Branson International Plasma Corporation

Other

Gasonics, Inc.

John T Davies

Richard F Reichelderfer

Janice I McOmber

John R Wagar

Stephen J Egbert

Andrew P Ryan

Richard F Reichelderfer, Deceased

James A Hayes

Apparatus and method for generating steam free of silica-containing droplets. The apparatus makes use of the fractional distillation properties of water/quartz mixtures. At the moderately high pressures and corresponding boiling temperatures which are used in the apparatus, the steam generated from water containing quartz is considerably purer than the water from which it originated. The apparatus includes a boiler supplied with de-ionized water. The boiler has a steam generating chamber and level indicators to provide sensing of overfill and underfill levels, respectively. Steam passes out of the boiler chamber into and through a large number of small vent holes into another chamber containing quartz pieces. Droplets collect on these quartz pieces and either evaporate or gravitate and return to the boiler chamber. All parts of the apparatus of the apparatus are made of quartz except the dump valve body which is constructed from plastic material. A microprocessor-based controller provides the proper sequence of water filling, boiling, automatic level control, heat power level and emptying the water at the end. This is triggered by the controller as appropriate and returns normal and emergency conditions to the main controller. It also provides for the use of safety interlocks.

Apparatus and method for generating steam

Gas plasma system and process which are particularly suitable for photoresist stripping and descumming operations. A wafer is placed on a heated platen in a processing chamber and is lifted away from the platen to control thermal contact between the wafer and the platen. The front side of the wafer is also heated with radiant heat energy, and the temperature of the platen is adjusted to control the temperature of the wafer. In the disclosed embodiments, a gas plasma is generated outside the processing chamber and introduced into the chamber through a gas distribution plate which is also transparent to the radiant heat energy.

Plasma reactor and process with wafer temperature control

Cleaning of low pressure chemical vapor deposition (LPCVD) furnaces is accomplished 'in-situ' at furnace operating temperatures. Radio frequency (RF) power is coupled into reactive gases, that have been metered into the evacuated furnace tube, using the furnace heating coil as the coupling element so as to create an etchant gas plasma. The gas chemistry and plasma conditions are selected to remove the LPCVD film that has accumulated on the furnace quartzware surfaces during its use in the LPCVD film deposition mode. The volatile chemical byproducts of the plasma clean reaction are removed from the furnace tube by the system's vacuum pump.

Low pressure chemical vapor deposition furnace plasma clean apparatus

Automated reactor system and process for etching or otherwise processing semiconductor wafers in a plasma environment. The wafers are carried into and out of a reaction chamber by a conveyor and processed on an individual basis. Within the chamber, an electrode mounted on a swinging arm carries each wafer from the conveyor to a processing position adjacent to a stationary electrode. Gas is admitted to the chamber, and the electrodes are energized to ionize the gas and form a plasma for processing the wafer between the electrodes.

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El Sobrante, CA, United States of America

John T Davies