Patent ID: 11970772
Assignee: LAM RESEARCH CORPORATION
Field: Surface technology, coating (Chemistry)
Classification: CPC C  H | IPC C  H

Claim 5:
6. A method for controlling precursor flow in a semiconductor processing tool, the method comprising:
(a) prior to (b), flowing gas through a gas line;
(b) opening one or more valves of an ampoule, before a process step during which precursor is delivered to a wafer in a process chamber by an amount of time that is substantially equal to a line charge time, to start a flow of precursor from the ampoule to the process chamber through the gas line, wherein the line charge time is the time required for precursor to flow from the ampoule to the process chamber;
(c) closing the one or more valves of the ampoule to stop the precursor from flowing out of the ampoule;
(d) opening a process chamber valve, at the beginning of the process step during which precursor is delivered to the wafer in the process chamber, to allow the flow of precursor to enter the process chamber; and
(e) closing the process chamber valve, at the end of the process step during which precursor is delivered to the wafer in the process chamber, to stop the flow of precursor from entering the process chamber,
wherein, during (b), the gas flows to cause the precursor to move through the gas line to the processing chamber.