Patents by Inventor Manabu Honma

Manabu Honma has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 10584416
    Abstract: A substrate processing apparatus includes a mounting stand installed to rotate about a rotation shaft extending along a rotary shaft of a rotary table and configured to hold a substrate, and a magnetic gear mechanism including a driven gear configured to rotate the mounting stand about the rotation shaft and a driving gear configured to drive the driven gear. The driven gear is connected to the mounting stand via the rotation shaft and installed to rotate in such a direction as to rotate the mounting stand. The driving gear is disposed in a state in which the driving surface faces the driven surface passing through a predetermined position on a movement orbit of the driven gear moving along with the rotation of the rotary table.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 31, 2017
    Date of Patent: March 10, 2020
    Assignee: TOKYO ELECTRON LIMITED
    Inventors: Hitoshi Kato, Yukio Ohizumi, Manabu Honma, Takeshi Kobayashi
  • Publication number: 20190136377
    Abstract: An apparatus for forming a thin film by repeating, plural times, a cycle including supplying and adsorbing a precursor gas onto a substrate and generating a reaction product by allowing the precursor gas on the substrate to react with a reaction gas, which includes: a main precursor gas supply part for supplying the precursor gas; a reaction gas supply part for supplying the reaction gas; an adjustment-purpose precursor gas supply part for supplying an adjustment-purpose precursor gas to adjust an in-plane film thickness distribution of the thin film; and a controller for outputting a control signal to execute a step of forming the thin film using the main precursor gas supply part and the reaction gas supply part, and subsequently a step of supplying the adjustment-purpose precursor gas from the adjustment-purpose precursor gas supply part to compensate for a film thickness of a portion having a relatively thin film thickness.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 26, 2018
    Publication date: May 9, 2019
    Inventors: Manabu HONMA, Yuka NAKASATO
  • Publication number: 20190136994
    Abstract: A relief valve includes a first valve body having an annular shape including a peripheral edge portion, which is pressed against a hole edge portion of the communication hole, and an opening in a central portion of the annular shape; a second valve body pressed against a hole edge portion of the opening of the first valve body so as to close the opening; a first spring including a compression spring or a tension spring for pressing the first valve body against the hole edge portion of the communication hole; and a second spring including a compression spring or a tension spring for pressing the second valve body against the hole edge portion of the opening, wherein the first region and the second region communicate with each other.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 6, 2018
    Publication date: May 9, 2019
    Inventors: Yuka NAKASATO, Manabu HONMA
  • Patent number: 10221480
    Abstract: There is provided a substrate processing apparatus for processing a substrate by supplying a processing gas to the substrate while revolving the substrate, the substrate processing apparatus including: a rotary table installed within a processing container; a rotating mechanism configured to rotate the rotary table; a support part installed in a rotary shaft of the rotary table below the rotary table; an opening portion formed in the rotary table to correspond to a mounting position where the substrate is mounted; a mounting part rotatably supported by the support part through the opening portion, and configured to mount the substrate thereon such that a height level of an upper surface of the substrate coincides with a height level of an upper surface of the rotary table; and a rotating mechanism configured to rotate the mounting part.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 2, 2016
    Date of Patent: March 5, 2019
    Assignee: TOKYO ELECTRON LIMITED
    Inventors: Hitoshi Kato, Yukio Ohizumi, Manabu Honma
  • Publication number: 20180363134
    Abstract: A film forming method comprises loading a substrate on a rotary table, forming an adsorption region for adsorbing a raw material gas to the substrate by discharging the raw material gas from multiple discharge ports, forming a reaction region, to which a reaction gas is supplied, at a position spaced from the adsorption region, separating an atmosphere of the adsorption region and an atmosphere of the reaction region by exhausting and by supplying a purge gas, forming a film by performing a cycle a plurality of times to deposit the reaction product on the substrate, the cycle comprising passing the substrate through the adsorption region and the reaction region and setting a combination of flow rates of the raw material gas for a first pattern in order to perform the cycle with the first pattern and for a second pattern in order to perform the cycle with the second pattern.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 15, 2018
