Rapid thermal heating apparatus and control therefor
First Claim
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1. A heat source for heating a semiconductor wafer during rapid thermal processing, comprising:
- a plurality of sources of radiant energy, each radiant energy source including a surrounding light pipe and serving to radiate a predetermined defined area of said semiconductor wafer with a pattern of radiation intensity;
a mounting means for mounting said light pipes and said radiant energy sources next to each other so that a portion of the radiated defined area of one radiant energy source overlaps a portion of the radiated defined area of an adjacent radiant energy source; and
a control means for controlling the intensity of each of said radiant energy sources to control the radiation at different areas of said semiconductor wafer.
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Abstract
A rapid thermal heating apparatus in which lamps are disposed in a plurality of light pipes arranged to illuminate and supply heat to a substrate. The light pipes are positioned so that the illumination patterns overlap. The energy supplied to the lamps is controlled to provide a predetermined heating pattern to the substrate. A liquid cooled window cooperates with the light pipes to transmit energy to a wafer disposed in an evacuated chamber.
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Citations
8 Claims
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1. A heat source for heating a semiconductor wafer during rapid thermal processing, comprising:
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a plurality of sources of radiant energy, each radiant energy source including a surrounding light pipe and serving to radiate a predetermined defined area of said semiconductor wafer with a pattern of radiation intensity; a mounting means for mounting said light pipes and said radiant energy sources next to each other so that a portion of the radiated defined area of one radiant energy source overlaps a portion of the radiated defined area of an adjacent radiant energy source; and a control means for controlling the intensity of each of said radiant energy sources to control the radiation at different areas of said semiconductor wafer.
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2. An apparatus for the rapid thermal processing of a substrate, comprising:
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an evacuable chamber having a window; a plurality of radiant energy sources disposed outside of said chamber and positioned adjacent to said window, said radiant energy sources having a central longitudinal axis that extends in a substantially perpendicular direction relative to said window; reflectors associated with said radiant energy sources to direct radiant energy through said window to radiate predetermined regions of a substrate in said chamber with a pattern of radiation intensity, said reflectors extending along a major portion of said longitudinal axis of said radiant energy sources, and said radiant energy sources and said reflectors positioned so that a portion of a predetermined region radiated by one radiant energy source overlaps a portion of a predetermined region radiated by an adjacent radiant energy source to provide a radiation intensity across the substrate that is dependent upon the intensity of adjacent radiant energy sources; sensors to determine the temperature of different regions of the substrate and to output a signal representative thereof; and a computer programmed to control the intensity of said radiant energy sources in response to a signal received from said sensors to thereby control the temperature of different regions of the substrate. - View Dependent Claims (3)
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4. An apparatus for the rapid thermal processing of a substrate, comprising:
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an evacuable chamber having a window; a plurality of radiant energy sources disposed outside of said chamber and positioned adjacent to said window, said radiant energy sources having a central longitudinal axis that extends in a substantially perpendicular direction relative to said window; a plurality of individual reflectors associated with selected ones of said radiant energy sources to direct radiant energy through said window to radiate predetermined regions of a substrate in said chamber with a pattern of radiation intensity, said reflectors extending along a major portion of said longitudinal axis of said radiant energy sources and the walls of said reflectors extending in a substantially perpendicular direction relative to said window, and said radiant energy sources and said reflectors positioned so that a portion of a predetermined region radiated by one radiant energy source overlaps a portion of a predetermined region radiated by an adjacent radiant energy source to provide a radiation intensity across the substrate that is dependent upon the intensity of adjacent radiant energy sources; sensors to determine the temperature of different regions of the substrate and to output a signal representative thereof; and a computer programmed to control the intensity of said radiant energy sources in response to a signal received from said sensors to thereby control the temperature of the substrate.
