Method and apparatus for depositing a thin film

An apparatus adapted to deposit a thin film on a substrate comprising:

• a reaction chamber having a two-sided substrate, a substrate conveyor, a gas injector, a heating light source, an inert gas inlet and an exhaust port;
• wherein said conveyor conveys said substrate through said reaction chamber until it is in close proximity to said gas injector and said heating light source;
• wherein said heating light source is positioned on one side of said substrate to heat said substrate;
• wherein said gas injector is positioned on the other side of said substrate to deliver at least one reactive gas onto said substrate to deposit a thin film by thermal pyrolysis when said gas injector is in close proximity to said substrate and said substrate is heated by said heating light source;
• wherein said inert gas inlet places a curtain of inert gases around said reactive gases to prevent introduction of impurities into said deposition;
• and,
• wherein said exhaust port exhausts both excess reactive gases and inert gases from said chamber.

An apparatus adapted to deposit a thin film on a substrate comprising:

• a plurality of connected reaction chambers each having a gas injector and a heating light source;
• a substrate conveyor capable of conveying a two-sided substrate between said connected reaction chambers so that reactive gases can be sequentially deposited onto said substrate or said substrate can be annealed in said chambers;
• wherein in each said reaction chamber said conveyor conveys said substrate through said reaction chamber until it is in close proximity to said gas injector and said heating light source;
• wherein said heating light source is positioned on one side of said substrate to heat said substrate;
• wherein said gas injector is positioned on the other side of said substrate to deliver at least one reactive gas onto said substrate to deposit a thin film by thermal pyrolysis when said gas injector is in close proximity to said substrate and said substrate is heated by said heating light source;
• wherein said inert gas inlet places a curtain of inert gases around said reactive gases to prevent introduction of impurities.

A method of depositing a thin film onto a substrate comprising:

• placing a substrate between a heating light source and a gas injector;
• heating said substrate with said heating light source;
• using said gas injector to deliver reactive gases onto said substrate to deposit a thin film by thermal pyrolysis when said substrate is in close proximity to said gas injector and when said substrate has been heated by said heating light source;
• and,
• surrounding said reactive gases with inert gases to prevent introduction of impurities into said deposition.

An open in-line system adapted to deposit a thin film on a surface of a substrate, the apparatus comprising:

• a substrate holder adapted to hold the substrate;
• a first gas injector adapted to inject at least one reactive gas to a predefined surface area of the substrate exceeding 10 cm2 to form a first film;
• a first light source selected from the group consisting of a gas discharge lamp, light emitting diode or laser, adapted to concurrently apply a first light beam including one or more wavelengths absorbed substantially by the substrate or film and substantially reflected by the injector and walls of the system to heat the substrate opposite said predefined substrate surface area to a high temperature suitable for pyrolytic deposition of a first film at a high rate without photolytic interaction on said predefined surface area and without substantial pyrolytic or photolytic deposition on the injector or walls of the system, said first film comprising an element included in the reactive gas;
• a chamber adapted to receive said substrate during the thin film deposition, said chamber having a pressure at or near atmospheric pressure and further adapted to receive the at least one reactive gas being applied to said predefined surface area of said substrate for pyrolytic deposition of said first film;
• first and second gas inlets adapted to supply an inert isolation gas for isolating the chamber from external ambient gases during the thin film deposition such that a reducing atmosphere can be maintained in said chamber so said first film can be a metal or nitride rather than be limited to oxides, said first and second gas inlets being positioned along opposing sides of the gas injector;
• a first exhaust port disposed between said first gas inlet and said gas injector and adapted to exhaust a first portion of both the residual reactive gases and isolation gas from the chamber;
• and
• a second exhaust port disposed between said second gas inlet and the first gas injector and adapted to exhaust a second portion of the residual reactive gases and isolation gas from the chamber.
• one or more moving means adapted to move the substrate at a substantially constant speed relative to the first gas injector to achieve a substantially continuous deposition of a substantially same thickness of the film over a predefined surface area of the substrate.