Process chamber with resistive heating

Abstract

A process chamber which may be operated as follows: mounting substrates in a substrate carrier; loading the substrate carrier into a vacuum chamber and mating the substrate carrier with an upper gas manifold and a lower gas manifold; providing and maintaining a vacuum environment within the vacuum chamber; making electrical contact to an at least one electrically-resistive heater; heating the substrates to a process temperature by flowing current through the at least one electrically-resistive heater; and while heating the substrates, flowing process gas through odd numbered channels from the upper gas manifold to the lower gas manifold, and simultaneously flowing process gas through even numbered channels from the lower gas manifold to the upper gas manifold; wherein the process gas comprises an inert gas and the substrates are being thermally annealed, or wherein the process gas is a dopant gas and the substrates are being doped.