Chemical vapor deposition reactor

Claim 1

Apparatus within which to conduct processes of silicon epitaxial chemical vapor deposition on substrate wafers, said apparatus comprising: a heating enclosure comprising a heating enclosure wall which forms a heating chamber therein, said heating enclosure wall having a heating chamber opening therethrough and being insulated against loss of heat; a reactor in said heating chamber, fitting in and closing said heating enclosure opening, said reactor including a heatable reaction chamber wall which is impermeable to gases and defines a reaction chamber and which makes a sealing fit in the opening in the heating chamber wall and itself has an opening through said reaction chamber wall which opens outside of said heating chamber, and reactant distribution means for receiving reactant and adapted to discharge reactant into said reaction chamber; heater means in said heating chamber for heating said reaction chamber wall; a wafer carrier so proportioned, arranged, and mounted as to be at least partially insertable into, and removable out of, said reaction chamber through said opening in said reaction chamber wall, said wafer carrier including support means to support said wafers spaced apart from one another so that at least one surface of each said wafer will be exposed in said reaction chamber; closure means adapted to open and to close said opening in said reaction chamber to pass said wafer carrier and to seal said opening respectively; reactant passage means entering said reactant distribution means, and being accessible from outside of said heating chamber for introducing reactants into said reactant distribution means, and thence into said reaction chamber; a conditioning chamber aligned with said reaction chamber, said conditioning chamber including door means through which said wafer carrier can be placed in and removed from the interior of said conditioning chamber; means for providing an atmosphere in said conditioning chamber which is not incompatible with the atmosphere which will exist in the reaction chamber when the wafer carrier is inserted into the reaction chamber; and first moving means adapted to move said wafer carrier into and out of said reaction chamber, said wafer carrier being movable into and out of said conditioning chamber, whereby said wafer carrier can be moved into and out of said reaction chamber without direct communication of the reaction chamber with conditions external to the conditioning chamber.