Dual-Chamber Gas Delivery for High-Pressure Substrate Processing
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing high-pressure processing systems for micro-electronic circuits face challenges in achieving precise and repeatable temperature profiles and minimizing defects, particularly due to incomplete processing and contamination issues during annealing and deposition processes.
Innovation Solution
A high-pressure processing system with a first chamber capable of reaching pressures up to 7600 Torr (10 atmospheres) and a second chamber at near-vacuum pressure, featuring a gas delivery system, valve assembly, and controller to isolate and control pressures, ensuring uniform processing and preventing oxidation of substrates.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a single chamber is used for high-pressure processing, then the processing can be performed, but contamination and oxidation of substrates occur during the process
Solution Approach 1:
The system is divided into two separate chambers: a first chamber for high-pressure processing and a second chamber for vacuum maintenance. This segmentation allows each chamber to perform its specific function without interfering with the other, preventing contamination and oxidation by maintaining vacuum conditions in the second chamber while enabling high-pressure processing in the first chamber.
Solution Approach 2:
A valve assembly acts as an intermediary between the first chamber and the second chamber, controlling the isolation and connection between them. The valve assembly enables the system to switch between high-pressure and vacuum modes, allowing substrate transfer and processing while maintaining the protective vacuum environment when needed.
2Productivity
If high pressure is applied directly to the chamber, then processing can proceed, but temperature profile control becomes imprecise and non-repeatable
Solution Approach 1:
The system separates the pressure control function (first chamber) from the temperature control function (second chamber with substrate holder). This segmentation allows independent optimization of each function, enabling precise temperature profile control through dedicated heating and cooling elements in the second chamber while maintaining high-pressure processing capability in the first chamber.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If vacuum pressure is maintained in the processing chamber, then substrate protection is improved, but high-pressure processing cannot be performed
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses two separate chambers with independent pressure control: the first chamber can be pressurized to high pressures for processing, while the second chamber maintains vacuum conditions for substrate protection. The valve assembly enables switching between these states, allowing the system to achieve both high-pressure processing and substrate protection at different times in the appropriate chamber.
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
The system enables safer high-pressure processing, detects leaks effectively, and ensures uniform treatment of layers across substrates, accessing chemical reactions not available at lower pressures, thereby improving processing consistency and reducing defects.
Implementation Method 1
a gas delivery system configured to introduce one or more gases into the first chamber and to increase the pressure within the first chamber to at least 7600 Torr (10 atmospheres)
Implementation Method 2
a vacuum processing system configured to lower a pressure within the second chamber
Implementation Method 3
the substrate is quickly heated, usually to about 200-500°C
Implementation Method 4
The substrate is then rapidly cooled, with the entire process usually taking only a few minutes
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
AI summary
A high-pressure processing system for processing a layer on a substrate includes a first chamber, a support to hold the substrate in the first chamber, a second chamber adjacent the first chamber, a foreline to remove gas from the second chamber, a vacuum processing system configured to lower a pressure within the second chamber to near vacuum, a valve assembly between the first chamber and the second chamber to isolate the pressure within the first chamber from the pressure within the second chamber, a gas delivery system configured to increase the pressure within the first chamber to at least 10 atmospheres while the first chamber is isolated from the second chamber, an exhaust system comprising an exhaust line to remove gas from the first chamber, and a common housing surrounding both the first gas delivery module and the second gas delivery module.