Patents by Inventor Naonori Akae

Naonori Akae 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).

  • Publication number: 20150031216
    Abstract: There is provided a method of cleaning an inside of a process chamber, which is formed by a reaction tube and a manifold configured to support the reaction tube and installed under a heater, after forming a stacked film of oxide and nitride films on a substrate in the process chamber by alternately performing forming the oxide film on the substrate and forming the nitride film thereon. The method includes supplying a hydrogen-free fluorine-based gas from a first nozzle, which is installed in the manifold to extend upward from the manifold to an inside of the reaction tube, to an inner wall of the reaction tube; and supplying a hydrogen fluoride gas from a second nozzle, which is installed in the manifold, to an inner wall of the manifold.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 25, 2014
    Publication date: January 29, 2015
    Applicant: HITACHI KOKUSAI ELECTRIC, INC.
    Inventors: Naonori AKAE, Kenji KAMEDA
  • Patent number: 8925562
    Abstract: A substrate processing apparatus includes a first gas supply system provided with a source gas supply control unit; a second gas supply system provided with a reactive gas supply control unit; a third gas supply system provided with a cleaning gas supply control unit; a shower head unit including a buffer chamber connected to the gas supply systems and a dispersion plate installed at a downstream side of the buffer chamber; a substrate support installed at a downstream side of the dispersion plate and electrically grounded; a process chamber accommodating the substrate support; a plasma generation unit including a power supply and a switch configured to switch plasma generation between the buffer chamber and the process chamber; and a control unit configured to control the source gas supply control unit, the reactive gas supply control unit and the plasma generation unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 28, 2014
    Date of Patent: January 6, 2015
    Assignee: Hitachi Kokusai Electric Inc.
    Inventors: Kazuyuki Toyoda, Tadashi Takasaki, Hiroshi Ashihara, Atsushi Sano, Naonori Akae, Hidehiro Yanai
  • Publication number: 20140357058
    Abstract: There is provided a substrate processing apparatus including: a process chamber configured to accommodate and process a plurality of substrates arranged with intervals therebetween; a first nozzle extending along a stacking direction of the substrates and configured to supply a hydrogen-containing gas into the process chamber; and a second nozzle extending along the stacking direction of the substrates and configured to supply an oxygen-containing gas into the process chamber, wherein the first nozzle includes a plurality of first gas supply holes disposed in a region extending from an upper portion to a lower portion of the first nozzle corresponding to a substrate arrangement region where the substrates are arranged, and the second nozzle includes a plurality of second gas supply holes disposed at an upper portion and a lower portion of the second nozzle to correspond to upper substrates and lower substrates of the substrates.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 2, 2014
    Publication date: December 4, 2014
    Applicant: HITACHI KOKUSAI ELECTRIC INC.
    Inventors: Kosuke TAKAGI, Naonori AKAE, Masato TERASAKI, Mikio OHNO
  • Patent number: 8901014
    Abstract: Provided is a method of manufacturing a semiconductor device having a structure in which an oxide film and a nitride film are stacked. The method includes forming a stacked film having an oxide film and a nitride film stacked therein on a substrate in a processing container by alternately performing a first cycle and a second cycle a predetermined number of times, the first cycle comprising forming the oxide film by supplying a source gas, a nitriding gas and an oxidizing gas to the substrate in the processing container a predetermined number of times, and the second cycle comprising forming the nitride film by supplying the source gas and the nitriding gas to the substrate in the processing container a predetermined number of times, wherein the forming of the oxide film and the forming of the nitride film are consecutively performed while retaining a temperature of the substrate constant.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 14, 2012
    Date of Patent: December 2, 2014
    Assignee: Hitachi Kokusai Electric Inc.
    Inventors: Yosuke Ota, Naonori Akae, Yoshiro Hirose, Ryota Sasajima
  • Patent number: 8895457
    Abstract: To provide a method of manufacturing a semiconductor device, including: forming a thin film different from a silicon oxide film on a substrate by supplying a processing gas into a processing vessel in which the substrate is housed; removing a deposit including the thin film adhered to an inside of the processing vessel by supplying a fluorine-containing gas into the processing vessel after executing forming the thin film prescribed number of times; and forming a silicon oxide film having a prescribed film thickness on the inside of the processing vessel by alternately supplying a silicon-containing gas, and an oxygen-containing gas and a hydrogen-containing gas into the heated processing vessel in which a pressure is set to be less than an atmospheric pressure after removing the deposit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 18, 2011
    Date of Patent: November 25, 2014
    Assignee: Hitachi Kokusai Electric Inc.
    Inventors: Naonori Akae, Kotaro Murakami, Yoshiro Hirose, Kenji Kameda
  • Patent number: 8895455
    Abstract: To form an insulating film with extremely low concentration of impurities such as carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, chlorine, etc in a film. There are provided the steps of forming a specific element-containing layer on a substrate by supplying source gas containing a specific element into a processing container in which the substrate is accommodated; changing the specific element-containing layer into a nitride layer, by activating and supplying gas containing nitrogen into the processing container; and changing the nitride layer into an oxide layer or an oxynitride layer, by activating and supplying gas containing oxygen into the processing container; with this cycle set as one cycle and performed for at least one or more times.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 7, 2013
    Date of Patent: November 25, 2014
    Assignee: Hitachi Kokusai Electric Inc.
