We claim:
1. A process chamber used in the manufacture of a semiconductor device for etching a material on a semiconductor wafer using plasma, the process chamber comprising:
an electrostatic chuck for holding the semiconductor wafer; and
an annular edge ring, which surrounds a side of the semiconductor wafer on the electrostatic chuck to prevent the semiconductor wafer from departing from its original position, having a first side which faces the side of the semiconductor wafer,
wherein a distance between the side of the semiconductor wafer and the first side is less than 0.15 mm.
2. The process chamber of claim 1, wherein the first side contacts the side of the semiconductor wafer.
3. The process chamber of claim 1, wherein the edge ring has a first upper surface which overlaps the periphery of a bottom surface of the semiconductor wafer and contacts the bottom surface of the semiconductor wafer.
4. The process chamber of claim 1, wherein the edge ring has a second side facing a side of the electrostatic chuck, the second side of the edge ring having a shape such that the contact area between the second side and a side of the electrostatic chuck is minimal.
5. The process chamber of claim 4, wherein the second side of the edge ring is slanted such that only the edge of the second side contacts the side of the electrostatic chuck.
6. The process chamber of claim 1, wherein the edge ring is fixed such that the edge ring cannot rotate.
7. The process chamber of claim 6, wherein the edge ring is fixed by a fixing pin.
8. The process chamber of claim 6, wherein the edge ring is fixed at two or more points separated from each other by a maximum distance.
9. The process chamber of claim 1, wherein the edge ring comprises quartz, silicon or aluminum nitride.
10. The process chamber of claim 1, further comprising a focus ring formed around the edge ring to make distribution of the plasma uniform.
11. A process chamber used in the manufacture of a semiconductor device for etching a material on a semiconductor wafer using plasma, the process chamber comprising:
an electrostatic chuck for holding the semiconductor wafer; and
an annular focus ring, which surrounds a side of the semiconductor wafer on the electrostatic chuck to prevent the semiconductor wafer from departing from its original position and to make the plasma distribution uniform by drawing the plasma, having a first side which faces the side of the semiconductor wafer and contacts the side of the semiconductor wafer.
12. The process chamber of claim 11, wherein the focus ring has a first upper surface portion which overlaps the periphery of a bottom surface of the semiconductor wafer and contacts the bottom surface of the semiconductor wafer.
13. The process chamber of claim 12, wherein the focus ring has a second upper surface portion which is higher than an upper surface of the semiconductor wafer.
14. The process chamber of claim 11, wherein the focus ring has a second side facing a side of the electrostatic chuck, the second side of the edge ring having a shape such that the contact area between the second side and the side of the electrostatic chuck is minimal.
15. The process chamber of claim 14, wherein the second side of the focus ring is slanted such that only the edge of the second side contacts the side of the electrostatic chuck.
16. The process chamber of claim 11, wherein the focus ring is fixed such that the focus ring cannot rotate.
17. The process chamber of claim 16, wherein the focus ring is fixed by at least two fixing pins fixed at points separated from each other by a maximum distance.
18. The process chamber of claim 11, wherein the focus ring contains a flat second upper surface portion.
19. The process chamber of claim 11, wherein the edge ring comprises quartz, silicon or aluminum nitride.
20. The process chamber of claim 11, wherein a surface temperature of the focus ring is maintained to be above at least 50 C. across the entire surface of the focus ring during etching.
21. The process chamber of claim 11, wherein a surface temperature of the focus ring is maintained to be above or about 60 C. across the entire surface of the focus ring during etching.
22. The process chamber of claim 20, wherein a second upper surface portion of the focus ring is flat without protrusions, and wherein the thickness of the focus ring is sufficient to maintain about the same temperature throughout the focus ring.
23. The process chamber of claim 22, wherein a thickness of the focus ring from the flat upper surface to the base thereof is equal to or less than 20 mm.
24. A process chamber used in the manufacture of a semiconductor device for etching a material on a semiconductor wafer using plasma, the process chamber comprising:
an electrostatic chuck for holding the semiconductor wafer;
a gas supply conduit, installed facing an upper surface of the semiconductor wafer, for supplying reaction gases to a space over the semiconductor wafer, wherein the gas supply conduit is slanted at a first angle with respect to the vertical direction such that relatively more reaction gases are provided to a center of the semiconductor wafer than to a periphery of the semiconductor wafer; and
a radio frequency power source for forming plasma in the space over the semiconductor wafer by ionizing the supplied reaction gases.
25. The process chamber of claim 24, wherein the gas supply conduit is formed in a gas supply plate.
26. The process chamber of claim 24, wherein the slant angle of the gas supply conduit in the vertical direction is about 2-5 degrees.
