <NUM> of the middle body portion <NUM>.

A step reduction <NUM> is formed between the vertically oriented outer surface <NUM> of the upper body portion <NUM> and the vertically oriented outer surface <NUM> of the middle body portion <NUM>. The step reduction <NUM> is in the -x direction towards the edge ring <NUM>.

Moreover, another step reduction <NUM> is formed from the vertically oriented inner surface <NUM> of the middle body portion <NUM> to the vertically oriented inner surface <NUM> of the lower body portion <NUM>. The step reduction <NUM> from the vertically oriented inner surface <NUM> occurs in the +x direction, of the x-axis, away from the edge ring <NUM>.

An annular width <NUM> is formed between the vertically oriented inner surface <NUM> and the vertically oriented outer surface <NUM> of the middle body portion <NUM>. The annular width <NUM> is along the x-axis. Moreover, another annular width <NUM> is formed between the vertically oriented inner surface <NUM> and the vertically oriented outer surface <NUM> of the lower body portion <NUM>. The annular width <NUM> is along the x-axis. The annular width <NUM> is less than the annular width <NUM>.

A depth <NUM>, along the y-axis, of the middle body portion <NUM> is formed from the horizontally oriented outer surface <NUM> to the horizontally oriented inner surface <NUM>. Moreover, another depth <NUM>, along the y-axis, of the lower body portion <NUM> is formed from the horizontally oriented inner surface <NUM> to the bottom surface <NUM>. The depth <NUM> is less than the depth <NUM>.

It should be noted that a bottom surface of the cover ring <NUM> includes the surfaces <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM>.

The tracking distance <NUM> is formed between the edge ring <NUM> and the ground ring <NUM>. The tracking distance <NUM> is along a depth L21, along the y-axis, of the vertically oriented inner surface <NUM>, a width L22, along the x-axis, of the horizontally oriented inner surface <NUM>, a depth L23 of the vertically oriented inner surface <NUM>, and a width L24 of the bottom surface <NUM>. The depth L23 is the same as the depth <NUM>. The tracking distance <NUM> is a path along which voltage received by the edge ring <NUM> via the support ring <NUM> reaches the ground ring <NUM>. The edge ring <NUM> acts as a capacitor plate of a capacitor and the electrode EL (<FIG>) acts as another capacitor plate of the capacitor with a dielectric material of the support ring <NUM> in between the two capacitor plates.

A distance <NUM>, along the x-axis, is formed between the edge ring <NUM> and the ground ring <NUM>. The distance <NUM> is less than the distance <NUM> of <FIG>. Because the outer diameter of the edge ring <NUM> of <FIG> is less than the outer diameter of the edge ring <NUM>, the upper body portion <NUM> of the cover ring <NUM> of <FIG> has a greater width then the upper body portion <NUM> of the cover ring <NUM>. The increase in the width of the upper body portion <NUM> compared to the width of the upper body portion <NUM> increases the distance <NUM> compared to the distance <NUM>. The greater distance <NUM> compensates for the reduced width of the edge ring <NUM> compared to the edge ring <NUM> to provide a predetermined amount of distance for an RF voltage of an RF signal that is supplied by the power pin <NUM> (<FIG>) to traverse via the tracking distance <NUM> (<FIG>) or <NUM> (<FIG>) to the ground ring <NUM>. For example, there is a loss of about <NUM> to about <NUM> volts per <NUM> hundredths of a mm (thousandth of an inch) of a cover ring. If the pre-determined stand-off voltage of <NUM> V is to be achieved at a vertically oriented inner surface of an upper body portion of the cover ring, an annular width of the upper body portion of the cover ring is calculated to be (positive real number X <NUM>)/(loss in volts per <NUM> hundredths of a mm (thousandth inch) of the cover ring), where "positive real number" is a multiple, such as <NUM> or <NUM> or <NUM>.

In some embodiments, the depth <NUM> is greater than the depth <NUM>.

