Substrate heating device

Abstract

The invention relates to a susceptor for supporting a substrate (9) within a vacuum process chamber, comprising a flat surface (11) for placing the substrate (9) thereon such that the substrate (9) is in thermally conductive contact with the surface (11), whereby the susceptor (1) comprises at least three adjacent zones (5, 6, 8), an outer zone (8), a middle zone (6) and an inner zone (5), the zones (5, 6, 8) arranged concentrically around each other and extending along the surface (11), the outer zone (8) completely surrounds the middle zone (6) and the middle zone (6) completely surrounds the inner zone (5), the inner zone (5) comprises at least one inner heating element (13) affecting the inner zone (5), the outer zone (8) comprises at least one outer heating element (19) affecting the outer zone (8), the middle zone (6) exhibits a maximal thickness (15); that is smaller than the minimal thickness (12) of the inner zone (5) and smaller than the minimal thickness (16) of the outer zone (8), each thickness (12, 15, 16) extending perpendicular to the surface (11). Thus, the invention allows for providing a smooth temperature profile over the complete surface (11) area resulting in a highly uniform substrate (9) temperature and thus in an improved thickness (12, 15, 16) uniformity of a coating to be provided e.g. in a chemical vapour deposition process.

Description

technical field [0001] The invention relates to a susceptor for supporting a substrate within a vacuum processing chamber, said susceptor comprising a plane for seating the substrate thereon such that the substrate is in thermally conductive contact with the plane. More specifically, the present invention relates to establishing a very uniform substrate temperature over a large area of ​​the substrate plane. In particular, the present invention describes a very uniform heating system for heating substrates, preferably of non-circular shape, in a vacuum environment. This heating system can be applied to many coating or substrate processing processes that operate at temperatures higher than room temperature. Background technique [0002] Thin film deposition or coating processes are well known in the art. Since then, deposition uniformity has become an important criterion, especially in the production of large-area coatings. Today, in thin-film technology, layer properties ...

AI Technical Summary

Problems solved by technology

This solution makes the manufacture of the susceptor 1 difficult and expensive since the tolerances between the different plates of the susceptor 1 must be low enough to allow uniform heating of the substrate 9

Second, it is difficult to obtain a smooth temperature distribution over the gap between the central area 5 and the edge area 8

Depending on the thickness of the substrate 9 the required smearing of the junction between the two regions 5 , 8 may not be sufficient to compensate for the heat loss caused by the junction of the central region 5 with the edge region 8

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