CN116904963A - Film deposition system, front structure for film deposition and purging method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention discloses a film deposition system, a film deposition front-end structure and a purging method thereof. The front structure comprises: the vapor steel cylinder is internally provided with precursor vapor for film deposition and is connected with the reaction cavity through a first passage; the pressure test film gauge branch is arranged on the branch of the first passage and is used for monitoring the pressure in the first passage through the pressure test film gauge; and one end of the purging branch is connected with the pressure testing film gauge branch, the other end of the purging branch is connected with a tail exhaust pipeline branched from the first passage, the purging branch, the first passage, the pressure testing film gauge branch and the tail exhaust pipeline form an annular purging loop, purging gas is introduced into the first passage, and the purging gas completely flows through the purging loop to discharge residual precursor vapor in the pressure testing film gauge branch, and the purging branch comprises a detector for detecting the residual chemical source content of the residual precursor vapor in the pressure testing film gauge branch.

Description

Film deposition system, front structure for film deposition and purging method thereof

Technical Field

The invention relates to the technical field of semiconductor processing equipment, in particular to a front structure for film deposition, a film deposition system, a purging method for the front structure for film deposition and a computer readable storage medium.

Background

At present, in the semiconductor processing process, a machine end of a thin film deposition device is connected with a storage container, a reaction precursor is stored in the storage container, and the reaction precursor in the storage container is transmitted into a reaction cavity to perform a process reaction. The outlet side of the storage vessel is provided with a pressure test film gauge which can be used to monitor the pressure of the outlet line. As the process proceeds, the valve islands and storage containers in the thin film deposition apparatus typically need to be replaced periodically after a certain period of use has been reached to ensure the safety of the thin film deposition apparatus. In the process of replacing the valve island and/or the storage container, the valve island needs to be separated from the storage container, namely, a gas pipeline between the storage container and the valve island is detached, and the detached gas pipeline is exposed to the atmosphere.

In the prior art, a pressure test film gauge at the outlet side of a storage container is positioned on a branch of an outlet pipeline, and is difficult to purge to a connection branch section of the pressure test film gauge and the outlet pipeline through the fluid mechanics Bernoulli effect, and the section belongs to a purge blind section. Moreover, current purging methods can only rely on manual experience and pre-judgment to increase purge time in hopes of being able to complete a full purge without precursor chemical source residues. However, this purging method is at risk of requiring long experience accumulation and human guesswork and judgment, and cannot ensure that the gas line is completely free of residual precursor chemical source each time the storage container is removed, which presents a trouble and operational hazard to the actual work.

When the purging of the gas pipeline is not clean, particularly when a large amount of chemical source residues exist on the connecting branch section of the pressure test film gauge and the outlet pipeline, the precursor chemical source can flow out when the valve island is removed. Because the chemical source activity of the precursor is extremely high, the risk that the reaction can occur when the precursor encounters air at normal temperature and normal pressure exists, and the rapid reaction also can cause the temperature of the module to be too high and smoke, and even influence the safety of personnel.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problem in the prior art, a pre-technology of film deposition is needed in the art, which can accurately monitor the purging cleanliness of the inlet and outlet pipelines of the storage container, not only improves the purging efficiency of the pipelines, but also avoids the reaction of the residual chemical source in the pipelines when the pipelines are removed when the residual chemical source is exposed to the air, improves the safety coefficient of the replacement operation of the components of the wafer factory, and reduces the pipeline pollution in the operation process.

Disclosure of Invention

The following presents a simplified summary of one or more aspects in order to provide a basic understanding of such aspects. This summary is not an extensive overview of all contemplated aspects, and is intended to neither identify key or critical elements of all aspects nor delineate the scope of any or all aspects. Its sole purpose is to present some concepts of one or more aspects in a simplified form as a prelude to the more detailed description that is presented later.

In order to overcome the defects in the prior art, the invention provides a front structure for film deposition, a film deposition system, a purging method for the front structure for film deposition, and a computer readable storage medium, which can accurately monitor the purging cleanliness of an inlet pipeline and an outlet pipeline of a storage container, thereby improving the purging efficiency of the pipeline, avoiding the reaction of residual chemical sources in the pipeline when the pipeline is removed when the residual chemical sources are exposed to the air, improving the safety coefficient of the replacement operation of components in a wafer factory, and reducing the pipeline pollution in the operation process.

