Electron Beam Welded Silicon Components for Strong, Clean Joints
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing manufacturing methods for large silicon components in substrate processing systems face challenges such as complex manufacturing due to large sizes and shapes, difficulty in subtractive manufacturing, weak bond strength of bonding materials, thermal expansion issues, and contamination risks, leading to mechanical weakness and particle generation.
Innovation Solution
Welding silicon components together using electron beam melting (EBM) without bonding materials, employing a controlled heating and cooling process to form a single seam with uniform dopant distribution and controlled temperature gradients, minimizing defects and contamination.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If bonding materials are used to join silicon components, then assembly is easier, but bond strength is weak and contamination occurs
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes bonding materials from the joining process entirely, using electron beam welding to directly fuse silicon components without any intermediate bonding agents, thereby eliminating contamination risks while achieving strong bonds
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces mechanical bonding (using bonding materials) with electron beam welding, substituting a thermal-field-based joining method that creates direct metallurgical bonds between silicon components without requiring bonding materials
2Shape
If subtractive manufacturing is used for large silicon components, then complex shapes can be achieved, but mechanical weakness and particles are generated
Solution Approach 1:
The patent inverts the manufacturing approach by using additive electron beam welding to join components rather than subtractive manufacturing, building up the final structure through controlled material fusion instead of removing material, thereby avoiding mechanical weakness and particle generation
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the fundamental manufacturing parameter from subtractive removal to additive fusion through electron beam welding, controlling temperature and beam parameters to achieve strong joints without generating particles or mechanical weakness
3Ease of manufacture
If bonding materials are used to join silicon components, then assembly is simpler, but thermal expansion issues occur
Solution Approach 1:
The patent eliminates bonding materials from the assembly process, using electron beam welding to create direct silicon-to-silicon joints, thereby removing the source of thermal expansion incompatibility that arises when different materials with different expansion coefficients are bonded together
Solution Approach 2:
The patent achieves homogeneity by joining identical silicon materials directly through electron beam welding, ensuring uniform thermal expansion characteristics throughout the assembled component without introducing heterogeneous bonding materials with different thermal properties
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 EBM process results in strong, defect-free silicon components with uniform dopant distribution, reducing mechanical stress and contamination, and enabling efficient production of components like plasma confinement rings and electrodes.
Implementation Method 1
using an electron beam generator, heating the first component and the second component to a first temperature for a first period while rotating the first component and the second component at a first rate
Implementation Method 2
heating a joint between the first component and the second component to a second temperature greater than the first temperature to form the welded component comprising the first component, the second component, and a seam between the first component and the second component. The welded component includes a weld region defined around the seam
Implementation Method 3
The weld region is comprised of the first semiconductor material of respective portions of the first component and the second component on either side of the seam that was melted and recrystallized to form the weld region
Data Source
AI summary
A welded component for a substrate processing system includes a first component comprised of a first semiconductor material, a second component comprised of the first semiconductor material, a weld region defined between respective unwelded regions of the first component and the second component located on either side of the weld region, and a seam defined in the weld region between the first component and the second component. The weld region is comprised of the first semiconductor material of respective portions of the first component and the second component on either side of the seam that was melted and recrystallized to form the weld region.