CN111826638A - Gas distribution device and method, atomic layer deposition equipment - Google Patents

Gas distribution device and method, atomic layer deposition equipment Download PDF

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Publication number
CN111826638A
CN111826638A CN202010710407.9A CN202010710407A CN111826638A CN 111826638 A CN111826638 A CN 111826638A CN 202010710407 A CN202010710407 A CN 202010710407A CN 111826638 A CN111826638 A CN 111826638A
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gas
output
pressure difference
diameter
path
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CN111826638B (en
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纪红
张文强
兰云峰
秦海丰
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Beijing Naura Microelectronics Equipment Co Ltd
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Beijing Naura Microelectronics Equipment Co Ltd
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    • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
    • C23—COATING METALLIC MATERIAL; COATING MATERIAL WITH METALLIC MATERIAL; CHEMICAL SURFACE TREATMENT; DIFFUSION TREATMENT OF METALLIC MATERIAL; COATING BY VACUUM EVAPORATION, BY SPUTTERING, BY ION IMPLANTATION OR BY CHEMICAL VAPOUR DEPOSITION, IN GENERAL; INHIBITING CORROSION OF METALLIC MATERIAL OR INCRUSTATION IN GENERAL
    • C23C—COATING METALLIC MATERIAL; COATING MATERIAL WITH METALLIC MATERIAL; SURFACE TREATMENT OF METALLIC MATERIAL BY DIFFUSION INTO THE SURFACE, BY CHEMICAL CONVERSION OR SUBSTITUTION; COATING BY VACUUM EVAPORATION, BY SPUTTERING, BY ION IMPLANTATION OR BY CHEMICAL VAPOUR DEPOSITION, IN GENERAL
    • C23C16/00—Chemical coating by decomposition of gaseous compounds, without leaving reaction products of surface material in the coating, i.e. chemical vapour deposition [CVD] processes
    • C23C16/44—Chemical coating by decomposition of gaseous compounds, without leaving reaction products of surface material in the coating, i.e. chemical vapour deposition [CVD] processes characterised by the method of coating
    • C23C16/455—Chemical coating by decomposition of gaseous compounds, without leaving reaction products of surface material in the coating, i.e. chemical vapour deposition [CVD] processes characterised by the method of coating characterised by the method used for introducing gases into reaction chamber or for modifying gas flows in reaction chamber
    • C23C16/45523—Pulsed gas flow or change of composition over time
    • C23C16/45525—Atomic layer deposition [ALD]
    • C23C16/45544—Atomic layer deposition [ALD] characterized by the apparatus
    • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
    • C23—COATING METALLIC MATERIAL; COATING MATERIAL WITH METALLIC MATERIAL; CHEMICAL SURFACE TREATMENT; DIFFUSION TREATMENT OF METALLIC MATERIAL; COATING BY VACUUM EVAPORATION, BY SPUTTERING, BY ION IMPLANTATION OR BY CHEMICAL VAPOUR DEPOSITION, IN GENERAL; INHIBITING CORROSION OF METALLIC MATERIAL OR INCRUSTATION IN GENERAL
    • C23C—COATING METALLIC MATERIAL; COATING MATERIAL WITH METALLIC MATERIAL; SURFACE TREATMENT OF METALLIC MATERIAL BY DIFFUSION INTO THE SURFACE, BY CHEMICAL CONVERSION OR SUBSTITUTION; COATING BY VACUUM EVAPORATION, BY SPUTTERING, BY ION IMPLANTATION OR BY CHEMICAL VAPOUR DEPOSITION, IN GENERAL
    • C23C16/00—Chemical coating by decomposition of gaseous compounds, without leaving reaction products of surface material in the coating, i.e. chemical vapour deposition [CVD] processes
    • C23C16/44—Chemical coating by decomposition of gaseous compounds, without leaving reaction products of surface material in the coating, i.e. chemical vapour deposition [CVD] processes characterised by the method of coating
    • C23C16/52—Controlling or regulating the coating process

Abstract

The embodiment of the invention provides a gas distribution device and a method as well as atomic layer deposition equipment, wherein the gas distribution device comprises N gas inlet gas circuits, the gas inlet end of each gas inlet gas circuit is connected with the output end of a gas supply device, and the gas outlet end of each gas inlet gas circuit is respectively connected with the gas inlet of each process chamber; each air inlet gas circuit is provided with an adjustable throttling unit and a pressure difference detection unit, wherein the pressure difference detection unit is used for detecting the pressure difference at two ends of the adjustable throttling unit in the air inlet gas circuit; the adjustable throttling unit is used for adjusting the diameter of a channel for the process gas to pass through, so that the gas flow value of the process gas corresponding to the pressure difference and the channel diameter is equal to one N times of the gas output value of the process gas output by the gas supply device. According to the embodiment of the invention, the process gas can be supplied to the N process chambers by one gas supply device, the equipment cost is reduced, and the gas flow rate flowing into each process chamber can be ensured to be the same.

