Systems for and methods of manufacturing a ceramic matrix composite include introducing a gaseous precursor into an inlet portion of a reaction furnace having a chamber comprising the inlet portion and an outlet portion that is downstream of the inlet portion, and delivering a mitigation agent, such as water vapor or ammonia, into an exhaust conduit in fluid communication with and downstream of the outlet portion of the reaction chamber so as to control chemical reactions occurring with the exhaust chamber. Introducing the gaseous precursor densifies a porous preform, and introducing the mitigation agent shifts the reaction equilibrium to disfavor the formation of harmful and/or pyrophoric byproduct deposits within the exhaust conduit.

A substrate processing apparatus, including a reaction chamber enclosing a substrate processing space and a chemical exit space, further including a substrate support. The apparatus is configured to direct a chemical flow into the substrate processing space, to expose a substrate supported by the substrate support to surface reactions, therefrom via a first gap into a first expansion volume of the chemical exit space, and therefrom via a second gap towards an exhaust pump, the apparatus being configured to provide the chemical flow with a choked flow effect in at least one of the first and second gaps.

A semiconductor device manufacturing method comprising loading a substrate into a substrate treatment apparatus, performing a deposition process on the substrate, and cleaning the substrate treatment apparatus. The substrate treatment apparatus includes a housing defining a treatment area in which the deposition process is performed, a gas supply supplying a first process gas at a flow rate of 1000 sccm to 15000 sccm and supplying a second process gas, a remote plasma supply connected to the gas supply, generating a first process plasma and a second process plasma by applying RF power to plasma-process the first process gas and the second process gas, and a shower head installed in the housing to supply the first process plasma and the second process plasma to the treatment area. The second process plasma cleans a membrane material deposited on an inner wall of the housing.

A pressure adjusting valve includes a pipe, a valve body arranged inside the pipe, and a support shaft configured to rotatably support the valve body. The pressure adjusting valve is configured to adjust pressure by rotating the valve body. The valve body has, inside the valve body, a valve body side flow path through which a purge gas can flow, and has a plurality of outlets that communicate with the valve body side flow path at an outer periphery of the valve body. The support shaft has a support shaft side flow path for introducing the purge gas into the valve body side flow path.

A substrate processing apparatus includes a chamber, a holding unit, a hydrophobizing agent nozzle, a first organic solvent nozzle, a second organic solvent nozzle, and an exhaust port. The chamber has a gastight space that is capable of accommodating the plurality of substrates. The holding unit lifts or lowers the plurality of substrates between a storage area where a liquid is stored in the gastight space and a drying area that is located above the storage area in the gastight space. The hydrophobizing agent nozzle supplies a vapor of a hydrophobizing agent to the drying area. The first organic solvent nozzle supplies an organic solvent from the drying area to the storage area. The second organic solvent nozzle supplies a vapor of an organic solvent to the drying area. The exhaust port discharges a gas in the gastight space.

A system includes a reflector attached to a liner of a processing chamber. A light coupling device is to transmit light, from a light source, through a window of the processing chamber directed at the reflector. The light coupling device focuses, into a spectrometer, light received reflected back from the reflector along an optical path through the processing chamber and the window. The spectrometer detects, within the focused light, a first spectrum representative of a deposited film layer on the reflector using reflectometry. An alignment device aligns, in two dimensions, the light coupling device with the reflector until maximization of the focused light received by the light coupling device.

A system and method for treating a deposition reactor are disclosed. The system and method remove or mitigate formation of residue in a gas-phase reactor used to deposit doped metal films, such as aluminum-doped titanium carbide films or aluminum-doped tantalum carbide films. The method includes a step of exposing a reaction chamber to a treatment reactant that mitigates formation of species that lead to residue formation.

A substrate processing apparatus, includes a reaction chamber, a central processing volume within a vertically oriented central processing portion of the reaction chamber, to expose at least one substrate to self-limiting surface reactions in the central processing volume, at least two lateral extensions in the reaction chamber laterally extending from the central processing portion, and an actuator configured to reversibly move at least one substrate between the lateral extension(s) and the central processing volume.

Process chambers are cleaned from tin oxide deposits by a method that includes a step of forming a volatile tin-containing compound by exposing the tin oxide to a mixture of hydrogen (H.sub.2) and a hydrocarbon in a plasma, followed by a step that removes a carbon-containing polymer that formed as a result of the hydrocarbon exposure. The carbon-containing polymer can be removed by exposing the carbon-containing polymer to an oxygen-containing reactant (e.g., to O.sub.2 in a plasma), or to H.sub.2 in an absence of a hydrocarbon. These steps are repeated as many times as necessary to clean the process chamber. The method can be used to clean ALD, CVD, and PVD process chambers and is particularly useful for cleaning at a relatively low temperature of less than about 120° C.

A method for removing residue deposits from a reaction chamber includes supplying a cleaning gas into the reaction chamber via direct delivery from a remote plasma source (RPS). The cleaning gas forms a plurality of gas flow streamlines within the reaction chamber. Each of the streamlines originates at an injection point for receiving the cleaning gas and terminates at a chamber pump port coupled to a fore line for evacuating the cleaning gas. A flow characteristic of the cleaning gas is modified to redirect at least a portion of the gas flow streamlines to circulate in proximity to an inner perimeter of the reaction chamber to remove the residue deposits or to enhance the diffusion of cleaning species to surfaces to be cleaned. The inner perimeter is disposed along one or more vertical surfaces of the reaction chamber that are orthogonal to a horizontal surface including the injection point.