CN110656318B

CN110656318B - Modularized sealed space isolation atomic layer deposition film equipment

Info

Publication number: CN110656318B
Application number: CN201911015373.5A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 陈蓉; 黄奕利; 曹坤; 李云; 邓匡举; 宋光亮
Original assignee: Huazhong University of Science and Technology
Current assignee: Huazhong University of Science and Technology
Priority date: 2019-10-24
Filing date: 2019-10-24
Publication date: 2020-07-10
Anticipated expiration: 2039-10-24
Also published as: CN110656318A

Abstract

The invention belongs to the field related to micro-nano manufacturing, and particularly discloses modular sealed space isolation atomic layer deposition film equipment. The equipment comprises a moving device, a spray head device, a sealing device and a reaction device, wherein the moving device is used for driving the sealing device and the reaction device to move along a horizontal track and driving the spray head device to move along a vertical direction; a sealing cavity of the spray head device is connected with the lifting platform, a sealing cavity cover plate is fixed above the sealing cavity, and the modular spray head is fixed below the sealing cavity; the sealing device is in sealing fit with the spray head device; the reaction device reciprocates below the spray head device, so that the space isolation atomic layer deposition is realized. According to the invention, the reaction device reciprocates below the spray head device, so that the space isolation atomic layer deposition is realized, and when the atomic layer deposition is not carried out, the sealing device moves below the spray head device to seal the spray head device, so that the vacuum degree of the spray head device is ensured, and the modularized sealing is realized.

Description

Modularized sealed space isolation atomic layer deposition film equipment

Technical Field

The invention belongs to the field related to micro-nano manufacturing, and particularly relates to modular sealed space isolation atomic layer deposition film equipment.

Background

A L D, atomic layer deposition, is a method that can plate a substance on a substrate surface layer by layer in the form of a monoatomic film.

However, further research shows that the technical process currently faces the main technical problem that the overall deposition efficiency is low, the whole deposition efficiency is often required to take a considerable time, and industrialization is difficult to realize, so that the industry starts to widely develop various spatial isolation atomic layer deposition (SA L D) technologies.

However, the SA L D technology has still many problems so far, one part of the invention still does not discard the high vacuum chamber used in the conventional a L D, which aims to ensure the quality of the deposition environment to prevent the influence of water and other contaminants in the air on the deposited sample under the normal pressure environment, and the other part of the invention abandons the high vacuum chamber, but it is difficult to achieve effective isolation because the chamber is protected by other means under the open environment, where the isolation includes the isolation between precursors and the isolation of impurities in the air from the reaction region.

Disclosure of Invention

In view of the above drawbacks or needs for improvement of the prior art, the present invention provides a modular sealed spatially isolated atomic layer deposition thin film apparatus, in which the structure and layout of important components such as a showerhead device, a sealing device and a reaction device are designed, so that modular sealing can be achieved while spatially isolated atomic layer deposition is performed, and the degree of vacuum of the showerhead device is maintained, which is particularly suitable for atomic layer deposition applications.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a modular sealed space-isolated atomic layer deposition thin film apparatus, which includes a moving device, a nozzle device, a sealing device and a reaction device, wherein:

the moving device comprises a first moving rotor, a second moving rotor, a horizontal rail, a linear motor and a lifting table, wherein the first moving rotor and the second moving rotor are arranged on two sides of the horizontal rail and are respectively connected with the sealing device and the reaction device;

the sprayer device comprises a sealing cavity, a sealing cavity bearing plate, a sealing cavity cover plate, a modularized sprayer and a sprayer bearing plate, wherein the sealing cavity is connected with the lifting platform through the sealing cavity bearing plate, the sealing cavity cover plate is fixed above the sealing cavity and exchanges gas with the outside through an arranged gas inlet and an arranged gas outlet, and the modularized sprayer is fixed below the sealing cavity through the sprayer bearing plate and is used for spraying a precursor so as to finish atomic layer deposition;