Description

Gas distribution device and method, atomic layer deposition equipment
Technical Field
The invention relates to the technical field of semiconductor processing, in particular to a gas distribution device and method and atomic layer deposition equipment.
Background
In an Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) oxide process, an oxygen source is ozone, which can be provided by an ozone generator connected to an ALD process chamber through a pipeline to supply ozone into the process chamber.
At present, under the requirement of large capacity, in the process of manufacturing, one atomic layer deposition apparatus often needs to configure a plurality of identical process chambers to run the same process, so as to meet the matching of the capacity. However, current ozone generators can only dock with one process chamber because:
firstly, the ozone generator is expensive, which results in higher equipment cost;
secondly, when one ozone generator is butted with a plurality of process chambers, the ozone amount flowing into each process chamber in the same time cannot be guaranteed to be equal.
Disclosure of Invention
The embodiment of the invention aims to at least solve one of the technical problems in the prior art, and provides a gas distribution device and method and atomic layer deposition equipment, which not only can realize that one gas supply device supplies process gases to N process chambers, reduce the equipment cost, but also can ensure that the flow rates of the gases flowing into the process chambers are the same.
In order to achieve the above object, an embodiment of the present invention provides a gas distribution device, configured to distribute process gases output by a gas supply device into N process chambers, where N is an integer greater than 1, where the gas distribution device includes N gas inlet paths, a gas inlet end of each gas inlet path is connected to an output end of the gas supply device, and a gas outlet end of each gas inlet path is connected to a gas inlet of each process chamber; and each air inlet path is provided with an adjustable throttling unit and a pressure difference detection unit, wherein,
the pressure difference detection unit is used for detecting the pressure difference between two ends of the adjustable throttling unit in the air inlet gas circuit;
the adjustable throttling unit is used for adjusting the diameter of a channel for the process gas to pass through, so that the gas flow value of the process gas corresponding to the pressure difference and the channel diameter is equal to one N of the gas output value of the process gas output by the gas supply device.
Optionally, the adjustable throttle unit is configured to adjust the passage diameter according to a corresponding relationship between the pressure difference, the passage diameter and the gas flow value, where the corresponding relationship between the pressure difference, the passage diameter and the gas flow value satisfies the following formula:
Figure BDA0002596329190000021
wherein Q is the gas flow value; a is a constant; c is an outflow coefficient; beta is the ratio of the diameter of the channel to the inner diameter of the air inlet path; d is the channel diameter; is the coefficient of expansibility; Δ P is the pressure differential; ρ is the fluid density of the channel.
Optionally, the adjustable throttle unit comprises an adjustable throttle element having a throttle hole for passing the process gas, and the diameter of the throttle hole is set to the passage diameter.
Optionally, the pressure difference detection unit includes two pressure gauges, and the two pressure gauges are used for detecting pressures at two ends of the adjustable throttling unit in the air inlet path respectively, so as to obtain the pressure difference.
Optionally, the gas distribution device further comprises N exhaust bypasses and a gas exhaust device, wherein,
the air inlet end of each exhaust bypass is connected with each air inlet gas path, and the connection point of the air inlet end of each exhaust bypass and the air inlet gas path is positioned between the adjustable throttling unit and the process chamber; the air outlet end of each exhaust bypass is connected with the air extracting device;
a first on-off valve is arranged on each air inlet path; each of the exhaust bypasses is provided with a second shut-off valve.
Optionally, the gas distribution device further includes a first main exhaust path, a second main exhaust path, and a buffer cavity, wherein an input end of the first main exhaust path is connected to an output end of each exhaust bypass, and an output end of the first main exhaust path is connected to an input end of the buffer cavity; the output end of the buffer cavity is connected with the input end of the second main exhaust path; the output end of the second main exhaust path is connected with the air extracting device.
Optionally, the gas distribution device further includes a flow regulating valve disposed on the second main exhaust path.
Optionally, the gas distribution device further includes a pressure detection unit and a control unit, wherein the pressure detection unit is configured to detect a gas pressure in the buffer cavity; the control unit is used for controlling the opening of the flow regulating valve according to the detected gas pressure so as to enable the gas pressure in the buffer cavity to be equal to the gas pressure in the process chamber.
