Lpe S.p.a.

E.t.c. Epitaxial Technology Center Srl

Franco Preti

Vincenzo Ogliari

Danilo Crippa

Francesco Corea

Gianluca Valente

Silvio Preti

Giacomo Nicolao Maccalli

Laura Gobbo

Marco Mauceri

Marco Puglisi

Carmelo Vecchio

Srinivas Yarlagadda

Natale Speciale

Olle Kordina

Vittorio Pozzetti

Mario Preti

Piergiovanni Poggi

Giuseppe Tarenzi

Speciale Natale

The present invention relates to a heating method for a reactor () for epitaxial deposition; the reactor () comprises a susceptor () and an inductor (); the inductor () is adapted to heat the susceptor () by electromagnetic induction when it is electrically powered; the inductor () comprises a plurality of turns (-); during heating of the susceptor () from a first temperature to a second temperature, the position of one or more turns () of the inductor () with respect to the susceptor () and to the other turns of the inductor () is changed. The turns () are actuated by means of an appropriate actuation system ().

Reactor for epitaxial deposition with a heating inductor with movable turns

The present invention relates to a reactor () for epitaxial deposition of semiconductor material on substrates (), comprising: a reaction chamber () provided with a cavity () defined by a lower wall (), an upper wall () and lateral walls (); a susceptor (), positioned inside said cavity (), and adapted to support and heat substrates () during epitaxial deposition; a heating system () adapted to heat said susceptor (); an upper plate () that is positioned above said upper wall () and that overlies said susceptor () so that it reflects thermal radiation emitted by said susceptor () towards said susceptor (). A liquid flow (LF) is provided in or on said upper plate () to cool said upper plate (). A gaseous flow (GF) is provided between said upper wall () and said upper plate () to promote the transfer of heat from said upper wall () to said upper plate ().

Epitaxial deposition reactor with reflector external to the reaction chamber and cooling method of a susceptor and substrates

The present invention mainly relates to a susceptor for a reactor for epitaxial growth, comprising: a disc-shaped body () having a first face and a second face, wherein the first face comprises at least one zone () adapted to receive a substrate () to be subjected to epitaxial growth and at least one supporting element () for the substrate (), located at the zone (); the supporting element () comprises a circular disc () with an edge () which is raised with respect to the disc; the zone () may be a bottom of a recess () or a top of a relief of the disc-shaped body (); the disc-shaped body () is solid at least at the recess () or relief; the edge is accessible from a side of the susceptor for handling the supporting element.

Susceptor with supporting element

A reaction chamber of a reactor for epitaxial growth includes a wall () with a recess and a susceptor () comprising a body and a relief. The body is placed in said recess in a rotational manner with respect to said wall (). The chamber includes a discoid supporting element (), having a shape adapted to be laid stably on said relief, having a size such to protrude radially from said relief and adapted to support one or more substrates to be subjected to epitaxial growth. The chamber also includes a flat covering () located over said wall () and a hole () at said discoid supporting element (). The shape of said hole () corresponds to the shape of said discoid supporting element (). The covering () has at least one hollow guide () for the passage of a device () for loading/unloading said discoid supporting element (), wherein said hollow guide () extends from an edge of said covering () to said hole ().

Reaction chamber for epitaxial growth with a loading/unloading device and reactor

The tool () for manipulating substrates in an epitaxial reactor comprises an arm (), a gripping disc () and a ball joint (); said gripping disc () has a seat () on a lower face thereof for receiving a substrate () to be manipulated; said gripping disc () is mounted on the arm () through said ball joint () placed centrally with respect to said gripping disc (); said gripping disc () is shaped so as to come into contact only with the upper edge of said substrate () to be manipulated; said gripping disc () has two degrees of freedom of rotational movement with respect to said arm () to allow adapting to the position of a substrate in a pocket of a susceptor of an epitaxial reactor.

Tool for manipulating substrates, manipulation method and epitaxial reactor

The present invention relates to a reaction chamber of an epitaxial reactor that essentially consists of a quartz piece; the quartz piece comprises a quartz piece portion () having an internal cavity () defined by walls (A,B,C,D); the cavity () comprises a reaction and deposition zone () of the epitaxial reactor; the zone () is adapted to house a susceptor () to be heated therein; the reaction chamber also comprises a quartz component () arranged close to said walls (A,B,C,D) in such a manner as to form a counterwall and to be a wall of said zone ().

Reaction chamber of an epitaxial reactor and reactor that uses said chamber

The present invention relates to a susceptor system for an apparatus of the type adapted to treat substrates and/or wafers; the susceptor system is provided with a cavity () which acts as a chamber for the treatment of the substrates and/or wafers and which extends in a longitudinal direction and is delimited by an upper wall (), by a lower wall (), by a right-hand side wall (), and by a left-hand side wall (); the upper wall () is constituted by at least one piece of electrically conducting material suitable for being heated by electromagnetic induction; the lower wall () is constituted by at least one piece of electrically conducting material suitable for being heated by electromagnetic induction; the right-hand side wall () is constituted by at least one piece of inert, refractory and electrically insulating material; the left-hand side wall () is constituted by at least one piece of inert, refractory and electrically insulating material; the piece of the upper wall () is thus electrically well insulated from the piece of the lower wall ().

