Patents Examined by Charlee J C Bennett
  • Patent number: 11198935
    Abstract: A heating part of covering and heating a gas pipe includes: a thermal insulation portion disposed outside a heat generation body; an enclosure configured to enclose the thermal insulation portion and the heat generation body; a fastening part installed outside the enclose and configured to fasten one end portion and the other end portion of the enclosure in a state in which the one end portion and the other end portion of the enclosure adjoin each other; and a temperature sensing part disposed at the side of the gas pipe with respect to the enclosure at a position facing a surface of the gas pipe and formed in a plate shape with a major surface thereof oriented toward the gas pipe.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 22, 2016
    Date of Patent: December 14, 2021
    Assignee: KOKUSAI ELECTRIC CORPORATION
    Inventors: Shinobu Sugiura, Yosuke Kuwata, Tomoyasu Miyashita, Atsushi Umekawa, Kazuhiro Kimura, Akihiko Hiratsuka, Kaoru Kataoka, Ryosuke Arai
  • Patent number: 11187831
    Abstract: Embodiments comprise a system created through fabricating a lens array through which lasers are emitted. The lens array may be fabricated in the semiconductor substrate used for fabricating the lasers or may be a separate substrate of other transparent material that would be aligned to the lasers. In some embodiments, more lenses may be produced than will eventually be used by the lasers. The inner portion of the substrate may be formed with the lenses that will be used for emitting lasers, and the outer portion of the substrate may be formed with lenses that will not be used for emitting lasers—rather, through etching these additional lenses, the inner lenses may be created with a higher quality.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 15, 2018
    Date of Patent: November 30, 2021
    Assignee: Lumentum Operations LLC
    Inventors: Richard F. Carson, John R. Joseph, Mial E. Warren, Thomas A. Wilcox
  • Patent number: 11177136
    Abstract: Embodiments of the present invention provide a dual load lock chamber capable of processing a substrate. In one embodiment, the dual load lock chamber includes a chamber body defining a first chamber volume and a second chamber volume isolated from one another. Each of the lower and second chamber volumes is selectively connectable to two processing environments through two openings configured for substrate transferring. The dual load lock chamber also includes a heated substrate support assembly disposed in the second chamber volume. The heated substrate support assembly is configured to support and heat a substrate thereon. The dual load lock chamber also includes a remote plasma source connected to the second chamber volume for supplying a plasma to the second chamber volume.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 26, 2019
    Date of Patent: November 16, 2021
    Assignee: APPLIED MATERIALS, INC.
    Inventors: Jared Ahmad Lee, Martin Jeffrey Salinas, Paul B. Reuter, Imad Yousif, Aniruddha Pal
  • Patent number: 11168410
    Abstract: A susceptor for a CVD-reactor includes insertion openings arranged in a bearing surface of the susceptor. An insertion section of a positioning element is inserted into one of the insertion openings. The insertion section forms positioning flanks with a section projecting from the insertion opening for fixing the position of a substrate. The insertion openings each have side walls and a base. The insertion section comprises bearing areas adjacent to the side walls of the insertion openings and a lower side of the positioning element facing the base of the insertion opening. The base of the insertion opening is separated from the lower side of the positioning element by a first distance. An edge protruding section of the positioning element is separated from a section of the bearing surface of the susceptor by a second distance.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 22, 2017
    Date of Patent: November 9, 2021
    Assignee: AIXTRON SE
    Inventors: Daniel Claessens, Adam Boyd, James O'Dowd, Olivier Feron
  • Patent number: 11171008
    Abstract: Embodiments of the present invention provide a dual load lock chamber capable of processing a substrate. In one embodiment, the dual load lock chamber includes a chamber body defining a first chamber volume and a second chamber volume isolated from one another. Each of the lower and second chamber volumes is selectively connectable to two processing environments through two openings configured for substrate transferring. The dual load lock chamber also includes a heated substrate support assembly disposed in the second chamber volume. The heated substrate support assembly is configured to support and heat a substrate thereon. The dual load lock chamber also includes a remote plasma source connected to the second chamber volume for supplying a plasma to the second chamber volume.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 17, 2019
    Date of Patent: November 9, 2021
    Assignee: Applied Materials, Inc.