the sealing device is positioned on one side of the horizontal rail, when the atomic layer deposition is not carried out, the sealing device moves to the position below the sprayer device, the vacuum degree of the sprayer device is kept through the sealing fit with the sprayer device, so that the modular sealing is realized, and when the atomic layer deposition is carried out, the sealing device moves to the outer side of the sprayer device;

the reaction device is located on the other side of the horizontal rail and used for placing a workpiece to be processed, and when atomic layer deposition is carried out, the reaction device is arranged below the spray head device to carry out reciprocating motion, so that space isolation atomic layer deposition is achieved, and when the atomic layer deposition is not carried out, the reaction device moves to the outer side of the spray head device.

As a further preferred feature, the modular showerhead is provided with a preset number of precursor channels, cleaning isolation channels, exhaust channels, and environment isolation side channels, wherein the precursor channels are used for injecting corresponding precursors, so as to perform half-reaction on the surface of the workpiece to be processed, thereby performing atomic layer deposition, the cleaning isolation channels are located at two sides of the precursor channels, and are used for isolating the precursors and cleaning the workpiece to be processed, the exhaust channels are connected with the gas outlets on the cover plate of the seal chamber, and the environment isolation side channels are arranged around the modular showerhead and used for guiding the gas in the environment.

As a further preference, the number of precursor channels is preferably 4.

Preferably, the sealing device includes a sealing plate and a sealing ring, the sealing plate is fixed to the first moving mover and moves along the horizontal rail under the driving of the first moving mover, and the sealing ring is disposed on the sealing plate to improve the air tightness of the sealing device.

Preferably, the reaction device comprises a reaction zone bearing plate, a heater bearing plate, a heat insulation plate and a rotor adapter plate, wherein grooves are formed in the upper surface and the lower surface of the reaction zone bearing plate, the upper grooves are used for placing the workpiece to be processed, the lower grooves are used for installing the heater, the heater is fixed by the heater bearing plate to ensure the distance between the heater and the reaction zone bearing plate, the heat insulation plate is arranged between the heater and the heater bearing plate to avoid thermal deformation caused by local overheating, and the rotor adapter plate is fixed to the back of the heater bearing plate and is used for being connected with the second moving rotor.

Further preferably, the distance between the heater and the reaction zone carrying plate is preferably 300 to 500 μm, thereby reducing thermal deformation of the reaction zone carrying plate.

Further preferably, when performing atomic layer deposition, the distance between the sealed cavity carrier plate and the reaction area carrier plate is preferably 300 μm to 500 μm.

As a further preferred option, an eddy current sensor is arranged on the sealing chamber carrier plate for controlling the movement distance of the spray head device.

Generally, compared with the prior art, the above technical solution conceived by the present invention mainly has the following technical advantages:

1. according to the invention, the sealing device and the reaction device are arranged on two sides of the horizontal track, when atomic layer deposition is carried out, the reaction device reciprocates below the spray head device, so that space isolation atomic layer deposition is realized, when the atomic layer deposition is not carried out, the sealing device moves below the spray head device and is sealed, so that the vacuum degree of the spray head device is ensured, modular sealing is realized, water and impurities in air can be effectively isolated from polluting a reaction region, meanwhile, the use of a high-vacuum cavity is avoided, and the manufacturing and using cost of equipment is greatly reduced;

2. particularly, the structure of the modular spray head in the spray head device is improved, and a stable air film can be formed in the reciprocating motion process of the reaction device under the mutual matching of the environment isolation measuring channel, the exhaust channel and the cleaning isolation pipeline, so that the effect of dynamic sealing is achieved;

