RALF HOFMANN
Pilots at Fairway Dr, Soquel, CA

2014003, Feb 6, 2014

Mar 29, 2012

14/112012

Michael W. Stowell - Loveland CO, US
Majeed A. Foad - Sunnyvale CA, US
Ralf Hofmann - Soquel CA, US
Wolfgang R. Aderhold - Cupertino CA, US
Stephen Moffatt - St. Brelade, JE

APPLIED MATERIALS, INC. - Santa Clara CA

H01L 21/263, H05B 6/70

438795, 219748, 219691

Methods and apparatus for radiation processing of semiconductor substrates using microwave or millimeter wave energy are provided. The microwave or millimeter wave energy may have a frequency between about 600 MHz and about 1 THz. Alternating current from a magnetron is coupled to a leaky microwave emitter that has an inner conductor and an outer conductor, the outer conductor having openings with a dimension smaller than a wavelength of the emitted radiation. The inner and outer conductors are separated by an insulating material. Interference patterns produced by the microwave emissions may be uniformized by phase modulating the power to the emitter and/or by frequency modulating the frequency of the power itself. Power from a single generator may be divided to two or more emitters by a power divider.

2013019, Aug 1, 2013

Jan 30, 2013

13/754771

Joseph Yudovsky - Campbell CA, US
Nag B. Patibandla - Pleasanton CA, US
Pravin K. Narwankar - Sunnyvale CA, US
Li-Qun Xia - Cupertino CA, US
Toshiaki Fujita - Sakura City, JP
Ralf Hofmann - Soquel CA, US
Jeonghoon Oh - San Jose CA, US
Srinivas Satya - Sunnyvale CA, US
Banqiu Wu - Sunnyvale CA, US

C23C 16/458

427535, 118730, 118723 R, 4272555

A substrate processing system for processing multiple substrates is provided and generally includes at least one substrate processing platform and at least one substrate staging platform. The substrate processing platform includes a rotary track system capable of supporting multiple substrate support assemblies and continuously rotating the substrate support assemblies, each carrying a substrate thereon. Each substrate is positioned on a substrates support assembly disposed on the rotary track system and being processed through at least one shower head station and at least one buffer station, which are positioned atop the rotary track system of the substrate processing platform. Multiple substrates disposed on the substrate support assemblies are processed in and out the substrate processing platform. The substrate staging platform includes at least one dual-substrate processing station, each dual-substrate processing station includes two substrate support assemblies for supporting two substrates thereon.

2009023, Sep 24, 2009

Mar 18, 2008

12/050373

MICHAEL W. STOWELL - Loveland CO, US
Nety Krishna - Sunnyvale CA, US
Ralf Hofmann - Soquel CA, US
Joe Griffith - San Jose CA, US

Applied Materials, Inc. - Santa Clara CA

H05H 1/30, C23C 16/511, H01L 21/3065

427575, 118723 AN, 15634541

Disclosed are systems for achieving improved film properties by introducing additional processing parameters, such as a movable position for the microwave source and pulsing power to the microwave source, and extending the operational ranges and processing windows with the assistance of the microwave source. A coaxial microwave antenna is used for radiating microwaves to assist in physical vapor deposition (PVD) or chemical vapor deposition (CVD) systems. The system may use a coaxial microwave antenna inside a processing chamber, with the antenna being movable between a substrate and a plasma source, such as a sputtering target, a planar capacitively generated plasma source, or an inductively coupled source. In a special case when only a microwave plasma source is present, the position of the microwave antenna is movable relative to a substrate. The coaxial microwave antenna adjacent to the plasma source can assist the ionization more homogeneously and allow substantially uniform deposition over large areas.

2013019, Aug 1, 2013

Jan 30, 2013

13/754733

Joseph Yudovsky - Campbell CA, US
Ralf Hofmann - Soquel CA, US
Jeonghoon Oh - San Jose CA, US
Li-Qun Xia - Cupertino CA, US
Toshiaki Fujita - Sakura City, JP
Pravin K. Narwankar - Sunnyvale CA, US
Nag B, Patibandla - Pleasanton CA, US
Srinivas Satya - Sunnyvale CA, US
Banqiu Wu - Sunnyvale CA, US

C23C 16/54, B05C 13/00

15634555, 118719

A substrate processing system for processing multiple substrates is provided and generally includes at least one processing platform and at least one staging platform. Each substrate is positioned on a substrate carrier disposed on a substrate support assembly. Multiple substrate carriers, each is configured to carry a substrate thereon, are positioned on the surface of the substrate support assembly. The processing platform and the staging platform, each includes a separate substrate support assembly, which can be rotated by a separate rotary track mechanism. Each rotary track mechanism is capable of supporting the substrate support assembly and continuously rotating multiple substrates carried by the substrate carriers and disposed on the substrate support assembly. Each substrate is thus processed through at least one shower head station and at least one buffer station, which are positioned at a distance above the rotary track mechanism of the processing platform. Each substrate can be transferred between the processing platform and the staging platform and in and out the substrate processing system.

