Abstract:
The processing chamber comprises an energy wave source and a curved spherical surface, wherein the curved spherical surface of the chamber is composed of at least a Fresnel reflector for reflecting the energy wave discharged from the energy wave source and projecting the same onto a platform as the energy wave source is operating in coordination with the curved spherical surface. In addition, the energy wave source can be a microwave source or a light source. It is noted that the curved spherical surface can be a Fresnel reflector, a wave spherical surface with a portion thereof being replaced by a Fresnel reflector, a curved spherical surface with a portion therof being replaced by at least two Fresnel reflectors, and a surface entirely formed of a plurality of Fresnel reflectors. The processing chamber disclosed in the present invention significantly increases energy density, area, and energy uniformity of the projection region so as to diminish required space of equipment and costs of equipment and manufacture.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     The present invention relates to a wave reflector, being an approach to adjust the energy density, size and uniformity of a predetermined area, and more particularly, to a processing chamber with wave reflector capable of enabling energy wave to be distributed uniformly.  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     With rapid progress of chemical vapor deposition (CVD) and excellent physical and chemical properties of diamond, the diamond film can be developed on a specific substrate, for example, a surface acoustic wave device, a diamond transistor, etc. The diamond film is widely applied to cutting tools and optoelectronic communication devices at present. However, the development of the diamond film requires stable and uniform energy to allow the gas precursor to perform decomposition reaction, recomposition reaction, etc. Accordingly, the stability of the applied energy significantly affects deposition quality, uniformity, and deposition speed of the diamond film. For the diamond film-plating machine, energy is supplied by means of Hot filament, microwave or Electron Cyclotron Resonance (ECR), Arc, etc. Moreover, regardless of the type of the CVD method, which is applied for depositing a diamond film on a substrate, energy uniformity becomes more important when the substrate dimension is increased. If the microwave is adopted as the energy wave source, non-uniform energy will affect the shape of plasma ball formed during a deposition process so that partial region of the diamond film is formed non-uniformly. Moreover, the drawback such as non-uniform thickness also affects the processing and application of the diamond film.  
         [0003]     As shown in  FIG. 1A , a conventional film-plating machine  80  for developing a diamond film on a substrate is shown. This machine consists of a chamber  81  having a cross section of parabolic curve and an energy wave source  82  disposed at a focal point of the parabolic curve of the chamber  81  for supplying energy wave thereto. Accordingly, the energy wave can be projected uniformly on an underneath substrate by means of the parabolic curve of the chamber  81 . However, with increase in substrate dimension, the chamber&#39;s volume is such increased that the size of the film-plating machine  80  is unduly enlarged and the drawbacks such as increasing manufacture difficulty and manufacture cost are thus caused or any source with energy.  
         [0004]     Furthermore,  FIG. 1B  shows another conventional film-plating machine  80   a  for developing a diamond film on a substrate. This machine consists of an elliptic chamber  81   a  and an energy wave source  82   a  disposed at one of the two focal points of the elliptic chamber  81   a  for supplying energy wave thereto. Accordingly, the energy wave discharging from the energy wave source is converged and projected onto an underneath substrate disposed at another focal point of the chamber  82   a  so as to supply high energy. However, since the energy wave source  82   a  is disposed on a focal point of the elliptic chamber  81   a  such that the energy wave discharged from the energy wave source  82   a  is focused on a specific area of the substrate as the size of the substrate increase, the energy wave of the energy wave source  82   a  that projects to the substrate is non-uniform. Therefore, the drawback of forming a plated film with poor quality on the substrate is thus caused. In order to overcome the above-mentioned drawbacks, the present invention discloses a reflector and a chamber device utilizing the reflector for solving these problems efficiently.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0005]     The primary object of the invention is to provide a reflector, as well as a processing chamber utilizing the reflector for supplying uniform energy.  
         [0006]     Another object of the present invention is to provide a reflector, as well as a processing chamber utilizing the reflector for increasing projection area of an energy wave source.  