Embodiments described herein may be practiced with various computer system configurations including hand-held hardware units, microprocessor systems, microprocessor-based or programmable consumer electronics, minicomputers, mainframe computers and the like. The embodiments can also be practiced in distributed computing environments where tasks are performed by remote processing hardware units that are linked through a network.

In some embodiments, a controller, described herein, is part of a system, which may be part of the above-described examples. Such systems include semiconductor processing equipment, including a processing tool or tools, chamber or chambers, a platform or platforms for processing, and/or specific processing components (a wafer pedestal, a gas flow system, etc.). These systems are integrated with electronics for controlling their operation before, during, and after processing of a semiconductor wafer or substrate. The electronics is referred to as the "controller," which may control various components or subparts of the system or systems. The controller, depending on the processing requirements and/or the type of system, is programmed to control any of the processes disclosed herein, including the delivery of process gases, temperature settings (e.g., heating and/or cooling), pressure settings, vacuum settings, power settings, RF generator settings, RF matching circuit settings, frequency settings, flow rate settings, fluid delivery settings, positional and operation settings, wafer transfers into and out of a tool and other transfer tools and/or load locks coupled to or interfaced with a system.

Broadly speaking, in a variety of embodiments, the controller is defined as electronics having various integrated circuits, logic, memory, and/or software that receive instructions, issue instructions, control operation, enable cleaning operations, enable endpoint measurements, and the like. The integrated circuits include chips in the form of firmware that store program instructions, digital signal processors (DSPs), chips defined as ASICs, PLDs, and/or one or more microprocessors, or microcontrollers that execute program instructions (e.g., software). The program instructions are instructions communicated to the controller in the form of various individual settings (or program files), defining the parameters, the factors, the variables, etc., for carrying out a particular process on or for a semiconductor wafer or to a system. The program instructions are, in some embodiments, a part of a recipe defined by process engineers to accomplish one or more processing steps during the fabrication of one or more layers, materials, metals, oxides, silicon, silicon dioxide, surfaces, circuits, and/or dies of a wafer.

The controller, in some embodiments, is a part of or coupled to a computer that is integrated with, coupled to the system, otherwise networked to the system, or a combination thereof. For example, the controller is in a "cloud" or all or a part of a fab host computer system, which allows for remote access of the wafer processing. The computer enables remote access to the system to monitor current progress of fabrication operations, examines a history of past fabrication operations, examines trends or performance metrics from a plurality of fabrication operations, to change parameters of current processing, to set processing steps to follow a current processing, or to 17D a new process.

In some embodiments, a remote computer (e.g. a server) provides process recipes to a system over a network, which includes a local network or the Internet. The remote computer includes a user interface that enables entry or programming of parameters and/or settings, which are then communicated to the system from the remote computer. In some examples, the controller receives instructions in the form of data, which specify the parameters, factors, and/or variables for each of the processing steps to be performed during one or more operations. It should be understood that the parameters, factors, and/or variables are specific to the type of process to be performed and the type of tool that the controller is configured to interface with or control. Thus as described above, the controller is distributed, such as by including one or more discrete controllers that are networked together and working towards a common purpose, such as the processes and controls described herein. An example of a distributed controller for such purposes includes one or more integrated circuits on a chamber in communication with one or more integrated circuits located remotely (such as at the platform level or as part of a remote computer) that combine to control a process on the chamber.

Without limitation, in various embodiments, example systems to which the methods are applied include a plasma etch chamber or module, a deposition chamber or module, a spin-rinse chamber or module, a metal plating chamber or module, a clean chamber or module, a bevel edge etch chamber or module, a physical vapor deposition (PVD) chamber or module, a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) chamber or module, an atomic layer deposition (ALD) chamber or module, an atomic layer etch (ALE) chamber or module, a plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) chamber or module, a clean type chamber or module, an ion implantation chamber or module, a track chamber or module, and any other semiconductor processing systems that is associated or used in the fabrication and/or manufacturing of semiconductor wafers.

