Patents by Inventor Nobuo Ishimaru

Nobuo Ishimaru 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: 20210090861
    Abstract: Described herein is a technique capable of reducing a damage to a reaction tube and an electrode when processing a substrate using plasma as well as generating the plasma stably. According to one aspect thereof, there is provided a substrate processing apparatus including: a process chamber; a buffer chamber where a gas is circulated before being supplied to a substrate; a pair of discharge electrodes extending parallel to each other in the buffer chamber; and a pair of sheath tubes configured to cover the pair of the discharge electrodes to prevent them from being exposed to the gas. A metal cap, whose outer diameter is equal to that of the discharge electrode and whose front end is rounded, is provided at one end of one or each of the discharge electrodes other than the other end of the one or each of the discharge electrodes supplied with electric power.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 18, 2020
    Publication date: March 25, 2021
    Applicant: Kokusai Electric Corporation
    Inventor: Nobuo ISHIMARU
  • Patent number: 9373499
    Abstract: A plasma processing apparatus comprises a processing chamber in which a plurality of substrates are stacked and accommodated; a pair of electrodes extending in the stacking direction of the plurality of substrates, which are disposed at one side of the plurality of substrates in said processing chamber, and to which high frequency electricity is applied; and a gas supply member which supplies processing gas into a space between the pair of electrodes.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 20, 2015
    Date of Patent: June 21, 2016
    Assignee: HITACHI KOKUSAI ELECTRIC INC.
    Inventors: Kazuyuki Toyoda, Yasuhiro Inokuchi, Motonari Takebayashi, Tadashi Kontani, Nobuo Ishimaru
  • Publication number: 20150228476
    Abstract: A plasma processing apparatus comprises a processing chamber in which a plurality of substrates are stacked and accommodated; a pair of electrodes extending in the stacking direction of the plurality of substrates, which are disposed at one side of the plurality of substrates in said processing chamber, and to which high frequency electricity is applied; and a gas supply member which supplies processing gas into a space between the pair of electrodes.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 20, 2015
    Publication date: August 13, 2015
    Applicant: Hitachi Kokusai Electric Inc.
    Inventors: Kazuyuki Toyoda, Yasuhiro Inokuchi, Motonari Takebayashi, Tadashi Kontani, Nobuo Ishimaru
  • Patent number: 9039912
    Abstract: A plasma processing apparatus comprises a processing chamber in which a plurality of substrates are stacked and accommodated; a pair of electrodes extending in the stacking direction of the plurality of substrates, which are disposed at one side of the plurality of substrates in said processing chamber, and to which high frequency electricity is applied; and a gas supply member which supplies processing gas into a space between the pair of electrodes.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 12, 2012
    Date of Patent: May 26, 2015
    Assignee: HITACHI KOKUSAI ELECTRIC INC.
    Inventors: Kazuyuki Toyoda, Yasuhiro Inokuchi, Motonari Takebayashi, Tadashi Kontani, Nobuo Ishimaru
  • Patent number: 8875656
    Abstract: A substrate processing apparatus includes a processing chamber in which a substrate is mounted, a gas supply unit that supplies processing gas into the processing chamber, a gas exhaust unit that exhausts atmospheric gas in the processing chamber, first and second electrodes to which high-frequency power is applied to set the processing gas to an active state. Each of the first and second electrodes includes a core wire formed of a metal and plural pipe bodies that are joined to one another through the core wire so as to be bendable, and less thermally deformed than the core wire.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 13, 2009
    Date of Patent: November 4, 2014
    Assignee: Hitachi Kokusai Electric Inc.
    Inventors: Tadashi Kontani, Tetsuo Yamamoto, Nobuhito Shima, Nobuo Ishimaru
  • Patent number: 8544411
    Abstract: A plasma processing apparatus comprises a processing chamber in which a plurality of substrates are stacked and accommodated; a pair of electrodes extending in the stacking direction of the plurality of substrates, which are disposed at one side of the plurality of substrates in said processing chamber, and to which high frequency electricity is applied; and a gas supply member which supplies processing gas into a space between the pair of electrodes.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 20, 2009
    Date of Patent: October 1, 2013
    Assignee: Hitachi Kokusai Electric Inc.
