Flowing gas seal enclosure for processing workpiece surface with controlled gas environment and intense laser irradiation
US4801352A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Dec 30, 1986 |
| Grant date | Jan 31, 1989 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Dec 30, 2006 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH01L21/67017
- WIPO fieldOptics
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
A controlled gas environment is provided against a surface area of a semiconductor wafer for performing processes on the area in the fabrication of integrated circuits thereon, including processes of deposition, impurity implantation, etching, ablation, and other radiation induced chemical processes involving the gas atmosphere by maintaining a continuous gas flow over the area and a portion of the surrounding area of the wafer surface covered by an enclosure that is suspended on the surface on a film of the flowing gas, the pressure, temperature and composition of the gas atmosphere against the surface area being controlled to meet the requirements of each processing step and/or to carry away particles while the gas seal is maintained. In a particular embodiment, intense ultraviolet (UV) laser radiation is focused by an optical system on a target on the semiconductor wafer surface through the suspended enclosure while the wafer is held on a table that moves in the plane of the wafer surface in order to expose different selected areas of the surface to the combined effects of the UV radiation and the gas atmosphere.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.