An epitaxial reactor enabling simultaneous deposition of thin films on a multiplicity of wafers is disclosed. During deposition, a number of wafers are contained within a wafer sleeve comprising a number of wafer carrier plates spaced closely apart to minimize the process volume. Process gases flow preferentially into the interior volume of the wafer sleeve, which is heated by one or more lamp modules. Purge gases flow outside the wafer sleeve within a reactor chamber to minimize deposition on the chamber walls. Sequencing of the illumination of the individual lamps in the lamp module may further improve the linearity of variation in deposition rates within the wafer sleeve. To improve uniformity, the direction of process gas flow may be varied in a cross-flow configuration. Combining lamp sequencing with cross-flow processing in a multiple reactor system enables high throughput deposition with good film uniformities and efficient use of process gases.

In one embodiment, a substrate support assembly includes a susceptor for supporting a substrate, and a supporting transfer mechanism coupled to the susceptor, the supporting transfer mechanism having a surface for supporting a peripheral edge of the substrate, the supporting transfer mechanism being movable relative to an upper surface of the susceptor.

Provided is a raw material supply unit comprising: a main body having a space into which raw material is filled; a barrier for dividing the main body into two or more areas in the longitudinal direction; a rod extending from above the main body into the interior of same; and a valve, connected to the rod, for covering or exposing the lower portion of the main body, wherein the bottom surface of the main body has a step.

Disclosed is an automatic crystal collection process, including: placing a crystal collection cylinder on a movable platform, detecting a length of a single crystal bar, and selecting a descending distance of the movable platform according to the length of the single crystal bar; raising a furnace sub-chamber to an upper limit, rotating the sub-chamber to a position above the crystal collection cylinder, and lowering the single crystal bar into the crystal collection cylinder; cutting off a seed crystal when the single crystal bar is lowered to a distance, and moving the single crystal bar with the descending of the movable platform until the single crystal bar is collected completely; raising the crystal collection cylinder along with the single crystal bar therein to a target position by the movable platform after the single crystal bar is collected completely, and finishing the crystal collection process.

A silicon material processing apparatus includes a feed assembly, a scanning assembly, a controller, and a loading assembly. The feed assembly is used for conveying a silicon material and includes a feeding area, a scanning area, and a loading area sequentially arranged along the conveying direction. The silicon material to be conveyed is added to the feeding assembly in the feeding area. The scanning assembly is arranged correspondingly to the scanning area and is used for collecting silicon material information of a silicon material that is located in the scanning area. The silicon material information includes one or more of a shape characteristics and a size characteristics of the silicon material. The controller is connected with the scanning assembly and is used for generating a loading strategy according to the silicon material information.

An apparatus for growing a crystal includes a growth chamber and a melt chamber thermally isolated from the growth chamber. The growth chamber includes: a growth crucible configured to contain a liquid melt; and a die located in the growth crucible, the die having a die opening and one or more capillaries extending from within the growth crucible toward the die opening. The melt chamber includes: a melt crucible configured to receive feedstock material; and at least one heating element positioned within the melt chamber relative to the melt crucible to melt the feedstock material within the melt crucible to form the liquid melt. The apparatus also includes at least one capillary conveyor in fluid communication with the melt crucible and the growth crucible to transport the liquid melt from the melt crucible to the growth crucible.

The innovative reactor is used for epitaxial deposition of semiconductor material on substrates and comprises a reaction chamber extending along a longitudinal direction, a sledge adapted to support the reaction chamber or a portion of the reaction chamber, and a tube extending along the longitudinal direction and adapted to house the reaction chamber and the sledge supporting the reaction chamber; the sledge is adapted to slide along the longitudinal direction so as to extract/insert the reaction chamber from/into the tube when the reactor is in a non-operational condition.

A method of epitaxial deposition is disclosed. The method includes plasma pre-cleaning a substrate having openings with an aspect ratio of greater than 5:1. The plasma pre-cleaning is performed at pre-clean pressure of less than 5 Torr. The method also includes, after the plasma pre-cleaning, depositing a material in the openings using epitaxial deposition at a deposition pressure of about 700 Torr to about 800 Torr. In another embodiment, a method of gap filling using epitaxial deposition includes patterning a substrate with openings having an aspect ratio of 5:1. The method also includes plasma pre-cleaning the substrate, the plasma pre-cleaning being performed at a pre-clean pressure of about 1 Torr to about 5 Torr. The method also includes, after the plasma pre-cleaning, depositing a gap fill material in the openings using epitaxial deposition at a deposition pressure of about 700 Torr to about 800 Torr.

An ingot growth apparatus includes an ingot growth furnace, an auxiliary melting furnace that supplies molten silicon to the ingot growth furnace, a silicon feeder that supplies solid silicon to the auxiliary melting furnace, and a dopant supply apparatus that supplies dopants to the auxiliary melting furnace, and the dopant supply apparatus can cool the dopants below its melting point so that the dopants discharged from the dopant supply apparatus remain in a solid state.

The present disclosure relates to lift assemblies, and related methods and components, for substrate processing chambers. In one implementation, a lift assembly for disposition in relation to a substrate processing chamber includes a first motor, a first drive assembly coupled to the first motor, and a first support block coupled to the first drive assembly. The first motor is configured to linearly move the first support block using the first drive assembly. The lift assembly includes a second motor, a second drive assembly coupled to the second motor, and a second support block coupled to the second drive assembly. The second motor is configured to linearly move the second support block using the second drive assembly, and the second motor is configured to linearly move the second support block independently of the first motor linearly moving the first support block.