Coated Microwave Window for Uniform Substrate Heating
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional substrate heating methods using microwaves result in temperature differences across the substrate surface, leading to defects and reduced yield in semiconductor manufacturing due to uneven heating.
Innovation Solution
A microwave unit with a coating layer on the window member and a torus-shaped antenna with output slots, inducing a surface plasmon resonance phenomenon to evenly distribute microwaves across the substrate surface.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of time
If microwaves are supplied to heat the substrate, then heating time is reduced, but temperature uniformity across the substrate surface deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The window member is divided into multiple regions with different coating thicknesses (first region with first thickness, second region with second thickness different from the first). This segmentation allows different parts of the substrate to receive differently adjusted microwave energies, compensating for natural microwave distribution patterns and achieving uniform temperature across the substrate surface while maintaining rapid heating.
Solution Approach 2:
Different regions of the window member are given different local properties through varying coating thicknesses. The first region has a first coating thickness and the second region has a second coating thickness, creating localized variations in microwave transmission characteristics that correspond to the spatial distribution requirements for uniform substrate heating.
2Temperature
If a conventional heater is used to heat the substrate, then temperature uniformity is improved, but heating time increases
Solution Approach 1:
Rather than using a single uniform heating approach, the window member is segmented into regions with different coating thicknesses. This allows the microwave energy to be spatially distributed in a controlled manner, achieving both the rapid heating advantage of microwaves and the temperature uniformity advantage of conventional heaters.
Solution Approach 2:
The coating thickness parameter is varied across different regions of the window member. By changing this physical parameter (thickness) in different spatial locations, the microwave transmission characteristics are optimized to produce uniform temperature distribution across the substrate while maintaining fast heating speeds.
3Device complexity
If microwaves are supplied from a single direction, then device complexity is reduced, but temperature uniformity deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The window member is segmented into multiple regions with different coating thicknesses to compensate for the single-direction microwave supply. This segmentation creates effective multi-directional heating patterns without requiring physically complex microwave supply structures, maintaining device simplicity while achieving temperature uniformity.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enhances temperature uniformity and heating efficiency by amplifying the electric field through surface plasmon resonance, ensuring even heating of the substrate surface.
Implementation Method 1
inducing a surface plasmon resonance phenomenon to evenly distribute microwaves across the substrate surface
Implementation Method 2
When a substrate W is heated using the microwave unit 500, microwaves generated by the microwave unit 500 pass through the window member 600 and reach the substrate W, thereby heating the substrate W
Data Source
AI summary
Disclosed are a microwave unit and a substrate processing apparatus including the same. The microwave unit includes a microwave generator configured to generate microwaves, a waveguide configured to guide the microwaves, an antenna configured to transmit the microwaves, and a window member configured to allow the microwaves to pass therethrough. The window member includes a coating layer formed on the upper surface thereof.