초록 ▼

A high conductance, multi-tray film precursor evaporation system coupled with a high conductance vapor delivery system is described for increasing the deposition rate by increasing exposed surface area of film precursor. The multi-tray film precursor evaporation system includes one or more trays. Ea

A high conductance, multi-tray film precursor evaporation system coupled with a high conductance vapor delivery system is described for increasing the deposition rate by increasing exposed surface area of film precursor. The multi-tray film precursor evaporation system includes one or more trays. Each tray is configured to support and retain film precursor in, for example, solid powder form or solid tablet form. Additionally, each tray is configured to provide for a high conductance flow of carrier gas over the film precursor while the film precursor is heated. For example, the carrier gas flows inward over the film precursor, and vertically upward through a flow channel within the stackable trays and through an outlet in the solid precursor evaporation system.

대표청구항 ▼

What is claimed is: 1. A replaceable stackable tray configured to support a horizontal layer of a film precursor and to be stacked with one or more additional replaceable stackable trays in a container of a film precursor evaporation system, where the container has an outer container wall, a contai

What is claimed is: 1. A replaceable stackable tray configured to support a horizontal layer of a film precursor and to be stacked with one or more additional replaceable stackable trays in a container of a film precursor evaporation system, where the container has an outer container wall, a container bottom, and a removable container lid configured to be sealably coupled to said outer container wall, said lid having a container outlet sealably connectable to an inlet of a thin film deposition system, said tray comprising: a generally horizontal annular tray bottom having a generally circular outer rim and a generally circular inner rim surrounding a central opening; a generally vertical cylindrical inner tray wall having an inner top edge and extending vertically upward from said inner rim; a generally vertical cylindrical outer tray wall having an outer top edge and extending vertically upward from said inner rim; the tray walls being configured to retain a film precursor between the inner and outer tray walls in a horizontally disposed layer supported on and distributed over the tray bottom; said inner and outer tray walls being of different heights such that one tray wall is a lower wall and the other tray wall is a higher wall that is a stacking wall, the top edge of which is a tray supporting edge that is configured to support another stackable tray on a corresponding inner or outer circular rim of an annular tray bottom thereof; said stacking wall having a plurality of angularly-spaced gas-flow openings formed therein; and the tray, when stacked with one or more other of said trays, forming a plurality of parallel, annular, vertically-spaced, generally horizontal radial flow paths that each extends from a carrier gas supply, through said gas-flow openings of a respective one of the stacked trays, then in a generally horizontal, radial direction over an upper surface of a film precursor supported on said tray bottom of said respective one of the stacked trays, where film precursor evaporates into the carrier gas and from where the carrier gas, along with the evaporated film precursor vapor, flows over the top edge of the lower tray wall of said respective one of the trays to join gas flowing from other paths of the plurality toward and through the outlet in the container lid; whereby carrier gas flowing from the carrier gas supply divides in separate parallel annular, generally horizontal radial paths to flow over precursor supported in one and only one respective tray of a stacked plurality, without flowing over precursor supported in any other tray of the stacked plurality. 2. The replaceable stackable tray of claim 1, wherein: said inner tray wall is the higher wall and is the stacking wall, the top edge of which is the tray supporting edge and is configured to support another stackable tray on an inner circular rim of the annular tray bottom thereof; said inner tray wall having the plurality of angularly-spaced gas-flow openings formed therein; and the tray, when stacked with one or more other of said trays, forms a plurality of parallel, annular, vertically-spaced, generally horizontal, radially-outward flow paths that each extends from a carrier gas supply, through said gas-flow openings of a respective one of the stacked trays, then in a generally horizontal, radially outward direction over an upper surface of a film precursor supported on the tray bottom of said respective one of the stacked trays, where film precursor evaporates into the carrier gas and from where the carrier gas, along with the evaporated film precursor vapor, flows over the top edge of the outer tray wall of said respective one of the trays to join gas flowing from other paths of the plurality toward and through the outlet in the container lid; whereby carrier gas flowing from the carrier gas supply divides in separate parallel annular, generally horizontal radially outward paths to flow radially outwardly over the precursor supported in one and only one respective tray of a stacked plurality, without flowing over precursor supported in any other tray of the stacked plurality. 3. A replaceable film precursor support assembly comprising the tray of claim 2, and further comprising: a film precursor supported in said tray between said inner tray wall and said outer tray wall on said annular tray bottom. 