Optionally, the gas supply device includes an ozone generator, an oxygen input pipeline, a nitrogen input pipeline, and an output pipeline, wherein the oxygen input pipeline and the nitrogen input pipeline are used for respectively inputting oxygen and nitrogen to the ozone generator;
one end of the output pipeline is connected with the output end of the ozone generator, and the input end of the output pipeline is connected with the air inlet ends of the N air inlet paths and used for conveying mixed gas which is output by the ozone generator and is generated by the reaction of the oxygen and the nitrogen;
the adjustable throttling unit is used for adjusting the diameter of a channel for the mixed gas to pass through so that the gas flow value of the ozone in the mixed gas corresponding to the pressure difference and the diameter of the channel is equal to one N of the gas output value of the ozone in the mixed gas output by the ozone generator.
As another technical solution, an embodiment of the present invention further provides an atomic layer deposition apparatus, including N process chambers and a gas supply device, and further including the gas distribution device provided in the embodiment of the present invention, where the gas distribution device is configured to distribute the process gas output by the gas supply device to the N process chambers.
As another technical solution, an embodiment of the present invention further provides a gas distribution method, where the gas distribution device provided in the embodiment of the present invention is used to distribute process gases output by the gas supply device into N process chambers, and the gas distribution method includes the following steps:
s1, opening the second on-off valves on the gas supply device and each exhaust bypass to enable the process gas output by the gas supply device to flow into the air exhaust device;
s2, detecting the pressure difference between two ends of the adjustable throttling unit in the air inlet path by using the pressure difference detection unit;
s3, controlling the adjustable throttling unit to adjust the diameter of a channel for the process gas to pass through according to the pressure difference and the corresponding relation among the pressure difference, the channel diameter and the gas flow value, so that the gas flow value of the process gas corresponding to the pressure difference and the channel diameter is equal to one N of the gas output value of the process gas output by the gas supply device;
and S4, opening the first on-off valve and closing the second on-off valve, so that the process gas output by the gas supply device flows into the process chambers through the gas inlet paths respectively.
The embodiment of the invention has the following beneficial effects:
according to the technical scheme of the gas distribution device and the gas distribution method, the adjustable throttling unit and the pressure difference detection unit are arranged on each gas inlet circuit, different pressure differences correspond to one channel diameter under the condition of the same gas flow value according to the Bernoulli hydrodynamics principle, based on the fact that the pressure difference detection unit detects the pressure difference at two ends of the adjustable throttling unit in the gas inlet circuit, the channel diameter can be obtained through calculation, the gas flow value of the process gas corresponding to the channel diameter and the pressure difference is equal to one N of the gas output value of the process gas output by the gas supply device, namely, the gas flow of the process gas output by the gas supply device is uniformly distributed to each gas inlet circuit, and therefore the gas flow flowing into each process chamber can be guaranteed to be the same. In addition, the embodiment of the invention can realize that one gas supply device supplies the process gas to the N process chambers, thereby reducing the equipment cost.
According to the atomic layer deposition equipment provided by the embodiment of the invention, by adopting the gas distribution device provided by the embodiment of the invention, not only can one gas supply device supply process gas to N process chambers be realized, the equipment cost is reduced, but also the gas flow flowing into each process chamber can be ensured to be the same.
Drawings
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a gas distribution apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a gas distribution apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention;
fig. 3 is a flow chart of a gas distribution method according to a third embodiment of the present invention.
Detailed Description
In order to make those skilled in the art better understand the technical solution of the present invention, a gas distribution apparatus and a method, and an atomic layer deposition apparatus provided by the embodiments of the present invention are described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.
First embodiment
Referring to fig. 1, the gas distribution device of the present embodiment is configured to distribute the process gas output by the gas supply device 2 into N process chambers, where N is an integer greater than 1. In the present embodiment, taking N-3 as an example, the three process chambers are process chambers 1a, 1b and 1c, respectively. The gas supply means 2 is one for supplying the process gases to the three process chambers 1a, 1b and 1c simultaneously through the gas distribution means.
The gas supply device 2 includes, for example, ozoneThe generator, the oxygen input pipeline 21, the nitrogen input pipeline 22 and the output pipeline 25, and on-off valves 23, 24 and 26 are respectively arranged on the oxygen input pipeline 21, the nitrogen input pipeline 22 and the output pipeline 25. An oxygen inlet line 21 and a nitrogen inlet line 22 are provided for separately introducing oxygen (O)2) And nitrogen (N)2) Feeding into the chamber of an ozone generator; the output line 25 is used for outputting a mixed gas (containing O) generated by the reaction of oxygen and nitrogen2、O3And nitroxide). The on-off valves 23, 24 and 26 may be manual on-off valves or may be automatic on-off valves.
