Delivery device comprising gas diffuser for thin film deposition

Abstract

A process for depositing a thin film material on a substrate is disclosed, comprising simultaneously directing a series of gas flows from the output face of a delivery head of a thin film deposition system toward the surface of a substrate, and wherein the series of gas flows comprises at least a first reactive gaseous material, an inert purge gas, and a second reactive gaseous material, wherein the first reactive gaseous material is capable of reacting with a substrate surface treated with the second reactive gaseous material. A system capable of carrying out such a process is also disclosed.

1 . A process for depositing a thin film material on a substrate, comprising simultaneously directing a series of gas flows from an output face of a delivery head toward the surface of a substrate, and wherein the series of gas flows comprises at least a first reactive gaseous material, an inert purge gas, and a second reactive gaseous material, wherein the first reactive gaseous material is capable of reacting with a substrate surface treated with the second reactive gaseous material;
 wherein the delivery head comprises a gas diffuser element through which passes at least one of the first reactive gaseous material, the inert purge gas, and the second reactive gaseous material while maintaining flow isolation of the at one gaseous material;   wherein the gas diffuser provides a friction factor for gaseous material passing therethrough, during thin film material deposition on the substrate, that is greater than 1×10 2 .   
   
   
       2 . The process of  claim 1  wherein the gas diffuser comprises a mechanically formed assembly comprising a series of at least two elements, each element comprising a substantially parallel surface area facing each other;
 each element comprising corresponding interconnected passages each interconnected passage in fluid communication with an individual elongated emissive channels among the at least one of group of elongated emissive channels;   wherein the gas diffuser deflects gaseous material passing therethough by providing two substantially vertical flow paths for gaseous material separated by a substantially horizontal flow path for gaseous material;   wherein each substantially vertical flow path is provided by one or more interconnected passages, or component passages, extending in an elongated direction, parallel to the output face of the delivery device and parallel to the elongated emissive channels; and   wherein each substantially horizontal flow path is provided by a thin space between the parallel surface areas in the two elements, wherein vertical refers to the orthogonal direction and horizontal refers to the parallel direction with respect to the output face of the delivery device.   
   
   
       3 . The process of  claim 1  wherein flows of the first and second reactive gaseous materials are spatially separated substantially by at least the inert purge gas and an exhaust outlet/means. 
   
   
       4 . The process of  claim 1  wherein one or more of gas flows provides a pressure that at least contributes to separation of the surface of the substrate from the face of the delivery head. 
   
   
       5 . The process of  claim 1  wherein gas flows are provided from a series of open elongated output channels, substantially in parallel, positioned in close proximity to the substrate, with the output face of the delivery head spaced within 1 mm of the surface of the substrate subject to deposition. 
   
   
       6 . The process of  claim 1  wherein a given area of the substrate is exposed to gas flow of the first reactive gaseous material for less than about 500 milliseconds at a time. 
   
   
       7 . The process of  claim 1  further comprising providing relative motion between the delivery head and the substrate. 
   
   
       8 . The process of  claim 1  wherein gas flow of at least one of the reactive gaseous materials is at least 1 sccm. 
   
   
       9 . The process of  claim 1  wherein the temperature of the substrate during deposition is under 300° C. 
   
   
       10 . The process of  claim 1  wherein the first reactive gaseous material is a metal-containing compound and the second reactive gaseous material is a non-metallic compound. 
   
   
       11 . The process of  claim 10  wherein the metal-containing compound is an element of Group II, III, IV, V, or VI of the Periodic Table. 
   
   
       12 . The process of  claim 10  wherein the metal-containing compound is an organometallic compound that can be vaporized at a temperature under 300° C. 
   
   
       13 . The process of  claim 10  wherein the metal-containing compound reacts with the second reactive gaseous material to form an oxide or sulfide material selected from the group consisting of tantalum pentoxide, aluminum oxide, titanium oxide, niobium pentoxide, zirconium oxide, hafnium oxide, zinc oxide, lanthium oxide, yttrium oxide, cerium oxide, vanadium oxide, molybdenum oxide, manganese oxide, tin oxide, indium oxide, tungsten oxide, silicon dioxide, zinc sulfide, strontium sulfide, calcium sulfide, lead sulfide, and mixtures thereof. 
   
   
       14 . The process of  claim 1  wherein the process is used to make a semiconductor or dielectric thin film on a substrate, for use in a transistor, wherein the thin film comprises a metal-oxide-based material, the process comprising forming on a substrate, at a temperature of 300° C. or less, at least one layer of a metal-oxide-based material, wherein the metal-oxide-based material is the reaction product of at least two reactive gases, a first reactive gas comprising an organometallic precursor compound and a second reactive gas comprising a reactive oxygen-containing gaseous material. 
   
   
       15 . The process of  claim 1  wherein gaseous materials exiting the elongated openings have substantially equivalent pressure along the length of the openings, to within no more than about 10% deviation. 
   
   
       16 . A process for depositing a thin film material on a substrate, comprising simultaneously directing a series of gas flows from an output face of a delivery head toward the surface of a substrate, and wherein the series of gas flows comprises at least a first reactive gaseous material, an inert purge gas, and a second reactive gaseous material, wherein the first reactive gaseous material is capable of reacting with a substrate surface treated with the second reactive gaseous material;
 wherein a gas diffuser comprises a porous material through which passes at least one of the first reactive gaseous material, the second reactive gaseous material, and the inert purge gas, thereby providing back pressure and promoting the equalization of pressure where the flow of the at least one of the first reactive gaseous material, the second reactive gaseous material, and the inert purge gas exits the delivery device.   
   
   
       17 . The process of  claim 16  wherein the gas diffuser comprises a porous material through which passes, while maintaining flow isolation, the first reactive gaseous material, the second reactive gaseous material, and the inert purge gas, thereby providing back pressure and promoting the equalization of pressure associated with exit flow of the at least one of the first reactive gaseous material, the second reactive gaseous material, and the inert purge gas.