Gas driven rotating susceptor for rapid thermal processing (RTP) system
First Claim
Patent Images
1. An apparatus, comprising;
- a rotatable base, the base for supporting an object being processed in a Rapid Thermal Processing (RTP) System equipped with air bearings for supporting the rotating base, the base comprising;
an outer part, forming bearing surfaces for bearing on the air bearings; and
an inner part, the inner part supported by the outer part, the inner part mechanically decoupled from the outer part to prevent warping of the base due to non-uniform heating of the base by radiation from the object being processed, so that the bearing surfaces of the outer part remain very parallel to the surfaces of the air bearings during rapid thermal processing of the object.
12 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Air bearings support a rotating wafer carrying base in an RTP system. The base in proximity to the air bearing is protected from warping due to absorption of radiation from the hot wafer being treated. The most preferred embodiment splits the base into an inner disk carrying the wafer and an outer ring, where the inner ring which absorbs the most energy contacts and is supported at three points by the outer disk which is supported by the air bearing.
46 Citations
11 Claims
-
1. An apparatus, comprising;
-
a rotatable base, the base for supporting an object being processed in a Rapid Thermal Processing (RTP) System equipped with air bearings for supporting the rotating base, the base comprising;
an outer part, forming bearing surfaces for bearing on the air bearings; and
an inner part, the inner part supported by the outer part, the inner part mechanically decoupled from the outer part to prevent warping of the base due to non-uniform heating of the base by radiation from the object being processed, so that the bearing surfaces of the outer part remain very parallel to the surfaces of the air bearings during rapid thermal processing of the object. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
-
-
9. A method of rapid thermal processing (RTP) of an object, comprising:
-
supporting the object on a rotatable base, the rotatable base supported by air bearings;
processing the object with radiation from radiation sources of an RTP system while rotating the object on the rotatable base, wherein the rotatable base comprises an outer part forming bearing surfaces for bearing on the air bearings, and an inner part;
wherein the bearing surfaces of the outer part are kept very parallel to the surfaces of the air bearings by a first means which mechanically decouples the inner part from the outer part to prevent warping of the base due to non-uniform heating of the base by radiation from the object being processed.- View Dependent Claims (10)
-
-
11. A system comprising;
-
a rapid thermal processing system;
air bearings for supporting a rotatable base in the processing chamber of the RTP system, a rotatable base, the base for supporting an object being processed in the Rapid Thermal Processing (RTP) System, the base comprising;
an outer part, forming bearing surfaces for bearing on the air bearings; and
an inner part, the inner part supported by the outer part, the inner part mechanically decoupled from the outer part to prevent warping of the base due to non-uniform heating of the base by radiation from the object being processed, so that the bearing surfaces of the outer part remain very parallel to the surfaces of the air bearings during rapid thermal processing of the object.
-
Specification