Specifically, the pre-structure for thin film deposition provided according to the first aspect of the present invention includes: the vapor steel cylinder is internally provided with precursor vapor for film deposition and is connected with the reaction cavity through a first passage; the pressure test film gauge branch is arranged on the branch of the first passage and is used for monitoring the pressure in the first passage through the pressure test film gauge; and one end of the purging branch is connected with the pressure test film gauge branch, the other end of the purging branch is connected with a tail exhaust pipeline branched from the first passage, the purging branch, the first passage, the pressure test film gauge branch and the tail exhaust pipeline form an annular purging loop, purging gas is introduced into the first passage, and the purging gas completely flows through the purging loop so as to discharge the precursor steam remained in the pressure test film gauge branch, and the purging branch comprises a detector for detecting the chemical source residual content of the precursor steam remained in the pressure test film gauge branch.

Further, in some embodiments of the present invention, a detachable first valve is provided in the first passageway between the pressure testing membrane gauge branch and the reaction chamber to adjust the flow rate of the precursor vapor in the first passageway, and a first hand valve is provided in the first passageway between the pressure testing membrane gauge branch and the vapor cylinder, the first hand valve being in a closed state immediately before the first valve is detached.

Further, in some embodiments of the present invention, the precursor structure further comprises a second passageway having one end connected to a purge gas source and the other end connected to the first passageway such that the purge gas flows entirely through the purge circuit via the first passageway to carry out the precursor vapor remaining in the pressure test thin film gauge branch.

Further, in some embodiments of the present invention, a detachable second valve is provided in the second passage at a position near a connection port with the first passage to adjust a flow rate of the purge gas flowing into the first passage.

Further, in some embodiments of the invention, the purge gas comprises a carrier gas with a mobile phase that is a gas.

Further, in some embodiments of the present invention, a second branch further extends from the second passage, one end of the second branch is connected to the second passage, and the other end of the second branch is connected to the vapor cylinder, so as to introduce the carrier gas into the vapor cylinder, so that the precursor vapor in the vapor cylinder is loaded into the reaction chamber through the first passage by the carrier gas for reaction.

Further, in some embodiments of the present invention, a detachable third valve is provided in the second branch at a position far from the steam cylinder to adjust the flow rate of the carrier gas flowing into the second branch, and a second hand valve is provided in the second branch at a position near the steam cylinder, wherein the second hand valve is in a closed state immediately before the third valve is detached.

Further, in some embodiments of the present invention, a third passage is further included, one end of the third passage is connected to a precursor supply source, the other end of the third passage is connected to the vapor cylinder, so as to supply the precursor liquid source to the vapor cylinder for storage, and a third hand valve is disposed in the third passage at a position close to the vapor cylinder.

Further, in some embodiments of the invention, the detector comprises an infrared spectrum detector that monitors a chemical source residual content of the precursor vapor from a chemical image of a spectral characteristic of the precursor vapor remaining in the pressure test film gauge branch.

Further, the thin film deposition system according to the second aspect of the present invention includes: the precursor vapor is introduced into the reaction chamber by the precursor structure for film deposition provided in the first aspect of the invention; and the reaction cavity is used for carrying out film deposition reaction on the wafer through the precursor steam.

In addition, the purging method of the front-end device for film deposition provided by the third aspect of the invention comprises the following steps: closing at least a first pipeline between the steam steel cylinder and the pressure testing film gauge branch; introducing purge gas into the pressure test film gauge branch so as to discharge precursor steam remained in the pressure test film gauge branch; obtaining the chemical source residual content of the precursor vapor in the pressure test film gauge branch; and responsive to the chemical source residual content being less than a detection threshold, confirming that the pressure test film gauge branch is purged.

Further, according to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is also provided a computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon computer instructions. A third aspect of the invention provides a method of purging a front-end apparatus for thin film deposition as described above, when the computer instructions are executed by a processor.

Drawings

The above features and advantages of the present invention will be better understood after reading the detailed description of embodiments of the present disclosure in conjunction with the following drawings. In the drawings, the components are not necessarily to scale and components having similar related features or characteristics may have the same or similar reference numerals.

FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of a thin film deposition system provided in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 2 illustrates a partial schematic of a front structure of thin film deposition provided in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 3 illustrates a schematic purge path diagram of a precursor structure for thin film deposition provided in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention; and

fig. 4 illustrates a flow chart of a purge method for a precursor structure of thin film deposition provided in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention.

Reference numerals:

100. a thin film deposition system;

110. a reaction chamber;

200. a front structure for film deposition;

210. a steam steel cylinder;

220. a pressure test film gauge branch;

221. a pressure test film gauge;

222. connecting branch sections;

230. a purge branch;

231. a detector;

232. a purge circuit;

233. a gas flow switch valve;

240. a first passage;

241. a first valve;

242. a first hand valve;

250. 251 tail pipelines;

260. a second passage;

261. a second valve;

262. a hand valve;

263. a source of purge gas;

270. a second branch;

271. a third valve;

272. a second hand valve;

280. a third passage;

281. a precursor supply source;

282. a third hand valve;

283. a flow control valve;

steps S410 to S440.

