Veeco Instruments Inc.

Mikhail Belousov

Bojan Mitrovic

Alexander I Gurary

William E Quinn

Eric Armour

Keng Moy

Alex Gurary

Boris Volf

Dong Seung Lee

Vadim Boguslavskiy

Guray Tas

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

A method of in-situ temperature measurement for a wafer treatment reactor such as a chemical vapor deposition reactor desirably includes the steps of heating the reactor until the reactor reaches a wafer treatment temperature and rotating a wafer support element within the reactor about a rotational axis. The method desirably further includes, while the wafer support element is rotating about the rotational axis, obtaining first operating temperature measurements using a first operating pyrometer that receives radiation from a first portion of the wafer support element, and obtaining first wafer temperature measurements using a wafer temperature measurement device that receives radiation from at least one wafer, the wafer temperature measurement device located at a first position.

Temperature control for GaN based materials

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 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.

An apparatus for performing non-contact material characterization includes a wafer carrier adapted to hold a plurality of substrates and a material characterization device, such as a device for performing photoluminescence spectroscopy. The apparatus is adapted to perform non-contact material characterization on at least a portion of the wafer carrier, including the substrates disposed thereon.

Apparatus and method for batch non-contact material characterization

A method for monitoring the curvature of a surface of a body such as a semiconductor wafer () includes directing a beam of light along an impingement axis () onto the surface so that a beam of light () is reflected from the surface at a point of impingement. The position of the reflected beam () is detected in two dimensions (x,y). The body () is moved relative to the impingement axis () in a direction transverse to the impingement axis and the beam-directing and position determining steps are repeated. The curvature of the surface is calculated from the detected positions of the reflected beam in a plurality of repetitions.

Method and apparatus for measuring the curvature of reflective surfaces

A system and method for calibrating a pyrometer used in temperature detection in a chemical vapor deposition system is provided. A calibration wafer with a reference region including a metal such as Al or Ag for forming a eutectic, and an exposed non-reference region without such a metal, are provided. Reflectivity measurements are taken from the reference region, and temperature measurements are taken from the non-reference region, over a range of temperatures including a known melting point for the metal eutectic. The pyrometer is calibrated based on the correlation of the known eutectic melting point with the change in reflectivity data obtained in the reference region, in light of the temperature data obtained from the non-reference region.

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Plainsboro, NJ, United States of America

Mikhail Belousov