Semiconductor processing apparatus with substrate-supporting mechanism
AssigneeASM Japan K.K.
InventorKiyoshi Satoh
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A semiconductor processing apparatus for processing a semiconductor substrate includes: (i) a vacuum-exhausted chamber; (ii) a susceptor which is provided within the chamber and which holds the substrate and has at least three through-holes; (iii) substrate-supporting members which are supported within the through-holes and which support the substrate; (iv) a pin, one end of which is inserted into the inner part of a the substrate-supporting member; and (v) a pin-fixing structure provided at the base of the chamber for fixing the other end of the pin. When the susceptor moves downward, the pin pushes up the substrate-supporting member, and the substrate is supported in midair by the substrate-supporting members apart from the susceptor.
Claims20
An apparatus for processing a semiconductor substrate, comprising:
- a reaction chamber;
- a susceptor within the chamber for supporting a substrate thereon when processed, said susceptor having at least three vertical through-holes at designated positions;
- substrate-supporting members slidably fitted in the respective through-holes, each substrate-supporting member being hollow and having an upper closed end and a lower open end, each substrate-supporting member being reciprocally slidable along the through-hole between an upper position where the upper end protrudes from the susceptor and a lower position where the upper end does not protrude from the susceptor, wherein when the substrate-supporting members are at the upper position, the substrate is supported apart from the susceptor by the upper ends of the substrate-supporting members;
- and
- pins corresponding to the respective substrate-supporting members, each pin having an upper end, each pin being slidably fitted in the hollow of the substrate-supporting member, said upper end being inserted in the hollow of the substrate-supporting member and pushing upward the substrate-supporting member to move the substrate-supporting member to the upper position by movement of the susceptor relative to the pins, the upper end of each pin being detached from the closed end of the substrate-supporting member positioned at the lower position by movement of the susceptor relative to the pins.
A method for processing a substrate using an apparatus comprising:
- (i) a reaction chamber;
- (ii) a susceptor within the chamber, said susceptor having at least three vertical through-holes at designated positions;
- (iii) substrate-supporting members slidably fitted in the respective through-holes, each substrate-supporting member being hollow and having an upper closed end and a lower open end, each substrate-supporting member being reciprocally slidable along the through-hole between an upper position where the upper end protrudes from the susceptor and a lower position where the upper end does not protrude from the susceptor, wherein when the substrate-supporting members are at the upper position, the substrate is supported apart from the susceptor by the upper ends of the substrate-supporting members;
- and (iv) pins corresponding to the respective substrate-supporting members, each pin having an upper end, each pin being slidably fitted in the hollow of the substrate-supporting member, said upper end being inserted in the hollow of the substrate-supporting member and pushing upward the substrate-supporting member to move the substrate-supporting member to the upper position by movement of the susceptor relative to the pins, the upper end of each pin being detached from the closed end of the substrate-supporting member positioned at the lower position by movement of the susceptor relative to the pins, said method comprising:
- loading a substrate in the reaction chamber, wherein the substrate is supported apart from the susceptor by the substrate-supporting members at the upper position;
- moving downward the substrate-supporting members to the lower position by movement of the pins relative to the susceptor, wherein the substrate is placed on the susceptor;
- processing the substrate;
- moving upward the substrate-supporting members to the upper position by movement of the pins relative to the susceptor, wherein the substrate is supported apart from the susceptor by the substrate-supporting members at the upper position;
- and
- unloading the processed substrate from the chamber.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.