Patent ID: 8940646
Filing Date: 2015-01-27
Classification: C23C,H01L

Abstract:
1. A method of depositing layers of material on multiple semiconductor substrates at multiple processing stations within one or more reaction chambers, the method comprising: (i) dosing the substrates at the processing stations with a film precursor by introducing the precursor into the one or more reaction chambers and allowing the precursor to adsorb onto the surface of the substrates in an adsorption-limited manner; (ii) removing unadsorbed precursor from the volumes surrounding the processing stations inside the one or more reaction chambers; (iii) reacting adsorbed precursor with a plasma, after removing unadsorbed precursor, to form a layer of material on the substrates; (iv) removing desorbed precursor and/or reaction by-product from the volumes surrounding the processing stations inside the one or more reaction chambers when present after reacting adsorbed precursor; and (v) repeating (i) through (iv) multiple times to form multiple layers of material on the multiple substrates at the multiple processing stations; wherein the dosing in (i) comprises dosing a first substrate at a first processing station and a second substrate at a second processing station with precursor flowing from a common source, the timing of said dosing in (i) staggered such that: the first substrate is dosed during a first dosing phase during which the second substrate is not substantially dosed; and the second substrate is dosed during a second dosing phase during which the first substrate is not substantially dosed; and wherein the precursor flows continuously from the common source during the first and second dosing phases.