EP1069599A2
Expired / Lapsed
EP
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Apparatus for deposition of thin films on wafers
Assignee: MooHan Co Ltd
•
Filing: 2000-07-12
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Granted: —
•
Expires: 2020-07-12
Abstract
Abstract The present invention provides an apparatus for deposition of thin films on a plurality of wafers within a reaction chamber. The apparatus has a reaction chamber capable of processing a plurality of wafers through an atomic layer epitaxy process at the same time. The apparatus also has a susceptor provided within the reaction chamber to hold the wafers thereon in a way such that reaction surfaces of the wafers are exposed to the interior of the reaction chamber. A gas supply unit supplies reaction gases to the reaction surfaces of the wafers within the reaction chamber. A susceptor drive unit rotates the susceptor at a predetermined rotation angle and moves the susceptor between a reacted position and an unreacted position. A vacuum pumping unit maintains pressure of the reaction gases within the reaction chamber at a predetermined pressure. A heating unit heats at least one of the reaction surfaces of the wafers and the reaction chamber at a constant temperature, thus allowing at least one of the reaction surfaces of the wafers and the reaction chamber to accomplish a predetermined temperature condition.
Inventors
- 👤 Yong Il Kim
- 👤 Joong Ho Shin
- 👤 Yeo Heung Yun
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-09 02:28
CPC Classifications
C; C23; C23C; C23C16/00; C23C16/44; C23C16/455; C23C16/45523; C23C16/45525; C23C16/45544; H; H10; H10P; H10P14/00; H10P14/20; C23C16/4412; C23C16/45519; C23C16/45561; C23C16/458; C23C16/4582; C23C16/4583; C23C16/4584; C23C16/48; C23C16/481; C30; C30B; C30B25/00; C30B25/02; C30B25/12
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 20
Claim 1
Independent Claim
162 words
An apparatus for deposition of thin films on a
plurality of wafers within a sealed reaction chamber,
comprising: a susceptor provided within said reaction chamber to hold
the wafers thereon in a way such that reaction surfaces of said
wafers are exposed to the interior of the reaction chamber; a gas supply unit adapted for supplying reaction gases to
the reaction surfaces of said wafers within the reaction
chamber; a susceptor drive unit adapted for rotating said susceptor
at a predetermined rotation angle and moving the susceptor
between a reacted position and an unreacted position; a vacuum pumping unit adapted for maintaining pressure of
the reaction gases within the reaction chamber at a
predetermined pressure; and a heating unit adapted for heating at least one of the
reaction surfaces of the wafers and the reaction chamber at a
constant temperature, thus allowing at least one of the
reaction surfaces of the wafers and the reaction chamber to
accomplish a predetermined temperature condition.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
61 words
The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said
susceptor comprises: a plurality of wafer stations used for individually
holding one wafer thereon; and a wafer seating unit provided in each of said wafer
stations and moving upwardly and downwardly in a vertical
direction relative to the susceptor so as to seat a wafer in an
associated wafer station of the susceptor.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
90 words
The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein each of
said wafer stations of the susceptor is provided with an
annular step along its circular edge, thus stably seating an
edge of a wafer while preventing an undesirable movement of the
wafer in each wafer station, with a height of a vertical
surface portion of said annular step being determined to allow
the reaction surface of the wafer to be not positioned lower
than a surface of a land of said susceptor when the wafer is
seated in a wafer station.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
23 words
The apparatus according to claim 3, wherein said
annular step has a diameter of smaller than that of each wafer
by several millimeters.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
20 words
The apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the number
of said wafer stations of the susceptor is two or more.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
73 words
The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said wafer
seating unit comprises: a lift plate having a flat upper surface; a plurality of moving pins assembled with said lift plate
and regularly spaced apart from each other at predetermined
angular intervals, said moving pins commonly coming into
contact with one wafer; and a lift plate drive unit mounted to said lift plate so as
to move the lift plate in a vertical direction.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
53 words
The apparatus according to claim 3, wherein said gas
supply unit comprises: a gas ejection unit provided at an upper portion within
said reaction chamber for ejecting the reaction gases onto the
wafers within the reaction chamber; and a gas feeding unit used for feeding the reaction gases to
said gas ejection unit.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
167 words
The apparatus according to claim 7, wherein said gas
feeding unit comprises: a first gas feeding pipeline consisting of: a first container receiving a first liquid reaction
gas source; a first gas inlet pipe introducing inert gas into
said first container; a first gas outlet pipe discharging reaction gas
formed by an evaporation of the first liquid reaction gas
source reacted with the inert gas introduced into the