    Inventors: Jared Ahmad Lee, Martin Jeffrey Salinas, Paul B. Reuter, Imad Yousif, Aniruddha Pal
  • Patent number: 11164724
    Abstract: Embodiments of the present disclosure generally provide improved methods for processing substrates with improved process stability, increased mean wafers between clean, and/or improved within wafer uniformity. One embodiment provides a method for seasoning one or more chamber components in a process chamber. The method includes placing a dummy substrate in the process chamber, flowing a processing gas mixture to the process chamber to react with the dummy substrate and generate a byproduct on the dummy substrate, and annealing the dummy substrate to sublimate the byproduct while at least one purge conduit of the process chamber is closed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 5, 2018
    Date of Patent: November 2, 2021
    Assignee: APPLIED MATERIALS, INC.
    Inventors: Sang Won Kang, Nicholas Celeste, Dmitry Lubomirsky, Peter Hillman, Douglas Brenton Hayden, Dongqing Yang
  • Patent number: 11152196
    Abstract: Provided is a substrate processing apparatus including a chamber; a placing table provided inside the chamber and configured to place a processing target substrate thereon; a pedestal configured to support the placing table from a lower side thereof; an exhaust port disposed below the pedestal; and a collecting member configured to collect a deposition in the chamber. The collecting member is provided on a lower surface of the pedestal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 24, 2017
    Date of Patent: October 19, 2021
    Assignee: TOKYO ELECTRON LIMITED
    Inventor: Shin Matsuura
  • Patent number: 11149351
    Abstract: A CVD reactor, including a deposition chamber housing a first susceptor and a second susceptor, the first susceptor having a cavity for receiving a first substrate, the first substrate having a front surface and a back surface, the second susceptor having a cavity for receiving a second substrate, the second substrate having a front surface and a back surface, and the first susceptor and the second susceptor are disposed so that the front surface of the first substrate is opposite to the front surface of the second substrate thereby forming a portion of a gas flow channel.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 11, 2017
    Date of Patent: October 19, 2021
    Assignee: INFINEON TECHNOLOGIES AG
    Inventors: Matthias Kuenle, Johannes Baumgartl, Manfred Engelhardt, Christian Illemann, Francisco Javier Santos Rodriguez, Olaf Storbeck
  • Patent number: 11127619
    Abstract: A workpiece carrier suitable for high power processes is described. It may include a puck to carry the workpiece, a plate bonded to the puck by an adhesive, a mounting ring surrounding the puck and the cooling plate, and a gasket between the mounting ring and the plate, the gasket configured to protect the adhesive.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 30, 2016
    Date of Patent: September 21, 2021
    Assignee: Applied Materials, Inc.