Detailed Description

Further advantages and effects of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the disclosure of the present specification, by describing the embodiments of the present invention with specific examples. While the description of the invention will be presented in connection with a preferred embodiment, it is not intended to limit the inventive features to that embodiment. Rather, the purpose of the invention described in connection with the embodiments is to cover other alternatives or modifications, which may be extended by the claims based on the invention. The following description contains many specific details for the purpose of providing a thorough understanding of the present invention. The invention may be practiced without these specific details. Furthermore, some specific details are omitted from the description in order to avoid obscuring the invention.

In the description of the present invention, it should be noted that, unless explicitly specified and limited otherwise, the terms "mounted," "connected," and "connected" are to be construed broadly, and may be either fixedly connected, detachably connected, or integrally connected, for example; can be mechanically or electrically connected; can be directly connected or indirectly connected through an intermediate medium, and can be communication between two elements. The specific meaning of the above terms in the present invention will be understood in specific cases by those of ordinary skill in the art.

In addition, the terms "upper", "lower", "left", "right", "top", "bottom", "horizontal", "vertical" as used in the following description should be understood as referring to the orientation depicted in this paragraph and the associated drawings. This relative terminology is for convenience only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention as it is described in terms of the apparatus being manufactured or operated in a particular orientation.

It will be understood that, although the terms "first," "second," "third," etc. may be used herein to describe various elements, regions, layers and/or sections, these elements, regions, layers and/or sections should not be limited by these terms and these terms are merely used to distinguish between different elements, regions, layers and/or sections. Accordingly, a first component, region, layer, and/or section discussed below could be termed a second component, region, layer, and/or section without departing from some embodiments of the present invention.

As described above, in the prior art, the pressure test film gauge on the outlet side of the storage container is located on the branch of the outlet pipeline, and it is difficult to purge the connection branch section of the pressure test film gauge and the outlet pipeline, which section belongs to the purge blind section, by the hydrodynamic bernoulli effect. Moreover, current purging methods can only rely on manual experience and pre-judgment to increase purge time in hopes of being able to complete a full purge without precursor chemical source residues. However, this purging method is at risk of requiring long experience accumulation and human guesswork and judgment, and cannot ensure that the gas line is completely free of residual precursor chemical source every time the storage container is removed, which presents a trouble and operational hazard to the actual work. When the purging of the gas pipeline is not clean, particularly when a large amount of chemical source residues exist on the connecting branch section of the pressure test film gauge and the outlet pipeline, the precursor chemical source can flow out when the valve island is removed. Because the chemical source activity of the precursor is extremely high, the risk that the reaction can occur when the precursor encounters air at normal temperature and normal pressure exists, and the rapid reaction also can cause the temperature of the module to be too high and smoke, and even influence the safety of personnel.

In order to solve the problems in the prior art, the invention provides a front device for film deposition, a film deposition system, a purging method for a front structure for film deposition, and a computer readable storage medium, which can accurately monitor the purging cleanliness of an inlet pipeline and an outlet pipeline of a storage container, thereby improving the purging efficiency of the pipeline, avoiding the reaction of residual chemical sources in the pipeline when the pipeline is removed when the residual chemical sources are exposed to the air, improving the safety coefficient of the replacement operation of components in a wafer factory, and reducing the pipeline pollution in the operation process.

In some non-limiting embodiments, the thin film deposition head provided in the first aspect of the present invention may be configured in the thin film deposition system provided in the second aspect of the present invention. In addition, the purging method of the front-end device for thin film deposition provided in the third aspect of the present invention may be implemented by the front-end device for thin film deposition provided in the first aspect of the present invention.

The purging of the thin film deposition head unit described above, and the principles of operation of the thin film deposition system, will be described below in connection with some embodiments of a method of purging the thin film deposition head unit. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that these examples of methods of purging the thin film deposition head unit are merely some non-limiting embodiments provided by the present invention, and are intended to clearly illustrate the general concepts of the present invention and to provide some embodiments for public implementation, rather than to limit the overall operation or function of the thin film deposition head unit purging and the thin film deposition system. Likewise, the purging of the thin film deposition head unit, and the thin film deposition system are just one non-limiting embodiment provided by the present invention, and do not limit the implementation of the steps in the purging method of the thin film deposition head unit.

