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US 7,923,660 B2Granted
Pulsed laser anneal system architecture
AssigneeApplied Materials, Inc.
InventorsAlexander N. Lerner, Timothy N. Thomas, Sundar Ramamurthy
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Disclosed is the method and apparatus for annealing semiconductor substrates. One embodiment provides a semiconductor processing chamber comprising a first substrate support configured to support a substrate, a second substrate support configured to support a substrate, a shuttle coupled to the first substrate support and configured to move the first substrate support between a processing zone and a first loading zone, wherein the processing zone having a processing volume configured to alternately accommodating the first substrate support and the second substrate support.
Claims23
A semiconductor processing chamber, comprising:
- a chamber body forming a processing zone connected to a first loading zone and a second loading zone;
- first and second doors to selectively isolate the processing zone from the first and second loading zones respectively;
- a first substrate support configured to support a substrate;
- a second substrate support configured to support a substrate;
- a shuttle coupled to the first substrate support and the second substrate support, wherein the shuttle is configured to move the first substrate support between the processing zone and the first loading zone through the first door and to move the second substrate support between the processing zone and the second loading zone through the second door, and the processing zone has a processing volume configured to alternately accommodate the first substrate support and the second substrate support.
2 more elements
A semiconductor processing chamber, comprising:
- a first substrate support configured to support a substrate;
- a second substrate support configured to support a substrate;
- a shuttle coupled to the first substrate support and configured to move the first substrate support between a processing zone and a first loading zone, wherein the processing zone has a processing volume configured to alternately accommodating the first substrate support and the second substrate support;
- and
- an energy source disposed in the processing zone, wherein the energy source is configured to project energy to an anneal region, the first and second substrate supports are configured to align a desired portion of a substrate with the anneal region,
- wherein each of the first and second substrate supports comprises:
- a substrate chuck configured to secure a substrate thereon;
- a first stage configured to translate the substrate chuck along a first direction;
- a second stage configured to translate the substrate chuck along a second direction;
- and
- a rotating mechanism configured to rotate the substrate chuck about a central axis of the substrate chuck.
8 more elements
An annealing system, comprising:
- a processing chamber having a processing zone, a first loading zone and a second loading zone;
- doors to selectively insulate the processing zone from the first and second loading zones:
- a first substrate support assembly configured to support and transfer a substrate between the first loading zone and the processing zone;
- a second substrate assembly configured to support and transfer a substrate between the second loading zone and the processing zone;
- a shuttle configured to alternately position the first and second substrate assemblies in the processing zone;
- and
- an energy source configured to project an energy to an anneal region in the processing zone.
4 more elements
An annealing system, comprising:
- a processing chamber having a processing zone, a first loading zone and a second loading zone;
- a first substrate support assembly configured to support and transfer a substrate between the first loading zone and the processing zone;
- a second substrate assembly configured to support and transfer a substrate between the second loading zone and the processing zone;
- a shuttle configured to alternately position the first and second substrate assemblies in the processing zone;
- and
- an energy source configured to project an energy to an anneal region in the processing zone, wherein each of the first and second substrate support assemblies further comprises:
- a substrate chuck configured to secure a substrate thereon;
- a first stage configured to translate the substrate chuck along a first direction;
- a second stage configured to translate the substrate chuck along a second direction;
- and
- a rotating mechanism configured to rotate the substrate chuck about a central axis of the substrate chuck.
8 more elements
A method for processing semiconductor substrates, comprising:
- loading a first substrate on a first substrate support assembly positioned in a first loading zone;
- preheating the first substrate in the first loading zone;
- moving the first substrate support assembly through a first door to a processing zone to position the first substrate in the processing zone and moving a second substrate support assembly positioned in the processing zone through a second door to a second loading zone;
- aligning a first region of the first substrate with an annealing region of an energy source disposed in the processing zone;
- fluidly insulating the processing zone from the first and second loading zones by closing and sealing the first and second doors between the processing zone and the first and second loading zones;
- and
- projecting a pulsed energy to the first region of the first substrate using the energy source.
4 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.