Patent Application
20120247392
The entire contents of Taiwan Patent Application No. 100110855, filed on Mar. 29, 2011, from which this application claims priority, are incorporated herein by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to multichamber thin-film deposition apparatuses and their gas-exhausting modules.
2. Description of Related Art
Thin film deposition is a technology used to treat surfaces of various objects or components, such as semiconductor components. Using thin film technology, one or more thin films of one or more elements may be grown on the surface of substrates such as metals, alloys, ceramics, or semiconductor wafers.
The thin film deposition process may include chemical reactions to deposit thin films on the substrate. A physical vapor deposition (PVD) process is a thin film deposition process that does not include the use of a chemical reaction. A chemical vapor deposition (CVD) process is a thin film deposition process that uses one or more chemical reactions to deposit the thin film.
The crystal lattice of a grown (deposited) film may be single-crystalline, polycrystalline, or amorphous depending on the deposition technology and the process parameters. Epitaxy is an important process for growing single-crystalline films in fabricating integrated circuits. Because donors and acceptors can be directly doped during the deposition process, the dopant profile of the films semiconductor films grown by the epitaxy process can be precisely controlled. The films may also be grown to exclude oxygen, carbon, and other unwanted impurities from the films.
Metal-Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition (MOCVD) is a process to deposit a film on the surface of semiconductor wafer or other substrate. MOCVD employs a carrier gas to carry gaseous reactants or precursors into a reactor chamber loaded with substrates. A susceptor bears the substrates and uses a heating mechanism, such as electromagnetic wave induction heating or resistive heating, to heat the substrates and the gases approaching the substrates. As the temperature of the approaching gases is raised, one or more chemical reactions are triggered. The chemical reactions convert gaseous reactants into solid products to be deposited on the surfaces of the substrates.
The quality and yield rate of components formed by MOCVD depend on process conditions such as the stability of gas flow, temperature control, and gas control of the reactor chamber. Each of the above conditions will strongly affect the uniformity of the deposited films.
Because the chemical reactions occur at relatively high temperature, the temperature gradient generates natural convection and the gas-exhausting system generates forced convection. Both of these factors affect the uniformity of the deposited film. Therefore, it is desired to provide apparatuses or gas-exhausting systems that have the advantages of high treating capacity (high throughput), low cost, and ease of maintenance, as well as providing high uniformity in deposited films.
Embodiments described herein relate to a gas-exhausting module for multichamber thin-film deposition systems. Certain embodiments relate to a gas-exhausting module with the advantages of high treating capacity, uniform gas flow, low cost, and ease of maintenance.
In certain embodiments, a gas-exhausting module for a multichamber thin-film deposition apparatus, which has one or more reactor chambers, includes a collecting chamber and a plurality of gas pipes. The collecting chamber may include an upper portion and a lower portion. The cross-sectional area of the lower portion may be less than the cross-sectional area of the upper portion. One end of each gas pipe may communicate with one of the reactor chambers. The other end of each gas pipe may communicate with an inlet of the upper portion in a tangential direction. During operation, the collecting chamber provides a cyclonic airflow to uniformly extract an exhaust gas from each reactor chamber.
Features and advantages of the methods and apparatus of the present invention will be more fully appreciated by reference to the following detailed description of presently preferred but nonetheless illustrative embodiments in accordance with the present invention when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:
While the invention is susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments thereof are shown by way of example in the drawings and will herein be described in detail. The drawings may not be to scale. It should be understood that the drawings and detailed description thereto are not intended to limit the invention to the particular form disclosed, but to the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims.
Reference will now be made in detail to specific embodiments of the invention. Examples of these embodiments are illustrated in accompanying drawings. While the invention will be described in conjunction with these specific embodiments, it will be understood that it is not intended to limit the invention to these embodiments. On the contrary, it is intended to cover alternatives, modifications, and equivalents as may be included within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims. In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention. The present invention may be practiced without some or all of these specific details. In other instances, well-known components and process operations are not described in detail in order not to unnecessarily obscure the present invention. While drawings are illustrated in detail, it is appreciated that the quantity of the disclosed components may be greater or less than that disclosed, except where expressly restricting the amount of the components.
Referring to
In some embodiments, collecting chamber 10 includes outlet 108 arranged below lower portion 104 and communicating with exhaust pipe 16. Exhaust pipe 16 may communicate with a fan or a pump (not shown). It is noted that outlet 108 may be arranged at other positions of collecting chamber 10 and/or with other orientations. For example, outlet 108 and exhaust pipe 16 may be horizontally arranged instead of vertically arranged.
In certain embodiments, when gas-exhausting module 1 is in operation, collecting chamber 10 generates a cyclonic airflow to provide a uniform exhausting capacity for each of reactor chambers 14. The cyclonic airflow may be provided due to the gases entering collecting chamber 10 tangentially (e.g., off-center). Because of the cyclonic airflow in collecting chamber 10, exhaust gases of reactor chambers 14 may be uniformly extracted, the airflows inside the reactor chambers 14 may have substantially the same flow rate and the flow rates are steady. The substantially the same and steady flow rates may provide high uniformity of the deposited films in reactor chambers 14.
Typical multichamber thin-film deposition apparatus feature multiple gas-exhausting modules with each module communicating with one reactor chamber via an exhaust pipe. Because the exhaust gas includes particles such as un-reacted reactants, precursors, solid products, dust particles, and the like, these particles may be deposited on the walls within the reactor chamber and the exhaust pipes. The unwanted deposition of the particles may change the exhaust capacity. The exhaust capacity of one gas-exhausting module thus likely differs from others due to the unwanted deposition, thereby degrading the uniformity of the deposited films in the reactor chambers.
As shown in
In certain embodiments, collecting chamber 10 is integrally formed. For example, as shown in
While
The embodiments of the gas-exhausting module described herein provide strong, steady, and uniform extracting capacity. Additionally, the module employs merely one collecting chamber to treat the exhaust gases of a plurality of reactor chambers, which reduces equipment and maintenance cost.
It is to be understood the invention is not limited to particular systems described which may, of course, vary. It is also to be understood that the terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only, and is not intended to be limiting. As used in this specification, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” include plural referents unless the content clearly indicates otherwise. Thus, for example, reference to “a portion” includes a combination of two or more portions and reference to “a gas” includes mixtures of gases.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 100110855 | Mar 2011 | TW | national |
