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:
Sep. 25, 2001
Filed:
Nov. 26, 1996
Klaus Roithner, Wappingers Falls, NY (US);
Bernhard Poschenrieder, La Celle Saint-Cloud, FR;
Karl Paul Muller, Wappingers Falls, NY (US);
Other;
Abstract
The present invention is an apparatus for distributing reactant gases across the substrate mounted in a reaction chamber. The apparatus is capable of being utilized in both vapor deposition and etching processes. The apparatus substantially compensates for the problem of non-uniformity of vapor deposition and etching at the edges of the wafers caused by gas depletion. A gas distribution plate having a plurality of apertures extending therethrough is attached to an interior surface of the reaction chamber. At least one vacuum sealed partition is disposed between a surface of the gas distribution plate and the interior surface of the chamber. The partition separates the space between the plate and reaction chamber into gas distribution zones. A gas inlet is connected to each gas distribution zone. Each gas inlet line has at least one mass flow controller which regulates the flow of gas to each gas distribution zone. The mass flow controllers are utilized to ensure a uniform rate of chemical vapor deposition or etching across the surface of the substrate.