EP0736613A1
Expired / Lapsed
EP
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Cyclone evaporator
Assignee: Novellus Systems Inc
•
Filing: 1996-03-29
•
Granted: —
•
Expires: 2016-03-29
Abstract
Abstract A cyclone evaporator (100) includes an evaporator body (102) with an evaporation chamber (302) therein. The evaporation chamber preferably includes a thermally conductive sidewall (304) having a generally cylindrical upper portion (314) and a downwardly tapered lower portion (316). The evaporator body further includes a cover (106) having a vapor outlet opening into the evaporation chamber and an outlet tube (308). The outlet tube circumscribes the vapor outlet and extends into a lower portion of the evaporation chamber. A liquid precursor passage and a carrier gas passage extend through the evaporator body and open into the evaporation chamber. In one embodiment, the carrier gas passage is positioned to direct carrier gas parallel to liquid precursor flow and intersect the liquid precursor at a liquid precursor passage outlet within the evaporation chamber. In another embodiment, the carrier gas passage is positioned to direct carrier gas across an outlet of liquid precursor passage. In both embodiments, the carrier gas facilitates atomization of the liquid precursor and flows cyclonically to distribute the atomized liquid precursor within the evaporation chamber. The liquid precursor deposits on the thermally conductive evaporation chamber wall and evaporates to form a gas precursor. The gas precursor flows with the carrier gas and exits the cyclone evaporator through the outlet tube and the vapor outlet. The cyclone evaporator is particularly advantageous for evaporating low vapor pressure liquids useful in semiconductor fabrication processes such as chemical vapor deposition.
Inventors
- 👤 Jeffrey C. Benzing
- 👤 Edward J. Mcinerney
- 👤 Michael N. Susoeff
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-09 01:57
CPC Classifications
C; C23; C23C; C23C16/00; C23C16/44; C23C16/448; C23C16/4481; H; H10; H10P; H10P14/00; H10P14/20; C23C16/4486
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 35
Claim 1
Independent Claim
117 words
A chemical vapor deposition system comprising; a liquid precursor source; a carrier gas source; a chemical vapor deposition reactor assembly having a gas precursor inlet; an evaporator body; an evaporation chamber disposed within the evaporator body; an atomizer having a carrier gas inlet and a liquid precursor inlet, and further having an opening into the evaporation chamber; a vapor outlet extending through the evaporator body from the evaporation chamber; a liquid precursor distribution system coupled between the liquid precursor source and the liquid precursor inlet; a carrier gas distribution system coupled between the carrier gas source and the carrier gas inlet; and a gas precursor distribution system coupled between the vapor outlet and the gas precursor inlet.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
45 words
The chemical vapor deposition system as in claim 1 wherein the liquid precursor source is a container enclosing a pressurized low vapor pressure liquid, and the low vapor pressure liquid is selected from the group consisting of Copper 1 (hexafluoroacetylacetonate) Trimethylvinysilane, triisobutylaluminum, tetraethylorthosilicate, and tetradiethylaminotitanium.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
19 words
The chemical vapor deposition system as in claim 1 wherein the carrier gas source is a container enclosing nitrogen.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
54 words
An evaporator in a CVD system that utilizes a carrier gas and precursor comprising: a body; a chamber disposed in the body; an atomizer assembly having a carrier gas inlet and a liquid precursor inlet, and further having an opening into the chamber; and a vapor outlet extending through the body from the chamber.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
69 words
The evaporator as in claim 4 wherein the atomizer assembly comprises: a liquid precursor passage extending through the body and having an outlet portion opening into the chamber; a carrier gas passage extending through the body and having an outlet portion opening into the chamber, the carrier gas passage being positioned to atomize liquid precursor and to distribute the atomized liquid precursor on the first surface in the chamber.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
71 words
The evaporator as in claim 5, the atomizer assembly further including a liquid precursor/carrier gas conduit, wherein the carrier gas passage is integrally disposed within the liquid precursor/carrier gas conduit, and the liquid precursor passage is disposed within the carrier gas passage, the atomizer assembly further including a co-axial atomizer nozzle having a first end coupled to the liquid precursor/carrier gas conduit and a second end opening into the evaporator chamber.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
29 words
An evaporator as in claim 4 wherein the chamber is at least partially defined by a wall, the evaporator further comprising a heating element thermally coupled to the wall.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
25 words
An evaporator as in claim 7 wherein: the evaporator is thermally conductive; and the heating element comprises a heating collar clamped to the evaporator body.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
76 words
An evaporator as in claim 4 wherein: the chamber is at least partially defined by a generally vertical wall; the atomizer assembly includes a liquid precursor channel disposed in the body, the liquid precursor channel having a liquid precursor tube which extends through the wall into the chamber, and a carrier gas channel approximately perpendicularly displaced from the liquid precursor channel which opens through the wall into the chamber proximate to the liquid precursor channel extension.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
30 words
The evaporator as in claim 9 wherein the liquid precursor tube includes a 45 degree beveled dispensing end positioned proximate to the carrier gas channel to facilitate a Venturi effect.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
66 words
An evaporator as in claim 9 wherein the liquid precursor inlet and carrier gas inlet are disposed in an upper region of the chamber, and wherein the vapor outlet comprises: an outlet port disposed in an upper region of the evaporator body; and a conduit extending from the outlet port and through an upper region of the chamber into a lower region of the evaporator chamber.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
35 words
An evaporator as in claim 9 wherein: the vertical wall is a cylindrical wall in an upper region of the chamber, and the chamber further includes a lower region defined by a truncated, conical wall.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
41 words
The evaporator as in claim 4 wherein the vapor outlet extends through the cover and opens into the chamber, and the body includes a cover, the evaporator further comprising: an outlet tube circumscribing the vapor outlet and extending into the chamber.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
12 words
The evaporator as in claim 4, wherein the evaporator body is aluminum.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
81 words
