1. A vapor phase growth apparatus, comprising:
a reaction chamber;
a first reservoir container storing a first organic metal;
a source gas supply passage receiving a main carrier gas, the source gas supply passage supplying a source gas containing the first organic metal to the reaction chamber;
a thermostatic room containing the first reservoir container, the thermostatic room being configured to have an internal temperature to be set higher than an external temperature of the thermostatic room;
a first carrier gas supply passage supplying a first carrier gas to the first reservoir container;
a first organic metal-containing gas transfer passage connected to the source gas supply passage, the first organic metal-containing gas transfer passage and the source gas supply passage being connected at a first junction provided outside of the thermostatic room, the first organic metal-containing gas transfer passage transferring a first organic metal-containing gas generated by bubbling or sublimation in the first reservoir container, the first organic metal-containing gas containing the first organic metal; and
a dilution gas transfer passage connected. inside the thermostatic room to the first organic metal-containing gas transfer passage, the dilution gas transfer passage transferring a dilution gas.
2. The vapor phase growth apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a gas exhaust passage connected to the first organic metal-containing gas transfer passage, the gas exhaust passage and the first organic metal-containing gas transfer passage being connected at a second junction provided outside of the thermostatic room, the gas exhaust passage receiving the main carrier gas, the gas exhaust passage exhausting the first organic metal-containing gas out of the vapor phase growth apparatus in such a manner as to detour the reaction chamber.
3. The vapor phase growth apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising:
a first regulator positioned in the source gas supply passage on a side of the reaction chamber with respect to the first junction; and
a second regulator positioned in the gas exhaust passage on an outer side of the vapor phase growth apparatus with respect to the second junction, wherein
the first regulator is a back pressure regulator, and the second regulator is a mass flow controller.
4. The vapor phase growth apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:
a second reservoir container contained in the thermostatic room, the second reservoir container storing a second organic metal different from the first organic metal;
a second carrier gas supply passage supplying a second carrier gas to the second reservoir container; and
a second organic metal-containing gas transfer passage connected to the source gas supply passage at the first junction, the second organic metal-containing gas transfer passage transferring a second organic metal-containing gas generated by bubbling or sublimation in the second reservoir container, the second organic metal-containing gas containing the second organic metal, wherein
the dilution gas transfer passage is connected inside the thermostatic room to the second organic metal-containing gas transfer passage.
5. The vapor phase growth apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the internal temperature of the thermostatic room is adapted to be lower than a boiling point of the first organic metal.
6. The vapor phase growth apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the internal temperature of the thermostatic room is a temperature in a range from 30\xb0 C. to 60\xb0 C.
7. The vapor phase growth apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the main carrier gas and the first carrier gas are hydrogen gas.
8. The vapor phase growth apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the dilution gas is hydrogen gas.
9. The vapor phase growth apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first organic metal is any of trimethylgallium (TMG), trimethylaluminum (TMA), trimethylindium (TMI), or Cp2Mg (bis(cyclopentadienyl)magnesium).
10. The vapor phase growth apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the second organic metal is any of trimethylgallium (TMG) trimethylaluminum (TMA) trimethylindium (TMI) , or Cp2Mg (bis(cyclopentadienyl)magnesium).
11. A vapor phase growth method, comprising:
loading a substrate into a reaction chamber;
performing bubbling or sublimation on a first organic metal by using a first carrier gas in a temperature environment at a predetermined temperature;
keeping a first organic metal-containing gas in a temperature environment at or above the predetermined temperature until dilution is performed with a dilution gas, the first organic metal-containing gas being generated by the bubbling or sublimation and containing the first organic metal;
diluting the first organic metal-containing gas with the dilution gas in a temperature environment at or above the predetermined temperature;
mixing the first organic metal-containing gas diluted with the dilution gas with a main carrier gas in a temperature environment below the predetermined temperature to generate a source gas; and
supplying the source gas to the reaction chamber to form a semiconductor film on a surface of the substrate.