         [0007]     Still another object of the present invention is to provide a processing chamber with modularized reflectors capable of flexibly changing/adjusting the number of the reflectors installed in the chamber.  
         [0008]     In order to accomplish the above-mentioned objects, a process chamber with reflector is provided according to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the processing chamber comprising an energy wave source and a curved spherical surface, wherein the curved spherical surface of the chamber is composed of at least a Fresnel reflector for reflecting the energy wave discharged from the energy wave source and projecting the same onto a platform as the energy wave source is operating in coordination with the curved spherical surface. In addition, the energy wave source can be a microwave source or a light source.  
         [0009]     It is noted that the curved spherical surface can be a Fresnel reflector, a waved spherical surface with a portion thereof being replaced by a Fresnel reflector, a curved spherical surface with a portion thereof being replaced by at least two Fresnel reflectors, and a surface entirely formed of a plurality of Fresnel reflectors.  
         [0010]     In another preferred embodiment of the present invention, a processing chamber with reflectors comprises at least an energy wave source and at least a curved surface, each operating with respect to a corresponding energy wave source, wherein the energy wave discharged from each energy wave source is reflected by the corresponding curved surface onto a platform. In addition, the energy wave source can be a microwave source or a light source.  
         [0011]     Similarly, each curved surface can be a Fresnel reflector, a waved spherical surface with a portion thereof being replaced by a Fresnel reflector, a curved spherical surface with a portion thereof being replaced by at least two Fresnel reflectors, and a surface entirely formed of a plurality of Fresnel reflectors.  
         [0012]     Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will be drawn from the following detailed embodiments of the present invention with attached drawings. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0013]      FIG. 1A  is a conventional film-plating machine.  
         [0014]      FIG. 1B  is another conventional film-plating machine.  
         [0015]      FIG. 2A  is a preferred embodiment of a curved spherical surface of the present invention.  
         [0016]      FIG. 2B  is a reflector of a curved-surface structure of prior arts.  
         [0017]      FIG. 2C  is a schematic view showing a reflector of the present invention.  
         [0018]      FIG. 3  is a first preferred embodiment of a processing chamber of the present invention.  
         [0019]      FIG. 4  is a second preferred embodiment of a processing chamber of the present invention.  
         [0020]      FIG. 5  is a third preferred embodiment of a processing chamber of the present invention.  
         [0021]      FIG. 6A  is an elevation view showing a fourth preferred embodiment of a processing chamber of the present invention.  
         [0022]      FIG. 6B  is a lateral view showing a fourth preferred embodiment of a processing chamber of the present invention. 
     
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
       [0023]     Referring to  FIG. 2A , a lateral view of a curved spherical surface of a chamber in accordance with the present invention is shown. The curved spherical surface  10  of the present invention operates in coordination with an energy wave source  20  to project uniform energy wave toward a predetermined region. When the energy wave of the energy wave source  20  is projected to the curved spherical surface  10 , the energy wave can be projected to the predetermined region in parallel by means of the curved spherical surface  10 , and the curved spherical surface  10  can substitute a general reflector  10 B with curved-surface structure (as shown in  FIG. 2B ) for the purpose of reducing the reflector&#39;s size and manufacture cost.  