    Inventors: Kartik Ramaswamy, Chunlei Zhang, Haitao Wang, Vijay D. Parkhe, Jaeyong Cho
  • Patent number: 11085113
    Abstract: A film forming apparatus includes a rotary table having a loading area at a first surface side thereof and revolving a substrate loaded on the loading area, a rotation mechanism rotating the loading area such that the substrate rotates around its axis, a processing gas supply mechanism supplying a processing gas to a processing gas supply area so that a thin film is formed on the substrate which repeatedly passes through the processing gas supply area the revolution of the substrate, and a control part configured to perform a calculation of a rotation speed of the substrate based on a parameter including a rotation speed of the rotary table to allow an orientation of the substrate to be changed whenever the substrate is positioned in the processing gas supply area, and to output a control signal for rotating the substrate at a calculated rotation speed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 28, 2018
    Date of Patent: August 10, 2021
    Assignee: TOKYO ELECTRON LIMITED
    Inventors: Hitoshi Kato, Shigehiro Miura, Hiroyuki Kikuchi, Katsuyoshi Aikawa
  • Patent number: 11060183
    Abstract: A coating apparatus may be configured to concurrently receive and waterproof a large number of electronic device assemblies. The coating apparatus may include a track for transporting the electronic device assemblies into an application station. The application station may have a cubic shape, and include an entry door and an opposite exit door. The entry and exit doors may enable the introduction of substrates into the application station, as well as their removal from the application station. In addition, the entry and exit doors may enable isolation of the application station from an exterior environment and, thus, provide control over the conditions under which a moisture resistant material is applied to the substrates. Methods for making electronic devices and other substrates resistant to moisture are also disclosed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 25, 2013
    Date of Patent: July 13, 2021
    Inventors: Dana Cox, Max Sorenson, James Kent Naylor
  • Patent number: 11056369
    Abstract: A substrate holding apparatus includes a baseplate, an adhesive layer disposed on the baseplate, and an electrostatic chuck disposed on the adhesive layer to hold an object, wherein a first side surface of a first portion of the electrostatic chuck is at a same position in a plan view as a second side surface of a second portion of the baseplate, the first portion being in contact with a first face of the adhesive layer, the second portion being in contact with a second face of the adhesive layer, wherein the adhesive layer has a protruding part extending outwardly from the first side surface and the second side surface, and wherein the first face and the second face are flat planes extending from an inside of the first side surface and the second side surface to an outside of the first side surface and the second side surface.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 5, 2019
    Date of Patent: July 6, 2021
    Assignee: SHINKO ELECTRIC INDUSTRIES CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Masakuni Kitajima
  • Patent number: 11053586
    Abstract: A CVD reactor includes a flat component with two broad sides extending parallel to each other and spaced apart from each other by a thickness. An outer edge of each broad side transitions without kinks into an edge of an outer peripheral side of the flat component. The thickness of the flat component is substantially less than a diameter of the flat component. The flat component includes a core body composed of graphite. The core body is coated with a SiC or TaC coating, which exhibits a compressive stress at room temperature. In order to reduce the stress between the coating and the core body, the rounding arc length of the outer edge is greater than 90° and the rounding radius of the outer edge is at most 1 mm and/or is greater than the coating thickness. Additionally, rounding segments of the peripheral side transition into each other without kinks.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 25, 2015
    Date of Patent: July 6, 2021
    Assignee: AIXTRON SE
    Inventors: Marcel Kollberg, Daniel Brien
  • Patent number: 11049760
    Abstract: The implementations described herein generally relate to a process kit suitable for use in a semiconductor process chamber, which reduces edge effects and widens the processing window with a single edge ring as compared to conventional process kits. The process kit generally includes an edge ring disposed adjacent to and surrounding a perimeter of a semiconductor substrate in a plasma chamber. A dimension of a gap between the substrate and the edge ring is less than about 1000 ?m, and a height difference between the substrate and the edge ring is less than about (+/?) 300 ?m. The resistivity of the ring is less than about 50 Ohm-cm.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 20, 2017
    Date of Patent: June 29, 2021
    Assignee: Applied Materials, Inc.