3. in addition, the structure of the reaction device is optimized, the thermal deformation problem of the high-width substrate can be effectively reduced by arranging the heater bearing plate and the thermal insulation plate, and the distance between the heater and the reaction area bearing plate and the distance between the sealed cavity bearing plate and the reaction area bearing plate are limited, so that the uniformity of the atomic layer on the surface of a finished product is ensured, and the thermal deformation problem of the high-width substrate is solved.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of a modular sealed spatially-isolated atomic layer deposition thin film device constructed in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a top view of the modular sealed spatially-isolated atomic layer deposition thin film apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a front view of the modular sealed spatially-isolated atomic layer deposition thin film apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a schematic structural view of a modular sprinkler;

FIG. 5 is a schematic perspective view of a sprinkler head assembly;

FIG. 6 is a top plan view of the spray head apparatus shown in FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a schematic view of the structure of the reaction apparatus;

FIG. 8 is a top view of the reaction apparatus shown in FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a schematic view of the modular sealed spatially-isolated atomic layer deposition thin film apparatus provided in accordance with the present invention without atomic layer deposition;

FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram of a modular sealed spatially-isolated atomic layer deposition thin film apparatus according to the present invention during atomic layer deposition;

FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram of an exhaust line of a modular sealed spatially-isolated ALD thin film apparatus in accordance with the present invention.

The same reference numbers will be used throughout the drawings to refer to the same or like elements or structures, wherein:

101 is a linear motor, 102 is a first moving mover, 103 is a second moving mover, 201 is a sealing plate, 202 is a sealing ring, 301 is a sealing cavity bearing plate, 302 is a sealing cavity, 303 is a sealing cavity cover plate, 304 is an adjusting cushion block, 401 is a reaction zone bearing plate, 402 is a heater fixing plate, 403 is a heater bearing plate, 404 is a mover adapter plate, 405 is a heater, 501 is a first lifting table, 502 is a first adapter block, 503 is a second lifting table, 504 is a second adapter block, 505 is an eddy current sensor, 601 is a cleaning isolation channel, 602 is a first precursor channel, 603 is a second precursor channel, 604 is a third precursor channel, 605 is a fourth precursor channel, and 606 is an environment isolation side channel.

Detailed Description

In order to make the objects, technical solutions and advantages of the present invention more apparent, the present invention is described in further detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and embodiments. It should be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are merely illustrative of the invention and are not intended to limit the invention. In addition, the technical features involved in the embodiments of the present invention described below may be combined with each other as long as they do not conflict with each other.

As shown in fig. 1 to 3, an embodiment of the present invention provides a modular sealed space-isolated atomic layer deposition thin film apparatus, which includes a moving device, a showerhead device, a sealing device, and a reaction device, wherein:

the moving device comprises a first moving rotor 102, a second moving rotor 103, a horizontal track, a linear motor 101 and a lifting platform, wherein the first moving rotor 102 and the second moving rotor 103 are arranged at two sides of the horizontal track and are respectively connected with a sealing device and a reaction device, the linear motor 101 is driven to move along the horizontal track when in work, the positioning precision of the linear motor 101 is 1 mu m and the highest movement speed can reach 1m/s, the lifting platform is connected with a sprayer device and is used for driving the sprayer device to move along the vertical direction, the lifting platform can realize the up-and-down adjustment with the stroke of 10mm at most and the precision of 2 mu m, not only can adjust the clearance between the sprayer device and the reaction device to obtain better deposition effect, but also can increase the initial pressure for the sealing device to ensure the sealing degree, and simultaneously can set a first lifting platform 501 and a second lifting platform 503 which are symmetrically arranged on a first transfer block 502 and a second transfer block for ensuring the lifting stability of the sprayer device, and are respectively connected with the spray head device through the adjusting cushion block 304;

as shown in fig. 5 to 6, the showerhead device includes a sealing cavity 302, a sealing cavity bearing plate 301, a sealing cavity cover plate 303, a modular showerhead 306 and a showerhead bearing plate 307, the sealing cavity 302 is connected to the lift table through the sealing cavity bearing plate 301, the sealing cavity cover plate 303 is fixed above the sealing cavity 302 and exchanges gas with the outside through an air inlet 305 and an air outlet, the modular showerhead 306 is fixed below the sealing cavity 302 through the showerhead bearing plate 307 for ejecting precursor to complete atomic layer deposition;