         [0024]     The curved spherical surface  10  may be composed of at least one kind of curved surface. The curved spherical surface  10  comprises: a curved reflecting surface  101  and a first top surface  102  spacing apart from one another at a specific distance for forming the curved spherical surface  10  with a specific thickness. The curved reflecting surface  101  surrounds the energy wave source  20  in a non-enclosure manner and spaces apart from the energy wave source  20  at a predetermined distance so as to reflect the energy wave emitted toward the curved reflecting surface  101 . The curved reflecting surface  101  adopts the location of the energy wave source  20  as a focal point for defining the same, that is, defining a plurality of curves and selecting a portion of these curves to define the curved reflecting surface  101 , while all of these curves adopt this focal point as their focal point. In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the curved spherical surface  10  is illustrated with a single curved reflecting surface  101  for the purpose of explanation. It is apparent that the curved spherical surface  10  may be a single parabolic surface, a single hyperbolic surface, a single curved surface, or a combination of different curved surfaces. These above-mentioned shapes and variations of combination thereof, which are enveloped in the scope of the present invention, can be accomplished by a person skilled in the art in accordance with description of the present invention, wherein the redundant description about those are omitted herein. In theory, if a parabolic curve adopts a focal point F as its focal point, infinite parabolic curves can be obtained, wherein each of these parabolic curves satisfies the condition of adopting this focal point F as its focal point. Accordingly, assuming that a specific parabolic curve equation F (X, Y) satisfies the condition of adopting the focal point F as its focal point, which can be replaced by a Fresnel reflector having a specific thickness defined by selecting a reference point in specific space, and after specific calculation, forming several curves as the surfaces of the Fresnel reflector. Accordingly, it is noted that the curved spherical surface  101  can be a Fresnel reflector, a wave spherical surface with a portion thereof being replaced by a Fresnel reflector, a curved spherical surface with a portion therof being replaced by at least two Fresnel reflectors, and a surface entirely formed of a plurality of Fresnel reflectors. In other words, the curved spherical surface  10  of the present invention is accomplished by variations of above-mentioned combinations. As shown in  FIG. 2C , which is illustrated for explaining the method for defining the plural curved surfaces of a Fresnel reflector as the reflector meaning is made up of many small segments rather than one continuous surface. It is assumed that a straight line  90  passes through the focal point f(C, 0) of a certain continuous surface and the straight line  90  intersects the reflector  10  with a specific thickness at two points, i.e. P 1 (x 1 , y 1 ) and P 2 (x 2 , y 2 ). Next, curve equations of f 1 (x, y) and f 2 (x, y) are obtained respectively with respect to f(C,  0 ) and P 1 (x 1 , y 1 ), f(C,  0 ) and P 2 (x 2 , y 2 ). BY virtue of this, a plurality of curved surfaces can be obtained by means of the aforementioned principle. Thereafter, a Fresnel reflector formed by a plurality of curved surfaces with focal point f(C.  0 ) is obtained.  
         [0025]     Referring to  FIG. 3 , a first preferred embodiment of a chamber device of the present invention is shown. The chamber device  30  at least comprises: an energy wave source  31 , a chamber  33 , a platform  35 , and a base  37 . The energy wave source  31  is a microwave source for supplying microwave. The microwave is transmitted from the energy wave source  31  to the inside of the chamber device  30  through a waveguide (not shown). Instead of the waveguide, the microwave may be transmitted to the inside of the chamber device  30  through an antenna (not shown). In this preferred embodiment, the microwave source is illustrated for exemplification, and the type of the energy wave source is not limited to the microwave source. It is allowable for user to select a desired type for the energy wave source. The chamber  33  surrounds the energy wave source  31  in a non-enclosure manner. A sealed space is formed between and by the chamber  33  and the base  37 . The chamber  33  has a curved spherical surface  10  disposed at the upper portion of the chamber  33 , wherein the numbering of the curved spherical surface  10  is designated as the same number as shown in  FIG. 2A  and the redundant description about it is omitted herein. Moreover, the energy wave source  31  is disposed on the focal point of the curved spherical surface  10  such that the energy wave of the energy wave source  31  is uniformly reflected to the platform  35  by the curved spherical surface  10 . Furthermore, the platform  35  is further connected to a moving device  39  by which the platform  35  is allowed to perform three-dimensional movements and the moving direction of the platform  35  is set according to the requirement of the user thereby projecting the energy wave on the platform more uniformly. Besides, a reactor supplying device is mounted on the platform  35  for providing a reaction gas thereto, for example, hydrogen, methane, etc, for the platform  35 , moreover, the reaction is performed by means of the energy.  