According to the setting rule of the ozone generator, the gas input flow rate of oxygen gas to be input into the ozone generator via the oxygen input line 21 is set to a fixed value, for example, 6 slm; assuming that the ratio of oxygen to nitrogen is 10000:1, the gas input flow rate of nitrogen to be input into the ozone generator through the nitrogen input line 22 is set to 0.6sccm, and it is understood that the total gas flow rate of oxygen and nitrogen to be input into the ozone generator is a fixed value, and the chamber pressure of the ozone generator is fixed, and therefore, the gas flow rate output value of ozone in the mixed gas output from the ozone generator is a constant value. In addition, an ozone concentration detector is disposed in the chamber of the ozone generator, and the ozone concentration detector is capable of detecting the concentration of ozone in the chamber, and adjusting the power of the power supply of the ozone generator based on the detected concentration value of ozone and a preset ozone concentration set value, so that the concentration of ozone contained in the mixed gas output from the ozone generator is stabilized at the ozone concentration set value.
In this embodiment, the gas distribution device includes N gas inlet paths, where N is 3, and three gas inlet paths are 3a, 3b, and 3c, respectively, and gas inlet ends of the three gas inlet paths 3a, 3b, and 3c are all connected to an output end of the gas supply device 2, specifically, to an output end of the output pipeline 25; the air outlet ends of the three air inlet air paths 3a, 3b and 3c are respectively connected with the air inlets of the three process chambers 1a, 1b and 1 c.
Because the ozone generator has the function of adjusting the concentration of ozone, so that the concentration of ozone in the output mixed gas is a fixed value, the mixed gas in the output pipeline 25 is uniformly distributed into the three gas inlet gas circuits 3a, 3b and 3c, namely, the gas flow value of the mixed gas in the output pipeline 25 is equal to one N of the gas output value of the mixed gas output by the ozone generator, the flow of the mixed gas respectively conveyed to the three process chambers 1a, 1b and 1c can be equal, and the gas flow flowing into the three process chambers 1a, 1b and 1c can be ensured to be the same.
In the related art, when one ozone generator is docked with N process chambers, the gas flow of the mixed gas in each gas inlet path cannot be adjusted using a Mass Flow Controller (MFC) because: the mass flow controller is required to obtain the percentage of ozone in the mixed gas when controlling the gas flow rate of the mixed gas flowing through, but the mass flow controller is required to obtain various gases (O) contained in the mixed gas output by the ozone generator2、O3And oxynitride), and different processes have different preset values of ozone concentration according to different process requirements, which all result in that the mass flow controller cannot obtain an exact ozone percentage, and thus the flow of the process gas input into each process chamber cannot be accurately controlled, and the process gas (ozone amount) flowing into each process chamber in the same time cannot be guaranteed to be equal.
In order to solve the above problems, in this embodiment, each air intake path is provided with an adjustable throttling unit and a differential pressure detection unit, where the differential pressure detection unit is used to detect a differential pressure between two ends of the adjustable throttling unit in the air intake path; the adjustable throttling unit is used for adjusting the diameter of a channel for the process gas to pass through, so that the gas flow value of the process gas corresponding to the pressure difference and the channel diameter is equal to one N times of the gas output value of the process gas output by the gas supply device.
The gas supply device is not limited to the ozone generator, and may be any other process gas supply source, and the flow rate value of the process gas outputted from the gas supply device, which does not require the raw gas before the reaction, is equal to the gas output value of the process gas outputted from the gas supply device.
Optionally, the pressure difference may be calculated by the control unit, and the adjustable throttling unit is automatically controlled to adjust the diameter of the passage through which the process gas passes according to the calculation result. Of course, in practical application, the method can also be realized by adopting manual calculation and manual adjustment.
Specifically, in the present embodiment, the adjustable throttle unit includes an adjustable throttle element 31, and the adjustable throttle element 31 has an orifice through which the process gas passes, and the diameter of the orifice is set to the above-described passage diameter through which the process gas passes. The adjustable restriction element 31 is capable of adjusting the size of the diameter of the orifice. The differential pressure detecting unit includes two pressure gauges (32a, 32b), and the two pressure gauges (32a, 32b) are respectively located at the front end and the rear end of the adjustable throttling element 31, and are used for respectively detecting the front end pressure and the rear end pressure of the adjustable throttling element 31. The pressure difference can be obtained based on the detected front and rear end pressures of the adjustable restriction element 31.
