Method and apparatus for rapid thermal processing
OwnerGuenter Kaltenbrunner, Thomas Knarr +1inventors
InventorsGuenter Kaltenbrunner, Thomas Knarr, Zsolt Nenyei
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A thin visible and near IR absorbing plate is placed between the radiation source and the object to be processed in a rapid thermal processing system. The object is heated in part by the near IR and far IR radiation from the thin plate, and the material and optically induced heating inhomogeneities are reduced.
Claims13
A rapid thermal processing (RTP) chamber for rapid thermal processing of a semiconductor wafer in the chamber, the chamber having at least a first wall, the first wall having a transparent area for transmitting visible and near infra-red (IR) radiation from a radiation source, the energy of the transmitted visible and near IR radiation used for heating the semiconductor wafer, comprising;
- a thin visible and near IR radiation absorbing plate spaced apart from the semiconductor wafer to be processed by a distance from 1-20 mm placed between the semiconductor wafer to be processed and the radiation source, the thin visible and near IR radiation absorbing plate having substantially the same diameter as the semiconductor wafer;
- and
- a guard ring with inside diameter slightly greater than the diameter of the semiconductor wafer, the thickness of the guard ring being chosen that the thermal capacity per unit area of the combination of the guard ring, the semiconductor wafer, and the thin visible and near IR radiation absorbing plate is substantially constant.
A method of rapid thermal processing (RTP) of a semiconductor wafer in an RTP system, the RTP system comprising a source of visible and near IR radiation, a chamber, the chamber having at least one wall with a radiation transparent area, comprising the steps of;
- a) placing the semiconductor wafer to be processed in the chamber in a spaced apart relationship to a thin visible and near IR radiation absorbing plate the thin visible and near IR radiation absorbing plate being substantially the same diameter as the semiconductor wafer, wherein a guard ring with inner diameter slightly larger than the semiconductor wafer and the thin visible and near IR radiation absorbing plate surrounds the semiconductor wafer and the plate, where the guard ring has a thickness chosen so that the thermal capacity per unit area of the combination of the guard ring, the semiconductor wafer, and the thin visible and near IR radiation absorbing plate is substantially constant;
- b) heating the thin plate with radiation from the source of visible and near IR radiation, thereby heating the semiconductor wafer to be processed by radiation and by convection of heat from the thin visible and near IR radiation absorbing plate.
A method of rapid thermal processing (RTP) of a semiconductor wafer in an RTP system, comprising the steps of;
- a) placing a thin visible and near IR radiation absorbing plate between a radiation source and the semiconductor wafer to be processed in an RTP system, the thin visible light absorbing plate being placed in a spaced apart relation 1 to 20 mm from the semiconductor wafer to be processed, the thin visible and near IR radiation absorbing plate being substantially the same diameter as the semiconductor wafer, wherein a guard ring with inner diameter slightly larger than the semiconductor wafer and the thin visible and near IR radiation absorbing plate surrounds the semiconductor wafer and the plate, where the guard ring has a thickness chosen so that the thermal capacity per unit area of the combination of the guard ring, the semiconductor wafer, and the thin visible and near IR radiation absorbing plate is substantially constant;
- and
- b) heating the thin visible and near IR radiation absorbing plate with radiation from the radiation source, whereby the semiconductor wafer to be processed is heated in part by near IR and far IR radiation from the thin plate.
A method of rapid thermal processing (RTP) of a semiconductor wafer in an RTP system, the RTP system comprising a source of visible and near IR radiation, a chamber, the chamber having at least one wall with a radiation transparent area, comprising the steps of;
- a) placing the semiconductor wafer to be processed in the chamber in a spaced apart relationship to a thin visible and near IR radiation absorbing plate, the thin visible and near IR radiation absorbing plate having substantially the same diameter as the semiconductor wafer;
- b) heating the thin plate with radiation from the source of visible and near IR radiation to a first temperature, thereby heating the semiconductor wafer to be processed by radiation and by convection of heat from the thin visible and near IR radiation absorbing plate;
- then
- c) withdrawing the processed semiconductor wafer from the chamber;
- then
- d) heating the thin plate with radiation from the source of visible and near IR radiation to a second temperature, the second temperature substantially less than the first temperature, then
- e) placing a second semiconductor wafer to be processed in the RTP chamber in a spaced apart relationship to the thin plate;
- then
- f) heating the thin plate with radiation from the source of visible and near IR radiation, thereby heating the second semiconductor wafer to be processed and increasing the throughput of the RTP processing system.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.