Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to lamps to provide thermal energy in the form of electromagnetic radiation for use in substrate processing systems, and more particularly in semiconductor and thin film substrate processing systems.
In semiconductor and thin film fabrication, lamps are often used as a source of radiant energy to provide thermal energy for a variety of thermal processes. In some cases, it is often desirable to direct the radiant energy from the lamp by reflecting some of the radiant energy incident on a portion of the lamp tube.
In some processing systems in which some of the energy incident on the tube is reflected, some of the reflected energy may be directed toward the source of the energy, for example a coil within the lamp. The inventor has observed that reflected radiant energy incident on the coil may be absorbed by the coil, sometimes referred to as self-absorbed energy, resulting in coil heating. The self-absorbed energy may undesirably raise the temperature of the coil, which may lead to premature failure of the lamp.
Therefore, the inventor has provided embodiments of improved lamps to reduce coil heating due to reflected radiant energy incident on the coil.
Embodiments of apparatus for providing radiant energy in the form of electromagnetic radiation are provided herein. In some embodiments a radiation source for electromagnetic radiation for use in a substrate processing system includes: a tubular body formed from a material transparent to electromagnetic radiation; a filament disposed within the tubular body; and a reflective coating disposed on a portion of the tubular body to form a reflective portion, wherein the reflective portion is configured to minimize reflection of electromagnetic radiation emanating from the filament during use back to the filament.
In some embodiments, a lamp tube includes: a tubular body formed from a material transparent to electromagnetic radiation comprising a reflective portion having a reflective coating wherein the reflective portion is configured to minimize reflection of incident electromagnetic radiation emanating from the source during use back to the source.
In some embodiments a substrate processing system includes: a chamber enclosing a processing volume; a support having a substrate support surface adapted to support a substrate within the processing volume; a lamp comprising a tubular body formed from a material transparent to electromagnetic radiation; a filament disposed within the tubular body; and a reflective coating disposed on a portion of the tubular body to form a reflective portion, wherein the reflective portion is configured to minimize reflection of electromagnetic radiation emanating from the filament during use back to the filament.
Other and further embodiments of the present invention are described below.
Embodiments of the present invention, briefly summarized above and discussed in greater detail below, can be understood by reference to the illustrative embodiments of the invention depicted in the appended drawings. It is to be noted, however, that the appended drawings illustrate only typical embodiments of this invention and are therefore not to be considered limiting of its scope, for the invention may admit to other equally effective embodiments.
To facilitate understanding, identical reference numerals have been used, where possible, to designate identical elements that are common to the figures. The figures are not drawn to scale and may be simplified for clarity. It is contemplated that elements and features of one embodiment may be beneficially incorporated in other embodiments without further recitation.
Embodiments of electromagnetic radiation sources, for example lamps, configured to reflect a portion of the electromagnetic radiation generated within the lamp in the form of radiant energy are provided herein. The radiant energy may be provided to increase the thermal energy in components of a thermal process in a processing chamber, for example, for processing substrates in semiconductor other and thin-film fabrication processes.
As used throughout this specification, “upper” and “lower” are meant to distinguish between two portions of the tube or lamp on opposite sides of a horizontal plane, for example the horizontal plane including axis 310 depicted in
A lamp filament, filament 106, is generally centrally located approximately at the center 104 of the tube 102. The location of the filament 106 within the tube 102 may be maintained by a plurality of filament supports 110 (6 shown in
A support bar 116, for example a silica bar, may be provided for positioning and support of the leads 112, 113. Alternately, power may be supplied at two approximately diametrically opposed locations (not shown) on the lamp, with a single power lead at each location. As with the two lead power supply discussed above, the leads may each be disposed in a downwardly directed projection similar to projection 114, may be positioned with a support bar 116, and are hermetically sealed within the projections.
When the filament is energized, the filament emits electromagnetic radiation radially outward from the filament as illustrated by arrows 108. Because the tube 102 is transparent to the electromagnetic radiation, the electromagnetic radiation travels through the tube 102 and into the environment 120 outside and surrounding the tube 102. The environment may be a processing volume within a processing chamber (discussed below with regard to
In some applications, it may be desirable to direct the radiant energy from the lamp (e.g., from the energized filament 106) by blocking the transmission of the radiation into the environment in an undesired direction and reflecting the blocked energy in a desired direction. Some lamps achieve this by disposing a reflective coating on a portion of the lamp 200 as illustrated in
The inventor has noted that in some lamps 200 with a substantially circular cross section and a specular reflective coating 208 as illustrated in
In the embodiments discussed herein, the illustrative source of the emitted radiant energy is a filament, for example filament 106. Lamps having a radiation source located along a line, such as centerline 201 of the tube 202, as disclosed herein may benefit from the present disclosure. Other sources of emitted radiation may benefit in a similar fashion from embodiments of the present disclosure
The inventor has discovered that certain tube cross-sectional configurations can minimize reflection of electromagnetic radiation towards the filament such that filament self-absorption is also minimized. For example, certain parabolic and cardioid-like cross sectional shapes, when partially coated with a reflective coating, have been observed to minimize the reflection of electromagnetic radiation emanating from an energized filament back to the filament, reducing the amount of self-absorbed radiant energy, and therefore reducing or minimizing the undesired increase in filament temperature.
As illustrated, the parabolic shape has the focus point 306 lying along the vertical axis, axis 308, of the parabolic portion, lower portion 304. The axis 308 may or may not be an axis of symmetry for the lower portion 304. For example, in some embodiments the left and right halves of the lower portion 304 may have different curvatures which may beneficially reflect incident radiation (represented by arrows 318, discussed below) in different directions.
