Patents Assigned to Aixtron, SE
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Patent number: 12234553Abstract: A susceptor assembly, which is situated in a reactor housing, has at least one wide side plane that faces a process chamber, at least one pocket, and a carrying element that lies in the at least one pocket, for carrying and handling a substrate. An upper face of the carrying element is adjacent to a limiting face of a recess in which the substrate is arranged. A section of the limiting face which runs along a cylinder inner lateral face merges into the upper face of the carrying element, forming a rounded edge or chamfer. To reduce the growth of parasitic deposits on an inner edge of the carrying element, the section of the limiting face which runs along the cylinder inner lateral face has a height which is greater than the material thickness of the substrate, and the radius of the rounded edge is greater than 0.4 mm.Type: GrantFiled: June 4, 2019Date of Patent: February 25, 2025Assignee: AIXTRON SEInventors: Benjamin David Wright, Barry O'Neil
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Patent number: 12180590Abstract: A device for depositing layers on flat substrates includes a susceptor which can be heated by a heating device. The substrates and cover plates enclosing same are arranged on an upper face of the susceptor facing a process chamber. The cover plates include inner cover plates, each of which forms an edge adjoining a substrate edge facing the center of the susceptor. The inner cover plates are arranged about the center of the susceptor in the circumferential direction, and adjacent ones of the inner cover plates adjoin each other at a separation joint. The separation joint is arranged at an angle ? to a line which extends through the center of the susceptor and the center of one of the substrates in a radial direction.Type: GrantFiled: June 14, 2019Date of Patent: December 31, 2024Assignee: AIXTRON SEInventors: Benjamin David Wright, Barry O′Neil
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Patent number: 12139793Abstract: Information is communicated to a process control device by performing a process that includes the step of heating a component, the component having structured volumetric regions. When the component is heated, structures present in the volumetric regions radiate in the infrared spectrum, allowing the structures to be distinguished by an infrared sensor. The structures, formed by elevations or depressions, form a machine-readable identifier, which can be used as an originality identification means for the component. Since the identifier can be determined in situ during a heating process, the process control device can recognize whether correction values are to be used for the thermal treatment of a substrate.Type: GrantFiled: March 26, 2019Date of Patent: November 12, 2024Assignee: AIXTRON SEInventors: Matthias Johannes Bode, Thomas Schmitt, Micha Cornel Franke, Markus Mohnen
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Patent number: 12110591Abstract: A susceptor arrangement for use in a CVD reactor includes a circular or annular susceptor with a first susceptor broad side, on which a substrate holder and at least one covering element are arranged. At least one of the covering elements consists of multiple covering plates, in which a lowermost covering plate is adjacent to the first broad side face of the susceptor, and an uppermost covering plate covers the lowermost covering plate at least in certain regions and forms a free broad side face of the susceptor arrangement. The covering plates are preferably produced from silicon carbide, and are connected to one another by positioning elements.Type: GrantFiled: February 28, 2020Date of Patent: October 8, 2024Assignee: AIXTRON SEInventors: Francisco Ruda Y Witt, Marcel Kollberg, Hendrik Rauf
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Patent number: 12098462Abstract: A component made of a quartz blank is used as a component part of a CVD reactor. At least one cavity of the component is created by selective laser etching, wherein a fluid flows through the at least one cavity. When in use, the component is heated to temperatures in excess of 500° C., and comes into contact with hydrides of the main groups IV, V or VI and/or with organometallic compounds or halogenides of elements of the main groups II, III or V.Type: GrantFiled: November 27, 2019Date of Patent: September 24, 2024Assignee: AIXTRON SEInventors: Marcel Kollberg, Francisco Ruda Y Witt
