Embodiments related to managing the process feed conditions for a semiconductor process module are provided. In one example, a gas channel plate for a semiconductor process module is provided. The example gas channel plate includes a heat exchange surface including a plurality of heat exchange structures separated from one another by intervening gaps. The example gas channel plate also includes a heat exchange fluid director plate support surface for supporting a heat exchange fluid director plate above the plurality of heat exchange structures so that at least a portion of the plurality of heat exchange structures are spaced from the heat exchange fluid director plate.

Process feed management for semiconductor substrate processing

The present invention relates to a process and system for depositing a thin film onto a substrate. One aspect of the invention is depositing a thin film metal oxide layer using atomic layer deposition (ALD).

Systems and methods for thin-film deposition of metal oxides using excited nitrogen-oxygen species

Embodiments related to hardware and methods for processing a semiconductor substrate are disclosed. One example film deposition reactor includes a process gas distributor including a plasma gas-feed inlet located to supply plasma gas to a plasma generation region within the film deposition reactor and a precursor gas-feed inlet located to supply film precursor gas downstream of the plasma generation region; an insulating confinement vessel configured to maintain a plasma generation region at a reduced pressure within the film deposition reactor and an inductively-coupled plasma (ICP) coil arranged around a portion of a sidewall of the insulating confinement vessel and positioned so that the sidewall separates the plasma generation region from the ICP coil; and a susceptor configured to support the semiconductor substrate so that a film deposition surface of the semiconductor substrate is exposed to a reaction region formed downstream of the process gas distributor.

Process gas management for an inductively-coupled plasma deposition reactor

A showerhead including a body having an opening, a first plate positioned within the opening and having a plurality of slots, a second plate positioned within the opening and having a plurality of slots, and wherein each of the first plate plurality of slots are concentrically aligned with the second plate plurality of slots.

Semiconductor reaction chamber showerhead

A gas inlet system for a wafer processing reactor includes a tubular gas manifold conduit adapted to be connected to a gas inlet port of the wafer processing reactor; and gas feeds including a first feed for feeding a first gas into the tubular gas manifold conduit and a second feed for feeding a second gas into the tubular gas manifold conduit. Each feed has two or more injection ports connected to the tubular gas manifold conduit at a first axial position of the tubular gas manifold conduit, and the injection ports of each of the gas feeds are evenly distributed along a circumference of the tubular gas manifold conduit at the first axial position.

Gas Supply Manifold And Method Of Supplying Gases To Chamber Using Same

– Wafer transfer robots play a significant role in IC manufacturing industry and the end effector is an important component of the robots. The purpose of this paper is to improve transfer efficiency of a wafer transfer robot through study of its end effector, and at the same time to reduce wafer deformation., – Finite element method is adopted to analyze wafer deformation. For wafer transfer robot working in vacuum, for the first time, the authors apply the research of microfiber arrays inspired by gecko to the design of robot's end effector, and present equations between robot's transit acceleration and parameters of microfiber arrays. Based on these studies, a kind of micro‐array bump is designed and fixed to a structure optimized end effector. For wafer transfer robot working in atmospheric environment, the authors have analyzed the effects of different factors on wafer deformation. The pressure distributions in absorption area and calculation formula of maximal transfer acceleration are put forward. Finally, a new kind of end effector for atmospheric robot is designed according to these studies., – The experiments results show that transfer efficiency of wafer transfer robot has been significantly improved through application of the research in this paper. Also wafer deformation under absorption force has been controlled., – Through experiments it can be seen that the research in this paper can be used to improve robot transfer ability and decrease wafer deformation in the production environment. Also the studies of end effector lay a solid foundation for further improvement., – This is the first application of the research of gecko‐inspired microfiber arrays to vacuum wafer transfer robot. This paper also carefully analyzes effects of different factors on wafer deformation through finite element method.

Research, design and experiment of end effector for wafer transfer robot

Ultraprecision cutting used for creating highly precise components and particularly micro-shapes requires ultraprecision machine tools. However, these machine tools are operated under restricted cutting conditions such as feed rate and depth of cut, resulting in low productivity. Therefore, this study deals with this problem by devising a novel ultraprecision cutting system with automation of the workpiece setting operation. In the devised system, the workpiece is roughly machined by an ordinary machine tool. After that, an industrial robot transfers the workpiece to an ultraprecision machine tool to complete the rest of the machining process. The proposed machining system overcomes two types of errors. The first is the shape error due to rough machining on the ordinary machine tool. It is practically difficult to create the expected shape exactly in rough machining, and therefore the shape error of the roughly machined workpiece is affecting the finish machining directly. The other is the setting errors due to the transfer of the workpiece to the ultraprecision machine tool from the ordinary machine tool. The differences from the ideal workpiece position and orientation are detected to identify the setting errors. Thus, the roughly machined workpiece is scanned to derive an error map by on-machine measurement. Additional tool paths are generated for semi-finish machining, and the error map helps to eliminate the form errors induced by rough machining. The NC program for finish machining is modified to compensate the identified workpiece setting errors. Finally, finish machining can be conducted on the roughly machined workpiece. Hence, the removal volume in finish machining on an ultraprecision machine tool is reduced, and the time required for the whole machining process is expected to be shorter. The experimental results confirm that the developed ultraprecision cutting system contributes to the automated workpiece setting operation to create micro-shapes with high accuracy. 

Meng Xu

Papers

Research, design and experiment of end effector for wafer transfer robot

Automated workpiece setting operation by on-machine measurement for efficient ultraprecision cutting of micro-shapes