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:
Aug. 21, 2001
Filed:
Jul. 30, 1997
Ling Chen, Sunnyvale, CA (US);
Steven T. Li, Sunnyvale, CA (US);
Applied Materials, Inc., Santa Clara, CA (US);
Abstract
A thermal reflow system and method employing microwave energy to reduce the time required to achieve thermal reflow of a metal thin-film layer disposed on a semiconductor substrate at reduced temperatures while maintaining good gap-filling properties. The system includes a process chamber designed as a high-Q resonant cavity for microwave energy. The substrate is supported within the chamber on an electrically non-conductive susceptor which allows movement therein to redefine the boundary conditions of the electromagnetic fields associated with the microwave energy. To prevent plasma formation or arcing in the chamber, the chamber is evacuated. This also reduces thermal transfer between the metal thin-film layer and the substrate via convection. Rapidly cooling is achieved, subsequent to the reflow of the metal thin-film layer, by pressurizing the chamber. This allows maximizing the amount of microwave energy that may be absorbed by the metal thin-film in a given period of time without substantially heating the underlying substrate.