first container; and a first branch pipe branched from the first gas inlet
pipe and joining the first gas outlet pipe; and
a second gas feeding pipeline consisting of: a second container receiving a second liquid reaction
gas source; a second gas inlet pipe introducing inert gas into
said second container; a second gas outlet pipe discharging reaction gas
formed by an evaporation of the second liquid reaction gas
source reacted with the inert gas introduced into the
second container; and a second branch pipe branched from the second gas
inlet pipe and joining the second gas outlet pipe.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
63 words
The apparatus according to claim 8, wherein each of
said first and second gas outlet pipes is branched into a pipe
extending to the reaction chamber and another pipe extending to
a pump, with a pipe heating part being provided in each of said
first and second gas outlet pipes for preheating the pipe,
extending to the reaction chamber, to a predetermined
temperature.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
91 words
The apparatus according to claim 8, wherein a
plurality of check valves and pneumatic valves are mounted on
the first and second pipelines at positions between the first
gas inlet pipe and the first container, between the first gas
outlet pipe and the reaction chamber, between the second gas
inlet pipe and the second container, and between the second gas
outlet pipe and the reaction chamber, with a gas pressure
controlling orifice being mounted at a position between each of
the first and second gas outlet pipes and an associated pump.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
47 words
The apparatus according to claim 8, wherein a carrier
pipe extends from an integrated inlet of the first and second
gas inlet pipes to an integrated outlet of the first and second
gas outlet pipes so as to directly feed the reaction gases into
the reaction chamber.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
34 words
The apparatus according to claim 8, wherein said gas
supply unit is controlled to allow the reaction gases of the
first and second gas outlet pipes to be alternately ejected
into the reaction chamber.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
63 words
The apparatus according to claim 12, wherein when any
one of the first and second gas outlet pipes does not allow a
flow of reaction gas through it, inert gas flows in an
associated one of the first and second branch pipes, thus
purging the interior of an associated one of the first and
second gas outlet pipes extending to the reaction chamber.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
38 words
The apparatus according to claim 7, wherein a
plurality of gas feeding pipes extend from the gas feeding unit
to the gas ejection unit and feed different gases from the gas
feeding unit to the gas ejection unit.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
67 words
The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said
heating unit comprises: a wafer heating unit positioned at a position under the
susceptor within the reaction chamber and heating the wafers
held on the susceptor at a predetermined constant temperature;
and a reaction chamber heating unit positioned at a peripheral
position within the reaction chamber and heating the interior
of the reaction chamber at a predetermined constant
temperature.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
33 words
The apparatus according to claim 15, wherein said
wafer heating unit comprises a plurality of halogen lamp
heaters concentrically installed on a surface of the susceptor,
said halogen lamp heaters being controlled independently.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
42 words
The apparatus according to claim 16, wherein an inert
gas ejection unit is installed at a position around the halogen
lamp heaters to eject inert gas to the halogen lamp heaters,
thus preventing an undesirable surface contamination of the
halogen lamp heaters.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
40 words
The apparatus according to claim 15, wherein said
reaction chamber heating unit comprises at least one cartridge-type
heater installed at any one of the upper and side portions
within the reaction chamber to heat the interior of the
reaction chamber.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
88 words
The apparatus according to claim 1, further
comprising: a shield installed within the reaction chamber while being
spaced apart from a ceiling surface of the reaction chamber,
with a gap being formed between the shield and the ceiling
surface; and an inert gas ejection nozzle provided in the gap between
the shield and the ceiling surface and used for ejecting inert
gas into said gap so as to prevent an undesirable corrosion of
the ceiling surface due to a reaction of the ceiling surface
with the reaction gases.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
82 words
The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said
vacuum pumping unit comprises: a primary pumping hole primarily discharging the reaction
gases from the reaction chamber; a second pumping hole collecting the reaction gases
primarily discharged from the primary pumping hole and
secondarily discharging the reaction gases; and a main pumping hole collecting the secondarily discharged
reaction gases and finally discharging the reaction gases to
the outside of the reaction chamber using pumping force of a
vacuum pump installed outside the reaction chamber.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
US5683518A
Cited
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