TWI579404B - Gas distribution plate - Google Patents

Description

Gas distribution plate

The present invention relates to a gas spraying device for a thin film deposition system, and more particularly to a gas distribution plate capable of uniformly ejecting a gas.

In a conventional thin film deposition system, a thin film deposition form is a method in which a reaction source is transported as a gas into a reaction chamber, and a chemical reaction is performed by oxidation, reduction or reaction with a workpiece, and the product is diffused by internal diffusion. Deposited on the surface of the workpiece.

In the reaction chamber, a gas distribution plate carrier gas is usually uniformly sprayed into the reaction chamber to cause a chemical reaction on the heated workpiece to perform film growth. In order to control the temperature of the gas distribution plate to an operable temperature range, a cooling system is often used to cool the gas distribution plate. A common way is to cool the cooling duct by placing it in a gas distribution plate, which is designed to have a considerable influence on the flow field of the carrier gas and the uniformity of the deposited film.

Generally, the cooling duct is disposed on the surface of the gas distribution plate close to the workpiece in such a manner as to protrude from the gas distribution plate. However, under this design, the carrier gas entering the reaction chamber through the gas distribution plate often protrudes from the gas distribution plate. The cooling duct causes the flow field between the gas distribution plate and the workpiece to be disturbed, thereby affecting the uniformity of the deposited film on the heated workpiece.

Therefore, how to uniformly spray the carrier gas during the chemical vapor deposition reaction becomes an important problem.

The present invention provides a gas distribution plate comprising a plate body and a cover plate. The plate body has an intake surface and a spray surface opposite the inlet surface. The plate body has a cooling duct and a plurality of gas pipes, wherein the gas pipe runs through the plate body and includes an air inlet at the intake surface and an air outlet at the spray surface, A cooling duct is exposed by the inlet face and includes an inlet and an outlet. A cover plate is secured to the plate body to seal the cooling duct, wherein a cooling fluid flows from the inlet to the outlet in the cooling duct.

In an embodiment of the invention, the cover plate is fixed to the plate body by welding.

In an embodiment of the invention, the material of the cover plate is the same as the material of the plate body.

In an embodiment of the invention, the gas conduits have different pore sizes.

In an embodiment of the invention, the gas conduits have the same pore size.

In an embodiment of the invention, the cooling fluid comprises water or silicone oil.

Based on the above, the present invention provides a cooling duct to the intake surface of the plate body of the gas distribution plate, so that the carrier gas passes through the gas distribution plate and is sprayed by the gas outlet port. When it is out, it is not disturbed by the peripheral means of the cooling duct or the cooling duct, and the transmission of the airflow and the thermal energy is prevented from being disturbed, and thus the deposited film can be excellent in uniformity.

The above described features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description.

10‧‧‧ board

10a‧‧‧Inlet surface

10b‧‧‧ spray surface

12‧‧‧ gas pipeline

12a‧‧‧air inlet

12b‧‧‧ outlet

14‧‧‧Cooling pipe

14a‧‧‧ Entrance

14b‧‧‧Export

16‧‧‧ Cover

18‧‧‧Subjects

20‧‧‧heating plate

22‧‧‧Workpiece

24‧‧‧ airflow

100‧‧‧ gas distribution board

200‧‧‧reaction chamber

FIG. 1A is a schematic cross-sectional view of a gas distribution plate according to an embodiment of the invention.

Figure 1B is a top plan view of the gas distribution plate of Figure 1A.

2 is a schematic diagram of the interior of a chamber of a thin film deposition system according to an embodiment of the invention.

The present invention is directed to a gas distribution plate that can be used in a thin film deposition system and has a cooling device. The cooling device used can effectively cool the gas distribution plate without affecting the gas ejected from the gas distribution plate. The gas distribution plate can be applied to thin film deposition such as organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD), plasma chemical vapor deposition (PECVD), ultra high vacuum chemical vapor deposition (UHVCVD), and atomic layer chemical vapor deposition (ALCVD). The method is not particularly limited in the present invention.

Embodiments of the invention are described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings. Of course Rather, the invention can be practiced in many different forms and is not limited to the embodiments described herein. The directional terms mentioned in the following embodiments, such as "upper", "lower", "before", "after", "inside", "outside", etc., are only directions referring to the additional schema, so the direction of use The terminology is used to describe the invention in detail and not to limit the invention. In addition, the dimensions and relative dimensions of the various items may be exaggerated in the drawings for clarity.