    Inventors: Kazuyuki Toyoda, Yasuhiro Inokuchi, Motonari Takebayashi, Tadashi Kontani, Nobuo Ishimaru
  • Patent number: 8518182
    Abstract: A substrate processing apparatus comprising: a processing chamber which is to accommodate at least one substrate; a gas supply system which is to supply processing gas into the processing chamber; an exhaust system which is to exhaust atmosphere in the processing chamber; and at least one pair of electrodes which are to bring the processing gas into an active state and which are accommodated in protection tubes such that the electrodes can be inserted into and pulled out from the protection tubes, wherein the electrodes are accommodated in the protection tube in a state where at least a portion of the electrodes is bent, and the electrodes are formed of flexible members, is disclosed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 6, 2011
    Date of Patent: August 27, 2013
    Assignee: Hitachi Kokusai Electric Inc.
    Inventors: Shizue Ogawa, Kazuyuki Toyoda, Motonari Takebayashi, Tadashi Kontani, Nobuo Ishimaru
  • Patent number: 8453600
    Abstract: Disclosed is a substrate processing apparatus, comprising a processing chamber to accommodate one or more substrates, a gas supply section to supply processing gas into the processing chamber, a gas discharge section to discharge the processing gas from the processing chamber, at least a pair of electrodes provided inside the heating section to plasma-excite the processing gas, a protection container made of dielectric to air-tightly accommodate the electrodes, an electricity-receiving section which is electrically connected to the electrodes and which is accommodated in the protection container, and an electricity-feeding section to which high frequency electric power is applied and which is provided near the electricity-receiving section in a state in which at least a wall of the protection container is interposed between the electricity-receiving section and the electricity-feeding section, wherein electric power is supplied from the electricity-feeding section to the electricity-receiving section by elect
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 28, 2005
    Date of Patent: June 4, 2013
    Assignee: Hitachi Kokusai Electric Inc.
    Inventors: Tomoyasu Miyashita, Nobuo Ishimaru
  • Patent number: 8297224
    Abstract: An ALD apparatus includes: a process chamber that accommodates a boat charged with a plurality of wafers; gas supply systems that supplies process gases to the wafers; a pair of electrodes arranged in a stacked direction of the wafers; a high-frequency power source that supplies a high-frequency power to the pair of the electrodes; a variable impedance element connected to a front end opposite to the high-frequency power of the pair of the electrodes; and a control unit that changes an output frequency of the high-frequency power source. By moving the local minimum point of the voltage distribution through the change of the output frequency of the high-frequency power source during the plasma discharge, the plasma generation amount within a pair of discharge electrodes is uniformized. Thus, the processing non-uniformity between the wafers stacked in the boat is suppressed, and the processing is uniformized over the total boat length.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 2, 2009
    Date of Patent: October 30, 2012
    Assignee: Hitachi Kokusai Electric Inc.
    Inventor: Nobuo Ishimaru
  • Patent number: 8261692
    Abstract: A substrate processing apparatus comprises a reaction chamber which is to accommodate stacked substrates, a gas introducing portion, and a buffer chamber, wherein the gas introducing portion is provided along a stacking direction of the substrates, and introduces substrate processing gas into the buffer chamber, the buffer chamber includes a plurality of gas-supply openings provided along the stacking direction of the substrates, and the processing gas introduced from the gas introducing portion is supplied from the gas-supply openings to the reaction chamber.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 24, 2010
    Date of Patent: September 11, 2012
    Assignee: Hitachi Kokusai Electric Inc.
