Temperature-controllable process chambers, electronic device processing systems, and manufacturing methods

US11107709B2 · US · B2

Patent metadata
FieldValue
Publication numberUS-11107709-B2
Application numberUS-201916261763-A
CountryUS
Kind codeB2
Filing dateJan 30, 2019
Priority dateJan 30, 2019
Publication dateAug 31, 2021
Grant dateAug 31, 2021

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  1. Title

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  2. Abstract

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  3. Assignees and inventors

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  4. Key dates

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  5. First independent claim

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  6. CPC / IPC classifications

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  7. Citations and related patents

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Abstract

Official abstract text for this publication.

A temperature-controllable process chamber configured to process substrates may include one or more vertical walls at least partially defining a chamber portion of the process chamber. Multiple zones may be located about a periphery of the one or more vertical walls and multiple temperature control devices are thermally coupled to the periphery of the one or more vertical walls in each of the multiple zones. A controller coupled to the temperature control devices may be configured to individually control temperatures of the multiple temperature control devices to obtain substantial temperature uniformity across a substrate located in the chamber portion. Other systems and methods of manufacturing substrates are disclosed.

First claim

Opening claim text (preview).

What is claimed is: 1. A process chamber for processing substrates, comprising: one or more vertical walls at least partially defining a chamber portion of the process chamber; multiple zones located about a periphery of the one or more vertical walls; one or more grooves located in the periphery of the one or more vertical walls, the one or more grooves defining one or more boundaries between at least a first zone and a second zone; temperature control devices, each thermally coupled to the one or more vertical walls in one of the multiple zones; and a controller coupled to the temperature control devices and configured to set temperatures of one or more of the temperature control devices to obtain temperature uniformity within 2% across a substrate located in the chamber portion. 2. The process chamber of claim 1 , further comprising one or more temperature measurement devices coupled to the periphery of the one or more vertical walls. 3. The process chamber of claim 1 , further comprising a chamber pedestal located in the chamber portion and a pedestal heater located in the chamber pedestal, the chamber pedestal configured to receive the substrate and the pedestal heater configured to heat the substrate. 4. The process chamber of claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to control the temperatures of the temperature control devices to obtain temperature uniformity of better than 1% across the substrate. 5. The process chamber of claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to set the temperatures of the multiple temperature control devices in each of the multiple zones to obtain temperature uniformity of better than 0.5% across the substrate. 6. The process chamber of claim 1 , wherein the temperature control devices are heaters. 7. The process chamber of claim 1 , wherein the temperature control devices are evenly spaced on the periphery of the one or more vertical walls. 8. A process chamber for processing substrates, comprising: one or more vertical walls at least partially defining a chamber portion of the process chamber; multiple zones located about a periphery of the one or more vertical walls; a first cover covering a first end of the chamber portion, the first cover including one or more first cover zones; temperature control devices, each thermally coupled to the one or more vertical walls in one of the multiple zones; additional temperature control devices, each coupled to an outer periphery of the first cover in one of the one or more first cover zones; and a controller coupled to each of the temperature control devices and configured to set temperatures of the temperature control devices to obtain temperature uniformity of better than 2% across a substrate located in the chamber portion. 9. The process chamber of claim 8 , further comprising: a second cover covering a second end of the chamber portion, the second cover including one or more second cover zones; a further temperature control devices, each coupled to the outer periphery of the second cover in one of the one or more second cover zones; and the controller coupled to each of the further temperature control devices and configured to set the temperatures of the further temperature control devices to obtain temperature uniformity of better than 2% across the substrate located in the chamber portion. 10. The process chamber of claim 8 , further comprising one or more temperature measurement devices coupled to the periphery of the one or more vertical walls. 11. The process chamber of claim 8 , further comprising a chamber pedestal located in the chamber portion and a pedestal heater located in the chamber pedestal, the chamber pedestal configured to receive the substrate and the pedestal heater configured to heat the substrate. 12. The process chamber of claim 8 , wherein the controller is configured to control the temperatures of the temperature control devices to obtain temperature uniformity of better than 1% across the substrate. 13. The process chamber of claim 8 , wherein the controller is configured to set the temperatures of the temperature control device in each of the multiple zones to obtain temperature uniformity of better than 0.5% across the substrate. 14. The process chamber of claim 8 , wherein the temperature control devices are heaters. 15. The process chamber of claim 8 , wherein the temperature control devices are evenly spaced on the periphery of the one or more vertical walls. 16. An electronic device processing system, comprising: a transfer chamber; one or more process chambers coupled to the transfer chamber and configured to receive a substrate, at least one of the one or more process chambers comprising: one or more walls, wherein the one or more walls comprise a first zone and a second zone, wherein a first temperature control device is coupled to a wall in the first zone and a second temperature control device is coupled to a wall in the second zone; one or more grooves located in at least one of the one or more walls, the one or more grooves defining one or more boundaries between the first zone and the second zone; and multiple temperature control devices coupled to the one or more walls; and a controller coupled to the multiple temperature control devices and configured to set temperatures of the multiple temperature control devices to obtain temperature uniformity across the substrate within a predetermined value. 17. The electronic device processing system of claim 16 , wherein the controller is configured to set the temperatures of the multiple temperature control devices to obtain temperature uniformity of better than 1% across the substrate. 18. The electronic device processing system of claim 16 , further comprising one or more temperature measurement devices coupled to the one or more walls, the one or more temperature measurement devices configured to transmit temperature data to the controller. 19. The electronic device processing system of claim 16 , wherein at least one of the multiple temperature control devices is a heater.

Assignees

Inventors

Classifications

  • Thermal treatments, e.g. annealing or sintering · CPC title

  • Temperature monitoring · CPC title

  • mainly by conduction · CPC title

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

  • mainly by convection · CPC title

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What does patent US11107709B2 cover?
A temperature-controllable process chamber configured to process substrates may include one or more vertical walls at least partially defining a chamber portion of the process chamber. Multiple zones may be located about a periphery of the one or more vertical walls and multiple temperature control devices are thermally coupled to the periphery of the one or more vertical walls in each of the m…
Who is the assignee on this patent?
Applied Materials Inc
What technology area does this patent fall under?
Primary CPC classification H10P72/0432. Mapped technology areas include Electricity.
When was this patent published?
Publication date Tue Aug 31 2021 00:00:00 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time) (B2). Legal status and post-grant events are not shown on this page.
What related patents are in patentsdb?
We list 12 related publications on this page (citations in our corpus or others sharing the same primary CPC).