         [0026]     Referring to  FIG. 4 , a second preferred embodiment of a chamber device of the present invention is shown. The chamber device  40  comprises: an energy wave source  41 , a chamber  43 , a platform  45 , and a base  47 . The energy wave source  41  is a microwave source for supplying microwave. The microwave is transmitted from the energy wave source  41  to the inside of the chamber device  40  through a waveguide (not shown). Instead of the waveguide, the microwave may be transmitted to the inside of the chamber device  40  through an antenna (not shown). The chamber  43  surrounds the energy wave source  41  in a non-enclosure manner and a sealed space is formed between and by the chamber  43  and the base  47 . A curved spherical surface  10  of the chamber is disposed above the chamber  43 , wherein the curved spherical surface  10  is designated as the same number as shown in  FIG. 2A  and the redundant description about it is omitted herein. The chamber  43  has an elliptic spherical surface. Moreover, the energy wave source  41  is disposed on an equivalent focal point of the chamber  43  and a reference point on the platform  45  is adopted as another equivalent focal point of the elliptic spherical surface. Accordingly, the energy wave of the energy wave source  41  can be reflected on the platform  45  by means of the curved spherical surface  10 . Moreover, when the energy wave of the energy wave source  41  is projected to chamber  43 , it is focused to the platform  45  by means of the chamber  43  to raise usage efficiency of energy wave. Furthermore, the platform  45  is further connected to a moving device  49  by which the platform  45  is allowed to perform three-dimensional movement and the moving direction of the platform  45  is set according to the requirement of the user thereby projecting the energy wave on the platform uniformly. In this preferred embodiment, the chamber  43  is illustrated as an elliptic spherical surface, and the chamber may be an equivalent parabolic spherical surface, an equivalent hyperbolic spherical surface, or any other kind of curved spherical surface for a person skilled in the art. No matter what kind of spherical surface is applied, the energy wave source can be disposed a corresponding position as long as the equivalent focal point of the spherical surface is evaluated precisely. Since the energy wave source is disposed on the focal point, the reflected energy wave can be projected to the platform uniformly through performing appropriate three dimensional movement of platform for achieving the purpose of the present invention.  
         [0027]     Referring to  FIG. 5 , a third preferred embodiment of the chamber device of the present invention is shown. The chamber device  50  comprises: an energy wave source  51 , a chamber  53 , a platform  55 , and a base  57 . The energy wave source  51  is a microwave source for supplying microwave. The microwave is transmitted from the energy wave source  51  to the inside of the chamber device  50  through a waveguide (not shown). Instead of the waveguide, the microwave may be transmitted to the inside of the chamber device  50  through an antenna (not shown). The chamber  53  surrounds the energy wave source  51  in a non-enclosure manner. Sealed space is formed between the chamber  53  and the base  57 . A plurality of curved spherical surfaces  10  is disposed inside the chamber  53 , wherein the curved spherical surface  10  is designated as the same number as shown in  FIG. 2A  and the redundant description about it is omitted herein. Moreover, the energy wave of the energy wave source  51  is reflected to the platform  55  by the curved spherical surface  10 . Besides, the energy wave of the energy wave source  51  is also reflected to the platform  55  by the curved spherical surface  10  so as to improve the energy wave uniformity when the energy wave of the energy wave source  51  is projected to both sides of the chamber  53 . Furthermore, the platform  55  is further connected to a moving device  59  by which the platform  55  is allowed to perform three-dimensional movement and the moving direction of the platform  55  is set according to the requirement of the user thereby projecting the energy wave on the platform uniformly.  
         [0028]     Referring to  FIG. 6A  and  FIG. 6B , a fourth preferred embodiment of a chamber device of the present invention is shown. In comparison with the third preferred embodiment, the only difference between them in that the chamber of the fourth preferred embodiment comprises multiple energy wave sources inside thereof to provide at least two energy wave sources for supplying energy wave, and several curved spherical surfaces with a number corresponding to that of the multiple energy wave sources for reflecting the multiple energy wave sources and projecting the energy wave to the platform. Its operation theory has been completely disclosed in the above-mentioned preferred embodiments and the redundant description about that is omitted herein.  
