Apparatus for manufacturing a thin film and a method therefor

A method of forming a film by using an atomic layer deposition (ALD) in a vacuum chamber divided into a plurality of reaction regions including a first reaction region, a second reaction region, and a third reaction region, the plurality of reaction regions being located on a circumference of a circle arranged in order, the method comprising:

• supplying a first gas from a first gas source onto a wafer placed in the first reaction region to absorb the first gas;
• transferring the wafer to the second reaction region;
• supplying a second gas from a second gas source onto the wafer in the second reaction region so that the absorbed first gas and the second gas react to form a first layer;
• transferring the wafer to the third reaction region;
• and
• supplying the first gas, in the third reaction region, onto the first layer of the wafer so that the first gas is absorbed on a surface of the first layer, wherein the first gas supplied in the third reaction region is a mixture of an unused first gas evacuated from the first reaction region and fresh first gas from the first gas source, wherein the unused first gas is directly supplied from the first reaction region to the third reaction region without going through the first gas source.

A method of forming a film by using an atomic layer deposition (ALD) in a vacuum chamber divided into at least three reaction regions including a first reaction region, a second reaction region, and a third reaction region arranged in order, the method comprising:

• supplying a first gas from a first gas source onto a wafer placed in the first reaction region to absorb the first gas;
• transferring the wafer to the second reaction region;
• supplying a second gas from a second gas source onto the wafer in the second reaction region so that the absorbed first gas and the second gas react to form a first layer;
• collecting unused first gas of the first reaction region;
• transferring the wafer to the third reaction region;
• transferring the unused first gas in a gas transfer path to the third reaction region, wherein the gas transfer path provides a feed forward direction for the unused first gas from the first reaction region to the third reaction region;
• and
• combining a fresh first gas from the first gas source and the unused first gas from the gas transfer path and supplying the combination to the third reaction region.