Mesh Substrate Holder for Uniform ALD Coating
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) techniques face challenges in coating miniature substrates due to manual handling issues, contamination, and non-uniform coating, especially when using silicon substrates, which often results in deficient coatings and loss of samples during handling in gas flow environments.
Innovation Solution
A substrate holder with a mesh structure that allows coating materials to penetrate and encloses substrates, enabling uniform coating and preventing contamination, while being stackable and foldable for efficient handling and automated processing, utilizing plasma treatment for cleaning and chemical vapor deposition for coating.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If manual handling of miniature substrates is used in conventional ALD, then sample placement is possible, but contamination and damage occur
Solution Approach 1:
A mesh substrate holder acts as an intermediary between the manual handling tools and the miniature substrates. The holder provides a structured platform that allows automated or controlled placement while protecting samples from direct contact with handling tools, thereby reducing contamination and mechanical damage risks.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces manual mechanical handling with an automated substrate holder system that can be loaded and positioned as a unit. This substitution eliminates the need for direct manual manipulation of individual miniature substrates, reducing the risk of contamination and damage while maintaining operational efficiency.
2Manufacturing precision
If conventional ALD coating is applied to miniature substrates, then coating is achieved, but non-uniform coating occurs
Solution Approach 1:
The substrate holder is designed as a mesh structure with multiple openings that segment the coating chamber space. This segmentation allows coating reagents to access multiple substrates simultaneously from different directions, ensuring uniform coating distribution across all samples without requiring complex multi-step processing.
Solution Approach 2:
The mesh substrate holder introduces a three-dimensional arrangement of substrates within the coating chamber, allowing coating materials to deposit on samples from multiple spatial dimensions simultaneously. This dimensional approach simplifies the coating process while achieving uniform coverage that would be difficult with traditional planar substrate arrangements.
3Stability of the object's composition
If silicon substrates are placed face-to-face on solid support, then substrate stability is achieved, but deficient coating occurs at interfaces
Solution Approach 1:
The mesh substrate holder serves as an intermediary support structure that prevents direct face-to-face contact between silicon substrates. By elevating and spacing substrates on the mesh framework, the holder maintains substrate stability while eliminating the silicon-silicon interface problem that causes deficient coating, allowing uniform coating on all substrate surfaces.
4Ease of operation
If miniature substrates are left unattached during gas flow, then handling simplicity is maintained, but sample loss occurs
Solution Approach 1:
The mesh substrate holder acts as an intermediary retention structure that mechanically secures miniature substrates during gas flow processing. The mesh architecture provides physical support and anchoring points that prevent sample loss while maintaining easy loading and unloading operations, thus preserving both handling simplicity and sample retention reliability.
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 mesh substrate holder system allows for efficient, uniform, and conformal coating of miniature substrates, preventing contamination and loss, and enabling fully automated processing for extended periods, with improved coating quality and reduced manual handling risks.
Implementation Method 1
coating of the substrates by directing a coating material onto the substrates through the mesh structure
Implementation Method 2
chemical deposition methods in gaseous (vapour) phase
Implementation Method 3
subjected to a pre-treatment, in a substrate pre-treatment apparatus, to remove impurities from the substrate surfaces. In embodiment, said pre-treatment includes plasma treatment of the substrate(s)
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
AI summary
A substrate holder 10 in the form of a mesh structure with a sample-receiving surface 10A is provided. The substrate holder 10 containing the samples 21 is at least partially folded and inserted into a substrate processing apparatus to produce coated samples 21A by directing at least one coating material P1, P2, ..., Pn onto the samples through the mesh structure. A substrate processing system and a method for producing coated substrates are further provided.