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- Nachgewiesen in: USPTO Patent Grants
- Sprachen: English
- Patent Number: 11746,419
- Publication Date: September 05, 2023
- Appl. No: 17/309108
- Application Filed: October 22, 2019
- Assignees: AIXTRON SE (Herzogenrath, DE)
- Claim: 1. A chemical vapor deposition (CVD) reactor comprising: a process chamber (11); a gas inlet member (2) having a first circular outline, the gas inlet member (2) having a ceiling panel (8) facing towards the process chamber (11), wherein the ceiling panel (8) has outlet openings (12 ′) and is cooled; a heating device (4); a susceptor (3) that is heated by the heating device (4), a radially outermost edge of the susceptor (3) defining a cylindrical shell surface boundary (L); and a shield plate (10), adjacent to the ceiling panel (8), having a second circular outline, wherein the shield plate (10) has a central zone, an annular zone (18) surrounding the central zone, a rear face (16) facing towards the ceiling panel (8), and a first gas outlet surface (14) facing towards the process chamber (11), into which gas outlet openings (15) of the shield plate (10) lead, wherein the first gas outlet surface (14) is planar, wherein the rear face (16) in the central zone defines a rear plane extending parallel to the first gas outlet surface (14), wherein the rear face (16) has structures (18 , 19 , 20) configured to influence (i) a thermal coupling of the shield plate (10) to the ceiling panel (8), and/or (ii) a heat flow through the shield plate (10), wherein the structures (18 , 19 , 20) form at least one elevation or one depression, with respect to the rear plane, wherein the shield plate (10) has a material thickness (d) that is defined by a distance between the first gas outlet surface (14) and the rear plane, with the material thickness (d) in a first range from 3 to 12 mm, wherein in the annular zone (18), the material thickness (d) of the shield plate (10) continuously decreases in a radial direction pointing away from a center of the shield plate (10), wherein the cylindrical shell surface boundary (L) intersects the annular zone (18) such that a radially inner region (F) of the annular zone (18) extends radially inwards from the cylindrical shell surface boundary (L) towards the center of the shield plate (10), and a radially outer region (G) of the annular zone (18) extends radially outwards from the cylindrical shell surface boundary (L) away from the center of the shield plate (10), and wherein the shield plate (10) is spaced apart from a second gas outlet surface (8 ′) formed by the ceiling panel (8) by a gap (17), defined by a distance between the second gas outlet surface (8 ′) and the rear plane, with a height (S) of the gap (17) in a second range from 0.3 to 1 mm.
- Claim: 2. The CVD reactor (1) of claim 1 , wherein the at least one depression (18 , 20) or elevation (19) spatially corresponds to a respective substrate (9) disposed on the susceptor (3) and in each case extends in a vertical direction above the respective substrate (9).
- Claim: 3. The CVD reactor (1) of claim 1 , wherein the outlet openings (12 ′) of the ceiling panel (8) are aligned with the gas outlet openings (15) of the shield plate (10), or are arranged offset from the gas outlet openings (15).
- Claim: 4. The CVD reactor (1) of claim 1 , wherein the gas outlet openings (15) of the shield plate (10) are restricted in an area of the shield plate (10) radially inside of the boundary line (L).
- Claim: 5. The CVD reactor (1) of claim 4 , wherein the radially inner region (F) and the radially outer region (G) have respective radial extents that differ from each other by a maximum of 50 percent.
- Claim: 6. The CVD reactor (1) of claim 1 , wherein the gap (17) extends beyond the annular zone (18), such that process gas exiting through the outlet openings (12 ′) is distributed in the gap (17), and enters into the process chamber (11) through at least one gas passage channel (15) arranged in the annular zone (18).
- Patent References Cited: 6793733 September 2004 Janakiraman et al. ; 9587312 March 2017 Silva et al. ; 20050011447 January 2005 Fink ; 20070022954 February 2007 Iizuka ; 20070266944 November 2007 Iizuka ; 20090061646 March 2009 Chiang ; 20100003824 January 2010 Kadkhodayan et al. ; 20110284100 November 2011 Kudela ; 20150179405 June 2015 Saito ; 20170243724 August 2017 Noorbakhsh ; 20220002872 January 2022 Boyd ; 10 2012 110 125 April 2014 ; H09213689 August 1997 ; 2008031558 February 2008 ; 2010-232402 October 2010 ; 2023033356 March 2023 ; 100715079 May 1997 ; 20080112437 December 2008 ; 101373746 March 2014 ; 202118892 May 2021 ; 2011/004712 January 2011 ; WO-2021160835 August 2021
- Other References: Machine translation of JP 2010-232402. (Year: 2010). cited by examiner ; International Preliminary Report on Patentability dated Apr. 27, 2021, from The International Bureau of WIPO, for International Patent Application No. PCT/EP2019/078738 (filed Oct. 22, 2019), 15 pgs. cited by applicant ; Written Opinion dated Jan. 24, 2020, from ISA/European Patent Office, for International Patent Application No. PCT/EP2019/078738 (filed Oct. 22, 2019), English translation, 6 pgs. cited by applicant ; International Search Report dated Jan. 24, 2020, from ISA/European Patent Office, for International Patent Application No. PCT/EP2019/078738 (filed Oct. 22, 2019), 6 pgs. cited by applicant ; Written Opinion dated Jan. 24, 2020, from ISA/European Patent Office, for International Patent Application No. PCT/EP2019/078738 (filed Oct. 22, 2019), 7 pgs. cited by applicant
- Primary Examiner: Lund, Jeffrie R
- Attorney, Agent or Firm: ASCENDA LAW GROUP, PC
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