Mixing of materials in an integrated circuit manufacturing...

Details Mixing of materials in an integrated circuit manufacturing... Mixing of materials in an integrated circuit manufacturing...

2002-03-22

2004-07-06

Drodge, Joseph (Department: 1723)

Agitating

By injecting gas into mixing chamber

C156S345330, C261S079200, C366S165100, C366S165200

Reexamination Certificate

active

06758591

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to integrated circuit fabrication, and more particularly to integrated circuit manufacturing equipment.
2. Description of the Background Art
Fabrication of an integrated circuit (IC) involves deposition of one or more layers of thin film on a wafer. For example, a dielectric material may be deposited on a wafer using a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) process. A deposition process may be performed using specialized manufacturing equipment. Typically, such an equipment includes a process chamber where a wafer is placed, and a mechanism for flowing materials into the process chamber. Depending on the process, the materials may need to be evaporated and mixed together prior to being flown into the process chamber.
FIG. 1A
shows a top perspective view of a mechanism for introducing materials in an integrated circuit manufacturing equipment. As shown in
FIG. 1A
, a manifold
101
includes sections of metal tubing having a gas inlet
102
for receiving gaseous materials and a liquid injection point
103
for receiving liquid materials. A tubular silicon rubber heater
104
is wrapped around manifold
101
to facilitate evaporation of liquid materials. A section
105
of manifold
101
feeds into a top portion of a distributor
106
, while a section
107
feeds into a bottom portion of distributor
106
. From distributor
106
, materials flow into plumbing lines
108
(i.e.,
108
A,
108
B,
108
C,
108
D,
108
E, and
108
F) and into a process chamber located below distributor
106
.
FIG. 1B
shows a schematic diagram of the mechanism of FIG.
1
A. Heater
104
is depicted in
FIG. 1B
as having sections
104
A,
104
B, and
104
C. As shown in
FIG. 1B
, a plumbing line
108
is coupled to a shower head
121
directly overhead a wafer
122
. Shower head
121
includes several holes through which materials are flown into a process chamber
120
. Materials in process chamber
120
deposit on a wafer
122
.
A problem with prior mechanisms for introducing materials in an integrated circuit manufacturing equipment is that they may clog if not properly maintained. Another problem with some of these mechanisms is that they do not optimally evaporate and mix materials.
SUMMARY
The present invention relates to methods and apparatus for introducing materials in an integrated circuit manufacturing equipment. In one embodiment, a mixing device includes a nozzle that is disposed tangent to a wall of a chamber. Gas flowing from the nozzle rotates in the chamber forming a vortex. Another gas may be flown near a middle portion of the chamber, thereby uniformly mixing the two gases.
In another embodiment, an evaporation and mixing device includes a nozzle configured to impart rotation to a gas flowing into a chamber. An injector flows a liquid material near a middle portion of the chamber, thereby mixing the gas and the liquid material. A heater may be employed to help evaporate the liquid material.


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