the sealing device is positioned on one side of the horizontal track and comprises a sealing plate 201 and a sealing ring 202, the sealing plate 201 is fixed on the first moving rotor 102 and moves along the horizontal track under the driving of the first moving rotor 102, the sealing ring 202 is arranged on the sealing plate 201 and used for improving the air tightness of the sealing device, when atomic layer deposition is not carried out, the sealing device moves to the lower side of the spray head device and is in sealing fit with the spray head device, a high vacuum cavity is formed under the action of the first pneumatic angle valve 703, the second pneumatic angle valve 704 and the vacuum oil pump 706, the first pneumatic angle valve 703 and the second pneumatic angle valve 704 can be closed after the high vacuum cavity is formed, high vacuum degree is kept while impurities are discharged, high deposition environment quality is achieved, modularized sealing is achieved, and when the atomic layer deposition is carried out, the sealing device moves to the outer side of the spray head device;

the reaction device is located on the other side of the horizontal rail and used for placing a workpiece to be processed, when atomic layer deposition is carried out, the reaction device carries out reciprocating motion below the spray head device, meanwhile, a stable airflow field is formed under the cooperation of the normal pressure pump 705, environmental pollution is effectively isolated, therefore, space isolation atomic layer deposition is achieved, and when the atomic layer deposition is not carried out, the reaction device moves to the outer side of the spray head device.

Further, as shown in fig. 4, a preset number of precursor channels, cleaning isolation channels 601, exhaust channels 607 and environment isolation side channels 606 are provided on the modular showerhead 306, the precursor channels are used for injecting corresponding precursors, so that a half reaction occurs on the surface of the workpiece to be processed, and atomic layer deposition is performed, the cleaning isolation channels 601 are located at two sides of the precursor channels, and are used for cleaning the workpiece to be processed while isolating the precursors, and removing reaction products and residual reactants after the half reaction, the exhaust channels 607 are connected with an air outlet on the seal chamber cover plate 303, and are always kept in an air-extracting state during atomic layer deposition reaction, and a normal pressure pump 705 is used to ensure that gas is exhausted under normal pressure environment, so as to obtain a required flow field 606, the environment isolation side channels are provided around the modular showerhead 306, and are used for guiding gas in the environment, and avoiding gas inrush in the environment due to negative pressure of air extraction, the reaction area is polluted, after the flow is guided by the environment isolation flow measuring channel 606 with the width of 3mm, gas in the environment cannot flow into the environment, and meanwhile, a stable flow field is formed due to the flow guide, so that the environment is isolated while the lubrication reaction device moves.

The number of the precursor channels is preferably 4, which are respectively marked as a first precursor channel 602, a second precursor channel 603, a third precursor channel 604 and a fourth precursor channel 605, during the movement of the reaction apparatus in one period, the precursor injected from the first precursor channel 602 firstly contacts the workpiece to be processed and performs a first half reaction with the workpiece, and along with the movement of the reaction apparatus, the precursor injected from the second precursor channel 603 contacts the workpiece to be processed and performs a second half reaction with the workpiece to be processed, thereby generating an atomic layer film, the third precursor channel 604 can be introduced with a third precursor, the fourth precursor channel 605 is introduced with a fourth precursor, thereby forming another atomic layer film, so as to alternately perform atomic layer deposition of different materials, in addition, the third precursor channel 604 can also be introduced with a first precursor, the fourth precursor channel 605 is introduced with a second precursor, therefore, the same atomic layer film is formed, so that the atomic layer deposition is completed twice in one movement, and the working efficiency is effectively improved.