    Publication date: December 20, 2018
    Inventors: Manabu HONMA, Yuka NAKASATO, Kohei DOI
  • Patent number: 10094022
    Abstract: A substrate processing apparatus includes a process chamber in which etching by a corrosive gas is performed to remove a film formed therein after a film formation process, a susceptor disposed in the process chamber and having a substrate loading portion, a stationary shaft passing through the susceptor, a first securing member securing the susceptor at an upper side, a second securing member securing the susceptor at a lower side, a pressing member disposed below the susceptor to urge the stationary shaft in a downward direction while urging the second securing member in an upward direction, and a stopping member formed above the susceptor and engaged with the stationary shaft to urge the first securing member in cooperation with the pressing member. The susceptor, the first securing member and the stopping member are made of a material having corrosion resistance higher than the pressing member.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 15, 2015
    Date of Patent: October 9, 2018
    Assignee: TOKYO ELECTRON LIMITED
    Inventor: Manabu Honma
  • Publication number: 20180195173
    Abstract: There is provided a substrate processing apparatus for performing film formation by supplying a processing gas to a substrate, including: a rotary table provided in a processing container; a mounting stand provided to mount the substrate and configured to be revolved by rotating the rotary table; a processing gas supply part configured to supply a processing gas to a region through which the mounting stand passes by the rotation of the rotary table; a rotation shaft rotatably provided in a portion rotating together with the rotary table and configured to support the mounting stand; a driven gear provided on the rotation shaft; a driving gear provided along an entire circumference of a revolution trajectory of the driven gear to face the revolution trajectory of the driven gear and configured to constitute a magnetic gear mechanism with the driven gear; and a rotating mechanism configured to rotate the driving gear.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 4, 2018
    Publication date: July 12, 2018
    Inventors: Hitoshi KATO, Yukio OHIZUMI, Manabu HONMA, Takeshi KOBAYASHI
  • Patent number: 9988717
    Abstract: There is provided a substrate processing apparatus which supplies a processing gas onto a surface of a substrate on a substrate mounting table from a gas nozzle. The apparatus includes: a ring member installed in a leading end side of to the gas nozzle rather than a through-hole and including an inner peripheral surface on which the gas nozzle inserted into the through-hole is mounted, at least one of contours of an outer peripheral surface and the inner peripheral surface being set to a spiral curve or a polygon obtained by linearly approximating the curve; and a pedestal part on which the ring member is mounted at left and right positions spaced apart from each other in a circumference direction of the ring member. A height of a position at which the gas nozzle is supported by the ring member is adjusted with a rotation of the ring member.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 18, 2016
    Date of Patent: June 5, 2018
    Assignee: Tokyo Electron Limited
    Inventor: Manabu Honma
  • Publication number: 20170218514
    Abstract: A substrate processing apparatus includes a mounting stand installed to rotate about a rotation shaft extending along a rotary shaft of a rotary table and configured to hold a substrate, and a magnetic gear mechanism including a driven gear configured to rotate the mounting stand about the rotation shaft and a driving gear configured to drive the driven gear. The driven gear is connected to the mounting stand via the rotation shaft and installed to rotate in such a direction as to rotate the mounting stand. The driving gear is disposed in a state in which the driving surface faces the driven surface passing through a predetermined position on a movement orbit of the driven gear moving along with the rotation of the rotary table.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 31, 2017
    Publication date: August 3, 2017
    Inventors: Hitoshi KATO, Yukio OHIZUMI, Manabu HONMA, Takeshi KOBAYASHI
  • Patent number: 9683290
    Abstract: There is provided a substrate processing apparatus of performing a process by supplying a processing gas on a substrate while rotating the substrate mounted on a rotary table in a vacuum container, which includes: a container main body used as a part including a bottom portion of the vacuum container; a cover part configured to be detachably installed with respect to the container main body to open and close the container main body, the cover part being used as a part including a ceiling portion of the vacuum container; a pillar installed in one of the cover part and the container main body such that the pillar penetrates through a central portion of the rotary table when the cover part is installed on the container main body, and configured to support the cover part with respect to the container main body when the inside of the vacuum container is vacuum-exhausted.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 27, 2016
