Quartz crystal microbalance concentration monitor
AssigneeApplied Materials, Inc.
InventorsJereld Winkler, Mohith Verghese
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Describe is a quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) device mounted within a heated sample chamber. The sample chamber temperature is maintained about 10° C. to about 30° C. greater than the temperature of the precursor vessel. The sample chamber is connected to the precursor delivery line and includes a high temperature valve and a flow pathway to foreline with a high temperature valve to permit removal of excess material. The QCM device includes a heater and gas cooling channel allowing the device to be maintained at a temperature about 10° C. to about 30° C. less than the temperature of the precursor vessel.
Claims20
A processing system comprising:
- a carrier gas source;
- a precursor vessel;
- a deposition chamber;
- and
- a sample chamber downstream of the precursor vessel and upstream of the deposition chamber, the sample chamber housing a quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) device.
A processing method comprising:
- heating a vessel containing a chemical precursor to a temperature in a range of from about 10° C. to about 600° C., the vessel having a first precursor concentration;
- flowing a carrier gas through the vessel to form a precursor gas comprising the chemical precursor;
- measuring a concentration of the chemical precursor within the precursor gas using a quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) device within a sample chamber, the precursor having a second precursor concentration, and the sample chamber having a temperature in a range of from about 10° C. to about 30° C. greater than the temperature of the vessel;
- exposing a substrate to the precursor gas during a deposition process;
- and
- depositing a film on the substrate.
A non-transitory computer readable medium including instructions, that, when executed by a controller of a processing system, causes the processing system to perform operations of:
- heat a vessel containing a chemical precursor to a temperature in a range of from about 25° C. to about 600° C.;
- flow a carrier gas through the vessel to form a precursor gas comprising the chemical precursor;
- measure a concentration of the chemical precursor within the precursor gas using a quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) within a sample chamber, the sample chamber having a temperature in a range of from about 10° C. to about 30° C. greater than the temperature of the vessel;
- expose a substrate to the precursor gas during a deposition process;
- and
- deposit a film on the substrate.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.