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Patent number: 12084767Abstract: A gas outlet surface of a gas inlet element for a CVD reactor or a gas outlet surface of a shielding plate for a gas inlet element has a multiplicity of gas outlet openings arranged around a center of the gas outlet surface. The central points of the gas outlet openings lie at the corner points of polygonal, identically formed cells, each having a geometrical central point. The position and the length of the edges of the cells are defined by intersecting reference lines, the reference lines being assigned to at least two families of lines, and the reference lines of a respective family extending linearly and parallel to one another over an entirety of the gas outlet surface. The center of the gas outlet surface is separated from one of the corner points by one-third±10 percent of the length of one of the edges.Type: GrantFiled: July 10, 2020Date of Patent: September 10, 2024Assignee: AIXTRON SEInventor: Oliver Schön
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Patent number: 12084768Abstract: A CVD reactor includes a gas inlet member having a circular outline, and a susceptor that can be heated by a heating device. The gas inlet member has a cooled ceiling panel with outlet openings. The CVD reactor further comprises a shield plate, which adjoins the ceiling panel and has a circular outline. The shield plate has a central zone, an annular zone surrounding the central zone, having a rear side that points toward the ceiling panel, and a flat gas outlet surface pointing toward the process chamber, in which gas outlet openings terminate. The rear side in the central zone defines a rear plane running parallel to the gas outlet surface. The shield plate has a material thickness between 3 to 12 mm, and that the shield plate is spaced apart from the ceiling plate by a gap having a height between 0.3 to 1 mm.Type: GrantFiled: July 19, 2023Date of Patent: September 10, 2024Assignee: AIXTRON SEInventors: Adam Boyd, Wilhelm Josef Thomas Krücken, Honggen Jiang, Fred Michael Andrew Crawley
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Patent number: 12012654Abstract: In a device for depositing graphene, carbon nano-tubes or other, in particular carbon-contained coatings on a strip-shaped substrate, the substrate enters a reactor housing through an inlet opening and is transported in a transport direction through a process area that is tempered by a tempering device, before being exiting the reactor housing through an outlet opening. Heat-transport-inhibiting means are arranged between the process area and the inlet opening and/or the outlet opening by means of which a heat transport from the process area to the inlet opening or the outlet opening is reduced. Guide elements are also provided in order to guide the substrate into and out of regions directly adjacent to the inlet and outlet openings.Type: GrantFiled: April 30, 2019Date of Patent: June 18, 2024Assignee: AIXTRON SEInventors: Alexandre Jouvray, Matthew Perry
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Patent number: 11959190Abstract: A device is provided to fasten a susceptor of a CVD reactor to a drive shaft, and by the device, the susceptor can be set into rotation. The device includes one or more of a base plate, a support plate, adjusting levers, and a flange element. The drive shaft carries the base plate, to which the support plate, which carries the susceptor, is fastened. The inclination of the support plate relative to the base plate can be adjusted by the adjusting levers. The support plate is connected to the flange element by a screw. A through opening aligned with the screw is closed with a plug.Type: GrantFiled: January 22, 2019Date of Patent: April 16, 2024Assignee: AIXTRON SEInventors: Torsten Werner Bastke, Francisco Ruda Y Witt, Mike Pfisterer
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Patent number: 11887848Abstract: A nucleation layer comprised of group III and V elements is directly deposited onto the surface of a substrate made of a group IV element. Together with a first gaseous starting material containing a group III element, a second gaseous starting material containing a group V element is introduced at a process temperature of greater than 500° C. into a process chamber containing the substrate. It is essential that at least at the start of the deposition process of the nucleation layer, a third gaseous starting material containing a group IV element is fed into the process chamber, together with the first and second gaseous starting material. The third gaseous starting material develops an n-doping effect in the deposited III-V crystal, which causes a decrease in damping at a dopant concentration of less than 1×1018 cm?3.Type: GrantFiled: April 10, 2019Date of Patent: January 30, 2024Assignee: AIXTRON SEInventor: Christof Martin Mauder
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Patent number: 11851762Abstract: A device, for depositing a layer on a substrate by supplying one or more process gases to a process chamber, includes a susceptor and one or more transmitter coils. The susceptor bearing the substrate can be heated to a process temperature by means of an electromagnetic alternating field generated by the one or more transmitter coils. The one or more transmitter coils have a coating that consists of tin and nickel in order to provide a corrosion-resistant coating, which simultaneously has low emissivity and is therefore effective in the presence of chlorine compounds and moisture.Type: GrantFiled: July 3, 2018Date of Patent: December 26, 2023Assignee: AIXTRON SEInventor: Hans-Gerd Fuss
