The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Apr. 19, 1994
Filed:
Jul. 30, 1992
Oscar L Caton, Boerne, TX (US);
Craig A Bellows, San Antonio, TX (US);
Curtis M Hebert, Jr, San Antonio, TX (US);
Steve J Schaper, San Antonio, TX (US);
VLSI Technology, Inc., San Jose, CA (US);
Abstract
A semiconductor deposition system with thermal trap characterized by a processing chamber, a source of process gas coupled to an inlet of the processing chamber, a thermal trap coupled to an outlet of the processing chamber, and a pump mechanism operative to pump a gas from the process chamber and into the thermal trap. The thermal trap preferably includes an enclosure defining a trap chamber, where an inlet to the trap chamber is coupled to the outlet of the processing chamber, a condensable-solid collection surface located within the trap chamber, a mechanism for maintaining the temperature of the collection surface at or below the temperature at which a gas flowing into the chamber condenses into a solid form, and a mechanism for maintaining the temperature of an inner surface of the enclosure at a temperature above which the gas condenses into a solid form. A method for trapping a gaseous material is characterized by the steps of flowing a gaseous material into a chamber of an enclosure, and maintaining the temperature of a collection surface disposed within the chamber at or below the temperature at which the gaseous material condenses into a solid form. The method preferably also includes the step of maintaining the temperature of an inner surface of the enclosure above the temperature at which the gaseous material condenses into a solid.