Gas showerhead, method for making the same and thin film growth reactor

• US 9,534,724 B2
• Filed: 05/09/2013
• Issued: 01/03/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 05/11/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Advanced Micro-Fabrication Equipment Inc.
• Original Assignee: Advanced Micro-Fabrication Equipment Inc.
• Inventors: Jiang, Yong, Zhou, Ning, Ho, Henry, Du, Zhiyou
• Primary Examiner(s): Hassanzadeh, Parviz
• Assistant Examiner(s): Antolin, Stanislav
• Application Number:
  US13/891,138
• Publication Number:
  US 20130299009A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,335 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: C23C 16/45514 Mixing in close vicinity to the substrate
• CPC Class Codes: C23C 16/45517 Confinement of gases to vicinity of substrate
• CPC Class Codes: C23C 16/45565 Shower nozzles
• CPC Class Codes: C23C 16/45572 Cooled nozzles
• CPC Class Codes: C23C 16/45574 Nozzles for more than one gas
• CPC Class Codes: C23C 16/45578 Elongated nozzles, tubes with holes
• CPC Class Codes: C30B 25/14 Feed and outlet means for the gases; Modifying the flow of the reactive gases
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/67109 mainly by convection
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 137/0402 Cleaning, repairing, or assembling
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 137/6416 With heating or cooling of the system

Abstract

The present application provides a gas showerhead including a gas distribution and diffusion plate and a water cooling plate, the gas distribution and diffusion plate includes several columns of first gas diffusion passages connecting to a first reactant gas source and several columns of second gas diffusion passages connecting to a second reactant gas source; the water cooling plate having cooling liquid passages is arranged below the gas distribution and diffusion plate, and the water cooling plate is provided with first gas outlet passages provided for the reactant gas in the first gas diffusion passages to flow out and second gas outlet passages provided for the reactant gas in the second gas diffusion passages to flow out, so as to isolatedly feed at least two reactant gases into a reaction chamber.

Claims

1. A gas showerhead, for isolatedly feeding at least a first reactant gas and a second reactant gas into a reaction chamber, comprising:

a gas distribution and diffusion plate, comprising a plurality of rows of first gas diffusion passages connecting to a first reactant gas source and a plurality of rows of second gas diffusion passages connecting to a second reactant gas source, the plurality of rows of the first gas diffusion passages and the plurality of rows of the second gas diffusion passages are arranged alternately; and

a water cooling plate, located below the gas distribution and diffusion plate, comprising a cooling liquid passage comprising a plurality of columns of cooling liquid passages, a plurality of first gas outlet passages provided for a reactant gas in the first gas diffusion passages to flow out, a plurality of second gas outlet passages provided for a reactant gas in the second gas diffusion passages to flow out, and the plurality of first gas outlet passages are arranged alternately with the plurality of second gas outlet passages;

wherein the gas distribution and diffusion plate and the water cooling plate are two separated components and are assembled integrally in a detachable mechanical manner, and the first reactant gas and the second reactant gas are isolated from each other before exiting the gas showerhead and entering the reaction chamber;

wherein the gas distribution and diffusion plate comprises an upper plate and a lower plate, the first gas diffusion passages comprise a plurality of first conduits extending through the upper plate and the lower plate, wherein the second gas diffusion passages comprise a plurality of second conduits extending through the lower plate, and wherein an upper opening of each of the second conduits is lower than a bottom surface of the upper plate but is higher than an upper surface of the lower plate;

wherein the water cooling plate comprises flat upper surfaces and flat lower surfaces, each of the plurality of first gas outlet passages and the plurality of second gas outlet passages comprises a continuous longitudinal groove extending through the flat upper surfaces and the flat lower surfaces of the water cooling plate, and a column of the plurality of columns of cooling liquid passages is disposed between each of the plurality of first gas outlet passages alternately arranged with each of the plurality of second gas outlet passages; and

wherein a cross section of each of the plurality of first conduits and the plurality of second conduits in a horizontal direction is circular and opens to one of the continuous longitudinal grooves of the plurality of first gas outlet passages and the plurality of second gas outlet passages such that reactant gas is conveyed first through first and second conduits and then diffused and distributed via the continuous longitudinal grooves.

2. The gas showerhead according to claim 1, wherein an upper conduit opening of each of the plurality of first conduits is higher than an upper surface of the upper plate.

3. The gas showerhead according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of first gas outlet passages comprise first loop structures, and the plurality of second gas outlet passages comprise second loop structures, and the first loop structures and the second loop structures are arranged alternately, or nested within each other.

4. The gas showerhead according to claim 3, wherein the first loop structure and the second loop structure both are of a regular polygonal structure or a circular structure.

5. The gas showerhead according to claim 1 wherein for each of the continuous longitudinal grooves of the plurality of first gas outlet passages and the plurality of second gas outlet passages comprise a cross sectional area that gradually increases in a direction from the flat upper surfaces toward the flat lower surfaces of the water cooling plate.

6. The gas showerhead according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of gas buffering openings are selectively arranged on at the flat upper surfaces of the water cooling plate, the plurality of gas buffering openings communicate with at least part of the continuous longitudinal grooves of the plurality of the first gas outlet passages or at least part of the continuous longitudinal grooves of the plurality of the second gas outlet passages.

7. The gas showerhead according to claim 6, wherein the plurality of gas buffering openings comprise a stepped shape, or a slope shape, or a circular arc shape.

8. The gas showerhead according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of first conduits and plurality of second conduits are distributed on the gas distribution and diffusion plate uniformly or nonuniformly but regularly.

9. The gas showerhead according to claim 1, wherein the gas distribution and diffusion plate comprises a first distribution zone and a second distribution zone, the first distribution zone is close to a gas inlet of a first reactant gas source, and a distance between the second distribution zone and the gas inlet of the first reactant gas source is larger than a distance between the first distribution zone and the gas inlet of the first reactant gas source;

an inner diameter of the first gas diffusion passage in the first distribution zone is smaller than an inner diameter of the corresponding first gas diffusion passage in the second distribution zone, and an inner diameter of the second gas diffusion passage in the first distribution zone is smaller than an inner diameter of the corresponding second gas diffusion passage in the second distribution zone.