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5. An apparatus for the rapid thermal processing of a substrate, comprising:
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an evacuable chamber having a window; a plurality of radiant energy sources disposed outside of said chamber and positioned adjacent to said window, said radiant energy sources having a central longitudinal axis that extends in a substantially perpendicular direction relative to said window; reflectors associated with said radiant energy sources to direct radiant energy through said window to radiate predetermined regions of a substrate in said chamber with a pattern of radiation intensity, said reflectors extending along a major portion of said longitudinal axis of said radiant energy sources and the walls of said reflectors extending in a substantially perpendicular direction relative to said window, and said radiant energy sources and said reflectors positioned so that a portion of a predetermined region radiated by one radiant energy source overlaps a portion of a predetermined region radiated by an adjacent radiant energy source to provide a radiation intensity across the substrate that is dependent upon the intensity of adjacent radiant energy sources; and a control means for controlling the intensity of each of said radiant energy sources to control the radiation at different areas of said substrate.
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6. An apparatus for the rapid thermal processing of a substrate, comprising:
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an evacuable chamber having a window; an assembly of radiant energy sources disposed outside of said chamber, said radiant energy sources having a central longitudinal axis that extends in a substantially perpendicular direction relative to said window and subsets of said radiant energy sources disposed at different radii of the assembly and each radiant energy source terminating in a common plane adjacent to said window; reflectors associated with said radiant energy sources to direct radiant energy through said window to radiate predetermined regions of a substrate in said chamber with a pattern of radiation intensity, said reflectors extending along a major portion of said longitudinal axis of said radiant energy sources and the walls of said reflectors extending in a substantially perpendicular direction relative to said window, and said radiant energy sources and said reflectors positioned so that a portion of one of said predetermined regions radiated by one of said radiant energy sources overlaps a portion of a predetermined region radiated by an adjacent one of said radiant energy sources to provide a radiation intensity across the substrate that is dependent upon the intensity of adjacent radiant energy sources; sensors to determine the temperature of different regions of the substrate and to output a signal representative thereof; and a computer programmed to control the intensity of said radiant energy sources in response to a signal received from said sensors to thereby control the temperature of the substrate.
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7. A heating system for the rapid thermal processing of a substrate, comprising:
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plurality of radiant energy sources having a central longitudinal axis; light pipes associated with each of said radiant energy sources to direct radiant energy onto a substrate to radiate predetermined regions of the substrate with a pattern of radiation intensity, said light pipes surrounding and extending along a major portion of said longitudinal axis of said radiant energy sources, and said radiant energy sources and said light pipes positioned so that a portion of one of said predetermined regions radiated by one of said radiant energy sources overlaps a portion of a predetermined region radiated by an adjacent one of said radiant energy sources to provide a radiation intensity across the substrate that is dependent upon the intensity of adjacent radiant energy sources; sensors to determine the temperature of different regions of the substrate and to output a signal representative thereof; and a computer programmed to control the intensity of said radiant energy sources in response to signals received from said sensors to thereby control the temperature of the substrate.
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8. A heating system for the rapid thermal processing of a substrate, comprising:
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plurality of radiant energy sources having a central longitudinal axis; light pipes associated with said radiant energy sources to direct radiant energy onto a substrate to radiate predetermined regions of the substrate with a pattern of radiation intensity, said light pipes surrounding and extending along a major portion of said longitudinal axis of said radiant energy sources and said light pipes extending in a substantially perpendicular direction relative to a horizontal plane extending through the substrate, and said radiant energy sources and said light pipes positioned so that a portion of one of said predetermined regions radiated by one of said radiant energy sources overlaps a portion of a predetermined region radiated by an adjacent one of said radiant energy sources to provide a radiation intensity across the substrate that is dependent upon the intensity of adjacent radiant energy sources; sensors to determine the temperature of different regions of the substrate and to output a signal representative thereof; and a computer programmed to control the intensity of said radiant energy sources in response to signals received from said sensors to thereby control the temperature of the substrate.
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Specification