There is provided a technique that includes: processing a substrate in a process vessel by supplying a processing gas to the substrate and exhausting the processing gas from an exhaust part including an exhaust pipe and a pump; cleaning an interior of the exhaust part by supplying a first cleaning gas from a supply port installed in the exhaust pipe directly into the exhaust pipe; and cleaning an interior of the process vessel by supplying a second cleaning gas into the process vessel, wherein a frequency of performing the act of cleaning the interior of the exhaust part is set higher than a frequency of performing the act of cleaning the interior of the process vessel.

An atomic layer deposition apparatus having a vacuum chamber, a deposition chamber within the vacuum chamber, an inlet channel extending from outside of the vacuum chamber to the deposition chamber such that the inlet channel is connected to the deposition chamber for supplying gases to the deposition chamber, a discharge channel extending from the deposition chamber to outside of the vacuum chamber for discharging gases from the deposition chamber, one or more first precursor supply sources connected to the inlet channel, and one or more second precursor supply sources connected to the inlet channel. The vacuum chamber is arranged between the one or more first precursor supply sources and the one or more second precursor supply sources.

There is provided a technique that includes: loading an m-th substrate into a process chamber, wherein m is an integer less than n; forming a film on the m-th substrate by heating the m-th substrate in the process chamber; unloading the m-th substrate from the process chamber; waiting for a predetermined time in the process chamber, in a state where the substrates are not present in the process chamber, after the act of unloading; loading a next substrate, which is one of the n substrates to be processed next, into the process chamber, after the act of waiting; and forming a film on the next substrate by heating the next substrate in the process chamber.

Described herein is a technique capable of suppressing generation of particles by removing by-products in a groove of a high aspect ratio. According to one aspect of the technique, there is provided a substrate processing apparatus including: a process chamber in which a substrate is processed; and a substrate support provided in the process chamber and including a plurality of supports where the substrate is placed, wherein the process chamber includes a process region where a process gas is supplied to the substrate and a purge region where the process gas above the substrate is purged, and the purge region includes a first pressure purge region to be purged at a first pressure and a second pressure purge region to be purged at a second pressure higher than the first pressure.

A method for forming films on particles of powder includes diffusing the powder by leading the powder into a jet nozzle and ejecting a jet flow of the powder; leading the diffused particles of powder, a raw material gas, and a reaction gas activated by atmospheric pressure plasma, into a reaction container, and forming a swirl flow in the container; and forming the films on the diffused particles of powder by reaction of a raw material gas and an activated reaction gas in the container. An apparatus is also disclosed having a reaction container with a peripheral wall having a round section in plan view and a jet nozzle for a powder source, raw material gas, and atmospheric pressure plasma sources are coupled to and enter the container at an angle with a radius thereof thereby forming a swirl flow to form a film on the powder.

Exemplary processing chambers may include a body having sidewalls and a bottom plate. The bottom plate may define an exhaust opening and a gas inlet. The chambers may include a faceplate seated atop the body. The chambers may include a purge ring seated atop the bottom plate. The purge ring may include a ring body having an outer edge and an inner edge defining an open interior. The ring body may have a surface disposed against the bottom plate. The ring body may define an opening aligned with the exhaust opening. The surface may define a fluid port aligned and coupled with the gas inlet. The surface may define arcuate grooves extending into the fluid port. The arcuate grooves may be parallel with the inner and outer edges. The surface may define radial grooves extending from the open interior to an arcuate groove.

Disclosed is a powder atomic layer deposition equipment with a quick release function, comprising a vacuum chamber, a shaft sealing device, and a driving unit connected to the shaft sealing device. The vacuum chamber is connected to the shaft sealing device, and an enclosed space is formed between the vacuum chamber and the shaft sealing device. At least one air extraction line is located in the shaft sealing device and fluidly connected to the enclosed space, the air extraction line being used in pumping gas out from the enclosed space to fix the vacuum chamber to the shaft sealing device so that the drive unit rotates the vacuum chamber via the shaft sealing device to facilitate the formation of a uniform thin film on powder surface. When the pumping stops, the vacuum chamber can be quickly released from the shaft sealing device to improve the process efficiency and convenience of use.

There is provided a technique including: at least one pipe heater configured to heat at least one gas pipe configured to supply a gas to a process chamber in which a substrate is processed; at least one temperature detector configured to detect a temperature of the at least one gas pipe; at least one temperature controller configured to be capable of, based on the temperature detected by the at least one temperature detector, outputting a manipulated variable indicating electric power to be supplied to the at least one pipe heater, and controlling the temperature of the at least one gas pipe to approach at least one desired setpoint; and a host controller configured to be capable of controlling start and stop of heating of the at least one gas pipe performed under the control of the at least one temperature controller.

A substrate processing apparatus including: a processing container; a stage installed in the processing container and configured to place a substrate thereon; a ceiling plate installed at a position facing the stage in the processing container; a driver configured to raise and lower the stage; an exhaust port formed in a side wall of the processing container and configured to exhaust a gas in the processing container; and a controller configured to control conductance of a space between the exhaust port and a processing space between the stage and the ceiling plate by controlling the driver to adjust a distance between a peripheral edge portion of the stage and a facing member disposed at a position facing the peripheral edge portion in the processing container.

An apparatus for atomic scale processing is provided. The apparatus may include a reactor (100) and an inductively coupled plasma source (10). The reactor may have inner (154) and outer surfaces (152) such that a portion of the inner surfaces define an internal volume (156) of the reactor. The internal volume of the reactor may contain a fixture assembly (158) to support a substrate (118) wherein the partial pressure of each background impurity within the internal volume may be below 10.sup.−6 Torr to reduce the role of said impurities in surface reactions during atomic scale processing.