A coated cutting tool includes a substrate and a hard film on coated on the substrate. The hard film contains a complex nitride of Al and Cr. The hard film includes aggregates of columnar grains grown on the substrate along the thickness of the film. The nitride has an Al content of 60 atom % or more, a Cr content of 10 atom % or more, and a total content of Al and Cr of 90 atom % or more relative to the total amount of metal and metalloid elements. The complex nitride has the highest peak intensity assigned to crystal plane (311) of an fcc structure in X-ray diffractometry. In the hard film, the ratio of an X-ray diffraction intensity of plane (311) to the intensities of the other planes is 1.30 or more. A method and a system are also provided for manufacturing the coated cutting tool by chemical vapor deposition.

A method of controlling plasma includes providing a plasma processing apparatus that includes N microwave introducing radiators disposed in a circumferential direction of a ceiling plate of a processing container so as to introduce microwaves for generating plasma into the processing container, wherein N≥2; and M sensors and configured to monitor at least one of electron density Ne and electron temperature Te of the plasma generated in the processing container, wherein M equals to N or a multiple of N. The method further includes controlling at least one of a power and a phase of the microwaves introduced from the microwave introducing radiators based on at least one of electron density Ne and electron temperature Te of the plasma monitored by the M sensors.

Variations in device characteristics in a plane parallel to the principal surface of a semiconductor wafer are suppressed. A semiconductor epitaxial wafer includes a semiconductor wafer and a first conductivity type semiconductor epitaxial layer that is disposed on a principal surface of the semiconductor wafer and contains a first conductivity type impurity, and the thickness distribution of the semiconductor epitaxial layer and the concentration distribution of the impurity in the semiconductor epitaxial layer have a positive correlation in a plane parallel to the principal surface of the semiconductor wafer.

A CVD reactor includes a reactor housing, a susceptor that forms a floor of a process chamber, a gas inlet member with at least one gas inlet region, a heating device arranged under the susceptor for producing a difference in temperature between the main body of the susceptor and a ceiling of the process chamber, substrate carriers located at a distance from the gas inlet member in a direction of flow, and flow zone plates arranged between the gas inlet member and each of the substrate carriers. For each flow zone plate, a flow zone temperature of a surface of the flow zone plate which faces the process chamber can be set by respectively selecting or setting a heat transfer medium. For individually controlling each of the flow zone temperatures, the flow zone plates can be exchanged with other flow zone plates with different flow transfer properties.

Embodiments of a blocker plate for use in a substrate process chamber are disclosed herein. In some embodiments, a blocker plate for use in a substrate processing chamber configured to process substrates having a given diameter includes: an annular rim; a central plate disposed within the annular rim; and a plurality of spokes coupling the central plate to the annular rim.

A substrate processing apparatus capable of preventing deflection of exhaust flow which may occur when an asymmetric exhaust structure is introduced includes: an exhaust unit providing an exhaust space surrounding a reaction space; an exhaust port connected to the exhaust unit; and a flow control unit disposed in the exhaust space, wherein the exhaust port is arranged asymmetrically with respect to the reaction space, and the flow control unit may include: an upper flow control plate including a plurality of first through holes; and a lower flow control plate disposed below the upper flow control plate and including a plurality of second through holes.

Methods and apparatus for processing a substrate are provided herein. For example, a method includes supplying a vaporized precursor into a processing volume, supplying activated elements including ions and radicals from a remote plasma source, energizing the activated elements using RF source power at a first duty cycle to react with the vaporized precursor to deposit an SiNHx film onto a substrate disposed in the processing volume, supplying a first process gas from the remote plasma source while providing RF bias power at a second duty cycle different from the first duty cycle to the substrate support to convert the SiNH.sub.x film to an SiOx film, supplying a process gas mixture formed from a second process gas supplied from the remote plasma source and a third process gas supplied from the gas supply while providing RF bias power at the second duty cycle to the substrate support, and annealing the substrate.

Examples of a substrate processing apparatus includes a chamber, a susceptor provided in the chamber, a shower head provided above the susceptor, and a flow control ring having a shape to surround the susceptor, the flow control ring having a first top surface and a second top surface that has an annular shape and is provided closer to an inner edge of the flow control ring than the first top surface at a higher level than the first top surface, the second top surface being a sloped surface whose height decreases toward the first top surface.

Disclosed herein are laser-assisted metal-organic chemical vapor deposition devices and methods of use thereof for suppressing background carbon incorporation.

Described herein is a substrate processing technique of preventing particle generation while lowering an inner pressure of a nozzle and improving a film thickness uniformity. According to one aspect thereof, a substrate processing apparatus includes a boat for supporting substrates; an inner tube surrounding the boat and provided with an exhaust hole through which a gas is exhausted along a direction orthogonal to an arrangement direction of the substrates; a mixing structure for generating a mixed gas for processing the substrates; and a nozzle installed apart from an inner lateral surface of the inner tube and through which the mixed gas supplied from the mixing structure is discharged into the inner tube via discharge holes arranged at the nozzle along the arrangement direction of the substrates. A discharge direction of each of the discharge holes is not toward the boat but toward the inner lateral surface of the inner tube.