According to the Bernoulli hydrodynamics principle, under the condition of the same gas flow value, different pressure differences correspond to one channel diameter. The gas flow rate value here is the gas flow rate value of the process gas in each gas inlet path, and assuming that the gas flow rate value is a fixed value Q, when the channel diameter d is d1, the pressure difference Δ P is Δ P1; when the channel diameter d is d2, the pressure difference Δ P is Δ P2; it can be derived that, when the passage diameter d is di, the pressure difference Δ P is Δ Pi, i is 1,2, i, i.e. a set of data (di, Δ Pi) comprising the passage diameter and the pressure difference corresponds to the gas flow value Q for the same gas flow value Q, the gas flow in the inlet circuit necessarily being equal to the gas flow value Q as long as the passage diameter of the adjustable restriction element 31 on the inlet circuit and the pressure difference across it are values of the set of data.
Based on this, the two pressure gauges on each gas inlet circuit are used for detecting the pressure difference between the two ends of the adjustable throttling element 31 in the gas inlet circuit, so that the diameter of a channel corresponding to the pressure difference can be calculated, and the gas flow value of the process gas corresponding to the diameter of the channel and the pressure difference is equal to one N times of the gas output value of the process gas output by the gas supply device. Taking the gas inlet path 3a as an example, two pressure gauges (32a, 32b) on the gas inlet path 3a are used to detect the pressure difference between two ends of the adjustable throttling element 31 in the gas inlet path 3a, so as to calculate and obtain a channel diameter corresponding to the pressure difference, wherein the gas flow value of the process gas in the gas inlet path 3a corresponding to the channel diameter and the pressure difference is equal to one-N of the gas output value. The gas flow rate values of the respective intake paths 3b and 3c are obtained in the same manner as the intake path 3a described above.
Specifically, the gas flow rate value of the process gas in each of the gas inlet paths is set in advance, and in the case of an ozone generator, if the flow rate value of oxygen gas to be supplied to the ozone generator through the oxygen gas supply line 21 is 6slm and the ratio of oxygen gas to nitrogen gas is 10000:1, the flow rate value of nitrogen gas to be supplied to the ozone generator through the nitrogen gas supply line 22 is set to 0.6sccm, and under the condition that the gas output value of the mixed gas to be output from the ozone generator is assumed to be Q(6,0.6)The gas flow rate value of the mixed gas in each gas inlet path is preset to Q(6,0.6)one-N times lower.
For each air inlet path, the pressure difference between the two ends of the adjustable throttling element 31 in the air inlet path is detected to be Q(6,0.6)Finds the channel diameter corresponding to the pressure difference in a set of data corresponding to the N-th of the pressure difference, and then adjusts the channel diameter to be equal to the value corresponding to the pressure difference using the adjustable orifice member 31. Therefore, the gas flow of the process gas output by the gas supply device 2 is uniformly distributed to each gas inlet path, and the gas flow flowing into each process chamber can be ensured to be the same.
In some embodiments, the adjustable throttling unit (e.g., the adjustable throttling element 31) is configured to adjust the diameter of the passage according to a correspondence of the pressure difference, the diameter of the passage, and the gas flow value, wherein the correspondence of the pressure difference, the diameter of the passage, and the gas flow value satisfies the following formula:
Figure BDA0002596329190000081
wherein Q is a gas flow value; a is a constant; c is an outflow coefficient; beta is the ratio of the diameter of the channel to the inner diameter of the air inlet path; d is the diameter of the channel; is the coefficient of expansibility; Δ P is the pressure difference; ρ is the fluid density of the channel.
According to the above equation, a d- Δ P curve can be plotted using a set of data (di, Δ Pi) corresponding to a gas flow value Q (e.g., 2slm), the values in the data (di, Δ Pi) all lying on the d- Δ P curve. When the adjustable throttling element 31 is used for adjusting the diameter of the channel, the gas flow value in each gas inlet path can be ensured to be equal to Q only by ensuring that the diameter of the channel of the adjustable throttling element 31 and the pressure difference at the two ends of the channel are on the d-delta P curve.
It should be noted that, for the adjustable throttling unit and the differential pressure detecting unit, the embodiment of the present invention is not limited to the adjustable throttling element 31 and the two pressure gauges (32a, 32b) as described above, as long as the adjustment of the passage diameter and the detection of the differential pressure can be achieved respectively.
In summary, the gas distribution device provided in the embodiments of the present invention not only can realize that one gas supply device supplies process gases to N process chambers, thereby reducing the equipment cost, but also can ensure that the gas flows flowing into the process chambers are the same.