    Inventors: Tadashi Kontani, Kazuyuki Toyoda, Taketoshi Sato, Toru Kagaya, Nobuhito Shima, Nobuo Ishimaru, Masanori Sakai, Kazuyuki Okuda, Yasushi Yagi, Seiji Watanabe, Yasuo Kunii
  • Patent number: 8251012
    Abstract: Disclosed is a substrate processing apparatus, including: a processing container; a gas supply section to supply a desired processing gas to the processing container; a gas exhaust section to exhaust a surplus of the processing gas from the processing container; a substrate placing member to place a plurality of substrates thereon in a stacked state in the processing container; and an electrode, to which high frequency electric power is applied, to generate plasma for exciting the processing gas, the electrode including two thin and long linear sections disposed in parallel and a short-circuit section to electrically short-circuit one ends of the linear sections, and the linear sections extending beside the substrates in a direction substantially perpendicular to main faces of the substrates.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 28, 2006
    Date of Patent: August 28, 2012
    Assignee: Hitachi Kokusai Electric Inc.
    Inventor: Nobuo Ishimaru
  • Patent number: 8093072
    Abstract: Provided are a substrate processing apparatus and a method of manufacturing a semiconductor device, in which shape variations of discharge electrodes can be early detected so as to prevent a film having a non-uniform thickness from being formed on a substrate. The substrate processing apparatus includes a process chamber configured to stack a plurality of substrates therein, a gas supply unit configured to supply gas to an inside of the process chamber, at least one pair of electrodes installed in the process chamber and configured to receive high-frequency power to generate plasma that excites the gas supplied to the inside of the process chamber, and a monitoring system configured to monitor a shape variation of the electrodes.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 13, 2009
    Date of Patent: January 10, 2012
    Assignee: Hitachi Kokusai Electric, Inc
    Inventor: Nobuo Ishimaru
  • Patent number: 8092603
    Abstract: A substrate processing apparatus includes a processing chamber, a substrate holding part that holds substrates of required numbers in the processing chamber, a gas supply/exhaust part that supplies or exhausts required gas into the processing chamber, a rotation part that rotates the substrate holding part, a first heating part provided in the substrate holding part so as to face at least an upper surface of each substrate held by the substrate holding part, and a power supply part that supplies power to the first heating part in a non-contact state by electromagnetic coupling.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 16, 2009
    Date of Patent: January 10, 2012
    Assignee: Hitachi Kokusai Electric Inc.
    Inventors: Hironobu Shimizu, Nobuo Ishimaru
  • Patent number: 8047158
    Abstract: A substrate processing apparatus comprises a reaction chamber which is to accommodate stacked substrates, a gas introducing portion, and a buffer chamber, wherein the gas introducing portion is provided along a stacking direction of the substrates, and introduces substrate processing gas into the buffer chamber, the buffer chamber includes a plurality of gas-supply openings provided along the stacking direction of the substrates, and the processing gas introduced from the gas introducing portion is supplied from the gas-supply openings to the reaction chamber.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 31, 2007
    Date of Patent: November 1, 2011
    Assignee: Hitachi Kokusai Electric Inc.
    Inventors: Tadashi Kontani, Kazuyuki Toyoda, Taketoshi Sato, Toru Kagaya, Nobuhito Shima, Nobuo Ishimaru, Masanori Sakai, Kazuyuki Okuda, Yasushi Yagi, Seiji Watanabe, Yasuo Kunii
  • Patent number: 8028652
    Abstract: A plasma processing apparatus comprises a processing chamber in which a plurality of substrates are stacked and accommodated; a pair of electrodes extending in the stacking direction of the plurality of substrates, which are disposed at one side of the plurality of substrates in said processing chamber, and to which high frequency electricity is applied; and a gas supply member which supplies processing gas into a space between the pair of electrodes.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 20, 2007
    Date of Patent: October 4, 2011
    Assignee: Hitachi Kokusai Electric Inc.
