Methods and apparatus for processing a substrate
Methods and apparatus for processing a substrate are provided herein. For example, a gas supply configured for use with a processing chamber includes an ampoule that stores a precursor and comprises an input to receive a carrier gas and an output to provide a mixture of the carrier gas and the precursor to the processing chamber and a sensor assembly comprising a detector and an infrared source operably connected to an outside of an enclosure, through which the mixture flows, and a gas measurement volume disposed within the enclosure and along an inner wall thereof so that a concentration of the precursor in the mixture can be measured by the detector and transmitted to a controller.
1. A gas supply configured for use with a processing chamber, comprising:
a heated enclosure;
an ampoule disposed within the enclosure and configured to store a precursor, the ampoule comprising an input to receive a carrier gas and an output to provide a mixture of the carrier gas and the precursor through a non-dispersive infrared sensor assembly to the processing chamber;
the non-dispersive infrared sensor assembly comprising a gas measurement volume disposed within the heated enclosure and along an inner wall thereof defining an infrared absorption path having a path length greater than or equal to about 38 cm,
a sensor assembly comprising a detector and an infrared source each operably connected to and located outside of the heated enclosure so that a concentration of the precursor in the mixture flowing through the gas measurement volume disposed within the heated enclosure can be measured by the detector and transmitted to a controller.
2. The gas supply of claim 1 , further comprising at least one pressure sensor connected to a gas line that connects to an output of the sensor assembly or a gas line that connects to the input of the ampoule.
3. The gas supply of claim 1 , wherein the precursor is an alkylamide precursor.
4. The gas supply of claim 3 , wherein the alkylamide precursor comprises pentakis (dimethylamino) tantalum (V)—Ta (NMe 2 ) 5 or tetrakis (dimethylamino) titanium (C 8 H 24 N 4 Ti).
5. The gas supply of claim 1 , wherein the carrier gas is an inert gas.
6. The gas supply of claim 5 , wherein the inert gas is a noble gas.
7. The gas supply of claim 1 , wherein the detector comprises at least one of a thermopile sensor, a pyroelectric sensor, a photoconductive sensor, or
a photovoltaic sensor.
8. The gas supply of claim 7 , wherein the detector comprises at least one of an operational amplifier or an analog-to-digital converter.
9. The gas supply of claim 1 , wherein the detector comprises at least one optical filter.
10. The gas supply of claim 9 , wherein the at least one optical filter comprises a first filter configured to filter infrared light not absorbed by any gas and a second filter configured to filter infrared light absorbed by the precursor.
11. The gas supply of claim 1 , wherein the gas supply is configured for use with at least one of a chemical vapor deposition chamber or an atomic layer deposition chamber.
12. The gas supply of claim 1 , wherein the gas measurement volume has a length of greater than or equal to about 40.0 cm.
13. The gas supply of claim 1 , wherein a first thermal insulator and a second thermal insulator are disposed between the enclosure and the detector and the infrared source, respectively.
14. A system for processing a substrate, comprising:
a processing chamber; and
the gas supply of claim 1 operably coupled to the processing chamber.
15. The system of claim 14 , further comprising a pressure sensor connected to an output of the non-dispersive infrared sensor assembly.
16. The system of claim 14 , wherein the precursor is an alkylamide precursor.
17. A gas supply configured for use with a processing chamber, comprising:
a heated enclosure;
an ampoule disposed within the enclosure and configured to store a precursor, the ampoule comprising an input to receive a carrier gas and an output to provide a mixture of the carrier gas and the precursor through a non-dispersive infrared sensor assembly to the processing chamber;
the non-dispersive infrared sensor assembly comprising a sensor assembly comprising a precursor detector and a reference detector, an infrared beam splitter configured to split an infrared beam from an infrared source into a precursor beam and a reference beam, the precursor beam directed at the precursor detector through a gas measurement volume, wherein the gas measurement volume is disposed within the heated enclosure and along an inner wall thereof, defining an infrared absorption path having a path length greater than or equal to about 38 cm, and the reference beam directed at the reference detector;
wherein each of the precursor detector and the reference detector comprise at least one of a thermopile sensor, a photoconductive sensor, a photovoltaic sensor, or a pyroelectric sensor and wherein the infrared source, the precursor detector, and the reference detector are operably connected to, and located outside of, the heated enclosure and configured such that a concentration of the precursor in the mixture flowing through the gas measurement volume disposed within the heated enclosure can be measured by the precursor detector and transmitted to a controller.