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AssigneeAdvanced Technology Materials, Inc.
InventorsJohn M. Cleary, Jose I. Arno, Bryan C. Hendrix, Donn Naito, Scott Battle, John N. Gregg, Michael J. Wodjenski, Chongying Xu
Estimating the term…
Apparatus and method for volatilizing a source reagent susceptible to particle generation or presence of particles in the corresponding source reagent vapor, in which such particle generation or presence is suppressed by structural or processing features of the vapor generation system. Such apparatus and method are applicable to liquid and solid source reagents, particularly solid source reagents such as metal halides, e.g., hafnium chloride. The source reagent in one specific implementation is constituted by a porous monolithic bulk form of the source reagent material. The apparatus and method of the invention are usefully employed to provide source reagent vapor for applications such as atomic layer deposition (ALD) and ion implantation.
A closed vaporizer pre-loaded with a solid form source reagent for subsequent generation of source reagent vapor for dispensing operation, said vaporizer comprising a vaporizer vessel defining at least one port, and defining an enclosed interior volume, an interior structure disposed in the interior volume, said interior structure having a crusted layer of the solid form source reagent in contact with supporting surface of the interior structure, with the interior structure arranged in the interior volume so that the crusted layer in contact with the supporting surface of the interior structure is exposed for generation of the source reagent vapor during said dispensing operation, wherein the crusted layer of the solid form source reagent is present in the pre-loaded closed vaporizer, prior to use of the pre-loaded closed vaporizer for said generation of source reagent vapor for dispensing operation.
A closed vaporizer pre-loaded with a solid form source reagent for subsequent generation of source reagent vapor for dispensing operation, said vaporizer comprising a vaporizer vessel defining at least one port, and defining an enclosed interior volume, at least one interior structure disposed in the interior volume, said at least one interior structure having a crusted layer of the solid form source reagent in contact with supporting surface of the interior structure, with the interior structure arranged in the interior volume so that the crusted layer in contact with the supporting surface of the interior structure is exposed for generation of the source reagent vapor during said dispensing operation, wherein the at least one interior structure comprises at least one of:
A closed vaporizer pre-loaded with a solid form source reagent for subsequent vaporization of the solid form source reagent in a dispensing operation, said vaporizer comprising a vaporizer vessel defining an inlet port and an outlet port, and defining an enclosed interior volume, wherein said inlet port is adapted to supply a carrier gas to the interior volume to contact said source reagent, interior structure comprising a tray disposed in the interior volume, the tray having a crusted layer of the solid form source reagent in contact with supporting surface of the tray, with the tray arranged in the interior volume so that the crusted layer in contact with the supporting surface of the tray is exposed for generation of the source reagent vapor and entrainment thereof in the carrier gas supplied to the interior volume to form a carrier gas mixture that flows to the outlet port for discharge from the vaporizer vessel, wherein the crusted layer has been formed prior to the contact of the source reagent with the carrier gas, and wherein the crusted layer of the solid form source reagent is present in the pre-loaded closed vaporizer, prior to use of the pre-loaded closed vaporizer for said generation of source reagent vapor for dispensing operation.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.