Patent ID: 7655093

Claim:
A semiconductor processing apparatus, comprising: a processing chamber having a process gas inlet at a first end of the chamber and a process gas outlet at a second end of the chamber, the first and second ends being disposed at opposing ends of the chamber; a susceptor configured to support a wafer inside the processing chamber such that the wafer resides substantially along a first plane, the susceptor being positioned so that process gas flowing from the process gas inlet to the process gas outlet flows along a flow path substantially parallel to the first plane; a plurality of support arms extending generally radially outward and upward from an upper section of a lower support structure, the arms supporting the susceptor; a cavity formed at the center of the susceptor adapted to receive a thermocouple; one or more dividers that cooperate with the susceptor to divide the processing chamber into an upper region above the susceptor and a lower region below the susceptor, the one or more dividers and the susceptor substantially preventing gas flow between the upper and lower regions except for gas flow through a plurality of unimpeded gas flow passages of the susceptor, wherein the gas flow passages pass through an upper surface of the susceptor at locations other than the center of the susceptor, the one or more dividers being oriented substantially parallel to the first plane.