Design of A Semiconductor Substrate Heating Station

Abstract

The objective of this thesis was to investigate the operation of a wafer heating module. The module was a part of an atomic layer deposition (ALD) cluster tool and had the purpose of pre-heating semiconductor wafers to the target process temperature prior to their insertion into the ALD reaction chamber.

The module was intended to process large wafer lots in rapid succession, but was observed to be incapable of consistently and repeatably heating each wafer in the lot to the target temperature.

A series of tests were conducted to establish an understanding of the heater’s operating principles and the physical phenomena occurring inside the module in order to find the cause of the problem.

In addition, a literature survey was conducted to find examples of designs for similar pieces of equipment and consequently to compose a theoretical understanding of the heater’s function.

Based on the findings of the investigation and the literature survey, a new heater design was created in which the deficiencies of the previous design were rectified.