4. The replaceable stackable tray of claim 1, wherein: said outer tray wall is the higher wall and is the stacking wall, the top edge of which is the tray supporting edge and is configured to support another stackable tray on an outer circular rim of the annular tray bottom thereof; said outer tray wall having the plurality of angularly-spaced gas-flow openings formed therein; and the tray, when stacked with one or more other of said trays, forms a plurality of parallel, annular, vertically-spaced, generally horizontal, radially-inward flow paths that each extends from a carrier gas supply, through said gas-flow openings of a respective one of the stacked trays, then in a generally horizontal, radially inward direction over an upper surface of a film precursor supported on the tray bottom of said respective one of the stacked trays, where film precursor evaporates into the carrier gas and from where the carrier gas, along with the evaporated film precursor vapor, flows over the top edge of the inner tray wall of said respective one of the trays to join gas flowing from other paths of the plurality toward and through the outlet in the container lid; whereby carrier gas flowing from the carrier gas supply divides in separate parallel annular, generally horizontal radially inward paths to flow radially inwardly over the precursor supported in one and only one respective tray of a stacked plurality, without flowing over precursor supported in any other tray of the stacked plurality. 5. A replaceable film precursor support assembly comprising the tray of claim 1, and further comprising: a metal precursor supported in the tray. 6. A replaceable film precursor support assembly comprising the tray of claim 1, and further comprising: a solid precursor supported in the tray. 7. A replaceable film precursor support assembly comprising the tray of claim 1, and further comprising: a solid powder precursor supported in the tray. 8. A replaceable film precursor support assembly comprising the tray of claim 1, and further comprising: a solid precursor that includes at least one solid precursor tablet. 9. A replaceable film precursor support assembly comprising the tray of claim 1, and further comprising: a metal-carbonyl film precursor supported in the tray. 10. The replaceable film precursor support assembly of claim 9, wherein said metal-carbonyl film precursor includes W(CO)6, Mo(CO)6, Co2(CO)8, Rh4(CO)12, Re2(CO)10, Cr(CO)6, Ru3(CO)12, or Os3(CO)12. 11. A film precursor evaporation system comprising: a container having an outer container wall, a container bottom, and a removable container lid sealably coupled to said outer container wall, said lid having an outlet sealably connectable to an inlet of a thin film deposition system; and a plurality of replaceable stackable trays of claim 1 stacked within the container. 12. A film precursor evaporation system configured to be coupled to a thin film deposition system and comprising a plurality of trays of claim 1, and further comprising: a container having an outer wall, a top having an opening therein, and a container bottom, said container being configured to be coupled to a heater and heated to an elevated temperature; a container lid sealably coupled to the top of said container and closing the opening, said lid having an outlet configured to be sealably coupled to a thin film deposition system; a tray stack comprising said plurality of trays including a first tray supported in said container either directly or indirectly on said container bottom, and a plurality of annular additional trays, each stacked, one on said first tray, with each additional tray in excess of one being stacked on an additional tray; the inner tray walls defining a central cylindrical flow channel in said container extending vertically from said first tray through the open center of each of the one or more additional trays, and said outer tray walls and said outer wall of said container having an annular space therebetween defining a vertical, annular peripheral flow channel in said container, one of said central flow channel and said peripheral flow channel being a supply channel configured to be coupled to a carrier gas supply system to supply a carrier gas to said one of said channels and the other of said central flow channel and said peripheral flow channel being an exhaust channel configured to be coupled to said outlet in said lid; a plurality of the trays of the tray stack forming said plurality of parallel, annular, vertically-spaced, generally horizontal radial flow paths. 13. The system of claim 12 wherein: said central flow channel is said supply channel and said peripheral channel is said exhaust channel; and said inner walls being said stacking walls having said one or more orifices therein and coupled to said supply channel and configured to flow the carrier gas from said central channel, over said film precursor towards said peripheral channel to exhaust said carrier gas through said outlet in said lid with film precursor vapor. 14. The system of claim 12 wherein: said peripheral flow channel is said supply channel and said central channel is said exhaust channel; and said outer walls being said stacking walls having said one or more orifices therein and coupled to said supply channel and configured to flow the carrier gas from said peripheral flow channel, over said film precursor towards said central flow channel to exhaust said carrier gas through said outlet in said lid with film precursor vapor. 15. A thin film deposition system comprising the evaporation system of claim 12 and further comprising: a heater coupled to said container and configured to heat the container to an elevated temperature; a deposition chamber having an inlet coupled to the container outlet. 