27. The process chamber of claim 25, wherein the gas supply plate is formed of quartz, silicon or aluminum nitride.
28. A process chamber used in the manufacture of a semiconductor device for etching a material on a semiconductor wafer using plasma, the process chamber comprising:
an electrostatic chuck for holding the semiconductor wafer; and
a slit valve, attached to a sidewall of the process chamber and separated by a first distance from the electrostatic chuck, having a wafer transfer path through which the semiconductor wafer placed above the electrostatic chuck can be loaded or unloaded in the horizontal direction from or to the outside of the process chamber,
wherein the temperature of the slit valve is maintained at a higher temperature than the sidewall of the process chamber during an etching process.
29. The process chamber of claim 28, wherein heat transfer lines are formed passing near the slit valve, and the number of the heat transfer lines formed near the slit valve is larger than the number of heat transfer lines formed passing through the sidewall.
30. The process chamber of claim 28, wherein the temperature of an upper part of the sidewall, which is positioned above the wafer transfer path, is the same as or higher than the temperature of a lower part of the sidewall during the etching process.
31. A process chamber used in the manufacture of a semiconductor device for depositing a material on a semiconductor wafer, the process chamber comprising:
an electrostatic chuck for holding the semiconductor wafer;
a heater, installed below the wafer chuck, for supplying heat;
a guide ring for guiding the semiconductor wafer, the guide ring installed at the edge of an upper surface of the wafer chuck and separated from the chuck by about 15-25 mm.
32. The process chamber of claim 31, wherein the inner circumference of the guide ring comprises a first portion, protruding toward the semiconductor wafer and separated from the semiconductor wafer by a first interval, and a second portion, separated from the semiconductor wafer by a second interval which is longer than the first interval, to guide the semiconductor wafer.
33. The process chamber of claim 32, wherein the first interval is 0.5-1.0 mm and the second interval is 2-30 mm.
34. A method of making a semiconductor device, comprising:
placing a semiconductor wafer on a wafer chuck such that a portion of the wafer contacts one of:
(a) an edge ring which prevents lateral deviation of the wafer, and
(b) a focus ring which makes plasma distribution uniform above the wafer; and
etching a layer over the wafer or a portion of the wafer.
35. A semiconductor device made by the method of claim 34.
36. The method of claim 34, wherein the wafer contacts the focus ring, which is maintained at a substantially uniform temperature throughout its thickness during the etching step.
37. The method of claim 34, wherein the uniform temperature is at least 60 C.
38. A method of making a semiconductor device, comprising:
placing a semiconductor wafer on a wafer chuck;
supplying an etching gas toward the wafer at a first angle with respect to the vertical direction such that relatively more etching gas is provided to the center of the wafer than to the periphery of the wafer;
ionizing the etching gas to form an etching gas plasma; and
etching a layer over the wafer or a portion of the wafer.
39. The method of claim 38, wherein the first angle is about 2 to 5 degrees.
40. A semiconductor device made by the method of claim 38.
41. A method of making a semiconductor device, comprising:
loading a semiconductor wafer on a wafer chuck through a wafer transfer path of a slit valve, which is attached to a sidewall of a process chamber and separated by a first distance from the wafer chuck; and
etching a layer over the wafer or a portion of the wafer while maintaining the temperature of the slit valve at a higher temperature than the sidewall of the process chamber during the etching.
42. A semiconductor device made by the method of claim 41.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
We claim:
1. A method of protecting electrical power transmissions systems from damage, the method comprising the steps of:
mixing a two part resin composition at the point of use to form a liquid composite;
applying the liquid composite to a component of an electrical power transmission system; and
curing the liquid composite to form a coating for the component.
2. The method of claim 1 carried out at an electric power sub-station using portable equipment.
3. The method of claim 1 in which the first part of the two part resin composition comprises at least one of a hydroxyl terminated resin and an amine terminated resin and the second part of the two part resin composition is an isocyanate terminated resin.
4. The method of claim 1 in which the two part resin composition cures in less than 30 seconds to prevent sagging.
5. The method of claim 1 in which the electrical power transmission system conducts voltages between 10 KV and 60 KV.
6. The method of claim 1 in which the liquid composite is applied to an electrified component of an electrical power transmission system.
7. The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of calculating a desired dielectric constant of the coating and applying a corresponding thickness of the liquid composite.
8. The method of claim 1 in which applying the liquid composite comprises using an applicator comprising:
a mix chamber;
a first supply for a first part of a two part resin composition, the first supply communicating with the mix chamber;
a second supply for a second part of the two part resin composition, the second supply communicating with the mix chamber;
pumps for driving fluid from the supplies into the mix chamber; and
a delivery sub-system for receiving fluid from the mix chamber.
