US 12,486,572 B2
Mechatronic spatial atomic layer deposition system with closed-loop feedback control of parallelism and component alignment
Tae H. Cho, Ann Arbor, MI (US); Ellis Herman, Cambridge, MA (US); Orlando Trejo, Ann Arbor, MI (US); Mattison Rose, Ann Arbor, MI (US); Lauren Ransohoff, Brookline, MA (US); Neil Dasgupta, Ann Arbor, MI (US); Kira Barton, Ann Arbor, MI (US); Hyunwoo Park, San Diego, CA (US); and Andre Brooks, Southgate, MI (US)
Assigned to THE REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN, Ann Arbor, MI (US)
Appl. No. 17/801,972
Filed by The Regents of the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI (US)
PCT Filed Jan. 23, 2021, PCT No. PCT/US2021/014824
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Aug. 24, 2022,
PCT Pub. No. WO2021/173274, PCT Pub. Date Sep. 2, 2021.
Claims priority of provisional application 62/981,231, filed on Feb. 25, 2020.
Prior Publication US 2023/0097272 A1, Mar. 30, 2023
Int. Cl. C23C 16/455 (2006.01); C23C 16/458 (2006.01); C23C 16/52 (2006.01)
CPC C23C 16/45551 (2013.01) [C23C 16/45519 (2013.01); C23C 16/4585 (2013.01); C23C 16/52 (2013.01)] 19 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A spatial atomic layer deposition apparatus comprising:
a depositor head having an active surface configured to discharge a flow of a first precursor gas, a flow of a second precursor gas, and a flow of an inert gas that separates the flow of the first precursor gas and the flow of the second precursor gas;
a substrate plate that opposes the depositor head, the substrate plate having a support surface that retains a build substrate, the support surface of the substrate plate being spaced apart from the active surface of the depositor head by a gap;
a linear motion stage that reciprocally moves the substrate plate relative to the depositor head;
a plurality of gap detection sensors supported on either the depositor head or the substrate plate, each of the gap detection sensors producing an output signal indicative of a distance between the active surface of the depositor head and the support surface of the substrate plate; and
a controller that communicates with the gap detection sensors and receives the output signal from each of the gap detection sensors,
wherein the controller is configured to determine a spatial orientation of the active surface of the depositor head and the support surface of the substrate plate based on the output signals received from the gap detection sensors.