    Inventors: Olivier Joubert, Jason A. Kenney, Sunil Srinivasan, James Rogers, Rajinder Dhindsa, Vedapuram S. Achutharaman, Olivier Luere
  • Patent number: 11015244
    Abstract: A reaction chamber includes an enclosure having an interior coated with a metal nitride compound providing an average reflectivity to internal infra-red radiation of greater than 90%. The metal nitride compound can be titanium nitride, zirconium nitride, hafnium nitride, or a nitride of another metal, and can be between 0.1 and 10 microns thick, preferably between 4 and 5 microns thick. The layer does not tarnish, and can withstand reaction chamber temperatures up to at least 250° C., preferably up to 300° C. It is applied by a deposition process, such as PVD, CVD, thermal spray, or cathodic arc, wherein the enclosure itself is the metal nitride deposition enclosure. Uniformity of deposition can be improved by rotating the deposition source through T degrees and back through T±d, with a total of 360/d repetitions. The reactor can be a CVD reactor that deposits polysilicon onto a heated filament.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 30, 2013
    Date of Patent: May 25, 2021
    Assignee: Advanced Material Solutions, LLC
    Inventors: Jeffrey C Gum, Bryce E Clark, Paul E Gannon, Mike McFarland, Shiva Mandepudi
  • Patent number: 11018047
    Abstract: A lift pin and a substrate support assembly and reactor including the lift pin are disclosed. The lift pin includes first section comprising a material having a first transparency and a second section comprising a material having a second transparency. The lift pin can provide improved temperature uniformity across substrate support assembly including the lift pin during substrate processing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 30, 2018
    Date of Patent: May 25, 2021
    Assignee: ASM IP Holding B.V.
    Inventors: Uday Kiran Rokkam, Eric Hill
  • Patent number: 11008655
    Abstract: A pedestal for a plasma processing system includes a substrate supporting surface. An annular edge ring is arranged around a periphery of the substrate supporting surface. A chemical vapor deposition (CVD) diamond coating is arranged on a plasma-exposed surface of the annular edge ring. The CVD diamond coating includes sp3 bonds. A purity of the sp3 bonds in the diamond coating is greater than 90%.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 9, 2017
    Date of Patent: May 18, 2021
    Assignee: Lam Research Corporation
    Inventor: Justin Charles Canniff
  • Patent number: 10950698
    Abstract: Embodiments of the disclosure provide an improved apparatus and methods for nitridation of stacks of materials. In one embodiment, a method for processing a substrate in a processing region of a process chamber is provided. The method includes generating and flowing plasma species from a remote plasma source to a delivery member having a longitudinal passageway, flowing plasma species from the longitudinal passageway to an inlet port formed in a sidewall of the process chamber, wherein the plasma species are flowed at an angle into the inlet port to promote collision of ions or reaction of ions with electrons or charged particles in the plasma species such that ions are substantially eliminated from the plasma species before entering the processing region of the process chamber, and selectively incorporating atomic radicals from the plasma species in silicon or polysilicon regions of the substrate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 13, 2018
    Date of Patent: March 16, 2021
    Assignee: Applied Materials, Inc.
    Inventors: Matthew Scott Rogers, Roger Curtis, Lara Hawrylchak, Canfeng Lai, Bernard L. Hwang, Jeffrey Tobin, Christopher S. Olsen, Malcolm Bevan
  • Patent number: 10947617
    Abstract: The tunable mask in the current invention comprises three parts: a mask body, an upper piece, and a lower piece. When these parts are assembled together, either or both of the upper and lower pieces' positions on the mask body can be adjusted to form various shapes of the tunable mask. Different shapes of upper and lower pieces are also available for use. During the coating process in a physical vapor deposition (PVD) system, a single or multiple tunable masks are positioned between the substrate and the evaporation source. Uniformity of the coating thickness on the substrate is improved when the tunable mask provides an optimal shielding effect with a selective shape.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 3, 2017
    Date of Patent: March 16, 2021
    Inventor: Shiping Cheng
  • Patent number: 10941490
    Abstract: Susceptor assemblies, reactors and systems including the assemblies, and methods of using the assemblies, reactors, and systems are disclosed. Exemplary susceptor assemblies include two or more sections that can be moved relative to each other to allow rapid changes in a substrate temperature. The movement of the two or more sections can additionally or alternatively be used to manipulate conductance of gas flow though a reactor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 7, 2014
    Date of Patent: March 9, 2021
    Assignee: ASM IP Holding B.V.
    Inventor: John Kevin Shugrue