Patent ID: 8414734

Claim:
A semiconductor wafer processing system, comprising: a processing chamber defined within a housing; a heating block disposed in the processing chamber; a showerhead disposed within the processing chamber, above the heating block; and a support mechanism mounting the showerhead on the housing for self-aligning movement relative to the heating block, the support mechanism comprising: at least one movable component that responds to pressure exerted on the showerhead to self-align an operational spacing between the heating block and the showerhead, and that maintains the operational spacing when the exerted pressure is removed, wherein the support mechanism is movably mounted on the showerhead on a top of the housing for movement toward or away from the heating block, and at least one offset component of rigid, non-yielding material within the processing chamber that defines a selected opening between an inner surface of the processing chamber and a bottom surface of the showerhead, wherein a closing pressure between the bottom surface of the showerhead and the at least one offset component aligns the bottom of the showerhead, and wherein the alignment of the bottom of the showerhead from the closing pressure between the bottom surface of the showerhead and the at least one offset component self-aligns the operational spacing between the heating block and the showerhead.