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US 2003/0190422 A1Published application
Source gas delivery
AssigneeWaferMasters, Inc.
InventorWoo Sik Yoo
Life of this patent
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AssigneeWaferMasters, Inc.
InventorWoo Sik Yoo
Estimating the term…
A method and system are provided for delivering a source gas to a processing chamber. A source gas delivery method includes providing a precursor chamber configured to hold precursor vapor, providing a saturated precursor vapor at a selected pressure within the precursor chamber, and flowing or diffusing saturated precursor vapor from the precursor chamber to the processing chamber until a selected pressure is provided in the processing chamber. A source gas delivery system includes a precursor chamber configured to hold precursor vapor, a heat source for heating a precursor liquid to provide saturated precursor vapor at a selected pressure within the precursor chamber, and a vapor pathway allowing saturated precursor vapor to enter a processing chamber until a selected pressure is provided in the processing chamber. Advantageously, the present invention allows for improved precursor vapor delivery and enhanced control over thin film deposition with less waste of precursor material.
A source gas delivery method, comprising:
A source gas delivery method, comprising:
The method of claim 14, wherein the precursor chamber is configured to hold a precursor liquid.
The method of claim 14, wherein the providing saturated precursor vapor at a selected pressure comprises heating a precursor liquid using a temperature-controlled heating bath.
The method of claim 15, wherein the precursor liquid is taken from the group consisting tantalum pentaethoxide (TAETO), triethylaluminum (TEA), trimethylaluminum (TMA), triethlyphosphorous (TEP), triethylgallium (TEGa), SiCl4, GeCl4, and HCl.
A source gas delivery system comprising:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.
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Characterised by the method used for generating reactive gas streams, e.g. by evaporation or sublimation of precursor materials: by evaporation…
Characterised by the method used for generating reactive gas streams, e.g. by evaporation or sublimation of precursor materials: by evaporation…
Coating metallic material
Term end not estimated
1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to semiconductor manufacturing equipment and, more particularly, to the controlled delivery of source gas.
2. Description of Related Art
FIG. 1A is a simplified illustration of a bubbler-based delivery system.
FIG. 1B is a simplified illustration of a liquid mass flow control delivery system.
FIG. 1C is a simplified illustration of a liquid metering by pump delivery system.
FIG. 2A illustrates source gas delivery system 300 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. A precursor liquid 302 is enclosed in a precursor chamber 304. Precursor liquid 302 can include liquid reagents having low vapor pressure at room temperature, such as tantalum pentaethoxide (TAETO), triethylaluminum (TEA), trimethylaluminum (TMA), triethlyphosphorous (TEP), and triethylgallium (TEGa) or any other liquid source, such as SiCl4, GeCl4, HCl and the like. Precursor liquid 302 is not highly volatile but can be heated to form non-negligible precursor vapor.
Precursor chamber 304 is in thermal contact with a heat source 306 to heat precursor liquid 302. Heat source 306 can be any heating apparatus which uniformly heats and controls the temperature of precursor liquid 302, such as a heating bath, heating plate, and convection oven. In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 2A, a temperature-controlled liquid bath 308 is used to heat precursor chamber 304. Precursor chamber 304 is at least partially submerged in liquid bath 308 to a level where precursor liquid 302 is at least fully submerged in the bath fluid. In an alternative embodiment, precursor chamber 304 is fully submerged in the liquid bath to allow precursor vapor as well as the precursor liquid to be heated. In this illustrative embodiment, the liquid bath is heated to between approximately 50° C. and approximately 220° C.
Bath fluids having low volatility, high boiling points, and/or high heat capacities which can be used in liquid bath 308 are available commercially. Examples of bath fluids, with no intention to limit the invention thereby, are the Silicone series of bath fluids, available from Cole-Parmer Instrument Co., Vernon Hills, Ill.