Atomic Layer Deposition Carousel with Continuous Rotation and Methods of Use

Abstract

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.