Substrate Chamber Gas Partitioning for Uniform Deposition and Etching
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing substrate processing apparatuses face challenges in achieving uniformity during deposition and etching processes due to improper gas distribution, leading to issues like under-deposition and over-etching in inner substrate portions.
Innovation Solution
The apparatus includes a chamber with a supporting part, a lid, a purge gas injection unit, and partition walls to create separate processing regions, ensuring precise gas distribution and preventing gas mixing, thereby enhancing process uniformity.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If multiple injection units are used to inject process gas to different processing regions, then processing can be performed on multiple substrates simultaneously, but gas mixing between different processing regions occurs reducing process uniformity
Solution Approach 1:
The processing chamber is divided into multiple processing regions (first processing region PA1 and second processing region PA2) with a center region CA between them. The purge gas injection unit injects purge gas into the center region to segment and isolate the processing regions, preventing process gas mixing while enabling simultaneous processing in multiple regions.
Solution Approach 2:
The purge gas acts as an intermediary substance injected into the center region CA to prevent process gas from diffusing between processing regions. This intermediary purge gas layer isolates the processing regions and eliminates the harmful effect of centrifugal force pushing process gas outward.
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
This configuration increases processing rates, gas density, and reduces gas wastage, while minimizing under-deposition and over-etching, resulting in more uniform processing across substrates.
Implementation Method 1
The purge unit 13 injects a purge gas to a center region CA disposed between the substrates 20 supported by the supporting part 11
Implementation Method 2
the process gas diffused to the center region CA stays in the center region CA and then is pushed in the outward direction by the purge gas and a centrifugal force which acts based on a rotation of the supporting part 11
Implementation Method 3
a deposition process of depositing a thin film including a specific material on the substrate
Implementation Method 4
an etching process of removing the selectively exposed portion of the thin film to form a pattern
Data Source
AI summary
The present disclosure relates to a substrate processing apparatus including: a chamber; a supporting part coupled to the chamber to support the substrate; a lid disposed on the supporting part and coupled to the chamber; a purge gas injection unit coupled to the lid to inject a purge gas to a processing space between the lid and the supporting part, for dividing the processing space into a plurality of processing regions; a shield disposed between the lid and the supporting part and coupled to the lid; a first injection unit injecting a first gas to a first processing region of the processing regions; a second injection unit injecting the first gas to the first processing region at a position apart from the first injection unit; and a first partition wall part coupled to the shield so that a first injection region disposed under the first injection unit, a second injection region disposed under the second injection unit, and a first separation space between the first injection region and the second injection region are included in a region where a processing process using the first gas is performed.