    Inventors: Kazuyuki Toyoda, Yasuhiro Inokuchi, Motonari Takebayashi, Tadashi Kontani, Nobuo Ishimaru
  • Patent number: 8020514
    Abstract: A plasma processing apparatus comprises a processing chamber in which a plurality of substrates are stacked and accommodated; a pair of electrodes extending in the stacking direction of the plurality of substrates, which are disposed at one side of the plurality of substrates in said processing chamber, and to which high frequency electricity is applied; and a gas supply member which supplies processing gas into a space between the pair of electrodes.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 21, 2009
    Date of Patent: September 20, 2011
    Assignee: Hitachi Kokusai Electric Inc.
    Inventors: Kazuyuki Toyoda, Yasuhiro Inokuchi, Motonari Takebayashi, Tadashi Kontani, Nobuo Ishimaru
  • Publication number: 20110209664
    Abstract: A substrate processing apparatus comprising: a processing chamber which is to accommodate at least one substrate; a gas supply system which is to supply processing gas into the processing chamber; an exhaust system which is to exhaust atmosphere in the processing chamber; and at least one pair of electrodes which are to bring the processing gas into an active state and which are accommodated in protection tubes such that the electrodes can be inserted into and pulled out from the protection tubes, wherein the electrodes are accommodated in the protection tube in a state where at least a portion of the electrodes is bent, and the electrodes are formed of flexible members, is disclosed.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 6, 2011
    Publication date: September 1, 2011
    Inventors: Shizue Ogawa, Kazuyuki Toyoda, Motonari Takebayashi, Tadashi Kontani, Nobuo Ishimaru
  • Patent number: 7958842
    Abstract: A substrate processing apparatus comprising: a processing chamber which is to accommodate at least one substrate; a gas supply system which is to supply processing gas into the processing chamber; an exhaust system which is to exhaust atmosphere in the processing chamber; and at least one pair of electrodes which are to bring the processing gas into an active state and which are accommodated in protection tubes such that the electrodes can be inserted into and pulled out from the protection tubes, wherein the electrodes are accommodated in the protection tube in a state where at least a portion of the electrodes is bent, and the electrodes are formed of flexible members, is disclosed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 16, 2005
    Date of Patent: June 14, 2011
    Assignee: Hitachi Kokusai Electric Inc.
    Inventors: Shizue Ogawa, Kazuyuki Toyoda, Motonari Takebayashi, Tadashi Kontani, Nobuo Ishimaru
  • Patent number: 7900580
    Abstract: A substrate processing apparatus comprises a reaction chamber which is to accommodate stacked substrates, a gas introducing portion, and a buffer chamber, wherein the gas introducing portion is provided along a stacking direction of the substrates, and introduces substrate processing gas into the buffer chamber, the buffer chamber includes a plurality of gas-supply openings provided along the stacking direction of the substrates, and the processing gas introduced from the gas introducing portion is supplied from the gas-supply openings to the reaction chamber.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 31, 2007
    Date of Patent: March 8, 2011
    Assignee: Hitachi Kokusai Electric Inc.
    Inventors: Tadashi Kontani, Kazuyuki Toyoda, Taketoshi Sato, Toru Kagaya, Nobuhito Shima, Nobuo Ishimaru, Masanori Sakai, Kazuyuki Okuda, Yasushi Yagi, Seiji Watanabe, Yasuo Kunii
  • Patent number: 7861668
    Abstract: A plasma processing apparatus comprises a processing chamber in which a plurality of substrates are stacked and accommodated; a pair of electrodes extending in the stacking direction of the plurality of substrates, which are disposed at one side of the plurality of substrates in said processing chamber, and to which high frequency electricity is applied; and a gas supply member which supplies processing gas into a space between the pair of electrodes.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 31, 2007
    Date of Patent: January 4, 2011
    Assignee: Hitachi Kokusai Electric Inc.
    Inventors: Kazuyuki Toyoda, Yasuhiro Inokuchi, Motonari Takebayashi, Tadashi Kontani, Nobuo Ishimaru