Substrate Processing Apparatus Central Heater Uniformity
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing substrate processing apparatuses face challenges in uniformly heating substrates within a processing chamber, particularly due to the external location of the heater, leading to non-uniform thermal processing of substrates stacked in a boat.
Innovation Solution
Incorporating a central heater located at the center of the boat, in addition to an external heater and a lower heater, to ensure uniform heating of substrates, along with a feeder and processing chamber design that includes insulation and gas distribution for uniform thin film formation and thermal processing.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Volume of stationary object
If the heater is located outside the processing chamber, then the processing chamber can be made large to accommodate the boat, but the heating uniformity of substrates deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The heating system is segmented into multiple independent heating zones: an external heater surrounding the processing chamber, a lower heater positioned beneath the boat, and a central heater located at the center of the boat. Each heater independently controls the temperature of its respective zone, allowing for uniform heating across the entire processing chamber and boat structure.
Solution Approach 2:
Different regions of the processing system are assigned different heating characteristics through localized heaters. The external heater provides uniform ambient heating, the lower heater specifically heats the boat and substrates from below, and the central heater ensures uniform temperature distribution across the substrate surfaces. This local quality approach resolves the heating uniformity issue while maintaining a large processing chamber volume.
2Quantity of substance
If the processing chamber is made large to accommodate the boat, then the boat can hold multiple substrates, but the heating uniformity of substrates deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The heating system is divided into multiple independent heating zones with dedicated heaters: external heater for chamber ambiance, lower heater for boat and substrate support structure, and central heater for direct substrate heating. This segmentation enables simultaneous processing of multiple substrates with uniform heating across all positions.
Solution Approach 2:
Heating is applied from multiple spatial dimensions simultaneously: external heating from the chamber walls, lower heating from beneath the boat, and central heating from above the substrates. This multi-dimensional heating approach ensures uniform temperature distribution across all substrates regardless of the large chamber volume and boat size required to accommodate multiple substrates.
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 solution achieves uniform heating of substrates across the boat, ensuring consistent thermal processing and film formation, thereby improving the quality and uniformity of thin films on substrates.
Implementation Method 1
a heater located outside the processing chamber to heat the interior of the processing chamber
Data Source
AI summary
A substrate processing apparatus that forms thin films on a plurality of substrates and thermally processes the substrates, by uniformly heating the substrates. The substrate processing apparatus includes a processing chamber, a boat in which substrates are stacked, an external heater located outside of the processing chamber, a feeder to move the boat into and out of the processing chamber, a lower heater located below the feeder, and a central heater located in the center of the boat.