    Date of Patent: June 20, 2017
    Assignee: TOKYO ELECTRON LIMITED
    Inventor: Manabu Honma
  • Patent number: 9598767
    Abstract: A gas processing apparatus includes a process chamber for installing a process target therein, a through-hole being air-tightly in communication with a gas supply pipe, an injector for supplying gas into the process chamber, a sleeve being engaged to an outer peripheral surface of the injector inside the through-hole, an annular sealing member engaged to the outer peripheral surface of the injector, an engagement surface facing the sealing member, and a pressing part for pressing the sleeve toward the outer side of the process chamber. The pressing part compresses the sealing member by exerting pressure to the engagement surface from an end surface of the sleeve toward the sealing member, so that an inside of the injector and an outside of the injector are air-tightly sealed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 12, 2014
    Date of Patent: March 21, 2017
    Assignee: TOKYO ELECTRON LIMITED
    Inventor: Manabu Honma
  • Publication number: 20170067160
    Abstract: There is provided a substrate processing apparatus for processing a substrate by supplying a processing gas to the substrate while revolving the substrate, the substrate processing apparatus including: a rotary table installed within a processing container; a rotating mechanism configured to rotate the rotary table; a support part installed in a rotary shaft of the rotary table below the rotary table; an opening portion formed in the rotary table to correspond to amounting position where the substrate is mounted; a mounting part rotatably supported by the support part through the opening portion, and configured to mount the substrate thereon such that a height level of an upper surface of the substrate coincides with a height level of an upper surface of the rotary table; and a rotating mechanism configured to rotate the mounting part.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 2, 2016
    Publication date: March 9, 2017
    Inventors: Hitoshi KATO, Yukio OHIZUMI, Manabu HONMA
  • Patent number: 9416448
    Abstract: There is disclosed a film deposition apparatus and a film deposition method for depositing a film on a substrate by carrying out cycles of supplying in turn at least two source gases to the substrate in order to form a layer of a reaction product, and a computer readable storage medium storing a computer program for causing the film deposition apparatus to carry out the film deposition method.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 26, 2009
    Date of Patent: August 16, 2016
    Assignee: TOKYO ELECTRON LIMITED
    Inventors: Hitoshi Kato, Manabu Honma, Kohichi Orito
  • Publication number: 20160222509
    Abstract: There is provided a substrate processing apparatus of performing a process by supplying a processing gas on a substrate while rotating the substrate mounted on a rotary table in a vacuum container, which includes: a container main body used as a part including a bottom portion of the vacuum container; a cover part configured to be detachably installed with respect to the container main body to open and close the container main body, the cover part being used as a part including a ceiling portion of the vacuum container; a pillar installed in one of the cover part and the container main body such that the pillar penetrates through a central portion of the rotary table when the cover part is installed on the container main body, and configured to support the cover part with respect to the container main body when the inside of the vacuum container is vacuum-exhausted.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 27, 2016
    Publication date: August 4, 2016
    Inventor: Manabu HONMA
  • Publication number: 20160215395
    Abstract: There is provided a substrate processing apparatus which supplies a processing gas onto a surface of a substrate on a substrate mounting table from a gas nozzle. The apparatus includes: a ring member installed in a leading end side of to the gas nozzle rather than a through-hole and including an inner peripheral surface on which the gas nozzle inserted into the through-hole is mounted, at least one of contours of an outer peripheral surface and the inner peripheral surface being set to a spiral curve or a polygon obtained by linearly approximating the curve; and a pedestal part on which the ring member is mounted at left and right positions spaced apart from each other in a circumference direction of the ring member. A height of a position at which the gas nozzle is supported by the ring member is adjusted with a rotation of the ring member.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 18, 2016
    Publication date: July 28, 2016
    Inventor: Manabu HONMA
  • Patent number: 9297072
