Substrate processing apparatus with an injector

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12195852-B2
Application number	US-202117530161-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 18, 2021
Priority date	Nov 23, 2020
Publication date	Jan 14, 2025
Grant date	Jan 14, 2025

Abstract

A substrate processing apparatus having a tube, a closed liner lining the interior surface of the tube, a plurality of gas injectors to provide a gas to an inner space of the liner, and, a gas exhaust duct to remove gas from the inner space is disclosed. The liner may have a substantially cylindrical wall delimited by a liner opening at a lower end and being substantially closed for gases above the liner opening. The apparatus may have a boat constructed and arranged moveable into the inner space via the liner opening and provided with a plurality of substrate holders for holding a plurality of substrates over a substrate support length in the inner space. Each of the gas injectors may have a single exit opening at the top and the exit openings of the plurality of injectors are substantially equally divided over the substrate support length.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A substrate processing apparatus comprising:
a tube comprising quartz and an interior surface;
a closed liner configured to line the interior surface of the tube and provided with a liner opening at a lower end and being substantially closed for gases above the liner opening;
a plurality of gas injectors to provide a gas to an inner space of the closed liner, each of the plurality of gas injectors comprising a gas entrance;
a gas exhaust duct to remove the gas from the inner space;
a boat constructed and arranged moveable into the inner space via the liner opening and provided with a plurality of substrate holders for holding a plurality of substrates over a substrate support length in the inner space;
a flange configured to support the closed liner, the flange comprising an inlet opening configured to insert and remove the boat in or from the inner space of the closed liner, the flange comprising a groove constructed and arranged for sealing between the flange and the tube, the flange configured to at least partially close off the liner opening;
a first seal disposed in the groove, the first seal configured to form a pressure barrier between an outside atmospheric pressure and a lower pressure inside the tube;
a vertically movable door configured to close off the inlet opening in the flange and configured to support the boat; and
a second seal disposed between the vertically movable door and the flange during operation of the substrate processing apparatus, wherein:
each of the plurality of gas injectors has a single exit opening at a top end of the respective gas injector,
the single exit opening for each of the plurality of gas injectors are substantially equally divided over the substrate support length,
and
the gas exhaust duct is provided in the flange and below the liner opening to remove the gas from the inner space to create a down flow in the inner space; and

a plurality of flow controllers, each of the plurality of flow controllers configured to adjust a flow speed of the gas for the respective gas injector of the plurality of gas injectors.

2. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the boat is constructed and arranged to extend in a vertical direction into the inner space and provided with the plurality of substrate holders for horizontally holding the plurality of substrates vertically over a substrate support length L 0 in the inner space and the substrate processing apparatus has N-injectors.

3. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 2 , wherein a longest injector of the N-injectors extends into the inner space along the plurality of substrates over a distance L 3 between (1−1/N) to 1 time the substrate support length L 0 .

4. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 2 , wherein a shortest injector of the N-injectors extends into the inner space along the plurality of substrates over a distance L 1 between 0 to 1/N times the substrate support length L 0 .

5. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 2 , wherein an injector which is neither a longest injector nor a shortest injector of the N-injectors extends into the inner space along the plurality of substrates over a distance being equal to 1/N to (1−1/N) times the substrate support length L 0 .

6. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the horizontal, inner cross-section of a gas conduction channel inside each of the plurality of gas injectors has a first dimension in a direction tangential to a circumference of the closed liner which is larger than a second dimension in a radial direction, wherein the closed liner is substantially cylindrical.

7. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 6 , wherein the horizontal, inner cross-section area of the gas conduction channel inside each of the plurality of gas injectors is between 100 and 1500 mm2.

8. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising a vessel for containing silicon precursors and operably connected to the plurality of gas injectors to provide the silicon precursors as the gas in the inner space.

9. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of gas injectors are constructed from silicon, silicon carbide or silicon oxide.

10. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the plurality of gas injectors comprise three injectors.

11. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the single exit opening of each of the plurality of gas injectors are constructed and arranged above the liner opening and the gas exhaust duct is constructed and arranged below the liner opening.

12. The substrate processing apparatus of claim 1 , wherein a first of the plurality of flow controllers is configured to give a shorter of the plurality of gas injectors a higher flow rate than a second of the plurality of flow controllers is configured to give a longer of the plurality of gas injectors.

13. The substrate processing apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the gas entrance for one of the plurality of gas injectors disposed vertically between the liner opening and the gas exhaust duct.

Assignees

• Asm Ip Holding Bv

Inventors

• Haanstra Kornelius
• Jdira Lucian C
• De Ridder Chris G M
• Roelofs Robin
• Knaepen Werner
• Terhorst Herbert

Classifications

• H10P72/7618

  characterised by a movable susceptor, stage or support, others than those only rotating on their own vertical axis, e.g. susceptors on a rotating carrousel · CPC title

• H10P72/12

  Vertical boat type carrier whereby the substrates are horizontally supported, e.g. comprising rod-shaped elements · CPC title

• H10P72/0434 Primary

  mainly by convection · CPC title

• C23C16/4583

  the substrate being supported substantially horizontally · CPC title

• C23C16/45553

  characterized by the use of precursors specially adapted for ALD · CPC title