1A is a cross-sectional view of a gas distribution plate according to an embodiment of the invention. Schematic diagram. Figure 1B is a top plan view of the gas distribution plate of Figure 1A. Referring to FIG. 1A and FIG. 1B simultaneously, the gas distribution plate 100 is disposed in a thin film deposition reaction chamber (not shown). The gas distribution plate 100 includes a plate body 10 and a cover plate 16. The plate body 10 has an intake surface 10a and a spray surface 10b with respect to the intake surface 10a. The carrier gas enters the plate body 10 via the intake surface 10a of the plate body 10, and is ejected from the spray surface 10b of the plate body 10. The material of the plate body 10 includes a metal such as aluminum, copper, steel or a combination thereof. The shape of the plate body 10 may be a square design as shown in FIG. 1B, but the present invention is not limited thereto. In other embodiments, the shape of the plate body 10 can also be designed according to actual needs. For example, the plate body 10 can be designed to be circular or irregular.

Referring to FIG. 1A and FIG. 1B, in order to uniformly spray the carrier gas from the reaction source to the reaction chamber and ensure that the temperature of the gas distribution plate is in an operable range, a plurality of gas pipes 12 are disposed in the plate body 10 and Cooling pipe 14.

The gas conduit 12 is primarily used to deliver carrier gas and distribute the carrier gas evenly throughout the reaction chamber. The gas pipe 12 is disposed in the plate body 10 and penetrates the plate body 10. The gas pipe 12 includes an intake port 12a at the intake face 10a and an air outlet 12b at the spray face 10b. In the present embodiment, the gas pipes 12 are arranged in an array. The manner of the columns is distributed in the panel 10, but the invention is not limited thereto. In other embodiments, the gas conduit 12 may also be distributed in the plate 10 in any manner that facilitates uniform distribution of gas throughout the reaction chamber. Further, in the present embodiment, all the gas pipes 12 have the same pore diameter, but the present invention is not limited thereto. In other embodiments, these gas conduits 12 can have different pore sizes and the desired gas distribution can be achieved by flowing gas through gas conduits 12 having different pore sizes.

The main function of the cooling duct 14 is to cool the plate body 10. The cooling duct 14 is disposed in the board body 10 and exposed to the intake surface 10a of the board body 10. As shown in FIG. 1A, a cooling duct 14 is provided at the upper side (inlet surface 10a) of the plate body 10. The cooling duct 14 includes an inlet 14a and an outlet 14b. Cooling fluid used to cool the plate 10 can flow from the inlet 14a through the cooling conduit 14 and out of the outlet 14b. As shown in FIG. 1B, the cooling duct 14 may be configured to surround the gas duct 12 without flowing cooling fluid into the gas duct 12. Further, in the present embodiment, the cooling duct is a single duct, and the cooling fluid flows from the inlet of the single duct to the outlet, but the present invention is not limited thereto. In another embodiment, the plate body 10 may have a plurality of cooling ducts, with cooling fluid flowing from the inlets of the ducts to the outlets, respectively. The cooling fluid can include a gas, a liquid, or a combination thereof. For example, the cooling fluid can be water or silicone oil.

Since the cooling duct 14 is disposed at the intake surface 10a of the plate body 10, even if the cooling duct 14 is damaged during operation, the cooling fluid in the cooling duct 14 does not flow into the reaction chamber, and the cooling fluid can be prevented from entering. The reaction chamber and thus the reaction chamber or workpiece are contaminated.

Further, a cover plate 16 is disposed above the cooling duct 14. Cover plate 16 The main purpose is to seal the cooling duct 14 to prevent the cooling fluid from seeping out. The shape of the cover plate 16 is mainly designed corresponding to the cooling flow passage 14, but is not limited thereto. In an embodiment, the material of the cover plate 16 comprises a metal such as aluminum, copper, steel or a combination thereof. Further, the material of the cover plate 16 may be the same as that of the plate body 10.

