Veeco Instruments Inc.

Bojan Mitrovic

Eric Armour

Mikhail Belousov

Alex Gurary

Alexander I Gurary

William E Quinn

Keng Moy

Ajit P Paranjpe

Vadim Boguslavskiy

Ian Kunsch

Guanghua Wei

Sandeep Krishnan

Chenghung Paul Chang

Joshua Mangum

Matthew J Van Doren

Aniruddha Bagchi

Eric A Armour

Multi-filament heater assembly

An arrangement of two shutters radially outward from an injector block and a susceptor onto which a wafer carrier is removably mounted are configured to provide a flowpath through a reactor chamber that does not exhibit a vortex, thereby reducing or eliminating buildup on the inside of the reactor chamber and facilitating large temperature gradient between the injector block and the wafer carrier. This can be accomplished by introduction of a purge gas flow at a radially inner wall of an upper shutter, and in some embodiments the purge gas can have a different chemical composition than the precursor gas used to grow desired epitaxial structures on the wafer carrier.

Periphery purge shutter and flow control systems and methods

Apparatus for treating wafers using a wafer carrier rotated about an axis is provided with a ring which surrounds the wafer carrier during operation. Treatment gasses directed onto a top surface of the carrier flow outwardly away from the axis over the carrier and over the ring, and pass downstream outside of the ring. The outwardly flowing gasses form a boundary over the carrier and ring. The ring helps to maintain a boundary layer of substantially uniform thickness over the carrier, which promotes uniform treatment of the wafers.

Wafer processing with carrier extension

A flow inlet element for a chemical vapor deposition reactor is formed from a plurality of elongated tubular elements extending side-by-side with one another in a plane transverse to the upstream to downstream direction of the reactor. The tubular elements have inlets for ejecting gas in the downstream direction. A wafer carrier rotates around an upstream to downstream axis. The gas distribution elements may provide a pattern of gas distribution which is asymmetrical with respect to a medial plane extending through the axis.

Chemical vapor deposition flow inlet elements and methods

Wafer treatment process and apparatus is provided with a wafer carrier arranged to hold wafers and to inject a fill gas into gaps between the wafers and the wafer carrier. The apparatus is arranged to vary the composition, flow rate, or both of the fill gas so as to counteract undesired patterns of temperature non-uniformity of the wafers.

Processing methods and apparatus with temperature distribution control

In a rotating disk reactor for growing epitaxial layers on substrate or other CVD reactor system, gas directed toward the substrates at gas inlets at different radial distances from the axis of rotation of the disk has both substantially the same gas flow rate/velocity and substantially the same gas density at each inlet. The gas directed toward portions of the disk remote from the axis may include a higher concentration of a reactant gas than the gas directed toward portions of the disk close to the axis, so that portions of the substrate surfaces at different distances from the axis receive substantially the same amount of reactant gas per unit area, and a combination of carrier gases with different relative molecular weights at different radial distances from the axis of rotation are employed to substantially make equal the gas density in each region of the reactor. The system may be applied with a combination or carrier gases at multiple gas inlets, a combination of carrier and reactant gases at multiple inlets, and may be used with an arbitrarily large number of gases, when at least two gases of different molecular weights are provided. A linear flow pattern is achieved within the reactor, avoiding laminar recirculation areas, and permitting uniform deposition and growth of epitaxial layers on the substrate.

Density-matching alkyl push flow for vertical flow rotating disk reactors

Methods are provided for treating wafers using a wafer carrier rotated about an axis. The wafer carrier is provided with a ring which surrounds the wafer carrier during operation. Treatment gasses directed onto a top surface of the carrier flow outwardly away from the axis over the carrier and over the ring, and pass downstream outside of the ring. The outwardly flowing gasses form a boundary over the carrier and ring. The ring helps to maintain a boundary layer of substantially uniform thickness over the carrier, which promotes uniform treatment of the wafers.

Methods of wafer processing with carrier extension

An MOCVD reactor such as a rotating disc reactor () is equipped with a gas injector head having diffusers () disposed between adjacent gas inlets. The diffusers taper in the downstream direction. The injector head desirably has inlets () for a first gas such as a metal alkyl disposed in radial rows which terminate radially inward from the reactor wall to minimize deposition of the reactants on the reactor wall. The injector head desirably also has inlets () for a second gas such as ammonia arranged in a field between the rows of first gas inlets, and additionally has a center inlet () for the second gas coaxial with the axis of rotation.

Gas treatment systems

A chemical vapor deposition reactor and method. Reactive gases, such as gases including a Group III metal source and a Group V metal source, are introduced into the chamber () of a rotating-disc reactor and directed downwardly onto a wafer carrier () and substrates () which are maintained at an elevated substrate temperature, typically above about 400&#xb0; C. and normally about 700-1100&#xb0; C. to deposit a compound such as a III-V semiconductor. The gases are introduced into the reactor at an inlet temperature desirably above about 75&#xb0; C. and most preferably about 100&#xb0;-350&#xb0; C. The walls of the reactor may be at a temperature close to the inlet temperature. Use of an elevated inlet temperature allows the use of a lower rate of rotation of the wafer carrier, a higher operating pressure, lower flow rate, or some combination of these.

Chemical vapor deposition with elevated temperature gas injection

A chemical vapor deposition reactor and method. Reactive gases, such as gases including a Group III metal source and a Group V metal source, are introduced into a rotating-disc reactor and directed downwardly onto a wafer carrier and substrates which are maintained at an elevated substrate temperature, typically above about 400&#xb0; C. and normally about 700-1100&#xb0; C. to deposit a compound such as a III-V semiconductor. The gases are introduced into the reactor at an inlet temperature desirably above about 75&#xb0; C. and most preferably about 100&#xb0;-250&#xb0; C. The walls of the reactor may be at a temperature close to the inlet temperature. Use of an elevated inlet temperature allows the use of a lower rate of rotation of the wafer carrier, a higher operating pressure, lower flow rate, or some combination of these.

A wafer carrier includes a body defining a central axis, a generally planar top surface perpendicular to the central axis, and pockets recessed below the top surface for receiving wafers. The body can include a lip projecting upwardly around the periphery of the top surface. The lip can define a lip surface sloping upwardly from the planar top surface in a radially outward direction away from the central axis. The body can be adapted for mounting on a spindle of a processing apparatus so that the central axis of the body is coaxial with the spindle. The lip can improve the pattern of gas flow over the top surface of the wafer carrier.

Wafer carrier with sloped edge

A flow inlet element () for a chemical vapor deposition reactor () is formed from a plurality of elongated tubular elements () extending side-by-side with one another in a plane transverse to the upstream to downstream direction of the reactor. The tubular elements have inlets for ejecting gas in the downstream direction. A wafer carrier () rotates around an upstream to downstream axis. The gas distribution elements may provide a pattern of gas distribution which is asymmetrical with respect to a medial plane () extending through the axis.

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Somerset, NJ, United States of America

Bojan Mitrovic