Semiconductor Susceptor Cooling and Heating Design
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing semiconductor manufacturing devices face challenges in rapidly cooling susceptors, leading to reduced productivity and increased costs due to prolonged maintenance and repair times, as well as corrosion and thermal-shock issues with metal heaters, particularly aluminum Nitride (ALN) heaters, which are expensive and prone to breakage.
Innovation Solution
A semiconductor manufacturing device is designed with a circular-typed cooling pipe made of copper or stainless steel for rapid temperature reduction of the susceptor, using an external heating member that prevents temperature increase of the cooling air and includes a heating system with an ALN, Sus, Inconel, or Copper heating member for efficient temperature control.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Use of energy by moving object
If a metal heater is used to heat the semiconductor during manufacturing, then heating efficiency is improved, but the heater surface becomes corrosived by fluoric ions at high temperature
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses a disposable susceptor that can be discarded after a single use, eliminating the need for expensive, corrosion-resistant heaters. The susceptor is designed to be used once and then thrown away, avoiding the corrosion problem entirely while maintaining heating efficiency through the disposable design.
2Reliability
If an aluminum Nitride heater is used to avoid corrosion, then corrosion resistance is improved, but thermal-shock causes breakage during temperature changes
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the fragile ALN heater with a disposable susceptor made of more thermally stable materials. The susceptor is designed to withstand thermal-shock and can be discarded after use, eliminating the breakage problem while maintaining corrosion resistance.
3Area of stationary object
If the susceptor size is increased to accommodate larger LCD panels, then manufacturing capability is improved, but cooling time increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the cooling system into multiple independent cooling pipes distributed across the large susceptor surface. This allows simultaneous cooling of different regions, significantly reducing the overall cooling time while maintaining the large susceptor size needed for big LCD panels.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces vertical cooling channels that penetrate through the thickness of the susceptor, adding a third dimension to the cooling approach. This enables heat to be extracted from both the top and bottom surfaces simultaneously, dramatically reducing cooling time for large-area susceptors.
4Ease of manufacture
If direct in-situ cleaning is applied to the chamber and heater, then cleaning efficiency is improved, but productivity deteriorates due to loss of time
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses a disposable susceptor that is discarded after single use, eliminating the need for time-consuming in-situ cleaning of the chamber and heater. The disposable nature of the susceptor allows immediate replacement without cleaning, thereby maintaining high productivity while ensuring cleanliness.
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 solution enables rapid cooling of the susceptor, reducing maintenance and repair times, lowering costs, and enhancing productivity by using an external heating member to control the temperature effectively, while preventing corrosion and thermal-shock damage.
Implementation Method 1
a circular-typed cooling pipe for circulating a cooling air having an inlet for supplying a cooling air from an external supplying device to a susceptor body and an outlet for discharging the cooling air that circulated in the overall susceptor body from the inlet
Implementation Method 2
a heater for heating the body for keeping the temperature of the LCD
Implementation Method 3
an external heating member that prevents temperature increase of the cooling air and includes a heating system with an ALN, Sus, Inconel, or Copper heating member for efficient temperature control
Data Source
AI summary
The present invention relates to a semiconductor manufacturing device that a maintenance or a repairing is easy so that an efficiency of manufacturing can be enhanced because a high temperature of a susceptor can be rapidly down. The present invention relates to a semiconductor manufacturing device that an efficiency of manufacturing can be enhanced because a heater for heating the semiconductor is heated by an external heating device.