Actively cooled gas line for ion source
AssigneeApplied Materials, Inc.
InventorsAdam M. McLaughlin, Graham Wright, Mateo Navarro Goldaraz
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An actively cooled gas conduit for use with an ion source is disclosed. The gas conduit includes a gas channel and a cooling channel that may be adjacent to one another for at least a portion of the length of the gas channel. The gas conduit may be constructed by bonding two or more tubes together. Alternatively, the gas conduit may be constructed using additive manufacturing such that the cooling channel and the gas channel are within the same gas conduit. In some embodiments, the return channel is also disposed in the gas conduit. By actively cooling the gas conduit, the temperature of the gas conduit may be lowered, which reducing the possibility of clogging due to decomposition of the feed gas.
Claims14
An ion implantation system, comprising:
- an ion source;
- a gas bushing in communication with an interior of the ion source, wherein the ion source and the gas bushing are located in a vacuum chamber;
- a vacuum flange to separate the vacuum chamber from an atmospheric environment;
- and
- a gas conduit in communication with the gas bushing, comprising:
- a gas channel having an inlet located in the atmospheric environment and an outlet in communication with the gas bushing;
- a cooling channel adjacent to the gas channel;
- and
- a return channel, in fluid communication with the cooling channel;
- wherein the cooling channel abuts the gas channel along at least 50% of a length of the gas channel between the vacuum flange and the outlet.
An ion implantation system, comprising:
- an ion source, wherein the ion source is located in a vacuum chamber;
- a base on which the ion source is disposed;
- a vacuum flange to separate the vacuum chamber from an atmospheric environment;
- and
- a gas conduit in communication with the ion source, comprising:
- a gas channel having an inlet located in the atmospheric environment and an outlet in communication with an interior of the ion source;
- a cooling channel adjacent to the gas channel;
- and
- a return channel, in fluid communication with the cooling channel;
- wherein the cooling channel abuts the gas channel along at least 50% of a length of the gas channel between the vacuum flange and the outlet.
An ion implantation system, comprising:
- an ion source;
- a base on which the ion source is disposed, the base including base cooling channels, the base having two openings in communication with the base cooling channels;
- a cooling loop, external to the base, in communication with the two openings in the base;
- a gas bushing in communication with an interior of the ion source, the gas bushing comprising a bushing conduit for carrying feed gas to the ion source;
- and
- a gas conduit in communication with a first end of the bushing conduit;
- wherein fluid passing through the base cooling channels enters to the cooling loop, cools the bushing conduit and returns to the base cooling channels.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.