Referring first to fig. 1, fig. 1 illustrates a block diagram of a thin film deposition system provided in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention.

As shown in fig. 1, in some embodiments of the invention, a thin film deposition system 100 may include a reaction chamber 110 and a thin film deposition precursor structure 200. The precursor structure 200 for thin film deposition may be used to introduce precursor vapor into the reaction chamber 110, and the reaction chamber 110 may perform a thin film deposition reaction on a wafer therein through the precursor vapor. For example, atomic layer deposition (Atomic Layer Deposition, ALD) apparatus may alternately deposit precursor vapors during deposition, with the chemical reaction of a new atomic film directly associated with a previous layer, with only one atomic layer deposited per reaction. The deposition mode has the characteristic of self-limiting growth, and can lead the film to be conformally deposited on the substrate without pinholes, thus realizing the accurate control of the thickness of the film by controlling the times of deposition cycles.

Further, to more clearly describe the thin film deposited front structure 200, it can be collectively understood in conjunction with fig. 2, fig. 2 shows a schematic partial structure of the thin film deposited front structure provided in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention.

As shown in fig. 1 and 2, in some embodiments, the precursor structure 200 for thin film deposition may include a vapor cylinder 210, which contains precursor vapor for thin film deposition therein, and may be connected to the reaction chamber 110 through a first passage 240 as an outlet line of the vapor cylinder 210.

Because the reactive precursor is generally self-volatile and readily undergoes a phase change, a vapor cylinder 210 may be selected to hold the reactive precursor under pressure for a long period of time, helping to maintain the reactive precursor representative throughout the storage process. In some alternative embodiments, the reactive precursor may be selected to have self-volatilizable Trimethylaluminum (TMA) during the atomic layer deposition process, and the vapor cylinder 210 is used to store TMA vapor.

In fig. 1 and 2, the thin film deposition precursor structure 200 can include a pressure test thin film gauge branch 220 disposed on a branch of a first passage 240 (i.e., an outlet line). The pressure within the first passageway 240 may be monitored by the pressure test film gauge 221 in view of the self-volatility of the chemical source of the precursor vapor.

The thin film deposition front structure 200 may further include a purge branch 230. As shown in fig. 1, the purge leg 230 may be connected at one end to the pressure test membrane gauge leg 220 and at the other end to the tail drain leg 250 branching from the first passage 240. The purge leg 230, the first passage 240, the pressure test membrane gauge leg 220, and the tail drain passage 250 may form an annular purge circuit 232. After purging gas is introduced from the first passage 240, the purging gas may flow completely through the purge circuit 232 to exhaust the precursor vapor remaining in the pressure test gauge 220.

In particular, the connection branch 222 of the pressure test diaphragm gauge branch 220 and the first passage 240 in fig. 2 is directed. In the prior art, during the actual purging of the pipeline by the purge gas, it is difficult to purge the purge gas to the connection branch 222 by the hydrodynamic bernoulli effect. Thus, the connection leg 222 belongs to a sweep blind section as the sweep gas moves down the stabilized streamlines of the first pass 240. However, in the above embodiment of the present invention, since the direct purging loop 232 completely including the pressure test film gauge branch 220 is added, the original purging process of the straight line pipeline of the steam steel cylinder 210 performed by relying on the bernoulli effect can be updated to complete loop purging, so that the direct purging of the pressure test film gauge branch 220 is realized, the pipeline purging efficiency is improved, and the purging energy consumption is reduced.

Further, as shown in FIG. 1, the purge leg 230 may also include a detector 231 thereon that may be used to detect the chemical source residual content of the precursor vapor remaining in the pressure test film gauge 220.

Specifically, in some preferred embodiments, the detector 231 in the purge circuit 232 may be an infrared spectrum detector, such as a Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) spectrometer, which may be used to monitor the chemical source residual content of the precursor vapor in real time based on chemical images of the spectral characteristics of the precursor vapor remaining in the pressure test film gauge 220.

In this embodiment, the detector 231 is added to monitor the organic foreign matters in the pressure test thin film gauge 220, that is, the actual residual content of the precursor chemical source in the outlet pipeline of the steam steel cylinder 210 can be monitored, and based on this, the purge cleanliness of the whole pipeline can be further accurately obtained. In the existing method for monitoring chemical sources through pipeline leakage rate detection, the pipeline leakage rate detection is integrated with a cavity, and particularly, the monitoring of the chemical sources is difficult under the condition that the chemical sources in the pipeline are rare. Compared with the prior art, the detector 231 in the above embodiment detects the leakage rate of the pipeline according to the pipeline leakage rate, and the purging time calculated by the manual experience, the purging time is controlled more accurately and stably, and the chemical source content of the pipeline is directly detected by the chemical source component content, so that the chemical reaction of a small amount of residual chemical source exposing the atmosphere can be avoided, and the possibility of polluting the gas pipeline is reduced. The infrared spectrum detector can improve the monitoring accuracy of the gas pipeline flowing through the chemical source through monitoring the residual quantity of the chemical source in the gas pipeline in real time, improve the operation safety, reduce the pipeline pollution and improve the purging efficiency.