         [0029]     Referring to  FIG. 6A  and  FIG. 6B , an elevation view and a lateral view of the fourth preferred embodiment of the chamber device of the present invention are shown respectively. The chamber device  60  comprises: multiple energy wave sources  61   a ,  61   b ,  61   c  for supplying energy wave (though three energy wave sources are illustrated in these figures, the number of the energy wave sources that can be set according to requirement of the user is not limited thereto), a chamber  63 , a platform  65 , and a base  67 . In this preferred embodiment, the energy wave sources  61   a ,  61   b ,  61   c  are microwave sources. Nevertheless, they can be light sources or other well-known energy wave sources for a person skilled in the art. Sealed space is formed between the chamber  63  and the base  67 . Several curved spherical surfaces  10   a ,  10   b ,  10   c  with a number corresponding to that of the multiple energy wave sources  61   a ,  61   b ,  61   c  are mounted inside the chamber  63  to reflect energy wave to the platform  65 . Although three curved spherical surfaces are illustrated in these figures, the number of the curved spherical surfaces is not limited thereto and can be set according to requirement of the user. The curved spherical surfaces are the same as shown in  FIG. 2A  and the redundant description about it is omitted herein. In accordance with concept of modularization disclosed in this preferred embodiment, energy wave with large area can be supplied for the platform  65  for plating diamond film on large area. By mounting the curved spherical surfaces  10   a ,  10   b ,  10   c  above the platform  65 , the energy wave sources  61   a ,  61   b ,  61   c  are disposed respectively on the focal points of the curved spherical surfaces  10   a ,  10   b ,  10   c  so as to reflect the energy wave of energy wave source  61   a ,  61   b ,  61   c  to a first specific region A, a second specific region B, and a third specific region C of the platform  65  by means of the curved spherical surface  10   a , the curved spherical surface  10   b , and the curved spherical surface  10   c  respectively. By use of such arrangement, the energy wave source with large area can be provided for projecting the energy wave of the energy wave source to the platform.  
         [0030]     In this preferred embodiment, the energy wave source  61   a ,  61   b ,  61   c  are disposed on the equivalent focal points, and the detailed description about their positions has been described above and is therefore omitted herein. Even though the number of the energy wave source  61   a ,  61   b ,  61   c  and the number of the curved spherical surfaces  10   a ,  10   b ,  10   c  are three respectively, they can be increased for increasing the area of the energy wave source in accordance with the desired area of the user. Accordingly, the user is provided with ability to dispose the energy wave source and the reflector for achieving the purpose of modularization flexibly.  
         [0031]     Moreover, the platform  65  is further connected to a moving device  69  by which the platform  65  is allowed to perform three-dimensional movement (for example, rotation, straight oscillation and other well-known movement for a person skilled in the art) and the moving direction of the platform  65  is set according to the requirement of the user thereby projecting the energy wave on the platform  65  uniformly.  
         [0032]     It is capable of plating the diamond film on a large area substrate by use of the above-mentioned chamber device  60 . The substrate is disposed on the platform  65  and the large area energy wave is projected on the substrate by means of the energy wave sources  61   a ,  61   b ,  61   c  and the curved spherical surfaces  10   a ,  10   b ,  10   c  for supplying the energy wave uniformly for every region of the substrate to develop the diamond film. Moreover, the moving device  69  is further provided for moving the platform  65  so as to project the energy wave on the substrate uniformly.  
         [0033]     While the preferred embodiment of the invention has been set forth for the purpose of disclosure, modifications of the disclosed embodiment of the invention as well as other embodiments thereof may occur to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, the appended claims are intended to cover all embodiments, which do not depart from the spirit and scope of the invention.