Second embodiment
Referring to fig. 2, the gas distribution device provided in this embodiment is an extension of the first embodiment, that is, N exhaust bypasses and gas exhaust devices are additionally provided to selectively connect each gas inlet path with the process chamber or the gas exhaust device, so that the gas distribution device can be applied to process equipment such as atomic layer deposition equipment which requires multiple process gases to be alternately introduced into the process chamber.
Specifically, the gas distribution device provided in this embodiment also includes N gas inlet paths, where for example, N is 3, three gas inlet paths are respectively 3a, 3b, and 3c, and the gas inlet ends of the three gas inlet paths 3a, 3b, and 3c are all connected to the output end of the gas supply device 2, specifically, to the output end of the output pipeline 25; the air outlet ends of the three air inlet air paths 3a, 3b and 3c are respectively connected with the air inlets of the three process chambers 1a, 1b and 1 c.
On this basis, the gas distribution device provided in this embodiment further includes N exhaust bypasses and an air extraction device 6, where three exhaust bypasses are provided corresponding to the air intake passages, and are respectively 4a, 4b, and 4c, the air intake end of each exhaust bypass is connected to each air intake passage, and the connection point of the air intake end of each exhaust bypass and the corresponding air intake passage is located between the adjustable throttling element 31 and the process chamber; the air outlet end of each exhaust bypass is connected with an air extractor 6; and, all be provided with first on-off valve on each air inlet circuit, in this embodiment, this first on-off valve is two, is first on-off valve 33a and 33b respectively, and the two is located the front end of pressure gauge 32a and the rear end of pressure gauge 32b respectively for the break-make of control air inlet circuit. Each exhaust bypass is provided with a second on-off valve 41 for controlling the on-off of the exhaust gas path. The first on-off valve and the second on-off valve are, for example, pneumatic valves.
In the atomic layer deposition process, the gas distribution device can be used to supply one precursor (e.g. ozone) to N process chambers at the same time, and the gas distribution device supplying other precursors are required to be alternately and cyclically introduced into the process chambers, and when other precursors are introduced into the process chambers, the precursors supplied by the gas distribution device can be introduced into the gas exhaust device 6 by using the exhaust bypass.
In some embodiments, in order to ensure the stability of the pressure at the rear end of the adjustable throttle unit, as shown in fig. 2, the gas distribution device further includes a first main exhaust path 51, a second main exhaust path 52 and a buffer chamber 53, wherein an input end of the first main exhaust path 51 is connected to an output end of each exhaust bypass, and an output end of the first main exhaust path 51 is connected to an input end of the buffer chamber 53; the output end of the buffer cavity 53 is connected with the input end of the second main exhaust path 52; the output of the second main exhaust path 52 is connected to the air extraction device 6. The buffer chamber 53 is used for buffering the process gas to ensure the stability of the rear end pressure of the adjustable throttling unit.
In some embodiments, the gas distribution device further comprises a flow regulating valve 54 disposed on the second main exhaust gas path 52. The flow regulating valve 54 is used for regulating the flow of the gas output from the buffer cavity 53 to the second main exhaust path 52 by controlling the opening degree thereof, so as to control the gas pressure of the buffer cavity 53, so that the gas pressure can be kept equal to the gas pressure in the process chamber. The flow rate adjustment valve 54 is, for example, a butterfly valve.
In some embodiments, the gas distribution apparatus further includes a pressure detection unit 55 and a control unit (not shown), the pressure detection unit 55 being configured to detect the gas pressure in the buffer chamber 53; the control unit is used for controlling the opening degree of the flow regulating valve 54 according to the detected gas pressure so that the gas pressure in the buffer cavity 53 is equal to the gas pressure in the process chamber, thereby ensuring the stability of the back end pressure of the adjustable throttling unit.
In summary, in the gas distribution device provided in each of the above embodiments of the present invention, each of the gas inlet paths is provided with an adjustable throttling unit and a pressure difference detecting unit, and according to the bernoulli hydrodynamics principle, under the condition of the same gas flow value, different pressure differences correspond to one channel diameter, based on which, the pressure difference detecting unit detects the pressure difference at two ends of the adjustable throttling unit in the gas inlet path, one channel diameter can be obtained by calculation, and the gas flow value of the process gas corresponding to the channel diameter and the pressure difference is equal to one nth of the gas output value of the process gas output by the gas supply device, that is, the gas flow of the process gas output by the gas supply device is uniformly distributed to each of the gas inlet paths, so that the gas flow flowing into each of the process chambers can be ensured to be the same. In addition, the embodiment of the invention can realize that one gas supply device supplies the process gas to the N process chambers, thereby reducing the equipment cost.
