POROUS CARBONACEOUS VACUUM CHAMBER LINERS
Described are porous protective liners for use in a vacuum chamber, the liners being made of inorganic carbonaceous material and having a porous surface, preferably with the pores being of an open-pore structure.
1 . An apparatus comprising:
a vacuum chamber, and
a liner having a surface exposed to an interior of the vacuum chamber, wherein the surface is made of porous inorganic carbonaceous material.
2 . An apparatus of claim 1 wherein the porous inorganic carbonaceous material has an open pore structure.
3 . The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the surface comprises macroporous surface openings having a pore size of greater than 10 microns.
4 . The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the porous inorganic carbonaceous material has a thickness in a range from 500 to 1,000 microns.
5 . The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the porous inorganic carbonaceous material has a porosity in a range from 18 to 97 percent.
6 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the liner comprises:
the surface on a first side of the liner,
a second surface on a second side of the liner, and
a thickness between the first surface and the second surface,
wherein the porous inorganic carbonaceous material has an open pore structure, with the open pore structure extending from the first surface to the second surface.
7 . The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the porous inorganic carbonaceous material is woven carbon or graphite fibers.
8 . The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the porous inorganic carbonaceous material is inorganic carbonaceous foam.
9 . The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the porous inorganic carbonaceous material is graphite foam.
10 . The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the porous inorganic carbonaceous material is silicon carbide foam.
11 . A vacuum chamber that includes an interior and a liner at the interior, the liner having a surface exposed to the interior, wherein the surface is made of porous inorganic carbonaceous material.
12 . The vacuum chamber of claim 11 wherein the porous inorganic carbonaceous material has an open pore structure.
13 . The vacuum chamber of claim 11 wherein the surface comprises macroporous surface openings having a pore size of greater than 10 microns.
14 . The vacuum chamber of any of claim 11 , wherein the liner comprising:
the surface on a first side of the liner,
a second surface on a second side of the liner, and
a thickness between the first surface and the second surface,
wherein the porous inorganic carbonaceous material has an open pore structure, with the open pore structure extending from the first surface to the second surface.
15 . A method of using an apparatus having a vacuum chamber that includes a liner, the method comprising:
generating an ion beam within the vacuum chamber, or
generating debris particles within the vacuum chamber, or
generating an ion beam and debris particles within the vacuum chamber, wherein
the liner has a surface exposed to an interior space of the vacuum chamber, the surface being made of porous inorganic carbonaceous material, and
during the method of using the apparatus, the ion beam or the debris particles contact the surface of the liner.
16 . The method of claim 15 :
the ion beam is directed orthogonally at the liner, and ions that impinge onto the liner surface generate particle debris, and
the amount of particle debris generated by the ions is less than an amount of particle debris that would be generated by the ions impinging upon a liner that does not have the surface made of porous inorganic carbonaceous material.
17 . The method of claim 15 :
the method comprises generating particle debris that enters the interior space of the vacuum chamber,
the particle debris contacts the liner and is captured by the liner and removed from the interior space of the vacuum chamber.
18 . The method of claim 15 wherein the liner removes an amount of particle debris from the interior space that is greater than an amount of particle debris that would be removed by a liner that does not have a porous surface.
19 . The method of claim 15 comprising implanting ions into a substrate, the substrate comprising photoresist at a substrate surface, the method comprising directing the ion beam at the photoresist and causing the ion beam to generate particle debris derived from the photoresist.