Shadow frame support
AssigneeApplied Materials, Inc.
InventorsKengo OHASHI, Takao HASHIMOTO, Shinobu ABE
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The present invention generally provides a processing chamber having shadow frame supports that direct cleaning gas flow to the corners of the chamber. The shadow frame supports are disposed along part of the chamber walls, thus leaving the corners unoccupied. During cleaning, the shadow frame is disposed in a way that it rests on both the substrate support and the shadow frame supports. Therefore, the cleaning gas flowing along the chamber walls is blocked by the shadow frame supports and the cleaning gas is forced to the corners since the shadow frame supports do not extend to the corners.
Claims14
A processing apparatus, comprising:
- a chamber body having an interior defined by a plurality of walls, at least one wall having an opening therethrough;
- a first shadow frame support extending from a first wall of the plurality of walls and having a first length that is less than the length of the first wall;
- a second shadow frame support extending from a second wall of the plurality of walls and having a second length that is less than the length of the second wall;
- a third shadow frame support extending from a third wall of the plurality of walls and having a third length that is less than the length of the third wall;
- and
- a fourth shadow frame support extending from a fourth wall of the plurality of walls and having a fourth length that is less than the length of the fourth wall.
A processing apparatus, comprising:
- a chamber body having an interior defined by a plurality of walls, a first wall of the plurality of walls having a first length, the plurality of walls forming a plurality of corners;
- a plurality of shadow frame supports comprising a first shadow frame support having a second length, the first shadow frame support is attached to the first wall along the first length of the wall, the second length is less than the first length and the first shadow frame support is positioned in a manner along the length of the first wall such that the first shadow frame support is not in contact with a corner.
A cleaning method, comprising:
- disposing a shadow frame on top of shadow frame supports within the processing chamber;
- raising a substrate support to a position so that the shadow frame touches both the substrate support and the shadow frame supports;
- and
- flowing a cleaning gas within the processing chamber.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.