Substrate Treatment Apparatus Oxide Etching Sublimation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing substrate treatment apparatuses face challenges in efficiently removing oxides from substrates while maintaining a vacuum atmosphere and forming low-resistance contacts, as they often require multiple chambers and complex gas handling processes.
Innovation Solution
A substrate treatment apparatus with a chamber, stage, gas introducer, heating sources, and elevation pins that supports substrates, etches oxides using treatment gases, and sublimates reaction products using heat, allowing for simultaneous oxide removal and metal film formation in a single chamber.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If multiple chambers are used for oxide removal and metal film formation, then processing quality is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines oxide removal and metal film formation processes into a single chamber. The treatment gas introducer delivers gases that simultaneously perform oxide etching and enable metal deposition, eliminating the need for multiple separate chambers while maintaining processing quality through controlled gas flow and timing sequences.
Solution Approach 2:
The single chamber is designed to perform multiple functions: oxide removal through chemical etching, reaction product sublimation through heating, and metal film formation through gas-phase deposition. The treatment gas introducer and heating mechanisms enable the same chamber space to sequentially execute different processing functions without requiring separate dedicated chambers for each operation.
2Productivity
If complex gas handling processes are used, then oxide removal efficiency is improved, but ease of operation deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The treatment gas introducer acts as an intermediary system that automatically manages the complex gas handling sequences. It controls the timing, flow rates, and composition of treatment gases, coordinating oxide removal and metal film formation processes through programmed gas delivery, thereby maintaining high processing efficiency while simplifying operator interaction to simple initiation commands.
3Reliability
If reaction products remain on substrate, then etching completeness is improved, but manufacturing precision deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs continuous processing within the single chamber: oxide etching produces reaction products, which are then immediately sublimated through heating, and metal film formation occurs on the cleaned surface. This continuous sequence of etching-sublimation-deposition eliminates idle time and ensures complete removal of reaction products, maintaining both etching completeness and surface quality without requiring separate processing steps.
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
Enables efficient oxide removal and metal film formation in a single chamber, maintaining a vacuum atmosphere and forming low-resistance contacts by using a combination of etching and sublimation processes, improving processing efficiency and reducing equipment complexity.
Implementation Method 1
sublimating a reaction product produced in etching the oxide by the first heating source
Implementation Method 2
etching the oxide using a treatment gas by supplying the treatment gas from the gas introducer
Data Source
AI summary
A method of controlling a substrate treatment apparatus including a chamber, a stage having elevation pins, a gas introducer disposed above the stage and introducing a treatment gas into the chamber, a first heating source heating the gas introducer, a stage elevator moving the stage up/down, and an elevator for elevation pins moving the elevation pins up/down, is provided. The method includes supporting a substrate having an oxide on the stage; etching the oxide using a treatment gas by supplying the treatment gas from the gas introducer; moving down the stage while maintaining a position of the substrate using the elevation pins; and sublimating a reaction product produced in etching the oxide by the first heating source.