Spatially uniform gas supply and pump configuration for large wafer diameters

• US 6,537,418 B1
• Filed: 09/19/1997
• Issued: 03/25/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 09/19/1997
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Infineon Technologies AG, International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: Siemens AG
• Inventors: Roithner, Klaus, Muller, K. Paul, Flietner, Bertrand
• Primary Examiner(s): Lund, Jeffrie R.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Zervigon, Rudy
• Application Number:
  US08/934,101
• Time in Patent Office: 2,013 Days
• Field of Search: 156/345, 118/715, 392/416, 216/67, 422/186.06, 438/710, 66/76
• US Class Current: 156/345.34
• CPC Class Codes: H01J 37/3244 Gas supply means
• CPC Class Codes: H01J 37/32834 Exhausting

Abstract

A gas distribution plate (60) for a semiconductor processing chamber (86) includes a gas distribution plate for distributing gases across a surface of a semiconductor wafer (84) to be processed in the chamber. The gas distribution plates has a substantially planar member having gas outlets for distributing a reactant gas across the surface of the semiconductor wafer, the gas outlet means includes a plurality of apertures (66) defined in said planar member, the plurality of apertures having different areas at predetermined locations to adjust etching gas flow. A pump (80) is provided for evacuating a reactant-product gas created across the surface of the semiconductor wafer during wafer processing. The pump (80) includes a plurality of tubes extending through the planar member, the plurality of tubes having apertures, and the apertures have different areas at predetermined locations to adjust reactant gas and reactant-product gas flow wherein the gas outlets and the pump coact to substantially maintain a predetermined concentration of the reactant gas and a predetermined concentration of the reactant-product gas across the surface of the semiconductor wafer during wafer processing.

Claims

1. A gas distribution plate for use in a semiconductor processing chamber to distribute gases across a surface of a semiconductor wafer to be processed in the chamber, the gas distribution plate comprising:

means for receiving a reactant gas flow substantially without introducing turbulence;

means for directing the reactant gas flow in direction substantially parallel to a major plane of the gas distribution plate;

means for introducing the reactant gas flow to the chamber in a direction substantially perpendicular to the major plane of the gas distribution plate; and

means for expelling a product gas flow from a volume of the chamber substantially adjacent to said means for introducing for maintaining a predetermined concentration of the reactant gas and a predetermined concentration of the product gas across the portion of the surface of the semiconductor wafer substantially adjacent to said means for introducing.

2. A gas distribution plate as defined in claim 1, further comprising means for limiting the flow rates of the reactant and product gases across a portion of the surface of the semiconductor wafer that has a reduced chip density while maintaining a predetermined concentration of the reactant gas and a predetermined concentration of the product gas across substantially the entire surface of the semiconductor wafer during wafer processing.