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:
Mar. 19, 2002
Filed:
Sep. 03, 1999
Sing Pin Tay, Fremont, CA (US);
Yao Zhi Hu, San Jose, CA (US);
Randhir P. S. Thakur, San Jose, CA (US);
Arnon Gat, Palo Alto, CA (US);
Steag RTP Systems, Inc., San Jose, CA (US);
Abstract
A system and process is disclosed for rapidly heating semiconductor wafers coated with a highly reflective material on either the whole wafer or in a patterned area. The wafers are heated in a thermal processing chamber by a plurality of lamps. In order for the wafer coated with the highly reflective material to more rapidly increase in temperature with lower power intensity, a shield member is placed in between the wafer and the plurality of lamps. The shield member is made from a high emissivity material, such as ceramic, that increases in temperature when exposed to light energy. Once heated, the shield member then in turn heats the semiconductor wafer with higher uniformity. In one embodiment, the shield member can also be used to determine the temperature of the wafer as it is heated.