Patent ID: 8215264

Claim:
A lateral flow atomic layer deposition (ALD) apparatus in which reactant gas flows in a gas flow direction substantially parallel to the surface of a circular substrate between the surface of the substrate and a side facing the substrate, comprising: a reaction chamber; a substrate support configured to support the circular substrate within the reaction chamber; and a part of the reaction chamber facing the substrate support, the reaction chamber part including a portion depressed away from the substrate support, wherein the reaction chamber part and the substrate support define a gas flow space above the substrate that is not uniform in height across the substrate in a direction perpendicular to the gas flow direction, wherein the gas flow space has a height over a center of the substrate greater than a height over edges of the substrate in a cross-sectional view perpendicular to the gas flow direction, wherein the gas flow space has substantially the same height in a gas flow path along the gas flow direction, wherein the height over the center and the height over the edges are such that a maximum gas flow over the substrate is over the center, and a minimum gas flow rate over the substrate is over the edges.