9. The method of claim 6 in which applying the liquid composite to an electrified component of an electrical power transmission system comprises using an applicator comprising:
an application rod having an application end and a supply end, the application rod adapted to allow the application end within the limits of approach of the electrified component while a user remains outside the limits of approach of the electrified component.
a mix chamber connected to the application end of the application rod;
a first supply for a first part of a two part resin composition, the first supply communicating with the mix chamber;
a second supply for a second part of the two part resin composition, the second supply communicating with the mix chamber, the first and second supplies connected to the supply end of the application rod;
pumps for driving fluid from the supplies into the mix chamber; and
a delivery sub-system for receiving fluid from the mix chamber at the application end of the application rod.
10. The method of claim 6 in which using an applicator further comprises the step of maintaining the supply end of the applicator at ground potential.
11. An applicator for protecting electrical power transmissions systems from damage, the applicator comprising:
a mix chamber;
a first supply for a first part of a two part resin composition, the first supply communicating with the mix chamber;
a second supply for a second part of the two part resin composition, the second supply communicating with the mix chamber;
pumps for driving fluid from the supplies into the mix chamber; and
a delivery sub-system for receiving fluid from the mix chamber.
12. The applicator of claim 11 in which the first part of the two part resin composition comprises at least one of a hydroxyl terminated resin and an amine terminated resin and the second part of the two part resin composition is an isocyanate terminated resin.
13. The applicator of claim 11 in which the delivery sub-system is adapted to apply the fluid from the static mix tube to an electrical power transmission system.
14. The applicator of claim 12 adapted to apply the fluid to an electrified component of an electrical power transmission system.
15. The applicator of claim 11 in which the mix chamber comprises an atomization nozzle.
16. The applicator of claim 11 further comprising an application rod having an application end and a supply end, the mix chamber connected to the application end of the application rod and the first and second supply connected to the supply end of the application rod, the application rod adapted to allow the application end within the limits of approach of the electrified component while a user remains outside the limits of approach of the electrified component.
17. The applicator of claim 11 in which the applicator is portable.
18. The applicator of claim 16 wherein the supply end of the application rod is at ground potential.
19. A method of protecting electrical power transmissions systems from damage, the method comprising the steps of:
identifying an area of the electrical power transmissions system to be protected;
selecting a dielectric material having a liquid form and a solid form, where the dielectric material has dielectric properties suitable for protecting the identified areas in the solid form, and where the dielectric material has dielectric properties suitable to allow for safe application in the liquid form;
applying the dielectric material in the liquid form to the identified areas; and
allowing the dielectric material to convert from the liquid form to the solid form.
20. The method of claim 19, wherein the dielectric material is applied to the identified area when the electrical power transmissions system is energized.
21. The method of claim 19, wherein applying the dielectric material in liquid form further comprises the use of an applicator, the applicator comprising a dielectric material supply connected to a delivery sub-system.
22. The method of claim 21, wherein the supply end of the applicator is maintained at ground potential.
23. The method of claim 21, wherein the applicator is portable.
24. The method of claim 19, wherein the dielectric material comprises a two part resin composition, where the first part of the two part resin composition comprises at least one of a hydroxyl terminated resin and an amine terminated resin and the second part of the two part resin composition is an isocyanate terminated resin
25. The method of claim 19 in which the electrical power transmission system conducts voltages between 10 KV and 60 KV.
26. The method of claim 19, wherein the use of an applicator comprises using an applicator comprising:
a mix chamber;
a first supply for a first part of a two part resin composition, the first supply communicating with the mix chamber;
a second supply for a second part of the two part resin composition, the second supply communicating with the mix chamber;
pumps for driving fluid from the supplies into the mix chamber; and
a delivery sub-system for receiving fluid from the mix chamber.
27. The method of claim 20 wherein applying the dielectric material further comprises the step of monitoring leakage current levels.
28. A portable applicator for protecting electrical power transmissions systems from damage, the applicator comprising:
a static mix tube;
a first supply chamber for a first part of a two part resin composition, the first supply chamber communicating with the static mix tube;
a second supply chamber for a second part of the two part resin composition, the second supply chamber communicating with the static mix tube;
pumps for driving fluid from the supply chambers into the static mix tube; and
a delivery sub-system for receiving fluid from the static mix tube.
29. The applicator of claim 28 in which the first part of the two part resin composition comprises at least one of a hydroxyl terminated resin and an amine terminated resin and the second part of the two part resin composition is an isocyanate terminated resin.
30. The applicator of claim 28 in which the delivery sub-system is adapted to apply the fluid from the static mix tube to an electrical power transmission system.
31. The applicator of claim 28 in which the first and second supply chambers are replaceable.
32. The applicator of claim 28 in which the pumps are piston pumps.