US4937094A
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Method of creating a high flux of activated species for reaction with a remotely located substrate
Assignee: Energy Conversion Devices Inc
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Filing: 1989-06-29
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Granted: 1990-06-26
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Expires: 2009-06-29
Abstract
Abstract A method of forming a high flux of activated species, such as ions, of an energy transferring gas by employing a substantial pressure differential between a first conduit in which the energy transferring gas is introduced into a vacuumized enclosure and the background pressure which exits in said enclosure. In one embodiment, the flow rate of the energy transferring gas flowing through said first conduit, when taken in conjunction with said pressure differential, causes the high flux to activated species of the energy transferring gas to collide with a precursor deposition/etchant gas, remotely introduced into the enclosure through a second conduit, for forming deposition/etchant species therefrom. In an alternate embodiment, the pressure differential causes those activated species, themselves, to be either deposited upon or etched away from the surface of a remotely positioned substrate.
Inventors
- 👤 Joachim Doehler
- 👤 Stephen J. Hudgens
- 👤 Stanford R. Ovshinsky
- 👤 II Buddie Dotter
- 👤 Lester R. Peedin
- 👤 Jeffrey M. Krisko
- 👤 Annette Krisko
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-03 11:18
CPC Classifications
C; C23; C23C; C23C16/00; C23C16/44; C23C16/455; C23C16/45502; C23C16/4551; C23C16/448; C23C16/452; C23C16/45514
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 37
Claim 1
Independent Claim
112 words
A method of generating a flux of activated species from an energy transferring gas, said method comprising the steps of: providing an enclosure; maintaining the interior of said enclosure at a sub-atmospheric background pressure; introducing an energy transferring gas into the interior of said enclosure through at least one aperture formed in a first conduit; activating said energy transferring gas in an activation region so as to form a plume of activated species from said energy transferring gas; and establishing a flow of said energy transferring gas through said first conduit at substantially transonic velocity so as to define a substantially clear boundary of said activation region without the structural confinement thereof.
Claim 2
Independent Claim
112 words
A method of generating a flux of activated species from an energy transferring gas, said method comprising the steps of: providing an enclosure; maintaining the interior of said enclosure at a sub-atmospheric background pressure; introducing an energy transferring gas into the interior of said enclosure through at least one aperture formed in a first conduit; activating said energy transferring gas in an activation region so as to form a plume of activated species from said energy transferring gas; and establishing a flow of said energy transferring gas through said first conduit at substantially transonic velocity so as to define a substantially clear boundary of said activation region without the structural confinement thereof.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
45 words
A method as in claim 1 including the further step of reducing the size of said aperture relative to the size of the first conduit so as to form a choke adjacent said aperture for providing a high density plume of said energy transferring gas.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
38 words
A method as in claim 1, including the further step of increasing the time of residency of said energy transferring gas adjacent said aperture, whereby the pressure of said energy transferring gas adjacent said aperture is also increased.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
18 words
A method as in claim 1, including the further step of providing means for cooling said first conduit.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
20 words
A method as in claim 4, including the further step of circulating a coolant medium through a concentrically disposed tube.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
26 words
A method as in claim 1, including the further step of providing means for reducing degradation of the surface of said first conduit adjacent said aperture.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
31 words
A method as in claim 6, including the further step of providing a protective overcoat at least partially encapsulating the aperture portion of said first conduit to reduce the degradation thereof.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
22 words
A method as in claim 7, including the further step of selecting said protective overcoat from a substantially high temperature, sputter-resistant material.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
35 words
A method as in claim 1, including the further step of selecting said energy transferring gas from the group consisting essentially of hydrogen, the noble gases, CH 4 , CF 4 , and combinations thereof.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
29 words
A method as in claim 9, including the further steps of operatively disposing substrate means interiorly of said enclosure and etching material from the surface of said substrate means.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
37 words
A method as in claim 9, including the further steps of operatively disposing substrate means interiorly of said enclosure and utilizing said high density of activated species to deposit material onto the surface of said substrate means.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
30 words
A method as in claim 11, including the further steps of utilizing CH 4 as the energy transferring gas to deposit carbon-containing films from the high density of activated species.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
82 words
A method as in claim 1, including the further step of introducing a precursor deposition gas into the interior of said enclosure through a second conduit; the point of introduction of said precursor deposition gas from said second conduit into said enclosure spacedly disposed relative to said activation region, whereby collisions of said flux of activated species with said precursor deposition gas define a collision region in which a high density of energized deposition species of said precursor deposition gas are generated.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
43 words
