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US 6,921,062 B2Granted
Vaporizer delivery ampoule
AssigneeAdvanced Technology Materials, Inc.
InventorsJohn Gregg, Scott Battle, Jeffrey I. Banton, Donn Naito, Marianne Fuierer
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A vaporizer delivery system for use in semiconductor manufacturing processes including a plurality of vertically stacked containers for holding a vaporizable source material. Each of the vertically stacked containers includes a plurality of vented protuberances extending into the interior of the each stacked container thereby providing channels for passage of a carrier gas between adjacent vertically stacked containers.
Claims33
A vapor delivery system for vaporization and delivery of a source material, comprising:
- a) an ampoule comprising an ampoule bottom, sidewall and removable top to form an internal ampoule compartment;
- b) a gas inlet and gas outlet communicatively connected to the ampoule;
- c) at least one source material container positioned within the internal ampoule compartment, wherein the container comprises a container bottom and side wall to form a container cavity;
- and
- d) a plurality of channeled protuberances positioned in the container bottom to provide channels therethrough, wherein the channeled protuberances extend into the container cavity;
- and
- e) an internal gas carrying member positioned within the internal compartment, extending through the container bottom and communicatively connected to the gas inlet.
4 more elements
A vaporizer comprising:
- a) an ampoule comprising an ampoule bottom and an ampoule sidewall to form an internal compartment;
- b) an ampoule top to enclose the internal compartment;
- c) a gas inlet and gas outlet communicatively connected to the ampoule top;
- d) a plurality of vertically stacked contacting containers positioned within the internal compartment, wherein each container comprises a container bottom and a container sidewall to form a container cavity for holding of a solid precursor material, and wherein each container sidewall contacts the ampoule sidewall;
- e) a plurality of channeled protuberances positioned on each container bottom to provide channels between adjacent vertically stacked contacting containers, wherein the channeled protuberances extend into the container cavity;
- f) a carrier gas dip tube positioned within the internal compartment and communicatively connected to the gas inlet for directing a carrier gas to below the vertically stacked contacting containers;
- and
- g) means for heating the ampoule.
5 more elements
A vaporizer unit, comprising:
- a) a plurality of vertically stacked containers wherein each container has a cavity for holding a vaporizable source material;
- b) a plurality of channeled protuberances positioned in each of the vertically stacked containers and extending into each respective cavity, wherein the channeled vented protuberances form channels for passage of a carrier gas and vaporized source material between adjacent vertically stacked containers;
- and
- c) a carrier gas tube positioned to pass through the bottom of the container contacting the plurality of vertically stacked containers and extending through the cavity of each vertically stacked container.
1 more element
A vaporizing unit comprising:
- a) multiple vertically stacked containers therein, wherein each container has a bottom and sides for holding a vaporizable source material;
- b) a plurality of channeled protuberances positioned on the bottom of the container, wherein the channeled protuberances provide channels for passage of at least vaporized source material;
- and
- c) a carrier gas tube positioned to pass through the bottom of the container to introduce a stream of the carrier gas for passage through the channeled protuberances.
1 more element
A method for delivering a vaporized source material to a downstream process chamber, the method comprising:
- a) providing a plurality of interconnected, vertically stacked containers having a vaporizable source material contained therein, wherein each of interconnected, vertically stacked containers comprise a plurality of channeled protuberances;
- b) positioning the interconnected, vertically stacked containers within a sealable ampoule;
- c) applying heat to the sealable ampoule in a sufficient amount to vaporize the source material therein;
- and
- d) introducing a carrier gas into the sealable ampoule for moving the vaporized source material through the sealable ampoule to the process chamber, wherein the direction of the carrier gas is directed to the bottom of the stacked containers and concurrent to the direction of the vaporized source material moving through the plurality of channeled protuberances.
2 more elements
A vaporizer comprising:
- a) an ampoule comprising an ampoule bottom and an ampoule sidewall to form an internal compartment;
- b) an ampoule top to enclose the internal compartment;
- c) a gas inlet and gas outlet communicatively connected to the ampoule top;
- d) a plurality of vertically stacked contacting containers positioned within the internal compartment, wherein each container comprises a container bottom and a container sidewall to form a container cavity for holding of a solid precursor material, and wherein each container sidewall contacts the ampoule sidewall;
- e) a plurality of vents positioned on each container bottom to provide channels between adjacent vertically stacked contacting containers;
- f) a carrier gas dip tube positioned within the internal compartment and communicatively connected to the gas inlet for directing a carrier gas to below the vertically stacked contacting containers;
- and
- g) means for heating the ampoule.
5 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.