Atomic Layer Deposition Carousel with Continuous Rotation and Methods of Use
Provided are atomic layer deposition apparatus and methods including a rotating wheel with a plurality of substrate carriers for continuous processing of substrates. The processing chamber may have a loading station on the front end which is configured with one or more robots to load and unload substrates from the substrate carriers without needing to stop the rotating wheel.
1 . A deposition system, comprising:
a processing chamber;
a rotatable wheel disposed inside the processing chamber, the wheel having a plurality of circumferentially distributed substrate carriers; and
at least one gas distribution plate inside the processing chamber, the gas distribution plate having a plurality of elongate gas ports that direct flows of gases toward the substrate carriers; and
a loading station on a front end of the processing chamber, the loading station having a first robot that loads a substrate onto a substrate carrier and a second robot that unloads a processed substrate from a substrate carrier.
2 . The deposition system of claim 1 , wherein the loading station is isolated from ambient environment.
3 . The deposition system of claim 1 , wherein the loading station comprises a first substrate buffer region accessible to the first robot and a second substrate buffer region accessible to the second robot.
4 . The deposition system of claim 1 , further comprising at least one load lock chamber on a front end of the loading station, the load lock chamber isolating the loading station and the processing chamber from the ambient environment.
5 . The deposition system of claim 4 , wherein there are two load lock chambers, a first load lock chamber that introduces substrates to the loading station from the ambient environment and a second load lock chamber that removes substrates from the loading station.
6 . The deposition system of claim 4 , further comprising at least one third robot that transfers substrates to and from the at least one load lock chamber.
7 . The deposition system of claim 1 , wherein the first robot places a substrate onto a substrate carrier while the wheel is rotating without stopping the wheel.
8 . The deposition system of claim 1 , wherein the second robot removes a substrate from a substrate carrier while the wheel is rotating without stopping the wheel.
9 . The deposition system of claim 1 , wherein the rotatable wheel rotates the substrate carriers clockwise and counterclockwise.
10 . The deposition system of claim 1 , wherein the processing chamber further comprises a substrate heating station.
11 . The deposition system of claim 1 , wherein the processing chamber further comprises a substrate carrier cleaning station that cleans the substrate carrier after the second robot has removed the substrate from the substrate carrier and before the first robot has placed a substrate onto the substrate carrier.
12 . The deposition system of claim 1 , at least two gas distribution plates, each gas distribution plate deposits different layers on the substrate.
13 . A deposition system, comprising:
a processing chamber having a rotatable wheel with a plurality of circumferentially distributed substrate carriers and at least one gas distribution plate having a plurality of elongate gas ports that direct flows of gases toward the substrate carriers;
a loading station on a front end of the processing chamber, the loading station having a first robot that loads a substrate onto a substrate carrier, a second robot that unloads a processed substrate from a substrate carrier, a first buffer region accessible to the first robot and a second buffer region accessible to the second robot; and
a first load lock chamber on a front end of the loading station, the first load lock chamber accessible to the first robot and a second load lock chamber on the front end of the loading station, the second load lock chamber accessible to the second robot.
14 . A method of processing a substrate, comprising:
rotating a wheel having a plurality of circumferentially distributed substrate carriers;
continuously placing a substrate with a first robot in a loading station onto each substrate carrier not holding a substrate without stopping the rotating wheel;
processing each substrate sequentially while rotating on the wheel; and
continuously removing a processed substrate with a second robot in the loading station from each substrate carrier holding a substrate without stopping the rotating wheel.
15 . The method of claim 14 , further comprising loading substrates from a first load lock chamber into the loading station with the first robot.
16 . The method of claim 15 , further comprising placing the substrates into a first buffer region in the loading chamber with the first robot after loading the substrates into the loading chamber.
17 . The method of claim 14 , further comprising unloading substrates from the loading station into a second load lock chamber with the second robot.
18 . The method of claim 17 , further comprising placing the substrates into a second buffer region in the loading chamber with the second robot before unloading the substrates.
19 . The method of claim 14 , further comprising passing the substrate carriers adjacent a carrier cleaning station after a substrate has been removed from the carrier and before a substrate has been placed on the carrier.
20 . The method of claim 14 , further comprising heating the substrate on a substrate carrier.