There is provided a technique capable of reducing a corrosion of a furnace opening shutter. According to one aspect thereof, a substrate processing apparatus includes: a process vessel provided with an opening and a first sealing surface around the opening; and a furnace opening shutter provided with a second sealing surface facing the first sealing surface, and capable of closing the opening. The furnace opening shutter includes: a protective cover provided corresponding to an inner surface of the furnace opening shutter, facing the process vessel and greater than the opening; and a lid provided corresponding to an outer surface of the furnace opening shutter and supporting the protective cover. The second sealing surface is configured by an outer peripheral portion of the protective cover and the lid, and a purge gas is supplied to a gap between the first sealing surface and the second sealing surface.

The invention concerns a method for treating in an enclosure an inner surface of a container made from polymer material, in order to deposit a barrier-effect coating there, comprising: inserting the container into the enclosure introducing a so-called precursor gas intended into the container intended, once transformed into the plasma state, to be deposited at least partially on the inner surface of the container in order to constitute the coating, the method further comprising: transforming the precursor gas into the plasma state by a combination of excitations comprising a main excitation by means of electromagnetic waves of the microwave type, and a secondary excitation by means of an electrical discharge of alternating voltage having a frequency between 1 kHz and 15 MHz. The invention also relates to a device for implementing the method of the invention.

A plasma source assembly for use with a substrate processing chamber is described. The assembly includes a spring which is disposed between electrodes and a dielectric ring.

A substrate supporting plate that provides improved processing uniformity is disclosed. The substrate supporting plate may include a substrate mounting portion and a peripheral portion surrounding the substrate mounting portion. A portion of the peripheral portion may include an insulating layer. A central portion of the top surface may not include the insulating layer.

An isolation valve assembly including a valve body having an inlet and an outlet. The isolation valve includes a seal plate disposed within an interior cavity of the valve body. The seal plate is movable between a first position allowing gas flow from the inlet to the outlet, and a second position preventing gas flow from the inlet to the outlet. The isolation valve includes a closure element disposed within the valve body. The closure element is configured to retain the seal plate stationary in the first position or the second position. The closure element includes a first sealing element positioned adjacent to a first surface of the seal plate. A working surface of the first sealing element is substantially obscured from the gas flow when the seal plate is stationary.

Method of performing atomic layer deposition. The method comprises supplying a precursor gas towards a substrate, using a deposition head including one or more gas supplies, including a precursor gas supply. The precursor gas reacts near a surface of the substrate for forming an atomic layer. The deposition head has an output face comprising the gas supplies, which at least partly faces the substrate surface during depositing the atomic layer. The output face has a substantially rounded shape defining a movement path of the substrate. The precursor-gas supply is moved relative to the substrate by rotating the deposition head while supplying the precursor gas, for depositing a stack of atomic layers while continuously moving in one direction. The surface of the substrate is kept contactless with the output face by means of a gas bearing.

A substrate processing apparatus capable of preventing power dissipation and achieving high process reproducibility includes a partition and a processing unit below the partition, wherein the processing unit includes a conductive body and at least one conductive protrusion integrally formed with the conductive body.

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.

Gas distribution assemblies and process chamber comprising gas distribution assemblies are described. The gas distribution assembly includes a gas distribution plate, a lid and a primary O-ring. The primary O-ring is positioned between a purge channel of a first contact surface of the gas distribution plate and a second contact surface. Methods of sealing a process chamber using the disclosed gas distribution assemblies are described.

A film forming apparatus includes a rotary table having a loading area at a first surface side thereof and revolving a substrate loaded on the loading area, a rotation mechanism rotating the loading area such that the substrate rotates around its axis, a processing gas supply mechanism supplying a processing gas to a processing gas supply area so that a thin film is formed on the substrate which repeatedly passes through the processing gas supply area the revolution of the substrate, and a control part configured to perform a calculation of a rotation speed of the substrate based on a parameter including a rotation speed of the rotary table to allow an orientation of the substrate to be changed whenever the substrate is positioned in the processing gas supply area, and to output a control signal for rotating the substrate at a calculated rotation speed.