    Inventors: Naonori Akae, Yoshiro Hirose
  • Publication number: 20140318451
    Abstract: A substrate processing apparatus capable of forming an oxide film on a substrate by forming a layer on the substrate by supplying a source gas into a process vessel accommodating the substrate via the first nozzle, and simultaneously supplying an oxygen-containing gas through a second nozzle and a hydrogen-containing gas through a first nozzle into the process vessel having an inside pressure thereof lower than atmospheric pressure; mixing and reacting the oxygen-containing gas with the hydrogen-containing gas in a non-plasma atmosphere within the process vessel to generate atomic oxygen; and oxidizing the layer with the atomic oxygen to change the layer into an oxide layer is disclosed.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 11, 2014
    Publication date: October 30, 2014
    Applicant: HITACHI KOKUSAI ELECTRIC INC.
    Inventors: Naonori AKAE, Yoshiro HIROSE, Yushin TAKASAWA, Yosuke OTA
  • Publication number: 20140287594
    Abstract: A cleaning method includes (a) providing a process chamber after forming an oxide film on a substrate in the process chamber formed by a reaction tube and a manifold supporting the reaction tube by performing a cycle a predetermined number of times, the cycle including supplying a source gas to the substrate through a first nozzle in the manifold extending upward to an inside of the reaction tube, and supplying an oxidizing gas to the substrate through a second nozzle in the manifold extending upward to the inside of the reaction tube; and (b) cleaning an inside of the process chamber. The step (b) includes a first cleaning process of supplying a hydrogen fluoride gas into the reaction tube through the second nozzle; and a second cleaning process of supplying a hydrogen fluoride gas onto an inner wall surface of the manifold through a third nozzle disposed in the manifold.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 24, 2014
    Publication date: September 25, 2014
    Applicant: Hitachi Kokusai Electric Inc.
    Inventors: Masato TERASAKI, Naonori AKAE, Hideki HORITA
  • Patent number: 8809204
    Abstract: A method of manufacturing a semiconductor device, the method comprising: forming an oxide film on a substrate by alternately repeating: (a) forming an element-containing layer on the substrate by supplying a source gas containing an element into a process vessel accommodating the substrate; and (b) changing the element-containing layer to an oxide layer by supplying an oxygen-containing gas and a hydrogen-containing gas into the process vessel having an inside pressure lower than atmospheric pressure, reacting the oxygen-containing gas with the hydrogen-containing gas to generate an atomic oxygen, and oxidizing the element-containing layer by the atomic oxygen.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 1, 2012
    Date of Patent: August 19, 2014
    Assignee: Hitachi Kokusai Electric Inc.
    Inventors: Naonori Akae, Yoshiro Hirose, Yushin Takasawa, Yosuke Ota
  • Publication number: 20140220788
    Abstract: The present disclosure suppresses oxidation of a base film on a substrate surface during the formation of an oxide film. A method of manufacturing a semiconductor device according to the present disclosure includes forming an initial layer including a predetermined element and having a thickness of several atomic layers on a substrate in a process chamber by supplying a predetermined-element-containing gas to the substrate, and forming an oxide film including the predetermined element on the initial layer by performing a cycle a predetermined number of times, the cycle including supplying a precursor gas including the predetermined element to the substrate in the process chamber and supplying an oxygen-containing gas and a hydrogen-containing gas to the substrate heated in the process chamber under a pressure lower than an atmospheric pressure.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 30, 2014
    Publication date: August 7, 2014
    Applicant: HITACHI KOKUSAI ELECTRIC INC.
    Inventors: Atsushi SANO, Yoshiro HIROSE, Naonori AKAE
  • Patent number: 8673790
    Abstract: A method of manufacturing a semiconductor device includes supplying a process gas into a process vessel accommodating a substrate to form a thin film on the substrate and supplying a cleaning gas into the process vessel to clean an inside of the process vessel, after the supplying the process gas to form the thin film is performed a predetermined number of times. When cleaning the inside of the process vessel, a fluorine-containing gas, an oxygen-containing gas and a hydrogen-containing gas are supplied as the cleaning gas into the process vessel heated and kept at a pressure less than an atmospheric pressure to remove a deposit including the thin film adhering to the inside of the process vessel through a thermochemical reaction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 8, 2011
    Date of Patent: March 18, 2014
    Assignee: Hitachi Kokusai Electric Inc.
    Inventors: Naonori Akae, Yoshiro Hirose, Kotaro Murakami
  • Publication number: 20140065840
    Abstract: To form an insulating film with extremely low concentration of impurities such as carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, chlorine, etc in a film. There are provided the steps of forming a specific element-containing layer on a substrate by supplying source gas containing a specific element into a processing container in which the substrate is accommodated; changing the specific element-containing layer into a nitride layer, by activating and supplying gas containing nitrogen into the processing container; and changing the nitride layer into an oxide layer or an oxynitride layer, by activating and supplying gas containing oxygen into the processing container; with this cycle set as one cycle and performed for at least one or more times.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 7, 2013
    Publication date: March 6, 2014
    Applicant: HITACHI KOKUSAI ELECTRIC INC.
