Features for improving process uniformity in a millisecond anneal system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10770309-B2
Application number	US-201615378580-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 14, 2016
Priority date	Dec 30, 2015
Publication date	Sep 8, 2020
Grant date	Sep 8, 2020

Abstract

Systems and methods for improving process uniformity in a millisecond anneal system are provided. In some implementations, a process for thermally treating a substrate in a millisecond anneal system can include obtaining data indicative of a temperature profile associated with one or more substrates during processing in a millisecond anneal system. The process can include one or more of (1) changing the pressure inside the processing chamber of the millisecond anneal system; (2) manipulating the irradiation distribution by way of the refracting effect of a water window in the millisecond anneal system; (3) adjusting the angular positioning of the substrate; and/or (4) configuring the shape of the reflectors used in the millisecond anneal system.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A process for thermally treating a substrate in a thermal processing system, comprising:
obtaining data indicative of a temperature profile associated with one or more substrates during processing in a thermal processing system, the thermal processing system having a wafer plane plate dividing the processing chamber into a top chamber and a bottom chamber; and
adjusting a pressure in the processing chamber to affect a temperature uniformity across one or more substrates based at least in part on the data indicative of the temperature profile;
wherein adjusting a pressure in the process chamber comprises warping a water window based on the pressure in the processing chamber.

2. The process of claim 1 , wherein adjusting a pressure comprises adjusting the pressure in the processing chamber during processing of at least one of the one or more substrates to adjust a temperature profile of the at least one of the one or more substrates.

3. The process of claim 1 , wherein the pressure is adjusted within the range of about +2 kPa to about −2 kPA relative to atmospheric pressure.

4. The process of claim 1 , wherein adjusting the pressure in the processing chamber comprises adjusting a pressure differential between the processing chamber and a downstream line in a gas flow system configured to flow process gas through the processing chamber, the downstream line located downstream of one or more vent openings in the process chamber.

5. The process of claim 4 , wherein adjusting the pressure differential comprises adjusting a valve disposed in the downstream line.

6. The process of claim 5 , wherein the valve is adjusted, by one or more controllers, based on one or more signals from a pressure sensor configured to measure pressure inside the processing chamber.

7. The process of claim 1 , wherein the pressure is adjusted to influence a flow pattern of process gas in the processing chamber.

8. The process of claim 1 , wherein the water window comprises an inner plate and an outer plate with water flowing between the inner plate and the outer plate, the inner plate being disposed closer to the processing chamber relative to the outer plate.

9. The process of claim 8 , wherein the water window is warped such that the inner plate of the water window bends away from the processing chamber to provide a defocusing effect on lamp light.

10. The process of claim 8 , wherein the water window is warped such that the outer plate of the water window bends toward the processing chamber to provide a focusing effect on lamp light.

Assignees

• Mattson Tech Inc
• Beijing E Town Semiconductor Tech Co Ltd

Inventors

• Cosceev Alexandr
• Hagedorn Markus
• Pfahler Christian

Classifications

• H10P72/7624

  characterised by the mechanical construction of the susceptor, stage or support · CPC title

• H10P72/0462

  characterised by the construction of the processing chambers, e.g. modular processing chambers · CPC title

• H10P72/0436

  mainly by radiation · CPC title

• H10P72/0434

  mainly by convection · CPC title

• H10P34/422

  using incoherent radiation · CPC title