7244344, Jul 17, 2007

May 25, 2005

11/140514

Karl M. Brown - Mountain View CA, US
John Pipitone - Livermore CA, US
Vineet Mehta - Sunnyvale CA, US
Ralf Hofmann - Soquel CA, US
Wei W. Wang - Santa Clara CA, US
Semyon Sherstinsky - San Francisco CA, US

Applied Materials, Inc. - Santa Clara CA

C23C 14/35

20429811, 20429806, 20429808, 20429814

A physical vapor deposition plasma reactor includes a vacuum chamber including a sidewall, a ceiling and a wafer support pedestal near a floor of the chamber, and a vacuum pump coupled to the chamber, a process gas inlet coupled to the chamber and a process gas source coupled to the process gas inlet, a metal sputter target at the ceiling, a high voltage D. C. source coupled to the sputter target, an RF plasma source power generator coupled to the wafer support pedestal and having a frequency in a range between about 60 MHz and 81 MHz, and an RF plasma bias power generator coupled to the wafer support pedestal and having a frequency suitable for coupling energy to plasma ions.

7820020, Oct 26, 2010

May 25, 2005

11/140513

Karl M. Brown - Mountain View CA, US
John Pipitone - Livermore CA, US
Vineet Mehta - Sunnyvale CA, US
Ralf Hofmann - Soquel CA, US

Applied Materials, Inc. - Santa Clara CA

C23C 14/00

2041923, 20419212, 20419215, 20419217, 20429806, 20429808

A method of performing physical vapor deposition of copper onto an integrated circuit in a vacuum chamber of a plasma reactor includes providing a copper target near a ceiling of the chamber, placing an integrated circuit wafer on a wafer support pedestal facing the target near a floor of the chamber, introducing a carrier gas into the vacuum chamber having an atomic weight substantially less than the atomic weight of copper, maintaining a target-sputtering plasma at the target to produce a stream comprising at least one of copper atoms and copper ions flowing from the target toward the wafer support pedestal for vapor deposition, maintaining a wafer-sputtering plasma near the wafer support pedestal by capacitively coupling plasma RF source power to the wafer-sputtering plasma, and accelerating copper ions of the wafer sputtering plasma in a direction normal to a surface of the wafer support pedestal.

2010025, Oct 7, 2010

Apr 6, 2010

12/755203

Kaushal K. Singh - Santa Clara CA, US
Ralf Hofmann - Soquel CA, US
Nety M. Krishna - Sunnyvale CA, US

APPLIED MATERIALS, INC. - Santa Clara CA

H01L 21/363

438478, 257E21462

A method of forming a solar cell incorporating a compound semiconductor is provided. The compound semiconductor is generally of the “II/VI” variety, and is formed by depositing one or more group II elements in a vapor deposition process, and then contacting the deposited layer with a liquid bath of the group VI elements. The liquid bath may comprise a pure element or a mixture of elements. The contacting is performed under a non-reactive atmosphere, or vacuum, and any fugitive vapors may be captured by a cold trap and recycled. The substrate may be subsequently annealed to remove any excess of the group VI elements, which may be similarly recycled.

2008013, Jun 12, 2008

Jun 29, 2007

11/771778

Nety M. Krishna - Sunnyvale CA, US
Ralf Hofmann - Soquel CA, US
Kaushal K. Singh - Santa Clara CA, US
Karl J. Armstrong - San Jose CA, US

H01L 21/28, H01L 29/788

257316, 438594, 257E21158, 257E293

In one embodiment, a method for forming a metallic nanocrystalline material on a substrate is provided which includes exposing a substrate to a pretreatment process, forming a tunnel dielectric layer on the substrate, exposing the substrate to a post-treatment process, forming a metallic nanocrystalline layer on the tunnel dielectric layer, and forming a dielectric capping layer on the metallic nanocrystalline layer. The method further provides forming the metallic nanocrystalline layer having a nanocrystalline density of at least about 5×10cm, preferably, at least about 8×10cm. In one example, the metallic nanocrystalline layer contains platinum, ruthenium, or nickel. In another embodiment, a method for forming a multi-layered metallic nanocrystalline material on a substrate is provided which includes forming a plurality of bi-layers, wherein each bi-layer contains an intermediate dielectric layer deposited on a metallic nanocrystalline layer. Some of the examples include 10, 50, 100, 200, or more bi-layers.

2013019, Aug 1, 2013

Jan 31, 2013

13/755891

Banqiu Wu - Sunnyvale CA, US
Nag B. Patibandla - Pleasanton CA, US
Toshiaki Fujita - Sakura City, JP
Ralf Hofmann - Soquel CA, US
Pravin K. Narwankar - Sunnyvale CA, US
Jeonghoon Oh - San Jose CA, US
Srinivas Satya - Sunnyvale CA, US
Li-Qun Xia - Cupertino CA, US

H01L 21/673

118719, 414806

A processing chamber having a plurality of movable substrate carriers stacked therein for continuously processing a plurality of substrates is provided. The movable substrate carrier is capable of being transported from outside of the processing chamber, e.g., being transferred from a load luck chamber, into the processing chamber and out of the processing chamber, e.g., being transferred into another load luck chamber. Process gases delivered into the processing chamber are spatially separated into a plurality of processing slots, and/or temporally controlled. The processing chamber can be part of a multi-chamber substrate processing system.

2013005, Mar 7, 2013

Aug 14, 2012

13/584972

BRIAN WEST - San Jose CA, US
GOICHI YOSHIDOME - Emeryville CA, US
RALF HOFMANN - Soquel CA, US

APPLIED MATERIALS, INC. - Santa Clara CA

C23C 14/35

20419212, 20429809

Apparatus and method for physical vapor deposition are provided. In some embodiments, a cooling ring to cool a target in a physical vapor deposition chamber may include an annular body having a central opening; an inlet port coupled to the body; an outlet port coupled to the body; a coolant channel disposed in the body and having a first end coupled to the inlet port and a second end coupled to the outlet port; and a cap coupled to the body and substantially spanning the central opening, wherein the cap includes a center hole.