It is further noted that in some embodiments, the above-described operations apply to several types of plasma chambers, e.g., a plasma chamber including an inductively coupled plasma (ICP) reactor, a transformer coupled plasma chamber, conductor tools, dielectric tools, a plasma chamber including an electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) reactor, etc. For example, one or more RF generators are coupled to an inductor within the ICP reactor. Examples of a shape of the inductor include a solenoid, a dome-shaped coil, a flat-shaped coil, etc..

As noted above, depending on the process step or steps to be performed by the tool, the host computer communicates with one or more of other tool circuits or modules, other tool components, cluster tools, other tool interfaces, adjacent tools, neighboring tools, tools located throughout a factory, a main computer, another controller, or tools used in material transport that bring containers of wafers to and from tool locations and/or load ports in a semiconductor manufacturing factory.

With the above embodiments in mind, it should be understood that some of the embodiments employ various computer-implemented operations involving data stored in computer systems. These operations are those physically manipulating physical quantities. Any of the operations described herein that form part of the embodiments are useful machine operations.

Some of the embodiments also relate to a hardware unit or an apparatus for performing these operations. The apparatus is specially constructed for a special purpose computer. When defined as a special purpose computer, the computer performs other processing, program execution or routines that are not part of the special purpose, while still being capable of operating for the special purpose.

In some embodiments, the operations may be processed by a computer selectively activated or configured by one or more computer programs stored in a computer memory, cache, or obtained over the computer network. When data is obtained over the computer network, the data may be processed by other computers on the computer network, e.g., a cloud of computing resources.

One or more embodiments can also be fabricated as computer-readable code on a non-transitory computer-readable medium. The non-transitory computer-readable medium is any data storage hardware unit, e.g., a memory device, etc., that stores data, which is thereafter be read by a computer system. Examples of the non-transitory computer-readable medium include hard drives, network attached storage (NAS), ROM, RAM, compact disc-ROMs (CD-ROMs), CD-recordables (CD-Rs), CD-rewritables (CD-RWs), magnetic tapes and other optical and non-optical data storage hardware units. In some embodiments, the non-transitory computer-readable medium includes a computer-readable tangible medium distributed over a network-coupled computer system so that the computer-readable code is stored and executed in a distributed fashion.

Although the method operations above were described in a specific order, it should be understood that in various embodiments, other housekeeping operations are performed in between operations, or the method operations are adjusted so that they occur at slightly different times, or are distributed in a system which allows the occurrence of the method operations at various intervals, or are performed in a different order than that described above.

It should further be noted that in an embodiment, one or more features from any embodiment described above are combined with one or more features of any other embodiment without departing from a scope described in various embodiments described in the present disclosure.

Claim 1:
An edge ring for use in a plasma processing chamber, the edge ring (<NUM>, <NUM>) having an annular body that is configured to surround a substrate support (<NUM>) of the plasma processing chamber, comprising:
the annular body having a bottom side (<NUM>), a top side (<NUM>), an inner side (<NUM>), and an outer side (<NUM>), wherein the annular body is made of a conductive material;
a plurality of threaded holes (124A, 124B, 124C) formed within the annular body along the bottom side, wherein each of the plurality of threaded holes extends from a horizontally oriented surface of the bottom side towards the top side, wherein each of the plurality of threaded holes is partially enclosed by a top surface (TS) of a slot (<NUM>) formed within the bottom side of the edge ring and a side surface (SS) of the slot (<NUM>), wherein the side surface is substantially perpendicular with respect to the top surface, wherein the horizontally oriented surface contiguously extends from a vertically oriented inner surface (<NUM>) of the inner side to the plurality of threaded holes, wherein each of the plurality of threaded holes has a threaded inner surface (<NUM>) on the side surface of the slot (<NUM>) for receiving a fastener (<NUM>) that extends from a support ring (<NUM>) located below the annular body, wherein the fastener extends towards the annular body for attaching the annular body to the support ring;
a step disposed at the inner side of the annular body, the step having a lower surface (<NUM>) separated from the top side by an angled surface (<NUM>); and
one or more curved edges.