Patents Assigned to Kokusai Electric Corporation
  • Publication number: 20230287567
    Abstract: There is provided a technique that includes: (a) forming an inhibitor layer on a first surface of a substrate, which includes the first surface and a second surface, by supplying a modifying agent that reacts with the first surface to the substrate; (b) forming a first film on the second surface by supplying a first film-forming agent, at least a portion of which being provided with a first energy, to the substrate in which the inhibitor layer is formed on the first surface; and (c) forming a second film on the first film formed on the second surface by supplying a second film-forming agent, at least a portion of which being provided with a second energy which is higher than the first energy, to the substrate in which the first film is formed on the second surface.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 10, 2023
    Publication date: September 14, 2023
    Applicant: Kokusai Electric Corporation
    Inventors: Kimihiko Nakatani, Yoshitomo Hashimoto
  • Patent number: 11753716
    Abstract: There is provided a technique that includes forming a film on at least one substrate by performing a cycle a predetermined number of times, the cycle including non-simultaneously performing: (a) performing a first set a number of times, the first set including non-simultaneously performing: supplying a precursor to the at least one substrate from at least one first ejecting hole of a first nozzle arranged along a substrate arrangement direction of a substrate arrangement region where the at least one substrate is arranged; and supplying a reactant to the at least one substrate; and (b) performing a second set a number of times, the second set including non-simultaneously performing: supplying the precursor to the at least one substrate from at least one second ejecting hole of a second nozzle arranged along the substrate arrangement direction of the substrate arrangement region; and supplying the reactant to the at least one substrate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 31, 2020
    Date of Patent: September 12, 2023
    Assignee: Kokusai Electric Corporation
    Inventors: Hiroki Hatta, Takeo Hanashima, Koei Kuribayashi, Shin Sone
  • Publication number: 20230279551
    Abstract: There is provided a configuration that includes: a first gas supply line configured to be capable of controlling a flow rate of a first precursor gas, which is generated by a first raw material, by a flow rate controller, and supplying the first precursor gas into the process chamber; and a second gas supply line configured to be capable of supplying a second precursor gas, which is generated by a second raw material, into the process chamber, wherein a flow rate of the second precursor gas is determined based on a pressure difference between a primary-side pressure of the flow rate controller installed at the first gas supply line and a supply pressure of the second precursor gas from the second gas supply line into the process chamber.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 2, 2023
    Publication date: September 7, 2023
    Applicant: Kokusai Electric Corporation
    Inventors: Kaoru YAMAMOTO, Kentaro GOSHIMA
  • Publication number: 20230282505
    Abstract: There is provided a technique for suppressing interference between processes respectively performed in the plurality of reactors. According to one aspect thereof, a substrate processing apparatus includes: a first vessel including a transfer port and a process chamber; a second vessel adjacent to the first vessel and communicating with the first vessel via the transfer port; a lid for closing the transfer port; a seal arranged between the transfer port and the lid; and a controller for controlling the inner pressure of the first vessel to be lower than the inner pressure of the second vessel with the transfer port closed by the lid while the substrate is processed in the process chamber and the inner pressure of the first vessel to be higher than the inner pressure of the second vessel after the substrate is processed and before the first vessel comes into communication with the second vessel.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 8, 2022
    Publication date: September 7, 2023
    Applicant: Kokusai Electric Corporation
    Inventors: Atsushi MORIYA, Yukinori ABURATANI, Satoshi TAKANO, Naofumi OHASHI
  • Publication number: 20230279550
    Abstract: There is provided a technique that includes: a flow rate controller configured to control a flow rate of fluid flowing in a pipe; an adjuster configured to supply an adjustment gas to at least a downstream side of the flow rate controller; and a controller configured to be capable of suppressing a phase change of the fluid, which is caused by a temperature drop due to adiabatic expansion, by supplying the adjustment gas from the adjuster according to a difference between an internal pressure of the flow rate controller and a pressure on the downstream side of the flow rate controller.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 1, 2023
    Publication date: September 7, 2023
    Applicant: Kokusai Electric Corporation
    Inventors: Kaoru YAMAMOTO, Kentaro GOSHIMA
  • Patent number: 11749550
    Abstract: Described herein is a technique capable of optimizing a timing of a maintenance process. According to one aspect of the technique of the present disclosure, there is provided a method of manufacturing a semiconductor device including: (a) transferring a substrate to a process chamber, and performing a substrate processing; (b) receiving maintenance reservation information of the process chamber wherein a maintenance timing at which the process chamber enters into a maintenance enable state is determined by the maintenance reservation information; and (c) continuously performing the substrate processing after the maintenance reservation information is received in (b) until the substrate processing in the process chamber related to the maintenance reservation information is completed, stopping one or more substrates including the substrate from being transferred into the process chamber, and thereafter setting the process chamber to the maintenance enable state.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 20, 2021
