公开(公告)号：US11898236B2

公开(公告)日：2024-02-13

申请号：US17506075

申请日：2021-10-20

Applicant: Applied Materials, Inc.

Inventor： Zhiyong Wang ,  Halbert Chong ,  John C. Forster ,  Irena H. Wysok ,  Tiefeng Shi ,  Gang Fu ,  Renu Whig ,  Keith A Miller ,  Sundarapandian Ramalinga Vijayalakshmi Reddy ,  Jianxin Lei ,  Rongjun Wang ,  Tza-Jing Gung ,  Kirankumar Neelasandra Savandaiah ,  Avinash Nayak ,  Lei Zhou

IPC: C23C14/34 ,  H01J37/32 ,  C23C14/50

CPC classification number: C23C14/345 ,  C23C14/3485 ,  H01J37/32027 ,  H01J37/32091 ,  H01J37/32174 ,  C23C14/50

Abstract: Methods and apparatus for processing a substrate are provided herein. For example, a processing chamber for processing a substrate comprises a sputtering target, a chamber wall at least partially defining an inner volume within the processing chamber and connected to ground, a power source comprising an RF power source, a process kit surrounding the sputtering target and a substrate support, an auto capacitor tuner (ACT) connected to ground and the sputtering target, and a controller configured to energize the cleaning gas disposed in the inner volume of the processing chamber to create the plasma and tune the sputtering target using the ACT to maintain a predetermined potential difference between the plasma in the inner volume and the process kit during the etch process to remove sputtering material from the process kit, wherein the predetermined potential difference is based on a resonant point of the ACT.

公开(公告)号：US10910557B2

公开(公告)日：2021-02-02

申请号：US16570492

申请日：2019-09-13

Applicant: APPLIED MATERIALS, INC.

Inventor： Chi Ching ,  Renu Whig ,  Rongjun Wang

IPC: H01L43/12 ,  H01L43/10 ,  H01L43/02 ,  H01L27/22 ,  H01F41/32 ,  H01F10/32 ,  G11C11/16

Abstract: Methods and apparatus for forming a magnetic tunnel element are provided herein. A method of forming a magnetic tunnel element includes: depositing a magnetic layer atop a cobalt-chromium seed layer; and depositing a tunnel layer atop the magnetic layer to form a magnetic tunnel element, wherein the magnetic tunnel element has a TMR greater than 100. For example, a cobalt/platinum material or one or more layers thereof may be deposited directly atop a cobalt-chromium seed layer to produce improved devices.

公开(公告)号：US11489110B2

公开(公告)日：2022-11-01

申请号：US16845600

申请日：2020-04-10

Applicant: APPLIED MATERIALS, INC.

Inventor： Xiaodong Wang ,  Renu Whig ,  Jianxin Lei ,  Rongjun Wang

IPC: H01L43/12 ,  H01L43/10 ,  C23C14/08

Abstract: A method of forming a tunnel layer of a magnetoresistive random-access memory (MRAM) structure includes forming a first magnesium oxide (MgO) layer by sputtering an MgO target using radio frequency (RF) power, exposing the first MgO layer to oxygen for approximately 5 seconds to approximately 20 seconds at a flow rate of approximately 10 sccm to approximately 15 sccm, and forming a second MgO layer on the first MgO layer by sputtering the MgO target using RF power. The method may be performed after periodic maintenance of a process chamber to increase the tunnel magnetoresistance (TMR) of the tunnel layer.