12. The vapor phase growth method according to claim further comprising:
performing bubbling or sublimation on a second organic metal by using a second carrier gas in a temperature environment at the predetermined temperature, the second organic metal being different from the first organic metal;
keeping a second organic metal-containing gas in a temperature environment at or above the predetermined temperature until dilution is performed with the dilution gas, the second organic metal-containing gas being generated by the bubbling or sublimation and containing the second organic metal; and
diluting the second organic metal-containing gas with the dilution gas in a temperature environment at or above the predetermined temperature, wherein
the first organic metal-containing gas diluted with the dilution gas and the second organic metal-containing gas diluted with the dilution gas are mixed with the main carrier gas in a temperature environment below the predetermined. temperature to generate the source gas.
13. The vapor phase growth method according to claim 11, wherein the predetermined temperature is below a boiling point of the first organic metal.
14. The vapor phase growth method according to claim 11, wherein the predetermined temperature is a temperature in a range from 30\xb0 C. to 60\xb0 C.
15. The vapor phase growth method according to claim 11, wherein the main carrier gas and the first carrier gas are hydrogen gas.
16. The vapor phase growth method according to claim 11, wherein the dilution gas is hydrogen gas.
17. The vapor phase growth method according to claim 11, wherein the first organic metal is any of trimethylgallium (TMG) trimethylaluminum (TMA) trimethylindium (TMI), or Cp2Mg (bis(cyclopentadienyl)magnesium).
18. The vapor phase growth method according to claim 12, wherein the second organic metal is any of trimethylgallium (TMG) trimethylaluminum (TMA) trimethylindium (TMI) , or Cp2Mg (bis(cyclopentadienyl)magnesium).
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A liquid drop ejector comprising:
a substrate, portions of the substrate defining a liquid supply;
a plurality of liquid chambers, each liquid chamber being positioned over the substrate and including a nozzle plate and a chamber wall, the nozzle plate and the chamber wall including an inorganic material, the inorganic material of the nozzle plate and the chamber wall being contactable with liquid when liquid is present in each liquid chamber; and
a region of organic material positioned over the substrate and located relative to the nozzle plate and the chamber wall such that the region of organic material is not contactable with liquid when liquid is present in each liquid chamber, wherein the region of organic material is bounded by chamber walls of neighboring liquid chambers located on opposite sides of the liquid supply.
2. The liquid ejector according to claim 1, wherein the region of organic material is a polyimide.
3. The liquid ejector according to claim 1, the nozzle plate including a thickness and the region of organic material including a thickness, wherein the thickness of the nozzle plate is less than the thickness of the region of organic material.
4. The liquid ejector according to claim 3, wherein the thickness of the nozzle plate is between 3 to 10 microns and the thickness of the region of organic material is between 8 to 16 microns.
5. The liquid ejector according to claim 1, wherein the inorganic material of the nozzle plate and the inorganic material of the chamber wall are the same inorganic material.
6. The liquid ejector according to claim 5, wherein the inorganic material is silicon oxide.
7. The liquid ejector according to claim 1, the nozzle plate including a top surface, the chamber wall including two wall portions of inorganic material spaced apart from each other such that a gap exists between the two wall portions, the gap extending to the top surface of the nozzle plate.
8. The liquid ejector according to claim 1, wherein no region of organic material is present between adjacent liquid chambers located on the same side of the liquid supply.
9. The liquid ejector according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the regions of organic material that is bounded by chamber walls of neighboring liquid chambers is suspended over the liquid supply.
10. The liquid ejector according to claim 1, wherein the liquid supply includes a plurality of liquid feeds with adjacent liquid feeds being separated by a rib, the rib being a portion of the substrate.
11. The liquid ejector according to claim 10, wherein at least one of the regions of organic material that is bounded by chamber walls of neighboring liquid chambers contacts the rib.