    Date of Patent: September 5, 2023
    Assignee: KOKUSAI ELECTRIC CORPORATION
    Inventors: Yasuhiro Mizuguchi, Naofumi Ohashi, Tadashi Takasaki, Shun Matsui
  • Patent number: 11746416
    Abstract: There is a provided a technique that includes forming a film containing Si, C and N on a substrate by performing a cycle a predetermined number of times, the cycle including non-simultaneously performing: (a) supplying a first precursor containing a Si—C bond and not containing halogen to the substrate; and (b) supplying a second precursor containing a Si—N bond and not containing an alkyl group to the substrate, wherein (a) and (b) are performed under a condition that at least a part of the Si—C bond in the first precursor and at least a part of the Si—N bond in the second gas are held without being cut.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 18, 2018
    Date of Patent: September 5, 2023
    Assignee: KOKUSAI ELECTRIC CORPORATION
    Inventor: Kimihiko Nakatani
  • Patent number: 11749510
    Abstract: There is provided a plasma generating device that includes a first electrode connected to a high-frequency power supply, and a second electrode to be grounded, a buffer structure configured to form a buffer chamber that accommodates the first and second electrodes wherein the first electrode and the second electrode are alternately arranged such that a number of electrodes of the first electrode and the second electrode are in an odd number of three or more in total, and wherein the second electrode is used in common for two of the first electrode being respectively adjacent to the second electrode used in common, and wherein a gas supply port that supplies gas into a process chamber is installed on a wall surface of the buffer structure.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 12, 2021
    Date of Patent: September 5, 2023
    Assignee: KOKUSAI ELECTRIC CORPORATION
    Inventors: Akihiro Sato, Tsuyoshi Takeda, Yukitomo Hirochi
  • Patent number: 11747789
    Abstract: A substrate processing apparatus includes a plurality of storage containers mounted on a load port, each storage container storing a plurality of substrates; a plurality of process chambers for accommodating the substrates; a transfer part for transferring the substrates; a memory for storing data tables, including first count data, for the process chambers; an operation part, when multiple substrates in the first storage container is transferred to the process chambers in a predetermined order and performs a predetermined process in the process chambers in a state in which no substrate is present in a first process chamber, counting first count data for the first process chamber; and a controller assigns flag data to a data table of a process chamber having largest first count data and when multiple substrates in the second storage container is transferred, control the transfer part based on the flag data from a different process chamber.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 20, 2022
    Date of Patent: September 5, 2023
    Assignee: KOKUSAI ELECTRIC CORPORATION
    Inventors: Naofumi Ohashi, Toshiyuki Kikuchi, Shun Matsui, Tadashi Takasaki
  • Patent number: 11735442
    Abstract: There is provided a technique that includes: processing a substrate in a process vessel by supplying a processing gas to the substrate and exhausting the processing gas from an exhaust part including an exhaust pipe and a pump; cleaning an interior of the exhaust part by supplying a first cleaning gas from a supply port installed in the exhaust pipe directly into the exhaust pipe; and cleaning an interior of the process vessel by supplying a second cleaning gas into the process vessel, wherein a frequency of performing the act of cleaning the interior of the exhaust part is set higher than a frequency of performing the act of cleaning the interior of the process vessel.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 18, 2022
    Date of Patent: August 22, 2023
    Assignee: KOKUSAI ELECTRIC CORPORATION
    Inventor: Takashi Ozaki
  • Patent number: 11735412
    Abstract: There is provided a technique which includes: forming a first film containing silicon, oxygen, carbon and nitrogen on a substrate by performing a first cycle a predetermined number of times, the first cycle including non-simultaneously performing: forming a first layer containing silicon, oxygen, carbon and nitrogen by simultaneously supplying first aminosilane and an oxidant to the substrate; and performing a first modifying process to the first layer under a first temperature; and performing a second modifying process to the first film under a second temperature that is higher than the first temperature.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 20, 2018
    Date of Patent: August 22, 2023
    Assignee: KOKUSAI ELECTRIC CORPORATION
    Inventors: Atsushi Sano, Kenji Kameda, Yushin Takasawa
  • Publication number: 20230257883
    Abstract: There is provided a technique that includes: a reaction tube where a process chamber configured to process a substrate is formed; a heater structure including a heater heating the substrate; a cooler including a cooling valve supplying a cooling medium; an exhaust fan supplying the cooling medium to the cooler; and a cooling controller configured to: acquire a prediction model that includes information of the exhaust fan, final target temperature, and opening state of the cooling valve and estimates a predicted temperature predicting at least one selected from the group of a temperature of the heater and a temperature of the process chamber; acquire the at least one selected from the group of the temperature of the heater and the temperature of the process chamber, the opening state of the cooling valve, and the information of the exhaust fan; and regulate the opening state of the cooling valve.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 23, 2023
    Publication date: August 17, 2023
    Applicant: Kokusai Electric Corporation
    Inventors: Hideto YAMAGUCHI, Seiya Shigematsu, Masaaki Ueno, Masashi Sugishita, Shuhei Maeda, Tetsuya Kosugi
  • Publication number: 20230257873
