APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR LARGE AREA MULTI-LAYER ATOMIC LAYER CHEMICAL VAPOR PROCESSING OF THIN FILMS
First Claim
1. A thin-film processing apparatus, comprising:
- a processing chamber with an exterior wall having an outer periphery and a connected evacuation subsystem;
a plurality of injection nozzles spaced apart around the outer periphery of the exterior wall, individual ones of the injection nozzles penetrating the chamber wall to bring processing gas from outside the chamber to the inside of the chamber, and distributing injected gas substantially in a linear pattern; and
a transport subsystem within the processing chamber carrying one or more substrates to be coated in a manner that the one or more substrates pass in close proximity to the plurality of injection nozzles in a sequential order and repeat the sequential passing while the transport subsystem operates.
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Abstract
An apparatus and method for large area high speed atomic layer chemical vapor processing wherein continuous and alternating streams of reactive and inert gases are directed towards a co-axially mounted rotating cylindrical susceptor from a plurality of composite nozzles placed around the perimeter of the processing chamber. A flexible substrate is mounted on the cylindrical susceptor. In one embodiment, the process reactor has four composite injectors arranged substantially parallel to the axis of rotation of the cylindrical susceptor. In the other embodiment, the susceptor cross section is a polygon with a plurality of substrates mounted on its facets. The reactor can be operated to process multiple flexible or flat substrates with a single atomic layer precision as well as high-speed chemical vapor processing mode. The atomic layer chemical vapor processing system of the invention also has provisions to capture unused portion of injected reactive chemical precursors downstream.
160 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A thin-film processing apparatus, comprising:
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a processing chamber with an exterior wall having an outer periphery and a connected evacuation subsystem; a plurality of injection nozzles spaced apart around the outer periphery of the exterior wall, individual ones of the injection nozzles penetrating the chamber wall to bring processing gas from outside the chamber to the inside of the chamber, and distributing injected gas substantially in a linear pattern; and a transport subsystem within the processing chamber carrying one or more substrates to be coated in a manner that the one or more substrates pass in close proximity to the plurality of injection nozzles in a sequential order and repeat the sequential passing while the transport subsystem operates. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A method for processing a thin film, comprising steps of:
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(a) mounting a plurality of injection nozzles spaced apart around the outer periphery of wall of a processing chamber connected to an evacuation subsystem, with individual ones of the injection nozzles penetrating the chamber wall to bring processing gas from outside the chamber to the inside of the chamber, and distributing injected gas substantially in a linear pattern; (b) Arranging at least one substrate to be coated on a transport subsystem within the processing chamber in a manner that the one or more substrates pass in close proximity to the plurality of injection nozzles in a sequential order and repeat the sequential passing while the transport subsystem operates. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification