Patent ID: 8211230

Claim:
An atomic layer deposition (ALD) thin film deposition apparatus, comprising: a deposition chamber configured to deposit a thin film on a wafer mounted within a space defined therein, the deposition chamber comprising a susceptor with a planar top surface, a gas inlet that is in communication with the space, a gas outlet that is in communication with the deposition chamber, the gas inlet and the gas outlet located on opposite sides of the susceptor, the deposition chamber comprising side walls and a top wall, together defining a flow path through the deposition chamber from the gas inlet to the gas outlet, the top surface of the deposition chamber is substantially parallel to the planar top surface of the susceptor to define a mean flow path that is substantially parallel to the planar top surface of the susceptor; a gas system configured to deliver gas to the gas inlet of the deposition chamber, the gas system comprising: a plurality of gas conduits; a gas stream mixer positioned downstream, with respect to the deposition chamber, from the plurality of gas conduits, the gas stream mixer configured to receive gas from the plurality of gas conduits; and a transfer member positioned downstream from the mixer, the transfer member configured to receive gas from the mixer and fluidly communicate with the gas inlet, the transfer member comprising a pair of horizontally divergent walls and a top and bottom wall that are generally parallel to the planar top surface of the susceptor, the walls configured to spread the gas in a horizontal direction before entering the gas inlet, the walls of transfer member defining a mean flow path through the transfer member, the flow path through the transfer member being substantially parallel to the flow path through the deposition chamber; wherein the gas stream mixer and the transfer member are positioned above the deposition chamber with the gas stream mixer positioned closer to the gas outlet of the deposition chamber than the transfer member and an outlet of the transfer member positioned adjacent the gas inlet of the deposition chamber such that the mean flow path through the transfer member is substantially opposite to the mean flow path through the deposition chamber.