Flow controlled liner having spatially distributed gas passages

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9553002-B2
Application number	US-201414259898-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 23, 2014
Priority date	Apr 30, 2013
Publication date	Jan 24, 2017
Grant date	Jan 24, 2017

Abstract

Embodiments of the present disclosure provide a liner assembly including a plurality of individually separated gas passages. The liner assembly enables tenability of flow parameters, such as velocity, density, direction and spatial location, across a substrate being processed. The processing gas across the substrate being processed may be specially tailored for individual processes with a liner assembly according to embodiment of the present disclosure.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A liner assembly for protecting an inner surface of a substrate process chamber having a plurality of gas injects, comprising:
a ring shaped body having an outer surface sized to be received by the inner surface of the substrate process chamber and an inner surface defining a substrate processing volume, wherein the ring shaped body includes a plurality of gas passages, wherein the plurality of gas passages connect the outer surface to the substrate processing volume, and the plurality of gas passages are spaced to align with the plurality of gas injects; and
an upper liner disposed above the ring shaped body, wherein the upper liner includes a plurality of flow guides aligned with the plurality of gas passages.

2. The liner assembly of claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of gas passages comprises a slanted channel.

3. The liner assembly of claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of gas passages includes a horizontal portion and a vertical portion, the horizontal portion opens to the outer surface of the ring shaped body, the vertical portion has an upper end which opens to an upper surface of the ring shaped body and a lower end which connects with the horizontal portion, and the upper end of the vertical portion connects to a corresponding one of the plurality of flow guides.

4. The liner assembly of claim 1 , wherein each flow guide has a curved upper surface.

5. The liner assembly of claim 4 , wherein the upper liner has a lip extending inwardly.

6. A liner assembly for protecting an inner surface of a substrate process chamber having a plurality of gas injects, comprising:
a ring shaped body having an outer surface sized to be received by the inner surface of the substrate process chamber and an inner surface defining a substrate processing volume, wherein the ring shaped body includes a plurality of gas passages, wherein the plurality of gas passages connect the outer surface to the substrate processing volume, and the plurality of gas passages are spaced to align with the plurality of gas injects, wherein each of the plurality of gas passages comprises a slanted channel, and wherein each of the plurality of gas passages further comprises a horizontal channel connected to the slanted channel, the horizontal channel opens to the outer surface of the ring shaped body, and the slanted channel opens to the inner surface of the ring shaped body.

7. The liner assembly of claim 6 , further comprising an inject ring attached to the inner surface of the ring shaped body, wherein the inject ring has a plurality of horizontal channels formed therethrough, and each of the plurality of horizontal channels is aligned with and connected to a corresponding one of the plurality of gas passages in the ring shaped body.

8. The liner assembly of claim 7 , wherein the plurality of horizontal channels formed through the inject ring are parallel to one another.

9. The liner assembly of claim 6 , further comprising a plurality of inject blocks coupled to the ring shaped body on the inner surface, wherein each inject block includes a horizontal channel formed therethrough, and the horizontal channel in each inject block is aligned with a corresponding one of the plurality of gas passages in the ring shaped body.

10. The liner assembly of claim 9 , wherein the horizontal channels formed through the inject blocks are parallel to one another.

11. A liner assembly for protecting an inner surface of a substrate process chamber having a plurality of gas injects, comprising:
a ring shaped body having an outer surface sized to be received by the inner surface of the substrate process chamber and an inner surface defining a substrate processing volume, wherein the ring shaped body includes a plurality of gas passages, wherein the plurality of gas passages connect the outer surface to the substrate processing volume, and the plurality of gas passages are spaced to align with the plurality of gas injects, and wherein each of the plurality of gas passages includes a first horizontal portion and a vertical portion, the first horizontal portion opens to the outer surface of the ring shaped body, the vertical portion has an upper end which opens to an upper surface of the ring shaped body and a lower end which connects with the first horizontal portion.

12. The liner assembly of claim 11 , further comprising a plurality of inserts disposed in upper ends of the plurality of vertical channels from the upper surface of the ring shaped body, and each of the plurality of gas passages further includes a second horizontal portion which opens to the inner surface of the ring shaped body, the second horizontal portion is connected to the vertical portion below the insert.

13. The liner assembly of claim 11 , further comprising a cover ring disposed over the upper surface of the ring shaped body, each of the plurality of gas passages further includes a second horizontal portion which opens to the inner surface of the ring shaped body, the second horizontal portion is connected to the vertical portion below the upper surface.

14. An apparatus for processing a substrate, comprising:
a chamber body, wherein the chamber body encloses a chamber enclosure, an inject opening and an exhaust opening are formed in opposite sides of the chamber body, and a substrate opening is formed between the inject opening and the exhaust opening;
a gas inlet disposed in the inject opening, wherein the gas inlet includes a plurality of gas injects;
a substrate support disposed in the chamber enclosure; and
a liner assembly positioned to protect an inner surface of the chamber body and to tune a gas flow of the gas inlet, wherein the liner assembly comprises:
a ring shaped body having an outer surface sized to be received by the inner surface of the chamber body, an inner surface of the ring shaped body defines a substrate processing volume, the ring shaped body includes a plurality of gas passages, wherein the plurality of gas passages connect the outer surface to the substrate processing volume, and the plurality of gas passages are spaced to align with the plurality of gas injects; and
an upper liner disposed above the ring shaped body, wherein the upper liner includes a plurality of flow guides aligned with the plurality of gas passages in the ring shaped body.

15. The apparatus of claim 14 , wherein each of the plurality of gas passages of the liner assembly includes a slanted channel.

16. An apparatus for processing a substrate, comprising:
a chamber body, wherein the chamber body encloses a chamber enclosure, an inject opening and an exhaust opening are formed in opposite sides of the chamber body, and a substrate opening is formed between the inject opening and the exhaust opening;
a gas inlet disposed in the inject opening, wherein the gas inlet includes a plurality of gas injects;
a substrate support disposed in the chamber enclosure; and
a liner assembly positioned to protect an inner surface of the chamber body and to tune a gas flow of the gas inlet, wherein the liner assembly comprises a ring shaped body having an outer surface sized to be received by the inner surface of the chamber body, an inner surface of the ring shaped body defines a substrate processing volume, the ring shaped body includes a plurality of gas passages, wherein the plurality of gas passages connect the outer surface to the substrate processing volume, and the plurality of gas passages are spaced to align with the plurality of gas injects, and wherein each of the plurality of gas passages includes a first horizontal portion and a vertical portion, the fir

Assignees

• Applied Materials Inc

Inventors

• Samir Mehmet Tugrul
• Lau Shu-Kwan

Classifications

• H10P72/0604

  Process monitoring, e.g. flow or thickness monitoring · CPC title

• H10P72/0436 Primary

  mainly by radiation · CPC title

• H10P72/0402 Primary

  Apparatus for fluid treatment (H10P72/0441, H10P72/0448 take precedence) · CPC title

• C23C16/455

  characterised by the method used for introducing gases into reaction chamber or for modifying gas flows in reaction chamber · CPC title

• C23C16/45519

  Inert gas curtains · CPC title