Asm America, Inc.

John F Wengert

Loren R Jacobs

Derrick W Foster

Cornelius Alexander Van Der Jeugd

Michael W Halpin

Mark R Hawkins

Robert Michael Vyne

Matthew G Goodman

Jason M Layton

Hartmann Glenn

Frank B M Van Bilsen

Ivo Johannes Raaijmakers

Mike Halpin

Eric R Wood

Matt G Goodman

Michael J Meyer

Eric Alan Barrett

Blake Samuels

Frank B Van Bilsen

Frank Van Bilsen

A wafer support system comprising a susceptor having top and bottom sections and gas flow passages therethrough. One or more spacers projecting from a recess formed in the top section of the susceptor support a wafer in spaced relationship with respect to the recess. A sweep gas is introduced to the bottom section of the susceptor and travels through the gas flow passages to exit in at least one circular array of outlets in the recess and underneath the spaced wafer. The sweep gas travels radially outward between the susceptor and wafer to prevent back-side contamination of the wafer. The gas is delivered through a hollow drive shaft and into a multi-armed susceptor support underneath the susceptor. The support arms conduct the sweep gas from the drive shaft to the gas passages in the susceptor. The gas passages are arranged to heat the sweep gas prior to delivery underneath the wafer. Short purge channels may be provided to deliver some of the sweep gas to regions surrounding the spacers to cause a continuous flow of protective purge gas around the spacers.

Wafer support system

A wafer support system comprising a segmented susceptor having top and bottom sections and gas flow passages therethrough. A plurality of spacers projecting from a recess formed in the top section of the susceptor support a wafer in spaced relationship with respect to the recess. A sweep gas is introduced to the bottom section of the segmented susceptor and travels through the gas flow passages to exit in at least one circular array of outlets in the recess and underneath the spaced wafer. The sweep gas travels radially outward between the susceptor and wafer to prevent back-side contamination of the wafer. The gas is delivered through a hollow drive shaft and into a multi-armed susceptor support underneath the susceptor. The support arms conduct the sweep gas from the drive shaft to the gas passages in the segmented susceptor. The gas passages are arranged to heat the sweep gas prior to delivery underneath the wafer. Short purge channels may be provided to deliver some of the sweep gas to regions surrounding the spacers to cause a continuous flow of protective purge gas around the spacers. A common bottom section may cooperate with a plurality of different top sections to form segmented susceptors suitable for supporting various sized wafers.

An apparatus for processing a substrate comprises a susceptor for supporting the substrate, an upper heat source spaced above the susceptor, a lower heat source spaced below the susceptor, and a controller. The controller provides power to the heat sources at a selected ratio between the sources. The controller is configured to vary the ratio during a high temperature processing cycle of a substrate to thereby vary the ratio of the heat provided by the heat sources during the cycle.

An improved chemical vapor deposition reaction chamber having an internal support plate to enable reduced pressure processing. The chamber has a vertical-lateral lenticular cross-section with a wide horizontal dimension and a shorter vertical dimension between bi-convex upper and lower walls. A central horizontal support plate is provided between two lateral side rails of the chamber. A large rounded rectangular aperture is formed in the support plate for positioning a rotatable susceptor on which a wafer is placed. The shaft of the susceptor extends downward through the aperture and through a lower tube depending from the chamber. The support plate segregates the reaction chamber into an upper region and a lower region, with purge gas being introduced through the lower tube into the lower region to prevent unwanted deposition therein. A temperature compensation ring is provided surrounding the susceptor and supported by fingers connected to the support plate. The temperature compensation ring may be circular or may be built out to conform to the rounded rectangular shape of the support plate aperture. The ring may extend farther downstream from the susceptor than upstream. A separate sacrificial quartz plate may be provided between the circular temperature compensation ring and the rounded rectangular aperture. The quartz plate may have a horizontal portion and a vertical lip in close abutment with the aperture to prevent devitrification of the support plate. A gas injector abuts an inlet flange of the chamber and injects process gas into the upper region and purge gas into the lower region. The gas injector includes a plurality of independently controlled channels disposed laterally across the chamber, the channels merging at an outlet of the injector to allow mixing of the adjacent longitudinal edges of the separate flows well before reaching the wafer.

Process chamber with downstream getter plate

A generally horizontally-oriented quartz CVD chamber is disclosed with front and rear chamber divider plates adjacent a centrally positioned susceptor and surrounding temperature control ring which divide the chamber into upper and lower regions. Improvement to the lifetime of CVD process components and related throughput improvements are disclosed. A getter plate for attracting some of the unused reactant gas is positioned downstream from the susceptor extending generally parallel to and spaced between the divider plate and the upper chamber wall. This getter plate also minimizes deposition on the chamber walls and improves the efficiency of a cleaning step. Reradiating elements are also located adjacent side walls of the chamber to heat cooler chamber wall areas. The getter plate and the reradiating elements plus the susceptor and surrounding ring are all made of solid chemical vapor deposited SiC to improve the life of the chamber. Also, thermocouples adjacent the susceptor are provided with SiC sheaths to enable the thermocouples to withstand more process cycles than that of quartz sheaths. SiC shields may be provided on quartz components throughout the chamber to protect the quartz from devitrification. Throughput is improved by both reducing down time and reducing the cleaning step time of the process cycle.

Long life high temperature process chamber

A wafer support system comprising a segmented susceptor having top and bottom sections and gas flow passages therethrough. A plurality of spacers projecting from a recess formed in the top section of the susceptor support wafers in spaced relationship with respect to the recess. A sweep gas is introduced to the bottom section of the segmented susceptor and travels through the gas flow passages to exit in at least one circular array of outlets in the recess and underneath the spaced wafer. The sweep gas travels radially outward between the susceptor and wafer to prevent back-side contamination of the wafer. The gas is delivered through a hollow drive shaft and into a multi-armed susceptor support underneath the susceptor. The susceptor support arms are hollow and conduct the sweep gas from the drive shaft to the gas passages in the segmented susceptor. The gas passages within the segmented susceptor are arranged to provide even heat distribution from the sweep gas prior to delivery underneath the wafer. Short purge channels may be provided to deliver some of the sweep gas to regions surrounding the spacers to cause a continuous flow of protective purge gas around the spacers. A common bottom section may cooperate with a plurality of different top sections to form segmented susceptors suitable for supporting various sized wafers.

Process chamber with inner support

A wafer susceptor for semiconductor processing devices, having a thermal mass which is close to that of the wafer. The similarity between the thermal masses of the susceptor and wafer enables a higher throughput and reduces temperature uniformities across the wafer. The low-mass susceptor may be made of a solid, thin disk with or without a central wafer support recess. A wafer temperature sensing aperture may be provided in the center of the susceptor. Alternatively, a low-mass susceptor is formed with an open-celled silicon carbide foam, with or without a thin skin of solid silicon carbide on the top forming a wafer support surface, or completely encapsulating the open-celled foam. The wafer is preferably supported on a plurality of pins extending upward from the susceptor. In a third embodiment, an ultra low-mass susceptor is formed as a ring with a central throughbore and a surrounding wafer support shelf below an outer ledge.

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Jacksonville, OR, United States of America

John F Wengert