| Patent Number |
Title Of Patent |
Date Issued |
| 7112538 |
In situ growth of oxide and silicon layers |
September 26, 2006 |
| A single-wafer, chemical vapor deposition reactor is provided with hydrogen and silicon source gas suitable for epitaxial silicon deposition, as well as a safe mixture of oxygen in a non-reactive gas. Methods are provided for forming oxide and silicon layers within the same chamber. |
| 7105055 |
In situ growth of oxide and silicon layers |
September 12, 2006 |
| A single-wafer, chemical vapor deposition reactor is provided with hydrogen and silicon source gas suitable for epitaxial silicon deposition, as well as a safe mixture of oxygen in a non-reactive gas. Methods are provided for forming oxide and silicon layers within the same chamber. |
| 6957690 |
Apparatus for thermal treatment of substrates |
October 25, 2005 |
| Methods and apparatuses are provided for cooling semiconductor substrates prior to handling. In one embodiment, a substrate and support structure combination is lifted after high temperature processing to a cold wall of a thermal processing chamber, which acts as a heat sink. Conductive |
| 6893507 |
Self-centering wafer support system |
May 17, 2005 |
| Improvements in the design of a low mass wafer holder are disclosed. The improvements include the use of peripherally located, integral lips to space a wafer or other substrate above the base plate of the wafer holder. A uniform gap is thus provided between the wafer and the base plate, |
| 6749687 |
In situ growth of oxide and silicon layers |
June 15, 2004 |
| A single-wafer, chemical vapor deposition reactor is provided with hydrogen and silicon source gas suitable for epitaxial silicon deposition, as well as a safe mixture of oxygen in a non-reactive gas. Methods are provided for forming oxide and silicon layers within the sane chamber. In |
| 6540837 |
Quartz wafer processing chamber |
April 1, 2003 |
| Described herein is a process chamber with a substantially all-quartz interior surface. The preferred embodiments have upper and lower walls being curved in both the x-z and y-z planes. In one embodiment, the chamber has thin upper and lower dome walls made from a generally transpare |
| 6500742 |
Construction of a film on a semiconductor wafer |
December 31, 2002 |
| The construction of a film on a wafer, which is placed in a processing chamber, may be carried out through the following steps. A layer of material is deposited on the wafer. Next, the layer of material is annealed. Once the annealing is completed, the material may be oxidized. Alter |
| 6454865 |
Low mass wafer support system |
September 24, 2002 |
| Improvements in the design of a low mass wafer holder are disclosed. The improvements include the use of peripherally located, integral lips to space a wafer or other substrate above the base plate of the wafer holder. A uniform gap is thus provided between the wafer and the base plate, |
| 6444036 |
Construction of a film on a semiconductor wafer |
September 3, 2002 |
| The construction of a film on a wafer, which is placed in a processing chamber, may be carried out through the following steps. A layer of material is deposited on the wafer. Next, the layer of material is annealed. Once the annealing is completed, the material may be oxidized. Alter |
| 6435809 |
Dual arm linear hand-off wafer transfer assembly |
August 20, 2002 |
| A dual-arm wafer hand-off assembly includes a pair of pickup arms for transferring wafers within a wafer processing system. The two pickup arms are adapted to move such that the wafer on one of the arms can be positioned over the other arm and handed off. In one version, a Bernoulli- |
| 6435799 |
Wafer transfer arm stop |
August 20, 2002 |
| A dual-arm wafer hand-off assembly includes a pair of pickup arms for transferring wafers within a wafer processing system. The two pickup arms are adapted to move such that the wafer on one of the arms can be positioned over the other arm and handed off. In one version, a Bernoulli- |
| 6383330 |
Quartz wafer processing chamber |
May 7, 2002 |
| Described herein is a process chamber with a substantially all-quartz interior surface. The preferred embodiments have upper and lower walls being curved in both the x-z and y-z planes. In one embodiment, the chamber has thin upper and lower dome walls made from a generally transpare |
| 6354791 |
Water lift mechanism with electrostatic pickup and method for transferring a workpiece |
March 12, 2002 |
| A method and apparatus for transferring a semiconductor wafer in both a theta axis and a z-axis is provided. The apparatus is able to maintain maximum process and wafer throughput while minimizing the footprint of the processing machine by utilizing the concept of "vertical integration" |
| 6325858 |
Long life high temperature process chamber |
December 4, 2001 |
| A generally horizontally-oriented quartz CVD chamber is disclosed with front and rear chamber divider plates adjacent a centrally positioned susceptor and surrounding temperature control ring which divide the chamber into upper and lower regions. Improvement to the lifetime of CVD pr |
| 6318957 |
Method for handling of wafers with minimal contact |
November 20, 2001 |
| The invention is a carrier comprising three support elements connected by an underlying frame. The periphery of a wafer rests upon the support elements. The invention also comprises a wafer handler with a plurality of arms. Spacers space the carrier above a base plate associated with a |
| 6293749 |
Substrate transfer system for semiconductor processing equipment |
