Hot wall reactor with cooled vacuum containment

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9837250-B2
Application number	US-201414332775-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 16, 2014
Priority date	Aug 30, 2013
Publication date	Dec 5, 2017
Grant date	Dec 5, 2017

Abstract

Methods and apparatus for processing substrates are provided herein. In some embodiments, an apparatus for processing substrates includes a chamber body enclosing a processing volume, the chamber body comprising a chamber floor, a chamber wall coupled to the chamber floor, and a chamber lid removably coupled to the chamber wall, wherein at least one of the chamber floor, the chamber wall, and the chamber lid comprise passages for a flow of a thermal control media; a heater plate disposed adjacent to and spaced apart from the chamber floor; a sleeve disposed adjacent to and spaced apart from the chamber wall, the sleeve supported by the heater plate; and a first sealing element disposed at a first interface between the chamber wall and the chamber lid.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. An apparatus for processing substrates, comprising:
a chamber body enclosing a processing volume, the chamber body comprising a chamber floor, a chamber wall coupled to the chamber floor, and a chamber lid removably coupled to the chamber wall, wherein at least one of the chamber floor, the chamber wall, and the chamber lid comprise passages for a flow of a thermal control media;
a heater plate disposed adjacent to and spaced apart from the chamber floor;
a sleeve disposed adjacent to and spaced apart from the chamber wall, the sleeve supported by the heater plate, wherein the sleeve comprises:
a chamber liner comprising a lower duct bounded by an inner wall, an outer wall, an upper wall, and a lower wall; and
a pumping ring comprising an upper flange and a lower flange joined by a web, wherein the upper flange is supported by the upper wall and the lower flange is supported by an upper end of the inner wall such that the pumping ring, the outer wall, and the upper wall form the boundary of an upper duct; and

a first sealing element disposed at a first interface between the chamber wall and the chamber lid.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the heater plate is spaced apart from the chamber floor by a first gap, wherein the sleeve is spaced apart from the chamber wall by a second gap, and wherein the first gap and the second gap are in fluid communication.

3. The apparatus of claim 2 , further comprising a purge gas port disposed in the chamber body to provide a purge gas to at least one of the first gap and the second gap.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising an exhaust system fluidly coupled to the lower duct.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the web includes a plurality of openings to provide fluid communication between the processing volume and the upper duct.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the upper duct and the lower duct are fluidly coupled.

7. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the sleeve is removable from the chamber body.

8. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising a second sealing element disposed at a second interface between the chamber wall and the chamber floor.

9. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the heater plate and the sleeve are formed as one piece.

10. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising a substrate support disposed within the processing volume and supported for at least one of vertical and rotational displacement.

11. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the substrate support comprises a heater disposed therein.

12. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the chamber body provides a vacuum boundary of the processing volume.

13. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein an inside surface of the chamber wall is outwardly tapered from the chamber floor, and wherein an outside surface of the sleeve is outwardly tapered from the heater plate.

14. The apparatus of claim 13 , wherein the inside surface of the chamber wall is outwardly tapered from the chamber floor at an angle form about 1 degrees to about 2 degrees from vertical, and wherein the outside surface of the sleeve is outwardly tapered from the heater plate at an angle of between about 1 degree and 2 degrees.

15. An apparatus for processing substrates, comprising:
a chamber body enclosing a processing volume, the chamber body comprising a chamber floor, a chamber wall coupled to the chamber floor, and a chamber lid removably coupled to the chamber wall, wherein at least one of the chamber floor, the chamber wall, and the chamber lid comprise passages for a flow of a thermal control media;
a heater plate disposed adjacent to and spaced apart from the chamber floor by a first gap;
a sleeve disposed adjacent to and spaced apart from the chamber wall by a second gap, the sleeve supported by the heater plate, wherein the first gap and the second gap are in fluid communication, wherein the sleeve is removable from the chamber body, and wherein the sleeve comprises
a chamber liner comprising a lower duct bounded by an inner wall, an outer wall, an upper wall, and a lower wall; and
a pumping ring comprising an upper flange and a lower flange joined by a web, wherein the upper flange is supported by the upper wall and the lower flange is supported by an upper end of the inner wall such that the pumping ring, the outer wall, and the upper wall form the boundary of an upper duct, wherein the web includes a plurality of openings to provide fluid communication between the processing volume and the upper duct, and wherein the upper duct and the lower duct are fluidly coupled; and

a first sealing element disposed at a first interface between the chamber wall and the chamber lid.

16. The apparatus of claim 15 , wherein an inside surface of the chamber wall is outwardly tapered from the chamber floor at an angle form about 1 degrees to about 2 degrees from vertical, and wherein an outside surface of the sleeve is outwardly tapered from the heater plate at an angle of between about 1 degree and 2 degrees.

17. A sleeve for use in a substrate process chamber, comprising:
a chamber liner comprising a lower duct bounded by an inner wall, an outer wall, an upper wall, and a lower wall; and
a pumping ring comprising an upper flange and a lower flange joined by a web, the web comprising a plurality of openings;
wherein the upper flange is supported by the upper wall and the lower flange is supported by an upper end of the inner wall such that the pumping ring, the outer wall, and the upper wall form the boundary of an upper duct.

18. The sleeve of claim 17 , wherein the outer wall tapers outwardly from the lower wall.

19. The sleeve of claim 18 , wherein the taper is from about 1.0 degrees to about 2.0 degrees.

Assignees

• Applied Materials Inc

Inventors

• Huston Joel M
• Cuvalci Olkan
• Karazim Michael P
• Yudovsky Joseph

Classifications

• H01J37/32724

  Temperature · CPC title

• H01J37/32522 Primary

  Temperature · CPC title

• H01J37/32513

  Sealing means, e.g. sealing between different parts of the vessel · CPC title

• H01J37/32477 Primary

  characterised by the means for protecting vessels or internal parts, e.g. coatings · CPC title

• C23C16/46

  characterised by the method used for heating the substrate (C23C16/48, C23C16/50 take precedence) · CPC title