A method as in claim 13, including the further step of selecting said precursor deposition gas so that upon collision of activated species of said energy transferring gas therewith, one or more desired deposition species of said precursor deposition gas will be formed.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
34 words
A method as in claim 14, including the further step of selecting the precursor deposition gas from the group consisting essentially of a silicon-containing gas, a carbon-containing gas, a germanium-containing gas, and combinations thereof.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
50 words
A method as in claim 14, including the further step of selecting the precursor deposition gas from the group consisting essentially of SiH 4 , SiF 4 , Si 2 H 6 , GeH 4 , GE 2 H 6 , GeF 4 , CH 4 , and combinations thereof.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
30 words
A method as in claim 13, including the further step of selecting helium as the energy transferring gas, whereby the activated species of said energy transferring gas is metastable helium.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
47 words
A method as in claim 13, including the further step of selecting said energy transferring gas and said precursor deposition gas so that upon collision of activated species of said energy transferring gas and said precursur deposition gas, one or more desired combination species will be formed.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
69 words
A method as in claim 18, including the further step of selecting said enerqy transferring gas so as to further include one or more gases from the group consisting essentially of O 2 , NH 3 , N 2 , NH 4 , CH 4 , PH 3 , PH 5 , BF 3 , BF 5 , B 2 H 6 , BH 4 , and combinations thereof.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
20 words
A method as in claim 1, including the further step of utilizing r.f. energy to activate said energy transferring gas.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
20 words
A method as in claim 1, including the further step of utilizing microwave energy to activate said energy transferring gas.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
30 words
A method as in claim 21, further including the step of employing a radiant microwave applicator to activate said energy transferring gas flowing through the aperture in said first conduit.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
29 words
A method as in claim 22, including the further step of operatively disposing the aperture portion of said first conduit adjacent said applicator for activating said energy transferring gas.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
43 words
A method as in claim 23, including the further steps of forming said first conduit from a microwave transmissive material and disposing said aperture portion within said radiant microwave applicator, whereby said activated species are primarily initiated interiorly of said first conduit means.
Claim 26
Dependent Claim
32 words
A method as in claim 23, including the further steps of forming said first conduit from a microwave non-transmissive material, whereby said activated species are primarily initiated exteriorly of said first conduit.
Claim 27
Dependent Claim
56 words
A method as in claim 1, including the further step of maintaining the background pressure in said enclosure at least about a factor of five less than the pressure of said energy transferring gas flowing in said first conduit, whereby a plume of pressure isobars is formed by the activated species of said energy transferring gas.
Claim 28
Dependent Claim
42 words
A method as in claim 1, including the further step of controlling the volume of said plume of activated species by controlling the pressure differential existing between the background pressure and the pressure of the energy transferring gas in said first conduit.
Claim 29
Dependent Claim
27 words
A method as in claim 1, including the further step of maintaining the background pressure in said enclosure in the range of less than about 50 torr.
Claim 30
Dependent Claim
33 words
A method as in claim 28, including the further step of introducing a flow rate of at least about 10 SCCM of said precursor deposition gas through said second conduit into said enclosure.
Claim 31
Dependent Claim
33 words
A method as in claim 29, including the further step of introducing a flow rate of about 10 to 200 SCCM of said precursor deposition gas through said second conduit into said enclosure.
Claim 32
Dependent Claim
33 words
A method as in claim 30, including the further step of introducing a flow rate of at least about 100 SCCM of said energy transferring gas through said first conduit into said enclosure.
Claim 33
Dependent Claim
33 words
A method as in claim 31, including the further step of introducing a flow rate of about 100 to 2000 SCCM of said energy transferring gas through said first conduit into said enclosure.
Claim 34
Dependent Claim
43 words
A method as in claim 1, including the further step of maintaining pressure isobars adjacent the aperture portion of said first conduit of about one-half the pressure at which the substantial minimum of the Paschen curve for a given energy transferring gas occurs.
Claim 35
Dependent Claim
25 words
A method as in claim 1, including the further step of operatively disposing said substrate means a distance free path of said energized deposition species.
Claim 36
Dependent Claim
70 words
A method as in claim 1, including the further step of providing a flow rate of said energy transferring gas through said first conduit relative to the background pressure in said enclosure which imparts a velocity to said activated species of said energy transferring gas of at least about the same magnitude as the thermal velocity of said activated species, whereby said activated species are directed toward said collision region.
Claim 37
Dependent Claim
67 words
A method as in claim 1, including the further steps of operatively disposing substrate means interiorly of said enclosure and providing a flow rate of said energy transferring gas through said first conduit relative to the background pressure in said enclosure which imparts directional momentum to said activated species of said energy transferring gas for direct or indirect reaction thereof with a surface of the substrate means.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
No citation records indexed.
USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 1993-06-25 | 1993-12-25 | 1994-06-26 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 1997-06-25 | 1997-12-25 | 1998-06-26 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 2001-06-25 | 2001-12-25 | 2002-06-26 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |