The disclosure relates to a sequential infiltration synthesis apparatus comprising: a reaction chamber constructed and arranged to accommodate at least one substrate; a first precursor flow path to provide the first precursor to the reaction chamber when a first flow controller is activated; a second precursor flow path to provide a second precursor to the reaction chamber when a second flow controller is activated; a removal flow path to allow removal of gas from the reaction chamber; a removal flow controller to create a gas flow in the reaction chamber to the removal flow path when the removal flow controller is activated; and, a sequence controller operably connected to the first, second and removal flow controllers and the sequence controller being programmed to enable infiltration of an infiltrateable material provided on the substrate in the reaction chamber. The apparatus may be provided with a heating system.

The present disclosure concerns an atomic layer deposition device for area-selective deposition of a target material layer onto a deposition area of a substrate surface further comprising a non-deposition area. In use the substrate is conveyed along a plurality of deposition and separator spaces including at least two gas separator spaces provided with at least a separator gas inlet and a separator drain for, in use exposing the substrate to a separator gas flow. Wherein at least one of the gas separator spaces forms a combined separator-inhibitor gas flow comprising a separator gas and inhibitor moieties. The inhibitor moieties selectively adhering to the non-deposition area to form an inhibition layer reducing adsorption of precursor moieties. In a preferred embodiment the device includes a back-etching space to increase selectivity of the deposition process.

There is provided a technique that includes (a) supplying a first-element-containing gas to the substrate; (b) supplying a first reducing gas to the substrate; (c) supplying a second reducing gas, which is different from the first reducing gas, to the substrate; (d) supplying a third reducing gas, which is different from both the first reducing gas and the second reducing gas, to the substrate; (e) after a start of (a), performing (b) in parallel with (a); (f) in (e), performing (d) in parallel with (b); and (g) forming a first-element-containing film on the substrate by alternately performing (e) and (c) a predetermined number of times.

A method of depositing a silicon film on a recess formed in a surface of a substrate is provided. The substrate is placed on a rotary table in a vacuum vessel, so as to pass through first, second, and third processing regions in the vacuum vessel. An interior of the vacuum vessel is set to a first temperature capable of breaking an Si—H bond. In the first processing region, Si.sub.2H.sub.6 gas having a temperature less than the first temperature is supplied to form an SiH.sub.3 molecular layer on its surface. In the second processing region, a silicon atomic layer is exposed on the surface of the substrate, by breaking the Si—H bond in the SiH.sub.3 molecular layer. In the third processing region, by anisotropic etching, the silicon atomic layer on an upper portion of an inner wall of the recess is selectively removed.

The present inventive concept is a substrate processing method in which processing steps are carried out on a substrate supported on a support unit in a processing space that is divided into a first processing area and a second processing area, the substrate processing method comprising: a step in which a first gas and a first purge gas are sprayed in the first processing area; and a step in which a second purge gas and a second gas are sequentially sprayed in the second processing area.

Thermally insulating materials (TIMs) for use in concentrated solar thermal (CST) technologies comprising a mesoporous oxide including a porous oxide matrix comprising a porous oxide and a metal oxide or metal nitride in the form of a conformal layer of the metal oxide or metal nitride on the surface of the porous oxide matrix, wherein the conformal layer completely covers the surface area of the porous oxide matrix, or in the form of metal oxide or metal nitride nanoparticles dispersed throughout the porous oxide matrix, or in the form of a conformal coating or nanoparticles, methods of preparing same, and solar devices comprising same.

Methods and apparatuses are provided herein for oxidizing an annular edge region of a substrate. A method may include providing the substrate to a substrate holder in a semiconductor processing chamber, the semiconductor processing chamber having a showerbead positioned above the substrate holder, and simultaneously flowing, while the substrate is supported by the substrate holder, (a) an oxidizing gas around a periphery of the substrate and (b) an inert gas that does not include oxygen through the showerhead and onto the substrate, thereby creating an annular gas region over an annular edge region of the substrate and an interior gas region over on an interior region of the substrate; the simultaneous flowing is not during a deposition of a material onto the substrate, and the annular gas region has an oxidization rate higher than the interior gas region.

Embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to protective coatings on substrates and methods for depositing the protective coatings. In one or more embodiments, a method of forming a protective coating on a substrate includes depositing a chromium oxide layer containing amorphous chromium oxide on a surface of the substrate during a first vapor deposition process and heating the substrate containing the chromium oxide layer comprising the amorphous chromium oxide to convert at least a portion of the amorphous chromium oxide to crystalline chromium oxide during a first annealing process. The method also includes depositing an aluminum oxide layer containing amorphous aluminum oxide on the chromium oxide layer during a second vapor deposition process and heating the substrate containing the aluminum oxide layer disposed on the chromium oxide layer to convert at least a portion of the amorphous aluminum oxide to crystalline aluminum oxide during a second annealing process.

A controller includes an accumulation determiner configured to determine a first accumulation value that indicates an amount of accumulation of material on surfaces within a processing chamber and a pressure controller configured to obtain the first accumulation value, obtain at least one of a setpoint pressure an etching step and a duration of the etching step, and, to control the pressure within the processing chamber during the etching step, adjust a control parameter based on (i) the first accumulation value and (ii) the at least one of the setpoint pressure and the duration of the etching step.

Molybdenum-DAD precursors are described. Methods for depositing molybdenum-containing films on a substrate are described. The substrate is exposed to a molybdenum-DAD precursor and a reactant to form the molybdenum-containing film (e.g., elemental molybdenum, molybdenum oxide, molybdenum carbide, molybdenum silicide, molybdenum nitride). The exposures can be sequential or simultaneous.