As another technical solution, an embodiment of the present invention further provides an atomic layer deposition apparatus, including N process chambers and a gas supply device, and the gas distribution device provided in the above embodiments of the present invention, which is used for distributing the process gas output by the gas supply device to the N process chambers.
According to the atomic layer deposition equipment provided by the embodiment of the invention, by adopting the gas distribution device provided by the embodiment of the invention, not only can one gas supply device supply process gas to N process chambers be realized, the equipment cost is reduced, but also the gas flow flowing into each process chamber can be ensured to be the same.
As another technical solution, referring to fig. 3, an embodiment of the present invention further provides a gas distribution method, which distributes the process gas output by the gas supply device into N process chambers by using the gas distribution device (as shown in fig. 2) provided in the second embodiment. Taking N-3 as an example, the gas distribution method includes the following steps:
s1, opening second on-off valves 41 on the gas supply device and each exhaust bypass to make the process gas output by the gas supply device 2 flow into the air exhaust device 6;
s2, detecting the pressure difference between two ends of the adjustable throttling unit (such as the adjustable throttling element 31) in the air inlet path by using a pressure difference detection unit (such as two pressure gauges (32a, 32 b));
in the course of performing the above steps S1 and S2, the process gas is flowed into the pumping device 6 instead of flowing into the process chamber, so as to avoid the process gas flowing into the process chamber before the gas flow adjustment is completed to react.
S3, controlling the adjustable throttling unit to adjust the diameter of the channel for the process gas to pass through according to the pressure difference and the corresponding relation among the pressure difference, the diameter of the channel and the gas flow value, so that the gas flow value of the process gas corresponding to the pressure difference and the diameter of the channel is equal to a preset gas flow value, wherein the preset gas flow value is a gas flow output value of the process gas of the gas supply device corresponding to one N times of the gas flow input value of the process gas of the gas supply device;
s4, the first on-off valves (33a and 33b) are opened, and the second on-off valve 41 is closed, so that the process gas outputted from the gas supply device flows into the process chambers through the gas inlet paths, respectively.
After the flow rate adjustment is completed in the step S3, it may be ensured that the gas flow rates in the gas inlet paths are the same, at this time, step S4 may be performed, that is, the process gas starts to be introduced into the process chambers to perform the process, and at the same time, the gas flow rates flowing into the process chambers are the same.
According to the atomic layer deposition method provided by the embodiment of the invention, by adopting the gas distribution device provided by the embodiment of the invention, not only can one gas supply device supply process gas to N process chambers be realized, the equipment cost is reduced, but also the gas flow flowing into each process chamber can be ensured to be the same.
It will be understood that the above embodiments are merely exemplary embodiments taken to illustrate the principles of the present invention, which is not limited thereto. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and improvements can be made without departing from the spirit and substance of the invention, and these modifications and improvements are also considered to be within the scope of the invention.

Claims (11)

1. A gas distribution device is used for distributing process gas output by a gas supply device to N process chambers, wherein N is an integer greater than 1, and the gas distribution device is characterized by comprising N gas inlet gas circuits, wherein the gas inlet end of each gas inlet gas circuit is connected with the output end of the gas supply device, and the gas outlet end of each gas inlet gas circuit is connected with the gas inlet of each process chamber; and each air inlet path is provided with an adjustable throttling unit and a pressure difference detection unit, wherein,
the pressure difference detection unit is used for detecting the pressure difference between two ends of the adjustable throttling unit in the air inlet gas circuit;
the adjustable throttling unit is used for adjusting the diameter of a channel for the process gas to pass through, so that the gas flow value of the process gas corresponding to the pressure difference and the channel diameter is equal to one N of the gas output value of the process gas output by the gas supply device.
2. The gas distribution device of claim 1, wherein the adjustable flow restriction unit is configured to adjust the passage diameter based on a correspondence of the pressure difference, the passage diameter, and the gas flow value, wherein the correspondence of the pressure difference, the passage diameter, and the gas flow value satisfies the following equation:
Figure FDA0002596329180000011
wherein Q is the gas flow value; a is a constant; c is an outflow coefficient; beta is the ratio of the diameter of the channel to the inner diameter of the air inlet path; d is the channel diameter; is the coefficient of expansibility; Δ P is the pressure differential; ρ is the fluid density of the channel.
3. The gas distribution device according to claim 1, wherein the adjustable throttling unit comprises an adjustable throttling element having a throttling hole for the process gas to pass through, the diameter of the throttling hole being set to the passage diameter.
