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US 8,309,173 B2Granted
System for controlling the sublimation of reactants
AssigneeASM International N.V.
InventorsMarko Tuominen, Eric Shero, Mohith Verghese
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An apparatus and method improves heating of a solid precursor inside a sublimation vessel. In one embodiment, inert, thermally conductive elements are interspersed among units of solid precursor. For example the thermally conductive elements can comprise a powder, beads, rods, fibers, etc. In one arrangement, microwave energy can directly heat the thermally conductive elements.
Claims19
A method of processing with a vapor produced from a solid precursor, comprising:
- placing independent solid units of precursor into a vessel;
- interspersing a plurality of independent units of loose thermally conductive material with the units of precursor, wherein the thermally conductive material is inert with respect to the precursor and the conditions within the vessel, and wherein the thermally conductive material is selected from the group consisting of a transition metal carbide, boron carbide, silicon carbide and a carbon foam;
- feeding a carrier gas into the vessel through an inlet of the vessel;
- forming a vapor through applying heat energy from a separate energy source to both the thermally conductive material and the solid units of precursor;
- and
- transporting the vapor from an outlet of the vessel to a reaction chamber with said carrier gas.
3 more elements
A method of processing with a vapor produced from a solid precursor, comprising:
- placing independent solid units of precursor into a vessel, wherein the precursor is selected from the group consisting of hafnium chloride (HfCl4) and zirconium chloride (ZrCl4);
- interspersing a plurality of independent units of loose thermally conductive material with the units of precursor, wherein the thermally conductive material is inert with respect to the precursor and the conditions within the vessel and wherein the thermally conductive material is selected from the group consisting of a transition metal carbide, boron carbide, silicon carbide and a carbon foam;
- feeding a carrier gas into the vessel through an inlet of the vessel;
- forming a vapor through applying heat energy from a separate energy source to both the thermally conductive material and the solid units of precursor;
- and
- transporting the vapor from an outlet of the vessel to a reaction chamber with said carrier gas.
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.