Single wafer annealing oven
First Claim
1. An apparatus for heating a wafer during processing, the apparatus comprising:
- a process chamber defining a cavity;
a first heatable plate disposed in said cavity configured to receive a wafer thereon said heatable plate remaining stationary in said cavity relative to said process chamber;
a second heatable plate disposed in said cavity proximate and adjacent to said first heatable plate, said wafer disposed therebetween, free of contact with said first heatable plate and said second heatable plate; and
a resistive heating element contacting each of said first and second heatable plates, said first and second heatable plates conducting heat from said resistive heating element to create a uniform temperature distribution across said heatable plate, said wafer sensing thermal energy output from said first heatable plate and said second heatable plate.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A heating apparatus for isothermally distributing a temperature across a semiconductor device or wafer during processing. The invention includes a chamber configured to receive a single semiconductor wafer. Housed within the chamber is a heating member or heating plate. Disposed on a periphery of the heating member is a heat source. Heat energy radiating from the heat source conducts through the heating member to create an isothermal temperature distribution across the heating member. Wafer supports are included on the heating plate which support the wafer in close proximity to the heating plate, such that the temperature of the heating plate establishes the temperature of the wafer. Advantageously, this configuration permits the temperature to be uniformly and isothermally distributed over the wafer.
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Citations
24 Claims
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1. An apparatus for heating a wafer during processing, the apparatus comprising:
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a process chamber defining a cavity;
a first heatable plate disposed in said cavity configured to receive a wafer thereon said heatable plate remaining stationary in said cavity relative to said process chamber;
a second heatable plate disposed in said cavity proximate and adjacent to said first heatable plate, said wafer disposed therebetween, free of contact with said first heatable plate and said second heatable plate; and
a resistive heating element contacting each of said first and second heatable plates, said first and second heatable plates conducting heat from said resistive heating element to create a uniform temperature distribution across said heatable plate, said wafer sensing thermal energy output from said first heatable plate and said second heatable plate. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A reactor for rapidly and uniformly annealing a semiconductor wafer, the reactor comprising:
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a chamber defining a cavity;
a first conductive heating member in said cavity configured to receive a wafer thereon and to remain stationary relative to said chamber;
a second conductive heating member in said cavity positioned adjacent to said first conductive heating member;
wafer supports disposed on a surface of said first conductive heating member upon which said wafer can be positioned to maintain said wafer free of contact with said first conductive heating member; and
a plurality of resistive heating devices each in contact with corresponding first and second conductive heating members to create a uniform temperature distribution across each of said first and second conductive heating members, said wafer sensing thermal energy output from said first conductive heating member and said second conductive heating member. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. An apparatus for heating a wafer during processing, the apparatus comprising:
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a process chamber defining a cavity;
a plurality of heatable members disposed in said cavity in a vertically stacked configuration;
a wafer support mechanism disposed on a surface of each of said heatable members upon which a wafer can be positioned to maintain said wafer free of contact with said surface of said heatable members; and
a heat source disposed on a periphery of each of said heatable members to conduct heat through said heatable members to create a uniform temperature distribution across each of said heatable members, said wafer sensing thermal energy output from proximately stacked heatable members. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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Specification