An evaporator comprising: a body; an evaporation surface supported by the body, the evaporation surface being curved and having a first section that defines a first contained space of a predetermined cross-sectional area, and having a second section that defines a second contained space of a predetermined cross-sectional area less than the cross-sectional area of the first contained space; a first port directed generally tangentially to the first section evaporator surface; and a second port disposed in the second contained space.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
38 words
An evaporator as in claim 15, the first section being of a first diameter and curved about an axis, and the second section being of a second diameter less than the first diameter and curved about an axis.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
61 words
An evaporator as in claim 15 wherein the evaporator surface is curved about an axis, the first section being of a first diameter over a first portion of the axis, and the second section being contiguous to the first section and of a diameter decreasing from the first diameter over a second portion of the axis extending from the first portion.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
21 words
An evaporator as in claim 17 wherein the first section is a cylinder and the second section is a truncated cone.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
10 words
An evaporator as in claim 15 further comprising an atomizer.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
72 words
An evaporator as in claim 19 wherein the atomizer comprises; a first conduit having an inlet end and outlet end, a first conduit having an inlet end and outlet end, the outlet being outlet orifice of the atomizer; and a second conduit having an inlet end and an outlet end, the second conduit being traverse to the first conduit and the outlet end of the second conduit terminating in the first conduit.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
70 words
An evaporator as in claim 19 wherein the atomizer comprises: a first conduit having an inlet end and an outlet end, the outlet end being the outlet orifice of the atomizer; and a second conduit having an inlet end and an outlet end, the second conduit being disposed within the first conduit and the outlet end of the second conduit being coterminous with the outlet end of the first conduit.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
55 words
A process of evaporating a liquid in an evaporator, comprising: introducing liquid precursor into the evaporator; introducing carrier gas into the evaporator; entraining a portion of the liquid precursor in the carrier gas; depositing the entrained liquid precursor on a surface of the evaporator; and heating the evaporator surface to evaporate the deposited liquid precursor.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
24 words
The process as in claim 22 further comprising the step of: spreading the deposited liquid precursor into a thin film on the evaporator surface.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
19 words
The process as in claim 23 wherein the spreading step includes shearing the deposited liquid precursor with carrier gas.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
28 words
The process as in claim 22 wherein the carrier gas introducing step includes introducing the carrier gas at an approximately parallel, coincident orientation to the introduced liquid precursor.
Claim 26
Dependent Claim
27 words
The process as in claim 22 wherein the carrier gas introducing step includes introducing the carrier gas at an orientation approximately perpendicular to the introduced liquid precursor.
Claim 27
Dependent Claim
51 words
The process as in claim 22 wherein the liquid precursor introducing step includes introducing liquid precursor under a pressure, and the carrier gas introducing step includes introducing the carrier gas at an orientation to intersect the liquid precursor to create a Venturi effect to draw out and atomize the liquid precursor.
Claim 28
Dependent Claim
18 words
The process as in claim 22 wherein the liquid precursor is tetraethylorthosilicate, and the carrier gas is nitrogen.
Claim 29
Dependent Claim
77 words
A process of evaporating a liquid in an evaporator, comprising: introducing liquid precursor droplets into the evaporator; introducing a flow of carrier gas into the evaporator; entraining a portion of the liquid precursor droplets in the carrier gas; accelerating the carrier gas flow angularly in the evaporator; depositing a thin film of the entrained liquid precursor on a curved surface of the evaporator; and heating the evaporator curved surface to evaporate the deposited liquid precursor thin film.
Claim 30
Dependent Claim
60 words
A process as in claim 29 wherein the evaporator further includes a first region and a second region, and the liquid precursor and carrier gas are introduced into the first section, the process further comprising the step of: creating a negative pressure gradient from the first region to the second region, wherein the carrier gas flows toward the second section.
Claim 31
Dependent Claim
31 words
A process as in claim 30, the process further comprising the step of: maintaining an approximately constant angular acceleration of the carrier gas in the first region and the second region.
Claim 32
Dependent Claim
16 words
A process as in claim 30 wherein the carrier as flows cyclonically toward the second section.
Claim 33
Dependent Claim
156 words
A process of evaporating a liquid in a chemical vapor deposition system having an liquid precursor source, a carrier gas source, an evaporator having a vapor outlet, a curved surface, a first region, and a second region, and a chemical vapor deposition reactor assembly, the process comprising: introducing a liquid precursor into the evaporator from the liquid precursor source; introducing a flow of carrier gas into the evaporator from the carrier gas source; entraining the liquid precursor in the carrier gas flow; accelerating the carrier gas angularly in the evaporator; creating a negative pressure gradient between the evaporator first region, the evaporator second region, and the chemical vapor deposition reaction assembly; spreading the entrained liquid precursor on the evaporator curved surface into a thin film; evaporating the liquid precursor thin film; and drawing the evaporated thin film of liquid precursor out of the evaporator through the evaporator vapor outlet into the chemical vapor deposition reactor assembly.
Claim 34
Dependent Claim
58 words
An evaporator, comprising: means for introducing liquid precursor into the evaporator; means for introducing carrier gas into the evaporator to entrain the liquid precursor; means for facilitating angular acceleration of the carrier gas to deposit the entrained liquid precursor on a surface of the evaporator; and means for heating the evaporator surface to evaporate the deposited liquid precursor.
Claim 35
Dependent Claim
45 words
The evaporator as in claim 34 further comprising: means for forming a low pressure region within a lower portion of the evaporator; and means for drawing the evaporated liquid precursor out of the evaporator through a vapor outlet in an upper portion of the evaporator.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
Maintenance schedule is calculated for granted US utility patents.