Appeal No. 2002-0974
Application 09/332,745
deposited thereon. Appellants' process comprises depositing an
epitaxial layer on the surface of a silicon wafer and then
heating the wafer to a temperature of at least about 1175°C
during and/or after the epitaxial deposition. The wafer is then
cooled for a period of time at a rate of at least about 10°C per
second while the temperature of the wafer is greater than about
1000°C and while the wafer is not in contact with the susceptor.
All the steps of epitaxial deposition, heating and cooling are
conducted in the same reactor chamber.
Claim 1 is believed to be adequately representative of the
appealed subject matter and is reproduced below for a more facile
understanding of the claimed invention:
Claim 1. A process for the preparation of a silicon wafer
comprising a surface having an epitaxial layer deposited
thereon, the process comprising:
depositing an epitaxial layer onto a surface of a silicon
wafer;
heating the wafer to a temperature of at least about 1175°C
during and/or after the epitaxial deposition; and
cooling the heated wafer for a period of time at a rate of
at least about 10°C/sec while (a) the temperature of the
wafer is greater than about 1000°C, and (b) the wafer is not
in contact with a susceptor, wherein the epitaxial
deposition, heating, and cooling are conducted in the same
reactor chamber.
2
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