Further, as shown in fig. 7 to 8, the reaction apparatus includes a reaction area bearing plate 401, a heater 405, a heater bearing plate 403, a heat insulation plate 406 and a mover adapter plate 404, wherein the upper and lower surfaces of the reaction area bearing plate 401 are provided with grooves, and the flatness is less than 100 μm, wherein the upper groove is used for placing a workpiece to be processed, the lower groove is used for installing the heater 405, the thickness of the upper groove is preferably 0.5mm, so as to ensure that the temperature reaches the surface first, the temperature of other surfaces which do not need to be reacted is not too high, thereby reducing the thermal deformation, a sample of 300mm × 300mm can be placed at the maximum, in order to ensure the distance between the heater 405 and the reaction area bearing plate 401, the heater 405 and the heater fixing plate 402 are used for fixing, the heat insulation plate 406 is disposed between the heater 405 and the heater bearing plate 403, thereby avoiding the thermal deformation caused by local overheating, and simultaneously avoiding the influence of heating on the second moving mover 103, so that the heat can be propagated upwards as much as possible, in order to ensure excellent heat insulation performance, the heat insulation plate 406 preferably employs an bakelite material.

Furthermore, the gap is gradually reduced after the heater 405 is heated, so as to reduce the thermal stress influence caused by heating, thereby reducing the thermal deformation of the reaction device, the distance between the heater 405 and the reaction zone bearing plate 401 is preferably 300-500 μm, thereby effectively solving the thermal deformation problem of the wide substrate, meanwhile, the gap of 2mm is also kept between the heater 405 and the periphery, on one hand, the installation is convenient, on the other hand, the heater is prevented from contacting with the periphery or the top after thermal expansion, and at the moment, the heat is only required to be upwards spread, and the excessive thermal deformation cannot be caused by the heat spread to the periphery;

when performing atomic layer deposition, the distance between the sealed cavity carrier plate 301 and the reaction region carrier plate 401 is preferably 300 μm to 500 μm.

Furthermore, the eddy current sensor 505 is arranged on the sealed cavity bearing plate 301 and used for controlling the moving distance of the spray head device, the invention can realize high automation, other states except that a sample needs to be taken and placed manually can be realized automatically by a computer, and the invention has higher accuracy.

The operation of the modular sealed spatially-isolated ald thin film apparatus of the present invention is described in detail below.

As shown in fig. 9, after the ald reaction is finished, the first lifting platform 501 and the second lifting platform 503 drive the nozzle device to rise to a certain height, the sealing device is driven by the first moving mover 102 to move to a position right below the sealing cavity 302, then the first lifting platform 501 and the second lifting platform 503 drive the nozzle device to descend, cooperate with the sealing plate 201 and compress the sealing ring 202, then the second pneumatic angle valve 704 is closed, the first pneumatic angle valve 703 is opened, the inside of the sealed cavity 302 is vacuumized under the action of the vacuum oil pump 706, so that the whole reaction area is protected, moisture and other impurities in the air can not be attached to the reaction area, when atomic layer deposition is required, a relatively clean environment is maintained, the quality of film deposition is improved, and the closed needle valve 701 is used for manually adjusting pumping speed and is closed after pumping is finished, so that vacuum is better guaranteed;

as shown in fig. 10 to 11, when atomic layer deposition is required, air is filled into the sealing ring 302 through the air inlet 305, so that the internal and external atmospheric pressures tend to be balanced, the air filling is stopped when the vacuum gauge 702 reaches an index of the atmospheric pressure, then the first lifting table 501 and the second lifting table 503 act together to lift the nozzle device, then the first moving mover 102 drives the sealing device to completely exit from the lower side of the sealing cavity 302, the second moving mover 103 drives the reaction device to the lower side of the nozzle device, at this time, the eddy current sensor 505 measures the gap between the reaction region bearing plate 401 and the sealing cavity bearing plate 301, and adjusts to the optimal position of 400 μm, then the second moving mover 103 drives the reaction device to reciprocate below the nozzle device, and at the same time, the first pneumatic angle valve 703 is closed, the second pneumatic angle valve 704 is opened, and the exhaust port is communicated with the normal pressure pump 705 to form an air exhaust system.

