In a process chamber in which a substrate is processed, a gas supply unit is in the process chamber and configured to supply a process gas that processes the substrate. A plasma generation unit is in the process chamber and configured to activate the process gas, and a buffer part is configured to form a buffer chamber accommodating at least a part of the plasma generation unit and include a gas supply hole through which the activated process gas is supplied to the substrate. The buffer part includes a groove portion in which a part of the gas supply hole is cut out.

A substrate processing apparatus includes: a substrate holder to vertically load a plurality of substrates in multiple stages with an interval therebetween and including a plurality of partition plates vertically partitioning a region where the plurality of substrates are loaded; a process chamber to receive the substrate holder therein; protrusions protruding inward toward the outer circumferential surfaces of the partition plates from an inner circumferential wall surface within the process chamber, which faces the outer circumferential surfaces of the partition plates, to form clearances between inner circumferential surfaces formed on the protruding tip ends of the protrusions and the outer circumferential surfaces of the partition plates; and a gas supply part to supply inert gas into the clearances, which are formed between the inner circumferential surfaces of the protrusions and the outer circumferential surfaces of the partition plates, to form positive-pressure sections subjected to a pressure higher than ambient pressure.

A method of depositing a thin film on a substrate inside a vacuum chamber includes a first process that deposits a first film on the substrate, the first process including a process of supplying an active species that is obtained by changing a gas to plasma and is related to a quality of the thin film to the substrate; and a second process that deposits a second film that is the same type as that of the first film on the first film, the second process including a process of supplying the active species to the substrate so that a supply quantity of the active species per a unit film thickness is greater than a first supply quantity of the active species per the unit film thickness in the first process by adjusting a controlled parameter.

Pallets for transporting one or more glass substrates in a substantially vertical orientation through a sputtering system. In some cases, a pallet comprising a frame with an aperture and an adjustable grid array within the aperture. The adjustable grid array is configurable to hold a plurality of glass substrates of different shapes and/or sizes. In one case, the adjustable grid array comprises a system of vertical and horizontal support bars, wherein the vertical support bars configured to both support the plurality of glass substrates at their vertical edges, wherein the horizontal support bars are configured to support the plurality of glass substrates at their horizontal edges, wherein the ends of the horizontal support bars are slideably engaged with the vertical support bars.

The invention relates to a method for coating a substrate 40, a coating system for carrying out the method, and a coated body. In a first method step 62, the substrate 40 is to pretreated in a ion etching process. In a second method step 64, a first coating layer 56a with a thickness of 0.1 μm to 6 μm is deposited on the substrate 40 by means of a PVD process. In order to achieve a particularly high-quality and durable coating 50, the surface of the first coating layer 56a is treated by means of an ion etching process in a third method step 66, and an additional coating layer 56b with a thickness of 0.1 μm to 6 μm is deposited on the first coating layer 56a by means of a PVD process in a fourth method step 68. The coated body comprises at least two coating layers 56a, 56b, 56c, 56d with a thickness of 0.1 μm to 6 μm on a substrate 40, wherein an interface region formed by ion etching is arranged between the coating layers 56a, 56b, 56c, 56d.

According to the present disclosure, a film containing carbon added at a high concentration is formed with high controllability. A method of manufacturing a semiconductor device includes forming a film containing silicon, carbon and a predetermined element on a substrate by performing a cycle a predetermined number of times. The predetermined element is one of nitrogen and oxygen. The cycle includes supplying a precursor gas containing at least two silicon atoms per one molecule, carbon and a halogen element and having an Si—C bonding to the substrate, and supplying a modifying gas containing the predetermined element to the substrate.

Methods are provided for planarizing a patterned substrate in a spatial atomic layer processing system comprising a rotating platen. The patterned substrate may generally include features having higher regions and lower regions. To planarize the patterned substrate, or reduce a height differential between the higher and lower regions, a selective atomic layer etching (ALE) process is disclosed to preferentially form a modified layer on the higher regions of the features by exposing a surface of the patterned substrate to a precursor gas while the rotating platen spins at a high rotational speed. By preferentially forming the modified layer on the higher regions of the features, and subsequently removing the modified layer, the selective ALE process described herein preferentially etches the higher regions of the features to lessen the height differential between the higher and lower regions until a desired planarization of the features is achieved.

A substrate processing apparatus includes a mounting stand installed to rotate about a rotation shaft extending along a rotary shaft of a rotary table and configured to hold a substrate, and a magnetic gear mechanism including a driven gear configured to rotate the mounting stand about the rotation shaft and a driving gear configured to drive the driven gear. The driven gear is connected to the mounting stand via the rotation shaft and installed to rotate in such a direction as to rotate the mounting stand. The driving gear is disposed in a state in which the driving surface faces the driven surface passing through a predetermined position on a movement orbit of the driven gear moving along with the rotation of the rotary table.

A plasma processing apparatus includes a cylindrical electrode which has a lower end provided with an opening, an upper end that is a closed end, in which a process gas is introduced, and which obtains a plasma process gas upon application of the voltage, and a chamber that is a vacuum container provided with an opening. The cylindrical electrode, which has the upper end attached to the opening of the chamber via an insulation material, is extended in the chamber. The plasma processing apparatus also includes a rotation table carrying a workpiece to be processed by the process gas to a space below the opening of the cylindrical electrode, a shield covering the cylindrical electrode extended inside the chamber via a gap, and a spacer installed in the gap, and formed of an insulation material.

A substrate processing system includes: first and second process tubes spaced apart from each other in a first axial direction to provide process spaces independent from each other; a substrate boat on which a plurality of substrates are multiply stacked and which is provided to each of process spaces of the first and second process tubes; and first and second boat elevation units provided to the first and second process tubes, respectively, to elevate the substrate boat, wherein each of the first and second boat elevation units includes an elevation shaft member disposed in a space between the first and second process tubes.