Patent ID: 7294205

Claim:
A substrate processing system comprising: a housing for forming a vacuum chamber; a vacuum pump for evacuating said vacuum chamber; a pedestal, located within said housing, configured to hold a substrate; a gas distribution system fluidly coupled to said vacuum chamber; a plasma generation system for forming a plasma from process gas within said vacuum chamber and for selectively biasing said plasma toward said substrate; a controller for controlling said vacuum pump, said gas distribution system and said plasma generation system; a memory coupled to said controller and storing a program for directing the operation of said system, said program including a set of instructions for depositing a film by first, controlling said gas distribution system to introduce said process gas into said chamber; second, controlling said plasma generation system to form a plasma from said process gas by coupling sputtering energy into said vacuum chamber and deposit a first layer of said film over said substrate by sputtering without biasing said plasma towards said substrate; and third, controlling said plasma generation system to maintain said plasma by maintaining coupling of said sputtering energy into said vacuum chamber and bias said plasma toward said substrate to deposit a second layer of said film over said first layer.