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:
Dec. 07, 1999
Filed:
Nov. 06, 1998
James E Herlinger, Portola Valley, CA (US);
David K Studley, Sunnyvale, CA (US);
Jerry W Zimmer, Saratoga, CA (US);
Sp.sup.3, Inc., Mountain View, CA (US);
Abstract
An apparatus for adjusting the tension on a heating filament in a reactor used in carbon deposition on a substrate via chemical-vapor deposition is disclosed, as is a method for preventing breakage of the filaments during operation. The apparatus comprises a force regulator attached to an array of heating filaments. Preferably, the force regulator is adjustable and is adjusted prior to reactor operation and/or periodically or continuously as the filaments lengthen due to carburization in the carbon-vapor environment of the reactor. The adjustable force regulator attached to an array of filaments enables effective regulation of the force on a filament during reactor operation and provides an easily-maintained reactor with quick turn-around time between cycles of use.