4. The gas distribution device according to claim 1, wherein the pressure difference detection unit comprises two pressure gauges for detecting pressures in the gas inlet path at both ends of the adjustable throttle unit, respectively, to obtain the pressure difference.
5. The gas distribution device according to any of claims 1 to 4, further comprising N exhaust bypasses and gas extraction means, wherein,
the air inlet end of each exhaust bypass is connected with each air inlet gas path, and the connection point of the air inlet end of each exhaust bypass and the air inlet gas path is positioned between the adjustable throttling unit and the process chamber; the air outlet end of each exhaust bypass is connected with the air extracting device;
a first on-off valve is arranged on each air inlet path; each of the exhaust bypasses is provided with a second shut-off valve.
6. The gas distribution device according to claim 5, further comprising a first main exhaust gas path, a second main exhaust gas path and a buffer chamber, wherein an input end of the first main exhaust gas path is connected to an output end of each of the exhaust gas bypasses, and an output end of the first main exhaust gas path is connected to an input end of the buffer chamber; the output end of the buffer cavity is connected with the input end of the second main exhaust path; the output end of the second main exhaust path is connected with the air extracting device.
7. The gas distribution device according to claim 6, further comprising a flow regulating valve disposed on the second main exhaust gas path.
8. The gas distribution device according to claim 7, further comprising a pressure detection unit and a control unit, wherein the pressure detection unit is configured to detect a gas pressure in the buffer chamber; the control unit is used for controlling the opening of the flow regulating valve according to the detected gas pressure so as to enable the gas pressure in the buffer cavity to be equal to the gas pressure in the process chamber.
9. The gas distribution device of claim 1, wherein the gas supply device comprises an ozone generator, an oxygen input line and a nitrogen input line and an output line, wherein the oxygen input line and the nitrogen input line are for inputting oxygen and nitrogen, respectively, to the ozone generator;
one end of the output pipeline is connected with the output end of the ozone generator, and the input end of the output pipeline is connected with the air inlet ends of the N air inlet paths and used for conveying mixed gas which is output by the ozone generator and is generated by the reaction of the oxygen and the nitrogen;
the adjustable throttling unit is used for adjusting the diameter of a channel for the mixed gas to pass through so that the gas flow value of the ozone in the mixed gas corresponding to the pressure difference and the diameter of the channel is equal to one N of the gas output value of the ozone in the mixed gas output by the ozone generator.
10. An atomic layer deposition apparatus comprising N process chambers and a gas supply device, further comprising the gas distribution device of any one of claims 1-9, wherein the gas distribution device is configured to distribute the process gas output by the gas supply device to the N process chambers.
11. A gas distribution method for distributing process gas outputted from the gas supply device to N process chambers by using the gas distribution device of any one of claims 5 to 8, the gas distribution method comprising the steps of:
s1, opening the second on-off valves on the gas supply device and each exhaust bypass to enable the process gas output by the gas supply device to flow into the air exhaust device;
s2, detecting the pressure difference between two ends of the adjustable throttling unit in the air inlet path by using the pressure difference detection unit;
s3, controlling the adjustable throttling unit to adjust the diameter of a channel for the process gas to pass through according to the pressure difference and the corresponding relation among the pressure difference, the channel diameter and the gas flow value, so that the gas flow value of the process gas corresponding to the pressure difference and the channel diameter is equal to one N of the gas output value of the process gas output by the gas supply device;
and S4, opening the first on-off valve and closing the second on-off valve, so that the process gas output by the gas supply device flows into each process chamber through each gas inlet path.
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CN114481311A (en) * 2021-12-24 2022-05-13 北京北方华创微电子装备有限公司 Gas inlet module of semiconductor process equipment and semiconductor process equipment

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Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
CN110797278A (en) * 2018-08-01 2020-02-14 北京北方华创微电子装备有限公司 Pressure control system of microenvironment, control method thereof and semiconductor processing equipment
CN110923668A (en) * 2018-09-20 2020-03-27 Ncd有限公司 Thin film deposition apparatus

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Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
CN110797278A (en) * 2018-08-01 2020-02-14 北京北方华创微电子装备有限公司 Pressure control system of microenvironment, control method thereof and semiconductor processing equipment
CN110923668A (en) * 2018-09-20 2020-03-27 Ncd有限公司 Thin film deposition apparatus

Cited By (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
CN114481311A (en) * 2021-12-24 2022-05-13 北京北方华创微电子装备有限公司 Gas inlet module of semiconductor process equipment and semiconductor process equipment

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