Patent ID: 8287647

Claim:
A proximity head for depositing a thin film by atomic layer deposition (ALD), comprising: a body of the proximity head disposed in a vacuum chamber, the body of the proximity head extending over a portion of a substrate region and being spaced apart from the portion of the substrate region when present, the portion being less than a whole of the substrate region, the body being elongated to extend at least a width of the substrate region, the body having at least four sides, including, a first side having integrated therein conduits for delivering a first deposition gas and two separate conduits defined on each side of the first deposition gas for vacuuming excess of the first deposition gas; a second side having integrated therein conduits for delivering a purging gas and two separate conduits defined on each side of the purging gas for vacuuming excess of the purging gas; a third side having integrated therein conduits for delivering a second deposition gas and two separate conduits defined on each side of the second deposition gas for vacuuming excess of the second deposition gas; and a fourth side having integrated therein conduits for delivering the purging gas and two separate conduits defined on each side of the purging gas for vacuuming excess of the purging gas, and wherein the first, second, third, and fourth sides are defined from the body of the proximity head, the body being rotatable so as to place one of the sides of the body in proximity to the portion of the substrate region, and wherein the proximity head is configured to sequentially dispense the first deposition gas, the purging gas, and the second deposition gas to enable the deposition of the thin film by ALD.