    Abstract: There is provided a technique that includes: (a) loading a substrate into a process container; (b) processing the substrate by supplying a processing gas into the process container to form a film containing titanium and nitrogen on the substrate; (c) unloading the processed substrate from the process container; and (d) supplying a modifying gas containing at least one selected from the group of silicon, metal, and halogen into the process container after the processed substrate is unloaded from the process container.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 2, 2023
    Publication date: August 17, 2023
    Applicant: Kokusai Electric Corporation
    Inventors: Takuya JODA, Arito OGAWA, Atsuro SEINO
  • Patent number: 11728183
    Abstract: There is provided a technique that includes adjusting a pressure of each of a plurality of process chambers, by adjusting an opening degree of a pressure-adjusting valve included in a common gas exhaust pipe, which is connected to a plurality of process chamber exhaust pipes and is disposed to merge respective process chamber exhaust pipes on a downstream side of the plurality of process chamber exhaust pipes, to a predetermined opening degree and by exhausting an atmosphere of each of the process chambers from the plurality of process chamber exhaust pipes and the common gas exhaust pipe while supplying an inert gas to the plurality of process chambers; processing a substrate in each of the process chambers; and detecting a fluctuation of pressures in the process chamber exhaust pipes by measuring, by one or more pressure detectors, the pressures of the process chamber exhaust pipes.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 18, 2022
    Date of Patent: August 15, 2023
    Assignee: KOKUSAI ELECTRIC CORPORATION
    Inventors: Hideharu Itatani, Toshiyuki Kikuchi, Naofumi Ohashi
  • Patent number: 11728159
    Abstract: There is provided a technique that includes: (a) forming a film on a substrate in a process container by performing a cycle a predetermined number of times, the cycle including: supplying an oxygen-containing gas from a pipe made of metal to the substrate in the process container; supplying a nitrogen-and-hydrogen-containing gas from the pipe to the substrate in the process container; and (b) forming a layer on an inner surface of the pipe by supplying a surface treatment gas into the pipe such that the surface treatment gas chemically reacts with the inner surface of the pipe.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 13, 2022
    Date of Patent: August 15, 2023
    Assignee: KOKUSAI ELECTRIC CORPORATION
    Inventors: Kazuhiro Harada, Masayoshi Minami, Akihito Yoshino, Masaya Nishida, Naoko Kitagawa, Shintaro Kogura, Shogo Otani
  • Patent number: 11726456
    Abstract: There is provided a substrate processing system, including: a plurality of substrate processing apparatuses; a first control part installed in each of the plurality of substrate processing apparatuses and configured to transmit a first apparatus data from each of the plurality of substrate processing apparatuses; a second control part configured to receive the first apparatus data from each of the plurality of substrate processing apparatuses, generate a priority data of each of the plurality of substrate processing apparatuses based on the first apparatus data, and transmit the priority data to the first control part; and a display part configured to display the priority data thereon.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 30, 2020
    Date of Patent: August 15, 2023
    Assignee: Kokusai Electric Corporation
    Inventors: Masanori Nakayama, Tsukasa Kamakura
  • Patent number: 11728165
    Abstract: There is included (a) forming a first film containing at least oxygen and carbon and having a concentration of carbon, which is 20 at % or more, on a substrate by supplying a film-forming gas to the substrate at a first temperature; and (b) modifying the first film into a second film by supplying an oxygen- and hydrogen-containing gas to the substrate on which the first film is formed, at a second temperature that is equal to or higher than the first temperature.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 3, 2021
    Date of Patent: August 15, 2023
    Assignee: KOKUSAI ELECTRIC CORPORATION
    Inventors: Hiroki Yamashita, Yoshitomo Hashimoto
  • Patent number: 11728162
    Abstract: There is provided a technique that includes: forming an oxide film having a predetermined thickness on a surface of a substrate by performing a cycle a plurality of times, the cycle including non-simultaneously performing: (a) forming a nitride film by supplying a film-forming gas to the substrate; and (b) oxidizing and changing the nitride film into a first oxide film by supplying an oxidizing gas to the substrate, wherein a maximum distance from an interface between the nitride film formed in (a) and a base of the nitride film to a surface of the nitride film is set to 2 nm or more and 4 nm or less.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 8, 2021
    Date of Patent: August 15, 2023
    Assignee: KOKUSAI ELECTRIC CORPORATION
    Inventors: Tsukasa Kamakura, Kiyohisa Ishibashi, Ryota Kataoka
  • Publication number: 20230253222
    Abstract: There is provided a technique that includes a first opening and a second opening which supply gases to a process chamber in which a substrate is arranged, and is configured such that: the first opening and the second opening are arranged in a direction parallel to a surface of the substrate, a gas supplied from the first opening is supplied toward a center of the substrate, a gas supplied from the second opening is supplied toward a peripheral edge of the substrate, and a direction of the gas supplied from the second opening forms a predetermined angle with respect to a direction of the gas supplied from the first opening.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 25, 2023
    Publication date: August 10, 2023
    Applicant: Kokusai Electric Corporation
    Inventors: Kenta Kasamatsu, Atsushi Hirano, Tetsuo Yamamoto, Takafumi Sasaki
  • Patent number: D997892
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 26, 2020
    Date of Patent: September 5, 2023
    Assignee: KOKUSAI ELECTRIC CORPORATION
    Inventors: Satoshi Aizawa, Tetsuya Marubayashi, Kiyoaki Yamada