Process chamber having separate process gas and purge gas regions

Abstract

Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to chambers and methods of processing substrates therein. The chambers generally include separate process gas and purge gas regions. The process gas region and purge gas region each have a respective gas inlet and gas outlet. The methods generally include positioning a substrate on a substrate support within the chamber. The plane of the substrate support defines the boundary between a process gas region and purge gas region. Purge gas is introduced into the purge gas region through at least one purge gas inlet, and removed from the purge gas region using at least one purge gas outlet. The process gas is introduced into the process gas region through at least one process gas inlet, and removed from the process gas region through at least one process gas outlet. The process gas is thermally decomposed to deposit a material on the substrate.

We claim: 
     
         1 . A method of processing a substrate in a lateral flow chamber, comprising:
 positioning a substrate on a substrate support within a processing chamber, the processing chamber having a purge gas region and process gas region;   introducing a purge gas into the purge gas region through a purge gas inlet;   introducing a process gas into the process gas region through a process gas inlet;   depositing a material from the process gas onto the substrate, the depositing a material forming process gas byproducts;   exhausting the purge gas from the purge gas region through a purge gas outlet; and   exhausting the process gas byproducts from the process gas region through a process gas outlet.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the process gas outlet is located within the process gas region, and the purge gas outlet is located within the purge gas region. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the process gas and the purge gas flow parallel to the upper surface of the substrate. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the process gas inlet and the purge gas inlet are located on an opposite side of the chamber as the process gas outlet and the purge gas outlet. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the flow rate of the purge gas is about 1 times to about 20 times the flow rate of the process gas. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein the pressure within the process gas region is about equal to the pressure within the purge gas region during the depositing. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the depositing a material comprises increasing the temperature of the substrate to a predetermined temperature using a plurality of lamps. 
     
     
         8 . A method of processing a substrate in a lateral flow chamber, comprising:
 positioning a substrate on a substrate support within a processing chamber, the processing chamber having a purge gas region and process gas region;   introducing a purge gas into the purge gas region through a purge gas inlet;   introducing a process gas into the process gas region through a process gas inlet;   adjusting at least one of a flow rate of the purge gas or a flow rate of the process gas to   depositing a material from the process gas onto the substrate, the depositing a material forming process gas byproducts;   exhausting the purge gas from the purge gas region through a purge gas outlet;   exhausting the process gas byproducts from the process gas region through a process gas outlet; and   adjusting a pressure of the purge gas region relative to a pressure of the process gas region.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the adjusting comprises adjusting one of an exhaust flow rate of the process gas or an exhaust flow rate of the purge gas to overpressure the purge gas region relative to the process gas region. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the adjusting comprises adjusting one of an exhaust flow rate of the process gas or an exhaust flow rate of the purge gas to overpressure the process gas region relative to the purge gas region. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the pressure within the process gas region is about equal to the pressure within the purge gas region curing the depositing. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the process gas outlet is located within the process gas region, and the purge gas outlet is located within the purge gas region. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the process gas and the purge gas flow parallel to the upper surface of the substrate. 
     
     
         14 . A method for processing a substrate in a lateral flow chamber, comprising:
 positioning a substrate on a substrate support within a processing chamber, the processing chamber having a purge gas region and process gas region separated by a substrate support;   introducing a purge gas into the purge gas region through a port adjacent a shaft of the substrate support;   introducing a process gas into the process gas region through a showerhead;   depositing a material from the process gas onto the substrate, the depositing a material forming process gas byproducts;   exhausting the purge gas from the purge gas region through an exhaust outlet; and   exhausting the process gas byproducts from the process gas region through the exhaust outlet.   
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the purge gas is introduced into the purge gas region in a direction perpendicular to a plane of the substrate support. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein the exhaust outlet circumscribes the substrate support. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the process gas is introduced into the process gas region in a direction perpendicular to a plane of the substrate support. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 14 , further comprising adjusting one of an exhaust flow rate of the process gas or an exhaust flow rate of the purge gas to overpressure the purge gas region relative to the process gas region. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 14 , further comprising adjusting one of a exhaust flow rate of the process gas or an exhaust flow rate of the purge gas to overpressure the process gas region relative to the purge gas region. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the pressure within the process gas region is about equal to the pressure within the purge gas region curing the depositing.