12. The liquid ejector according to claim 10, the rib having a width that is less than 40 microns.
13. A liquid drop ejector comprising:
a substrate, portions of the substrate defining a liquid supply;
a plurality of liquid chambers, each liquid chamber being positioned over the substrate and including a nozzle plate and a chamber wall, the nozzle plate and the chamber wall including an inorganic material, the inorganic material of the nozzle plate and the chamber wall being contactable with liquid when liquid is present in each liquid chamber; and
a region of organic material positioned over the substrate and located relative to the nozzle plate and the chamber wall such that the region of organic material is not contactable with liquid when liquid is present in each liquid chamber, wherein no region of organic material is present between adjacent liquid chambers located on the same side of the liquid supply.
14. The liquid ejector according to claim 13, at least one of the plurality of liquid chambers including a plurality of chamber walls, wherein one of the plurality chamber walls includes a projection extending toward the organic material.
15. The liquid ejector according to claim 14, wherein the projection has a radius of curvature greater than 5 microns.
16. The liquid ejector according to claim 13, at least one of the plurality of liquid chambers including a plurality of chamber walls, wherein one chamber wall intersects another chamber wall at a corner having a radius of curvature greater than 5 microns.
17. The liquid ejector according to claim 13, each liquid chamber including an inorganic material layer located over the substrate between the substrate and the nozzle plate, the inorganic material layer being contactable with liquid when liquid is present in each liquid chamber, wherein the inorganic material layer contacts a portion of the inorganic material of the chamber wall of each liquid chamber.
18. The liquid ejector according to claim 13, the nozzle plate including a thickness and the region of organic material including a thickness, wherein the thickness of the nozzle plate is less than the thickness of the region of organic material.
19. The liquid ejector according to claim 13, the nozzle plate including a top surface, the chamber wall including two wall portions of inorganic material spaced apart from each other such that a gap exists between the two wall portions, the gap extending to the top surface of the nozzle plate.
20. A liquid drop ejector comprising:
a substrate;
a liquid chamber for receiving a liquid, the liquid chamber being positioned over the substrate and including a nozzle plate and a chamber wall, the nozzle plate and the chamber wall including an inorganic material, the inorganic material of the nozzle plate and the chamber wall being contactable with the liquid when the liquid is present in the chamber, the nozzle plate including a top surface, the chamber wall including two wall portions of inorganic material spaced apart from each other such that a gap exists between the two wall portions, the gap extending to the top surface of the nozzle plate; and
a region of organic material positioned over the substrate and located relative to the nozzle plate and the chamber wall such that the region of organic material is not contactable with the liquid when the liquid is present in the chamber.
21. The liquid ejector according to claim 20, the two wall portions and the gap having a combined width, the nozzle plate having a thickness, wherein the combined width of the two wall portions and the gap is greater than the nozzle plate thickness.
22. A method of manufacturing a liquid ejector comprising:
providing a substrate; and
forming a plurality of liquid chambers over the substrate by:
providing an organic material over the substrate;
patterning the organic material to create a location for the chamber wall of each liquid chamber;
forming a nozzle plate and a chamber wall for each liquid chamber by depositing an inorganic material over the patterned organic material such that the inorganic material of the nozzle plate and the chamber wall is contactable with liquid when liquid is present in each liquid chamber; and
removing a portion of the patterned organic material such that a region of organic material remains and is bounded by chamber walls of neighboring liquid chambers, wherein the region of organic material is not contactable with liquid when liquid is present in each liquid chamber.
23. The method of claim 22, further comprising:
forming a liquid supply through the substrate that is common to each liquid chamber, wherein the region of organic material is bounded by chamber walls of neighboring liquid chambers located on opposite sides of the liquid supply.
24. The method of claim 22, further comprising:
forming a liquid supply through the substrate that is common to each liquid chamber, wherein no region of organic material remains between adjacent liquid chambers located on the same side of the liquid supply.
25. The method of claim 22, wherein forming the nozzle plate and the chamber wall for each liquid chamber using an inorganic material includes forming the chamber wall including two wall portions of inorganic material spaced apart from each other such that a gap exists between the two wall portions, the gap extending to a top surface of the nozzle plate.
26. The method of claim 22, wherein providing the substrate includes forming a drop ejector using thin film deposition techniques prior to forming the liquid chamber.