In the non-limiting example illustrated in
The upper portion 312 of the tube 302 may have any convenient cross-section, such as, in non-limiting examples, circular, oval, or parabolic, or combinations thereof. In the embodiments illustrated, the upper portion 312 is circular for ease of illustration only. In some embodiments, the tube 302 generally has a uniform wall thickness. In other embodiments, the wall thickness may vary due to, for example, design considerations, for example where a portion of the wall may comprise a lens, or process variations.
The reflective coating 314 may be on the outside of the lower portion 304 of the tube 302 as illustrated, or may be on the inside surface. The reflective coating 314 may be specular or diffuse (as discussed above), and may comprise any suitable material, for example the materials or combinations of materials discussed above with regard to reflective coating 208. In some embodiments, additional benefits may be realized from a specular, or substantially specular, reflective coating 314 used on lamps having a lower portion 304 formed in a parabolic shape.
The filament 316 may be any filament appropriate for thermal processing lamps. For example, the filament 316 may be a single, straight filament or may be a single helically coiled filament. In some embodiments, the filament may be a coiled coil, for example a single helically coiled filament which is then helically coiled. Multiple coils, or coiled coils, may also be used. The filament may comprise suitable process compatible materials, including non-limiting examples such as tungsten, non-sag tungsten, rhenium, tantalum, osmium, iridium, platinum, carbon, molybdenum and their alloys.
As illustrated in
A reflective coating 406 may be disposed on the lower portion 404 of the lamp. The reflective coating 406 may be on an outside surface of the lower portion 404 (as illustrated) or may be on an inside surface. The reflective coating 406 may be of similar composition, construction, and surface roughness as the reflective coatings 314 discussed above.
In embodiments in which the shape of the tube 402 deviates from a cardioid, the upper portion 412 may have any convenient cross section, such as, in non-limiting examples, circular, oval, or parabolic, or combinations thereof, while the lower portion 404 maintains the deflected portion 420 as illustrated. In the embodiments illustrated, the upper portion 412 is depicted as circular for ease of illustration only. In some embodiments, the tube 402 generally has a uniform wall thickness. In other embodiments, the wall thickness may vary due to, for example, design considerations such as incorporation of a lens, or process variations.
In the non-limiting embodiment of
As illustrated in
As illustrated in
Embodiments of the present disclosure may include filament supports 110 as illustrated in
Embodiments of the instant lamps may be included in a substrate processing system, for example a thermal processing system such as the rapid thermal processing (RTP) system 500 of
The AC power source 518 delivers AC power to the lamp driver 514, the operation of which is controlled by the controller 516. The lamp driver 514 distributes power to the lamp array 512. In turn, the lamp array 512 produces heat to thermally process the substrate 506 within the chamber 502.
In some embodiments, the lamp array 512 comprises one or more lamps, each may be individually controlled by the controller 516 through the lamp driver 514. As illustrated in
Each lamp 520, 522, 524 may be individually controlled by the controller 516 to provide heat to heating zones 521, 523, 525, respectively. Because the lamps may be individually controlled, the temperature in the heating zones may also be controlled.
Thus, embodiments of electromagnetic radiation sources, for example lamps, configured to reflect a portion of the electromagnetic radiation generated within the lamp in the form of radiant energy are provided herein. Elements of the above-described embodiments may be combined in various ways to advantageously provide combinations of benefits provided by the different elements. For example, in some embodiments, a lamp tube may be provided that includes a tubular body formed from a material transparent to electromagnetic radiation and comprising a reflective portion having a reflective coating, wherein the reflective portion is configured to minimize the reflection of incident electromagnetic radiation emanating from a source during use back to the source.
In some embodiments, a portion of the reflective portion is formed as a closed curved figure having an inwardly deflected portion. In any of the preceding embodiments, at least a portion of the reflective portion is formed as a parabola. In any of the preceding embodiments, the reflective coating is a specular coating or a diffuse coating. In any of the preceding embodiments, the reflective coating is applied to an outside surface of the tubular body. In any of the preceding embodiments, the tubular body is formed from quartz or an aluminosilicate glass. In any of the preceding embodiments, the tubular body can include straight sections, arced sections, or straight and arced sections. In any of the preceding embodiments, the source comprises a filament.
In some embodiments, a radiation source for electromagnetic radiation is provided and may include a tubular body formed from a material transparent to electromagnetic radiation; a filament disposed within the tubular body; and a reflective coating disposed on a portion of the tubular body to form a reflective portion, wherein the reflective portion is configured to minimize reflection of electromagnetic radiation emanating from the filament during use back to the filament. The radiation source may also include any of the variations and combination disclosed above with respect to the lamp tube.
In any of the preceding embodiments, the radiation source may further include a first lead having a first end coupled to a first portion of the filament and a second end exiting the tubular body at a first point; and a second lead having a first end coupled to a second portion of the filament and a second end exiting the tubular body at a second point. In some embodiments, a first base may be electrically coupled to the second end of the first lead and coupled to the tubular body; and a second base may be electrically coupled to an end of the second lead and coupled to the tubular body.
In some embodiments, a substrate processing system is provided that may include a chamber enclosing a processing volume; a support having a substrate support surface adapted to support a substrate within the processing volume; a lamp comprising a tubular body formed from a material transparent to electromagnetic radiation; a filament disposed within the tubular body; and a reflective coating disposed on a portion of the tubular body to form a reflective portion, wherein the reflective portion is configured to minimize reflection of electromagnetic radiation emanating from the filament during use back to the filament. The substrate processing system may include any of the embodiments of the lamp tube or the radiation source as discussed above.
While the foregoing is directed to embodiments of the present invention, other and further embodiments of the invention may be devised without departing from the basic scope thereof.
This application claims benefit of U.S. provisional patent application Ser. No. 61/874,136, filed Sep. 5, 2014, which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety.
Number | Date | Country | |
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61874136 | Sep 2013 | US |