    Abstract: A film deposition apparatus includes a rotary table having a substrate placement area to support a substrate, a vacuum container including a container and a top panel, an open-and-close mechanism configured to open and close the top panel, reactant gas nozzles disposed through and supported by an outer wall of the container to be situated at different angular positions with respect to a rotation center of the rotary table to face areas in which the substrate placement area passes, the reactant gas nozzles having gas discharge ports arranged in radial directions to supply respective reactant gases to the wafer thereby to form respective process areas, a discharge gas supply unit situated at an angular position between the process areas to supply purge gas to form an isolation area that isolates atmospheres of the process areas from each other, and an exhaustion unit configured to exhaust atmosphere inside the vacuum container.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 18, 2009
    Date of Patent: March 29, 2016
    Assignee: Tokyo Electron Limited
    Inventors: Hitoshi Kato, Manabu Honma
  • Publication number: 20160083841
    Abstract: A substrate processing apparatus includes a process chamber in which etching by a corrosive gas is performed to remove a film formed therein after a film formation process, a susceptor disposed in the process chamber and having a substrate loading portion, a stationary shaft passing through the susceptor, a first securing member securing the susceptor at an upper side, a second securing member securing the susceptor at a lower side, a pressing member disposed below the susceptor to urge the stationary shaft in a downward direction while urging the second securing member in an upward direction, and a stopping member formed above the susceptor and engaged with the stationary shaft to urge the first securing member in cooperation with the pressing member. The susceptor, the first securing member and the stopping member are made of a material having corrosion resistance higher than the pressing member.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 15, 2015
    Publication date: March 24, 2016
    Inventor: Manabu HONMA
  • Patent number: 9267204
    Abstract: A film deposition apparatus to form a thin film by supplying first and second reaction gases within a vacuum chamber includes a turntable, a protection top plate, first and second reaction gas supply parts extending from a circumferential edge towards a rotation center of the turntable, and a separation gas supply part provided therebetween. First and second spaces respectively include the first and second reaction gas supply parts and have heights H1 and H2. A third space includes the separation gas supply part and has a height H3 lower than H1 and H2. The film deposition apparatus further includes a vacuum chamber protection part which surrounds the turntable and the first, second and third spaces together with the protection top plate to protect the vacuum chamber from corrosion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 28, 2009
    Date of Patent: February 23, 2016
    Assignee: TOKYO ELECTRON LIMITED
    Inventor: Manabu Honma
  • Publication number: 20150240357
    Abstract: A substrate processing apparatus performing substrate processing by supplying a process gas to a circular substrate loaded on a rotatable table in a vacuum container while rotating the substrate, including: a recess formed at one side of the rotatable table to receive the substrate; a heater heating the rotatable table to heat the substrate to 600 degrees or more for processing; and six support pins disposed on a bottom surface of the recess such that the support pins are respectively placed at vertices of a regular hexagon, support the substrate at locations separated a distance of two-thirds (2/3) of a radius of the substrate from a center of the substrate, and support the substrate in a state of being raised from the bottom surface of the recess.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 23, 2015
    Publication date: August 27, 2015
    Inventors: Mitsuhiro TACHIBANA, Yuji TAKABATAKE, Manabu HONMA
  • Patent number: 9103030
    Abstract: In a film deposition apparatus, a first separation gas is discharged from a separation gas supplying portion to a separation area between a first process area to which a first reaction gas is supplied and a second process area to which a second reaction gas is supplied. A heater is provided to heat the turntable by radiation heat. An outer sidewall member is provided in a bottom part of a vacuum chamber to surround the turntable in an area where the heater is provided. A space forming member is provided between the separation areas adjacent to each other in a rotating direction of the turntable and extending from the outer sidewall member to form a narrow space between the turntable. A purge gas flows from a lower side of the turntable to an area outside the turntable in a radial direction through the narrow space.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 30, 2009
    Date of Patent: August 11, 2015
    Assignee: Tokyo Electron Limited
    Inventors: Hitoshi Kato, Manabu Honma