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Patent number: 11746419Abstract: A CVD reactor includes a gas inlet member having a circular outline, and a susceptor that can be heated by a heating device. The gas inlet member has a cooled ceiling panel with outlet openings. The CVD reactor further comprises a shield plate, which adjoins the ceiling panel and has a circular outline. The shield plate has a central zone, an annular zone surrounding the central zone, having a rear side that points toward the ceiling panel, and a flat gas outlet surface pointing toward the process chamber, in which gas outlet openings terminate. The rear side in the central zone defines a rear plane running parallel to the gas outlet surface. The shield plate has a material thickness between 3 to 12 mm, and that the shield plate is spaced apart from the ceiling plate by a gap having a height between 0.3 to 1 mm.Type: GrantFiled: October 22, 2019Date of Patent: September 5, 2023Assignee: AIXTRON SEInventors: Adam Boyd, Wilhelm Josef Thomas Krücken, Honggen Jiang, Fred Michael Andrew Crawley
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Patent number: 11713505Abstract: A CVD reactor may include a susceptor, process chamber and heat dissipation body. In the CVD reactor, one or more layers can be deposited on one or more substrates. The susceptor is heated by a heating devices. Heat is transported from susceptor, through a process chamber towards the process chamber ceiling, through the process chamber ceiling, and from the process chamber ceiling through a gap space to the heat dissipation body. The temperature of the process chamber ceiling is measured at at least two different azimuth angle positions about a central axis of the process chamber. The radial distance of the respective measurement points or zones from the central axis of the process chamber may be equal to one another. The at least two temperature measurement values are used to produce an average value or a difference value.Type: GrantFiled: September 3, 2019Date of Patent: August 1, 2023Assignee: AIXTRON SEInventor: Peter Sebald Lauffer
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Patent number: 11702740Abstract: A CVD reactor includes a gas-tight and evacuatable reactor housing and an inner housing arranged therein. The inner housing has means for the infeed of a process gas and means for holding a substrate for treatment in the inner housing by means of the process gases. The inner housing also has a loading opening which can be closed off by a sealing element of a closure element. In its closure position, the closure element bears with an encircling sealing zone against a counterpart sealing zone which encircles the loading opening on the outer side of the inner housing. The sealing element is fastened to a carrier as to be adjustable in terms of inclination and/or pivotally movable about at least one spatial axis (X, Y, Z) and/or so as to be elastically deflectable in the direction of one of the spatial axes (X, Y, Z).Type: GrantFiled: October 2, 2018Date of Patent: July 18, 2023Assignee: AIXTRON SEInventors: Marcel Kollberg, Francisco Ruda Y Witt, Mike Pfisterer
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Patent number: 11669072Abstract: Information about a process for depositing at least one layer on a substrate in a process chamber is obtained via a method including the step of storing actuation data and sensor values as raw data in a log file, together with their time reference. Knowledge about the quality of the deposited layer is obtained by using the raw data. For this purpose, process parameters are obtained from the raw data by means of a computing apparatus. The beginning and the end of the process steps for processing the substrate and their respective types are identified by analyzing the time curve of the process parameters. For at least some of the process steps, characteristic process step quantities corresponding to the particular type of the process steps are calculated from the measured values, and the obtained process step quantities are compared with comparison quantities associated with one or more similar process steps.Type: GrantFiled: December 13, 2018Date of Patent: June 6, 2023Assignee: AIXTRON SEInventor: Peter Sebald Lauffer
