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. 14, 2007
Filed:
Aug. 07, 2003
Theodorus Gerardus Maria Oosterlaken, Oudewater, NL;
Theodorus Gerardus Maria Oosterlaken, Oudewater, NL;
ASM International N.V., Bilthoven, NL;
Abstract
Susceptor plates are provided for high temperature (e.g., greater than 1000° C.) batch processing of silicon wafers. The susceptor plates are designed to accommodate one wafer each, and a plurality of loaded susceptor plates are vertically spaced apart in a susceptor plate holder during batch or furnace processing. The susceptor plates provide 'full' support beneath the wafers, with openings of at most 20 mm in diameter in the support surface. Protrusions are also kept to a minimum. The susceptor plates thus prevent the wafers from sagging beyond the point of plastic deformation. The support surface is also ground or polished to remove protrusions beyond a prescribed height. For a given treatment temperature, the susceptor plates permit higher ramp rates without wafer plastic deformation or sticking to the susceptor plate. In one embodiment, the susceptor plates are pre-bent in a direction opposing the direction of sag.