Methods and apparatus for thermally treating a substrate

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9848461-B2
Application number	US-201414500073-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 29, 2014
Priority date	Sep 29, 2014
Publication date	Dec 19, 2017
Grant date	Dec 19, 2017

Abstract

Embodiments of methods and apparatus for thermally treating a substrate are provided herein. In some embodiments, a thermal treatment apparatus includes a chamber body including an interior volume; a plurality of substrate supports disposed within the interior volume, wherein each of the plurality of substrate supports includes a heating element; a selectively sealable opening in the chamber body sized to allow substrates to be inserted into or removed from the interior volume; a robotic arm disposed in the interior volume to move substrates onto and off of the plurality of substrate supports; and a heating assembly configured to heat substrates disposed on the robotic arm.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A thermal treatment apparatus, comprising:
a chamber body including an interior volume;
a plurality of substrate supports disposed within the interior volume, wherein each of the plurality of substrate supports includes a heating element;
a selectively sealable opening in the chamber body sized to allow substrates to be inserted into or removed from the interior volume;
a robotic arm disposed in the interior volume to move substrates onto and off of the plurality of substrate supports and to transfer, within the interior volume, substrates to and from a transfer robot disposed outside of the interior volume; and
a heating assembly, configured to heat substrates disposed on the robotic arm.

2. The thermal treatment apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising:
a vacuum pump coupled to the interior volume of the chamber body.

3. The thermal treatment apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising:
a purge gas source coupled to the interior volume of the chamber body.

4. The thermal treatment apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the heating assembly comprises:
a plurality of infrared energy sources.

5. The thermal treatment apparatus of claim 4 , wherein the plurality of infrared energy sources are halogen lamps.

6. The thermal treatment apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of substrate supports are vertically aligned.

7. The thermal treatment apparatus of claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of substrate supports has a thickness of about 0.5 inches to about 1.5 inches.

8. The thermal treatment apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the heating element is configured to provide energy sufficient to maintain a substrate at a temperature of about 100° C. to about 500° C.

9. The thermal treatment apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the heating assembly is configured to provide energy sufficient to heat a substrate to a temperature of about 100° C. to about 500° C.

10. The thermal treatment apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the robotic arm and the plurality of substrate supports include a plurality of contact elements to contact a backside of the substrate when placed thereon.

11. The thermal treatment apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising:
a window disposed in an upper portion of the chamber body proximate the selectively sealable opening.

12. The thermal treatment apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the window is formed of quartz.

13. The thermal treatment apparatus of claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of substrate supports includes a plurality of independently controlled heater zones.

14. The thermal treatment apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the robotic arm comprises:
a shaft coupled to an actuator configured to lift and rotate the shaft; and
a support arm having a plurality of prongs to support a substrate thereon.

15. The thermal treatment apparatus of claim 14 , wherein each of the plurality of substrate supports includes plurality of notches corresponding to the plurality of prongs.

16. A substrate processing system, comprising:
the thermal treatment apparatus of claim 1 ;
at least one substrate processing chamber; and
a transfer robot to transfer substrates between the at least one substrate processing chamber and the thermal treatment apparatus, wherein the transfer robot is configured to extend into the chamber body of the thermal treatment apparatus to perform substrate transfer operations with the robotic arm within the chamber body.

17. The substrate processing system of claim 16 , wherein the robotic arm has a support arm having a shape that interfaces with a shape of the transfer robot.

18. A method for thermally treating a substrate, comprising:
inserting a substrate into an interior volume of a thermal treatment apparatus using a transfer robot;
transferring the substrate from the transfer robot to a robotic arm disposed in the interior volume;
heating the substrate to a first predetermined temperature using a plurality of infrared energy sources disposed above the robotic arm;
placing the substrate onto one of a plurality of substrate supports in the interior volume using the robotic arm; and
heating the substrate to a second predetermined temperature using a heating element disposed in the substrate support.

19. The method of claim 18 , further comprising:
maintaining the substrate at the second predetermined temperature for a predetermined period of time, wherein the second predetermined temperature is greater than or equal to the first predetermined temperature.

20. A thermal treatment apparatus, comprising:
a chamber body including an interior volume;
a plurality of vertically aligned substrate supports disposed within the interior volume to support a corresponding plurality of substrates, wherein each of the plurality of substrate supports includes a heating element;
a selectively sealable opening in the chamber body sized to allow substrates to be inserted into or removed from the interior volume;
a robotic arm disposed in the interior volume to move substrates onto and off of the plurality of substrate supports; and
a plurality of halogen lamps disposed in an upper portion of the chamber body proximate the selectively sealable opening configured to heat substrates disposed on the robotic arm.

Assignees

• Applied Materials Inc

Inventors

• Miller Keith A

Classifications

• H05B3/04

  Waterproof or air-tight seals for heaters · CPC title

• H05B3/0038 Primary

  for industrial applications · CPC title