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Patent number: 11479851Abstract: A device for depositing a layer, which has been structured by the application of a mask, on a substrate, includes an adjusting device for adjusting the position of a mask support with respect to a support frame. The device also includes, a mask lifting device, by which the support frame, together with the mask support, the adjusting device and a mask assembly, can be vertically displaced from a mask changing position into a processing position. The device also includes a substrate holder lifting device, by which the substrate holder can be vertically displaced from a loading position into a processing position. Restraining means, which include a V-groove and a spherical surface, restrain the substrate holder in the processing position on the support frame. The spherical surface, formed by a ball element of the support frame, is supported on flanks of the V-groove that is formed by the substrate holder.Type: GrantFiled: March 12, 2018Date of Patent: October 25, 2022Assignee: AIXTRON SEInventors: Markus Jakob, Wilhelmus Janssen, Steffen Neumann, Jaap Oudes
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Patent number: 11441223Abstract: A susceptor for a CVD reactor includes a flat circular disc-shaped body with channels that are arranged on a broad side of the disc-shaped body within one or more circular surface sections extending on a plane in order to transfer heat to a substrate holder. The channels run about respective centers of the one or more circular surface sections in a spiral manner and are formed as depressions that are open towards the plane. An end of each of the channels has a channel opening, the channel openings being fluidically connected to a feed opening arranged at the end of a gas supply line. Additionally, the one or more surface sections are equipped with one or more influencing elements that influence the local heat transfer and are formed as open depressions on the plane or as insert pieces that plug into the depressions.Type: GrantFiled: March 6, 2018Date of Patent: September 13, 2022Assignee: AIXTRON SEInventors: Oliver Schön, Francisco Ruda Y Witt, Marcus Schaffrath
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Patent number: 11396697Abstract: A device for depositing a layer on a substrate, while a mask is placed on the substrate, includes an adjustment device for adjusting the position of a mask carrier with respect to a support frame. The adjustment device has, on the support frame, an adjustment lever that is mounted to rotate about an axis of rotation of a pivot bearing and that has a first and second arm. The second arm acts on the mask carrier, and a control rod that can be vertically displaced by an actuator acts on the first arm. For a vertical adjustment device, the second arm and the first arm extend in a horizontal direction, in which the second arm acts on a push rod that is connected to the mask carrier. For a horizontal adjustment device, the second arm extends in a vertical direction and the first arm extends in a horizontal direction.Type: GrantFiled: March 12, 2018Date of Patent: July 26, 2022Assignee: AIXTRON SEInventors: Jaap Oudes, Markus Jakob, Wilhelmus Janssen, Vladimirs Leontjevs
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Patent number: 11286566Abstract: A III-V semiconductor layer is deposited using an apparatus comprising a process chamber, a susceptor for receiving one or more substrates to be coated, and a gas inlet element which comprises a plurality of process gas inlet zones. An etching gas inlet in the flow direction of the hydride and the MO compound opens into the process chamber downstream of the process gas inlet zones. A control device is adapted and the process gas inlet zones and the etching gas inlet are arranged such that the process gases cannot enter into the etching gas inlet during deposition of the semiconductor layer and the etching gas cannot enter into the process gas inlet zones during purification of the process chamber. The etching gas inlet is formed by an annular zone of the process chamber cover around the gas inlet element and by an annular fastening element for fastening a cover plate.Type: GrantFiled: May 15, 2019Date of Patent: March 29, 2022Assignee: AIXTRON SEInventors: Francisco Ruda Y Witt, Markus Deufel, Marcel Kollberg
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Patent number: 11268934Abstract: A device for determining the partial pressure or the concentration of a steam in a volume, includes a sensor body that can be oscillated. The temperature of the sensor body can be controlled to a temperature below the condensation temperature of the steam, and the oscillation frequency of the sensor body is influenced by a mass accumulation of the condensed steam on a surface of the sensor body. Means are provided for generating a gas flow from the sensor surface in the direction of the volume through a steam transport channel that adjoins a window to the volume. In order to increase the maximum service life of the sensor body, the means for generating a gas flow has a slit nozzle designed as an annular channel.Type: GrantFiled: March 22, 2018Date of Patent: March 8, 2022Assignee: AIXTRON SEInventors: Arno Offermanns, Robert Bartholomeus Jacques Oligschlaeger