September 25, 2001 |
| A system for facilitating wafer transfer comprises a susceptor unit consisting of an inner susceptor section which rests within an outer susceptor section. A vertically movable and rotatable support spider located beneath the susceptor unit can rotate into positions to engage either |
| 6284048 |
Method of processing wafers with low mass support |
September 4, 2001 |
| A method is provided for treating wafers on a low mass support. The method includes mounting a temperature sensor in proximity to the wafer, which is supported on the low mass support, such that the sensor is only loosely thermally coupled to the wafer. A temperature controller is progra |
| 6263587 |
Degassing method using simultaneous dry gas flux pressure and vacuum |
July 24, 2001 |
| An apparatus and method for clamping and heating a wafer without using moving parts and without exposing the wafer to external stress is provided. A high backside wafer pressure which provides efficient heat transfer from a heated substrate support to the wafer is offset by a high fr |
| 6251758 |
Construction of a film on a semiconductor wafer |
June 26, 2001 |
| The construction of a film on a wafer, which is placed in a processing chamber, may be carried out through the following steps. A layer of material is deposited on the wafer. Next, the layer of material is annealed. Once the annealing is completed, the material may be oxidized. Alter |
| 6232196 |
Method of depositing silicon with high step coverage |
May 15, 2001 |
| A method is disclosed for depositing silicon with high deposition rates and good step coverage. The process is performed at high pressures, including close to atmospheric pressures, at temperatures of greater than about 650.degree. C. Silane and hydrogen are flowed over a substrate in a |
| 6209220 |
Apparatus for cooling substrates |
April 3, 2001 |
| Methods and apparatuses are provided for cooling semiconductor substrates prior to handling. In one embodiment, a substrate and support structure combination is lifted after high temperature processing to a cold wall of a thermal processing chamber, which acts as a heat sink. Conductive |
| 6183183 |
Dual arm linear hand-off wafer transfer assembly |
February 6, 2001 |
| A dual-arm wafer hand-off assembly includes a pair of pickup arms for transferring wafers within a wafer processing system. The two pickup arms are adapted to move such that the wafer on one of the arms can be positioned over the other arm and handed off. In one version, a Bernoulli- |
| 6158951 |
Wafer carrier and method for handling of wafers with minimal contact |
December 12, 2000 |
| The invention is a carrier comprising three support elements connected by an underlying frame. The periphery of a wafer rests upon the support elements. The invention also comprises a wafer handler with a plurality of arms. Spacers space the carrier above a base plate associated with a |
| 6121061 |
Method of processing wafers with low mass support |
September 19, 2000 |
| A method is provided for treating wafers on a low mass support. The method includes mounting a temperature sensor in proximity to the wafer, which is supported on the low mass support, such that the sensor is only loosely thermally coupled to the wafer. A temperature controller is progra |
| 6113698 |
Degassing method and apparatus |
September 5, 2000 |
| An apparatus and method for clamping and heating a wafer without using moving parts and without exposing the wafer to external stress is provided. A high backside wafer pressure which provides efficient heat transfer from a heated substrate support to the wafer is offset by a high fr |
| 6108937 |
Method of cooling wafers |
August 29, 2000 |
| Methods and apparatuses are provided for cooling semiconductor substrates prior to handling. In one embodiment, a substrate and support structure combination is lifted after high temperature processing to a cold wall of a thermal processing chamber, which acts as a heat sink. Conductive |
| 6068441 |
Substrate transfer system for semiconductor processing equipment |
May 30, 2000 |
| A system for facilitating wafer transfer comprises a susceptor unit consisting of an inner susceptor section which rests within an outer susceptor section. A vertically movable and rotatable support spider located beneath the susceptor unit can rotate into positions to engage either |
| 6013159 |
Particle trap in a magnetron sputtering chamber |
January 11, 2000 |
| A plasma sputtering reactor in which a magnet is linearly scanned over the back of the sputtering target to enhance the sputtering. The magnet's linear scan is extended to beyond the wafer processing area. When the magnet reaches that point, conditions are changed within the reactor to |
| 5989999 |
Construction of a tantalum nitride film on a semiconductor wafer |
November 23, 1999 |
| The construction of a film on a wafer, which is placed in a processing chamber, may be carried out through the following steps. A layer (film) of tantalum nitride material is deposited on the wafer. Next, the layer of tantalum nitride material is annealed. The deposition and annealing ma |
| 5827408 |
Method and apparatus for improving the conformality of sputter deposited films |
October 27, 1998 |
| A sputtering process is chemically enhanced to improve conformality of the sputter deposited film by adding a flow of a halogen-containing etch gas during sputter deposition. A reducing gas can be added near the substrate to aid in the deposition reaction. A physical vapor deposition cha |
