Lpe S.p.a.

Vincenzo Ogliari

Franco Preti

Silvio Preti

Francesco Corea

Danilo Crippa

Laura Gobbo

Marco Mauceri

Marco Puglisi

Carmelo Vecchio

Vittorio Pozzetti

Giuseppe Tarenzi

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 susceptor for an epitaxial deposition reactor comprises a disc-shaped portion () which is adapted to be placed horizontally and which at the top has at least one cylindrical pocket () where a substrate () to be subjected to an epitaxial deposition process is placed; the pocket () has a bottom; one or more conduits () fluidically connected to an intake system () open on the bottom of the pocket (); when a substrate () is placed on the bottom of the pocket () and the intake system () is active, the substrate () remains adhering to the bottom of the pocket (). In particular: the upper body) superiorly has the pocket (), the conduits () vertically cross only the upper body (), the conduits () are fluidically connected to a plenum () located between the lower body () and the upper body () below the pocket (), the plenum () is fluidically connected to the intake system (); whereby when a substrate () is placed on the bottom of the pocket () and the intake system () is active, the lower body () and the upper body () remain united.

Susceptor with substrate clamped by underpressure, and reactor for epitaxial deposition

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

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 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 ( ).

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Baranzate, Italy

Vincenzo Ogliari