It will be understood by those skilled in the art that the foregoing is merely a preferred embodiment of the present invention, and is not intended to limit the invention, and that any modification, equivalent replacement, or improvement made within the spirit and principle of the present invention should be included within the scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A modular sealed spatially isolated atomic layer deposition thin film apparatus, comprising a moving device, a shower head device, a sealing device and a reaction device, wherein:

the moving device comprises a first moving rotor (102), a second moving rotor (103), a horizontal track, a linear motor (101) and a lifting table, wherein the first moving rotor (102) and the second moving rotor (103) are installed on two sides of the horizontal track and are respectively connected with the sealing device and the reaction device, the linear motor (101) is driven to move along the horizontal track during working, and the lifting table is connected with the spray head device and is used for driving the spray head device to move along the vertical direction;

the spray head device comprises a sealed cavity (302), a sealed cavity bearing plate (301), a sealed cavity cover plate (303), a modular spray head (306) and a spray head bearing plate (307), wherein the sealed cavity (302) is connected with the lifting platform through the sealed cavity bearing plate (301), the sealed cavity cover plate (303) is fixed above the sealed cavity (302) and exchanges gas with the outside through an arranged gas inlet (305) and a gas outlet (308), and the modular spray head (306) is fixed below the sealed cavity (302) through the spray head bearing plate (307) and is used for spraying a precursor so as to finish deposition;

2. The modular sealed spatially-isolated ald thin film deposition apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the modular showerhead (306) is provided with a predetermined number of precursor channels for injecting a corresponding precursor to perform a half reaction on the surface of the workpiece to be processed for ald deposition, cleaning isolation channels (601) located at both sides of the precursor channels for isolating the precursor and cleaning the workpiece to be processed, an exhaust channel (607) connected to the gas outlet (308) of the seal chamber cover plate (303), and environment isolation side channels (606) located at the periphery of the modular showerhead (306) for guiding the gas in the environment.

3. The modular sealed spatially-isolated atomic layer deposition thin film apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the number of precursor channels is preferably 4.

4. The modular sealed spatially-isolated ald thin film apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said sealing device comprises a sealing plate (201) and a sealing ring (202), said sealing plate (201) being fixed to said first moving mover (102) and being moved along said horizontal rail by said first moving mover (102), said sealing ring (202) being disposed on said sealing plate (201) for improving the air-tightness of said sealing device.

5. The modular sealed spatially-isolated ALD thin film apparatus of claim 1, wherein the reaction device comprises a reaction zone support plate (401), a heater (405), a heater support plate (403), a heat shield (406), and a mover adapter plate (404), wherein the upper and lower surfaces of the reaction zone support plate (401) are provided with grooves, the upper groove is used for placing the workpiece to be processed, the lower groove is used for installing the heater (405), the heater (405) is fixed by the heater support plate (403) in order to ensure the distance between the heater (405) and the reaction zone support plate (401), the heat shield (406) is disposed between the heater (405) and the heater support plate (403) to prevent thermal deformation due to local overheating, and the mover adapter plate (404) is fixed to the back of the heater support plate (403), for connection with the second moving mover (103).

6. The modular sealed spatially-isolated atomic layer deposition thin film apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the spacing between the heater (405) and the reaction zone carrier plate (401) is preferably 300 μm to 500 μm, thereby reducing thermal deformation of the reaction zone carrier plate (401).

7. The modular sealed spatially isolated atomic layer deposition thin film deposition apparatus according to claim 5 or 6, wherein the separation distance between the sealed cavity carrier plate (301) and the reaction zone carrier plate (401) is preferably 300 μm to 500 μm when performing atomic layer deposition.

8. The modular sealed spatially isolated atomic layer deposition thin film device according to claim 1, wherein an eddy current sensor (505) is arranged on the sealed chamber carrier plate (301) for controlling the movement distance of the showerhead arrangement.