The cover plate 16 is fixed to the plate body 10 by the attachment 18 to seal the cooling duct. Subsequent objects 18 are mainly disposed on both sides of the cover plate 16. As shown in FIG. 1B, the placement position of the slab 18 can be located at the corner of the cover. In another embodiment, the splicing may be continuously disposed on both sides of all the cover plates 16, but not limited thereto. In an embodiment, the cover 16 may be soldered to the board 10, and the slab 18 is solder for soldering.

2 is a schematic diagram of the interior of a reaction chamber of a thin film deposition system according to an embodiment of the invention. Referring to Figure 2, the gas distribution plate 100 of the present invention is applied to a reaction chamber 200 of a thin film deposition system. The reaction chamber 200 of the thin film deposition system has a gas distribution plate 100, a heating plate 20, and a workpiece 22. In the thin film deposition system, the carrier gas is passed from the gas source to the inlet surface 10a of the gas distribution plate 100, and then the gas flow 24 is generated from the spray surface 10b of the gas distribution plate 100 via the gas conduit 12 to be distributed in the vacuum reaction chamber. The carrier gas is mixed with other reaction gases, and a chemical reaction occurs on the workpiece 22 heated by the heater 20 to effect film growth.

As can be seen from the schematic diagram of FIG. 2, in this embodiment, since the cooling duct 14 and the cover plate 16 are provided at the intake surface 10a of the gas distribution plate 100, the spray surface 10b of the gas distribution plate 100 is opposed to the intake air. Face 10a can be relatively flat. Therefore, when the airflow 24 ejected from the gas distribution plate 100 is cooled by the duct 14, the cover 16 And the interference of the object 18 is. Since the flow field of the ejected gas stream 24 is not disturbed, the reaction gas can be more uniformly distributed onto the heated workpiece 22 and chemically reacted to grow the film, and thus a film thickness having a high uniformity can be obtained.

In addition, in the coating process, when the cooling pipe and the cover are disposed in the gas When the cloth plate is close to the surface of the vacuum chamber, the cooling pipe and the cover plate are often damaged by the ion impact of the plasma, causing the cooling fluid to enter the vacuum chamber, thereby contaminating the vacuum chamber or the workpiece. In the present embodiment, since the cooling duct 14 and the cover plate 16 are provided at the intake surface 10a of the gas distribution plate 100, it is possible to effectively prevent the cooling duct 14 and the cover plate 16 from being struck by ions of the plasma.

In summary, the present invention provides a cooling duct on the intake surface of the plate body. Therefore, the airflow interference to the process gas can be avoided, and the obtained film has excellent uniformity.

In addition, since the cooling duct is disposed at the intake surface of the plate body, Reduce the damage caused by the impact of plasma ions.

Furthermore, the design of the present invention allows the process gas output via the gas distribution plate The body distribution is more uniform, which improves process yield and improves the maintenance of the gas distribution plate.

Although the present invention has been disclosed in the above embodiments, it is not intended to limit the present invention, and any one of ordinary skill in the art can make some changes and refinements without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. The scope of the invention is defined by the scope of the appended claims.

10‧‧‧ board

10a‧‧‧Inlet surface

10b‧‧‧ spray surface

12‧‧‧ gas pipeline

12a‧‧‧air inlet

12b‧‧‧ outlet

14‧‧‧Cooling pipe

16‧‧‧ Cover

18‧‧‧Subjects

100‧‧‧ gas distribution board

Claims (6)

A gas distribution plate comprising: a plate body having an inlet surface and a spray surface opposite to the inlet surface, the plate body having a cooling pipe and a plurality of gas pipes, wherein the gas pipe runs through the plate body And including an air inlet at the intake surface and an air outlet at the spray surface, the cooling duct being exposed by the air intake surface and including an inlet and an outlet; and a cover plate fixed to the A plate body seals the cooling duct, wherein a cooling fluid flows from the inlet to the outlet in the cooling duct. The gas distribution plate according to claim 1, wherein the cover plate is fixed to the plate body by welding. The gas distribution plate according to claim 1, wherein the material of the cover plate is the same as the material of the plate body. The gas distribution plate of claim 1, wherein the gas conduits have different pore sizes. The gas distribution plate of claim 1, wherein the gas conduits have the same pore size. The gas distribution plate of claim 1, wherein the cooling fluid comprises water or silicone oil.