Susceptor system

The present invention relates to a susceptor system for an apparatus for the treatment of substrates and/or wafers, provided with a treatment chamber () delimited by at least two walls and with at least one heating solenoid (); the susceptor system comprises at least one susceptor element () delimited by an outer surface and made of electrically conducting material suitable for being heated by electromagnetic induction; the susceptor element () is hollow; a first portion of the outer surface of the susceptor element () is suitable for acting as a wall of the treatment chamber (); a second portion of the outer surface of the susceptor element () is suitable for being disposed close to the heating solenoid ().

A system for an apparatus of the type adapted to treat substrates and/or wafers is described and comprises a stationary base element and a movable support for at least one substrate or at least one wafer, the support being rotatable above the element about a stationary axis; a chamber, and at least one duct is provided for the admission of at least one gas-flow to the chamber in order to raise the support; the system also comprises means for converting the flow of gas into the chamber into rotation of the support.

Support system for a treatment apparatus

Reaction chamer () for an epitaxial reactor comprising a belljar () made of insulating, transparent and chemically resistant material, a susceptor () provided with disk-shaped cavities (-) for receiving wafers (-) of material to be treated and having an insulating and chemically resistant plate () arranged above it, and a diffuser () consisting of a plurality of outlet pipes (-) mounted on a cap () fixed to an upper opening () of the belljar ().

Reaction chamber for an epitaxial reactor

A susceptor () for epitaxial growth reactors comprises a body () having a lower base (), an upper top () and some substantially flat side faces (); the side faces are adapted to receive, in predetermined areas (), substrates on which the epitaxial growth develops; body () is provided with edge side regions () defined by couples of adjacent side faces (); along edge side regions () in the upper part of body () there are provided first ribs () adapted to control the flow of reaction gases along side faces (); along edge side regions () in the lower part of body () there are provided second ribs () adapted to control the flow of reaction gases along side faces ().

Susceptor with epitaxial growth control devices and epitaxial reactor using the same

A tool () for handling a semiconductor material wafer () is designed to be used in an epitaxial growth station; the tool () comprises a disk () having an upper side () and a lower side (), the lower side () being so shaped as to get in contact with the wafer () only along its edge (); the disk () is provided internally with a suction chamber () that is in communication with the outside of the disk () through one or more suction holes () and in communication with a suction duct of an arm of a robot through a suction port (); the disk () entirely covers the wafer () and the suction holes () open to the lower side ()of the disk (), whereby, when the wafer () is in contact with the lower side () of the disk (), it can be held by the tool () through suction.

Tool for handling wafers and epitaxial growth station

A device for handling substrates, used in an epitaxial apparatus or reactor ( ) for chemical vapour deposition (CVD) onto the said substrates, comprises an internal robot ( ) provided with means ( ) for gripping and transporting substrates, which are in the form of semiconductor slices ( ), in order to transfer them from cassettes ( ) containing the semiconductor slices ( ) to be processed, the gripping and transportation means ( ) having precisely the task of transporting the slices ( ), which are present in a purging chamber ( ) and supplied from a cassette ( ) for storage of the said slices ( ), from the purging chamber ( ) into a reaction chamber ( ) of the epitaxial reactor ( ) and, more particularly, into seats ( ) formed on a flat disk-shaped susceptor ( ) which is present in the reaction chamber ( ) of the epitaxial reactor ( ) and vice versa, from the reaction chamber ( ) again passing through the purging chamber ( ), to the cassettes ( ).

Device and method for handling substrates by means of a self-leveling vacuum system in epitaxial induction

Chemical vapor deposition epitaxial reactor comprising two reaction chambers, each provided with a susceptor, enclosed in a bell jar, to be induction heated by an induction coil supplied by a medium frequency AC generator, and generator means for providing a medium frequency power supply to the two induction coils of both the reaction chambers, wherein the means for power supplying the two induction coils are alternatively actuated, so that when one of the reaction chambers is heated the other one is purged, loaded and/or unloaded, providing however a time overlap of 1 to 10 minutes between the heating times of the two processes. A computerized controller provides to control the medium frequency generators in accordance with a dedicated software for providing an actuating method to the specific reactor.

Chemical vapor deposition epitaxial reactor having two reaction chambers alternatively actuated and actuating method thereof

A reactor for chemical vapor deposition of epitaxial layers on crystalline substrates uses a medium frequency heating system, the power for the heating being provided by a multi-turn coil, inducing electrical currents in a susceptor of electrically conductive material, such as graphite, housed in a transparent bell jar. The internal sides of the turns of the coil are optically finished to reflect back heat to the susceptor irradiated therefrom during operation. Heating is controlled by substracting or adding reactive currents from or to different turns of the coil and through properly shaping the walls of the susceptor in order to control temperature gradients therein.

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Milan, Italy

Franco Preti