METHOD FOR CONTROLLING FLOW AND CONCENTRATION OF LIQUID PRECURSOR

• US 20100178423A1
• Filed: 01/13/2009
• Published: 07/15/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 01/13/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: ASM Japan K.K. (ASM International NV)
• Original Assignee: ASM Japan K.K. (ASM International NV)
• Inventors: Kanayama, Hiroki, Shimizu, Akira, Kobayashi, Akiko
• Granted Patent: US 8,151,814 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 427/248.100
• CPC Class Codes: C23C 16/45544 characterized by the apparatus
• CPC Class Codes: C23C 16/45561 Gas plumbing upstream of the reaction chamber
• CPC Class Codes: F17D 1/16 Facilitating the conveyance of liquids or effecting the conveyance of viscous products by modification of their viscosity changing the flow or the viscosity by adding a chemical agent C09K3/00, C10M
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 137/0396 Involving pressure control

Abstract

A method for controlling flow and concentration of a liquid precursor includes: supplying a carrier gas to a first auto-pressure regulator and outputting therefrom the carrier gas at a first pressure to a precursor reservoir; outputting the mixture of the vaporized precursor and the carrier gas from the precursor reservoir; and supplying the mixture to a second auto-pressure regulator and outputting therefrom the mixture at a second pressure to a reactor via an orifice.

Claims

1. A method for controlling flow and concentration of a liquid precursor, comprising:

supplying a carrier gas to a first auto-pressure regulator and outputting therefrom the carrier gas at a first pressure to an inlet of a precursor reservoir that stores a vaporized precursor, thereby outputting a mixture of the vaporized precursor and the carrier gas from the precursor reservoir through an outlet of the precursor reservoir, said first auto-pressure regulator being provided upstream of the precursor reservoir; and

supplying the mixture of the vaporized precursor and the carrier gas to a second auto-pressure regulator and outputting therefrom the mixture at a second pressure to a reactor via an orifice, said second auto-pressure regulator being provided downstream of the precursor reservoir and said orifice being provided downstream of said second auto-pressure regulator.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein a concentration of the precursor in the mixture entering the reactor is controlled and determined as a function of the first pressure, and a flow rate of the mixture entering the reactor is controlled and determined as a function of the second pressure without substantially changing the concentration.

3. The method according to claim 2, further comprising, prior to supplying the carrier gas, providing a relationship between the first pressure and the concentration of the precursor in the mixture, wherein supplying the carrier gas comprises controlling the first pressure based on the relationship to obtain a target concentration of the precursor in the mixture.

4. The method according to claim 3, further comprising, prior supplying the mixture, providing a relationship between the second pressure and the flow rate of the mixture, wherein supplying the mixture comprises controlling the third pressure based on the relationship to obtain a target flow rate of the mixture.

5. The method according to claim 3, wherein the target concentration of the precursor in the mixture is obtained independently of the second pressure.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein supplying the carrier gas and supplying the mixture are performed repeatedly and intermittently at intervals in the range of about 0.1 to 1 seconds.

7. The method according to claim 6, wherein the precursor is a material used for atomic layer deposition.

8. The method according to claim 1, wherein the vaporized precursor has a partial pressure of 10 kPa or higher in the precursor reservoir.

9. The method according to claim 1, wherein a partial pressure of the vaporized precursor in the precursor reservoir is controlled by a temperature of the precursor reservoir.

10. The method according to claim 1, wherein during supplying the carrier gas and supplying the mixture, a partial pressure of the vaporized precursor in the precursor reservoir and an aperture of the orifice are constant.

11. The method according to claim 1, wherein supplying the carrier gas and supplying the mixture are performed without using mass flow controllers.

12. The method according to claim 1, wherein a partial pressure of the vaporized precursor in the precursor reservoir is higher than 1/10 of the first pressure.

13. A method of depositing a film by atomic layer deposition, comprising:

supplying to the reactor the mixture according to claim 1 alternately with supplying a reactant to the reactor, wherein a substrate is placed in the reactor; and

depositing a film on the substrate by atomic layer deposition using the mixture and the reactant.

14. The method according to claim 13, wherein the alternate supply of the mixture and the reactant is repeated at intervals in the range of about 0.1 to 1 seconds.