Apparatus and methods for injector to substrate gap control

Abstract

Described are apparatus and methods for processing a semiconductor wafer in which the gap between the wafer surface and the gas distribution assembly remains uniform and of known thickness. The wafer is positioned within a susceptor assembly and the assembly is lifted toward the gas distribution assembly using actuators. The wafer can be lifted toward the gas distribution assembly by creating a fluid bearing below and / or above the wafer.

Description

[0001] This application is a divisional application of an invention patent application with the filing date of "February 20, 2014", the application number of "201480009192.0", and the title of "A device and method for controlling the gap between the syringe and the substrate". Background technique [0002] Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to apparatus and methods for processing substrates. In particular, embodiments of the invention relate to apparatus and methods for controlling the gap between a syringe assembly and a substrate during processing. [0003] For space-based ALD, the gap between the chemical injector and the product substrate must be kept between 0.1 and 2 mm to properly separate the reactive precursors. As the size of processing chambers increases to accommodate larger sized substrates and larger batch loads, the desired clearance becomes more difficult to control. [0004] Therefore, there is a need in the art for methods and apparatus ca...

AI Technical Summary

Problems solved by technology

Desired clearance becomes more difficult to control as process chamber size increases to accommodate larger substrate sizes and larger batch loads

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