    Inventors: Naonori AKAE, Yoshiro HIROSE
  • Publication number: 20130337660
    Abstract: Provided: forming a specific element-containing layer by supplying a source gas to the substrate heated in a processing vessel, under a condition that a thermal decomposition reaction of the source gas is caused; changing the specific element-containing layer to a nitride layer by supplying a nitrogen-containing gas to the substrate; and changing the nitride layer to an oxynitride layer by supplying an oxygen-containing gas to the substrate, the source gas is sprayed in parallel to a surface of the substrate more strongly than a case of spraying the inert gas in parallel to the surface of the substrate in purging the inside of the processing vessel, by supplying an inert gas or a hydrogen-containing gas through the nozzle.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 16, 2011
    Publication date: December 19, 2013
    Applicant: HITACHI KOKUSAI ELECTRIC INC.
    Inventors: Yosuke Ota, Yoshiro Hirose, Naonori Akae, Yushin Takasawa
  • Patent number: 8609551
    Abstract: To form an insulating film with extremely low concentration of impurities such as carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, chlorine, etc in a film. There are provided the steps of forming a specific element-containing layer on a substrate by supplying source gas containing a specific element into a processing container in which the substrate is accommodated; changing the specific element-containing layer into a nitride layer, by activating and supplying gas containing nitrogen into the processing container; and changing the nitride layer into an oxide layer or an oxynitride layer, by activating and supplying gas containing oxygen into the processing container; with this cycle set as one cycle and performed for at least one or more times.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 22, 2008
    Date of Patent: December 17, 2013
    Assignee: Hitachi Kokusai Electric Inc.
    Inventors: Naonori Akae, Yoshiro Hirose
  • Publication number: 20130252434
    Abstract: A method of manufacturing a semiconductor device includes carrying a substrate into a process container, forming a thin film on the substrate by supplying a source gas into the process container with the substrate accommodated therein, performing a first modification treatment to a byproduct adhered to an inside of the process container by supplying an oxygen-containing gas and a hydrogen-containing gas into the heated process container under a pressure less than an atmospheric pressure, while accommodating the thin film-formed substrate in the process container, carrying the thin film-formed substrate out of the process container, and performing a second modification treatment to the byproduct adhered to the inside of the process container after the first modification treatment by supplying an oxygen-containing gas and a hydrogen-containing gas into the heated process container under the pressure less than the atmospheric pressure, while not accommodating the substrate in the process container.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 15, 2013
    Publication date: September 26, 2013
    Applicant: HITACHI KOKUSAI ELECTRIC INC.
    Inventors: Kazuhiro YUASA, Naonori AKAE
  • Patent number: 8524580
    Abstract: A first processing gas containing a first element and a second processing gas containing a second element are alternately supplied to a surface of a substrate placed in a processing chamber, to thereby form a first thin film, and a second processing gas and a third processing containing the first element and different from the first processing gas are alternately supplied, to thereby form a second thin film on the first thin film, having the same element component as that of the first thin film.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 7, 2010
    Date of Patent: September 3, 2013
    Assignee: Hitachi Kokusai Electric Inc.
    Inventors: Naonori Akae, Yoshiro Hirose, Tomohide Kato
  • Patent number: 8415258
    Abstract: Provided is a method of manufacturing a semiconductor device. The method includes: loading a substrate into a process vessel; performing a process to form an film on the substrate by alternately repeating: (a) forming a layer containing an element on the substrate by supplying at least two types of source gases into the process vessel, each of the at least two types of source gases containing the element, and (b) changing the layer containing the element by supplying reaction gas into the process vessel, the reaction gas being different from the at least two types of source gases; and unloading the processed substrate from the process vessel.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 1, 2011
    Date of Patent: April 9, 2013
    Assignee: Hitachi Kokusai Electric Inc.
    Inventors: Naonori Akae, Yoshiro Hirose, Yushin Takasawa, Yosuke Ota, Ryota Sasajima
  • Patent number: D711843
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 26, 2013
    Date of Patent: August 26, 2014
    Assignee: Hitachi Kokusai Electric Inc.
    Inventors: Keishin Yamazaki, Masahiro Miyake, Kosuke Takagi, Yasuaki Komae, Shinya Morita, Naonori Akae, Masato Terasaki
  • Patent number: D719114
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 26, 2013
    Date of Patent: December 9, 2014
    Assignee: Hitachi Kokusai Electric Inc.
    Inventors: Keishin Yamazaki, Masahiro Miyake, Kosuke Takagi, Yasuaki Komae, Shinya Morita, Naonori Akae, Masato Terasaki
  • Patent number: D720707
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 26, 2013
    Date of Patent: January 6, 2015
    Assignee: Hitachi Kokusai Electric Inc.
    Inventors: Keishin Yamazaki, Masahiro Miyake, Kosuke Takagi, Yasuaki Komae, Shinya Morita, Naonori Akae, Masato Terasaki