16. The film precursor evaporation system of claim 12 further comprising a solid metal precursor in either solid powder or solid tablet form supported in each of said trays. 17. The film precursor evaporation system of claim 12 further comprising one or more of TaF5, TaCl5, TaBr5, TaI5, Ta(CO)5, Ta[N(C2H5CH3)]5 (PEMAT), Ta[N(CH3)2]5 (PDMAT), Ta[N(C2H5)2]5 (PDEAT), Ta(NC(CH3)3)(N(C2H5)2)3 (TBTDET), Ta(NC2H5)(N(C2H5)2)3, Ta(NC(CH3)2C2H5)(N(CH3)2)3, Ta(NC(CH3)3)(N(CH3)2)3, Ta(EtCp)2(CO)H, TiF4, TiCl4, TiBr4, TiI4, Ti[N(C2H5CH3)]4 (TEMAT), Ti[N(CH3)2]4 (TDMAT), Ti[N(C2H5)2]4 (TDEAT), Ru(C5H5)2, Ru(C2H5C5H4)2, Ru(C3H7C5H4)2, Ru(CH3C5H4)2, Ru3(CO)12, C5H4Ru(CO)3, RuCl3, Ru(C11H19O2)3, Ru(C8H13O2)3, or Ru(C5H7O)3, or any combination of two or more thereof, supported in each of said trays. 18. The film precursor evaporation system of claim 12 wherein said trays are separatable and stackable trays configured to be stacked in said container to form a multi-piece multi-tray stack. 19. A thin film deposition system for forming a thin film on a substrate, comprising the film precursor evaporation system of claim 12, and further comprising: a process chamber having a substrate holder configured to support said substrate and heat said substrate, a vapor distribution system configured to introduce film precursor vapor above said substrate, and a pumping system configured to evacuate said process chamber; and said outlet being coupled to said vapor distribution system. 20. A deposition system for forming a thin film on a substrate comprising the film precursor evaporation system of claim 12 and further comprising: a process chamber having a substrate holder configured to support said substrate and heat said substrate, a vapor distribution system configured to introduce film precursor vapor above said substrate, and a pumping system configured to evacuate said process chamber; and a vapor delivery system having a first end sealably coupled to said outlet of said film precursor evaporation system and a second end sealably coupled to an inlet of said vapor distribution system of said process chamber. 21. The deposition system of claim 20, wherein said film precursor is a solid metal precursor. 22. The deposition system of claim 20, wherein said film precursor includes one or more of TaF5, TaCl5, TaBr5, TaI5, Ta(CO)5, Ta[N(C2H5CH3)]5 (PEMAT), Ta[N(CH3)2]5 (PDMAT), Ta[N(C2H5)2]5 (PDEAT), Ta(NC(CH3)3)(N(C2H5)2)3 (TBTDET), Ta(NC2H5)(N(C2H5)2)3, Ta(NC(CH3)2C2H5)(N(CH3)2)3, Ta(NC(CH3)3)(N(CH3)2)3, Ta(EtCp)2(CO)H, TiF4, TiCl4, TiBr4, TiI4, Ti[N(C2H5CH3)]4 (TEMAT), Ti[N(CH3)2]4 (TDMAT), Ti[N(C2H5)2]4 (TDEAT), Ru(C5H5)2, Ru(C2H5C5H4)2, Ru(C3H7C5H4)2, Ru(CH3C5H4)2, Ru3(CO)12, C5H4Ru(CO)3, RuCl3, Ru(C11H19O2)3, Ru(C8H13O2)3, or Ru(C5H7O)3, or any combination of two or more thereof. 23. A replaceable film precursor support assembly comprising the tray of claim 1, and further comprising: a film precursor supported in said tray between said inner tray wall and said outer tray wall on said annular tray bottom. 24. A film precursor evaporation system configured to be coupled to a thin film deposition system, comprising a container having an outlet configured to be sealably connected to a thin film deposition system and an inlet configured to be sealably connected to a carrier gas supply system; a plurality of trays configured to be arranged in a vertical stack within said container, each tray being configured to support and evaporate a precursor material to form a precursor vapor, a common carrier gas supply space within said container configured to receive a flow of said carrier gas from said inlet and to deliver to each of said trays a respective portion of said flow of said carrier gas received from said inlet; a common exhaust space within said container configured to receive and combine said portions of said flow of carrier gas containing precursor vapor evaporated in each of said respective trays from each of said respective trays, and to deliver said carrier gas containing said precursor to said outlet; each of said trays having a wall between said common carrier gas supply space and said common exhaust space when the trays are arranged in the vertical stack in the container, said walls each having one or more orifices therein configured to pass the respective portions of said flow of said carrier gas from said common carrier gas supply space over the precursor material supported in the respective tray and to said common exhaust space; and said orifices being configured such that the flow conductance through said common carrier gas supply space from said inlet to said one or more orifices in each of said plurality of trays is sufficiently larger than the net flow conductance through said one or more orifices in each of said plurality of trays in order to make the respective portions of said flow substantially equal and thereby permit a substantially equal distribution of said carrier gas over said precursor material in each of said trays. 25. The film precursor evaporation system of claim 24, wherein the trays include a plurality of annular trays having a central opening, the common carrier gas supply space includes the central opening of each tray, the common exhaust space is an annular vertical space surrounding each of the trays, and said portions of said flow of said carrier gas move in a generally radially outward direction in each of said trays. 26. The film precursor evaporation system of claim 24, wherein the trays include a plurality of annular trays having a central opening, the common exhaust space includes the central opening of each tray, the common carrier gas supply space is an annular vertical space surrounding each of the trays, and said portions of said flow of said carrier gas move in a generally radially inward direction in each of said trays.