Further, as shown in fig. 1, a gas flow switch valve 233 may be provided on the purge branch 230. When the detector 231 detects that the residual content of the precursor chemical source remained in the pressure test film gauge branch 220 is smaller than the detection threshold, it is confirmed that the pressure test film gauge branch 220 is purged completely, and at this time, the gas flow switch valve 233 may be closed, so as to end the purging operation for the pressure test film gauge branch 220.

In particular, referring to fig. 3, fig. 3 illustrates a schematic purge path diagram of a precursor structure for thin film deposition according to some embodiments of the present invention.

As shown in fig. 3, in some embodiments, the thin film deposition precursor structure 200 can include a second passageway 260 that can be connected at one end to a purge gas source 263 and at the other end to a vapor cylinder 210. The purge path of the purge gas may refer to the arrow direction in fig. 2, the purge gas source 263 provides the purge gas, and the purge gas flows to the first passage 240 through the second passage 260, and flows to the upper and lower ends of the connection port of the first passage 240, that is, the purge gas completely flows through the purge circuit 232 through the first passage 240, so that the precursor vapor remaining in the pressure test thin film gauge branch 220 may be carried out and finally discharged through the tail discharge pipe 250.

Continuing with fig. 1 and 2, in some embodiments, a removable first valve 241 may be provided in the first passageway 240 between the pressure testing membrane gauge 220 and the reaction chamber 110 in the thin film deposition pre-configuration 200. Alternatively, the first valve 241 may be an automatic flow control valve, and the flow rate of the precursor vapor introduced into the first passage 240 may be adjusted by adjusting the valve opening under a certain pressure condition. In addition, a first hand valve 242 may be provided in the first passage 240 between the pressure testing gauge branch 220 and the vapor cylinder 210 to control the opening and closing of the flow of precursor vapor from the vapor cylinder 210 to the first passage 240. When the reaction chamber 110 is to perform a thin film deposition reaction, the first hand valve 242 is opened. When delivery of precursor vapor is not desired, the first hand valve 242 may be closed to maintain the gas pressure within the vapor cylinder 210 to avoid volatilization or deactivation of the precursor vapor stored therein.

Further, since the first valve 241 in the first passage 240 can be periodically detached for replacement. In this embodiment, before the first valve 241 in the first passage 240 needs to be removed and replaced periodically, the first hand valve 242 on the vapor cylinder 210 can be closed to block the volatilization of the precursor liquid source.

Continuing back to FIG. 1, in some alternative embodiments, a removable second valve 261 may be provided in the second passage 260 proximate to the connection port with the first passage 240 to regulate the flow of purge gas into the first passage 240. Since the second passage 260 is ultimately connected to the first passage 240, the second valve 261 can also be periodically removed for replacement. Before the second valve 261 in the second passage 260 needs to be removed and replaced periodically, the first hand valve 242 on the vapor cylinder 210 may be closed to block the evaporation of the precursor liquid source.

Optionally, as shown in fig. 1, a plurality of second valves 261 may be distributed at other positions in the second passage 260, and may be used to adjust the flow rate of the purge gas in the second passage 260. Further, a hand valve 262 may be provided near the second passage 260 where the purge gas source 263 is connected to control whether the purge gas is supplied to the second passage 260.

Further, in some embodiments, the purge gas may be a carrier gas with a mobile phase that is a gas, such as some inert gases. Preferably, a second branch 270 may also extend from the second passage 260, one end of the second branch 270 may be connected to the second passage 260, and the other end of the second branch 270 may be connected to the vapor cylinder 210, as an inlet pipeline of the vapor cylinder 210, for introducing a carrier gas into the vapor cylinder 210, so as to load the precursor vapor in the vapor cylinder 210 into the reaction chamber 110 through the first passage 240 by the carrier gas for reaction. In the thin film deposition process, the precursor vapor is transported to the surface of the substrate in the reaction chamber 110 by inert carrier gas to react, which is an effective means for improving the transportation of the precursor vapor, and can improve the transportation efficiency of the precursor vapor.

The pressure test film gauge branch 220 may also indirectly monitor the pressure in the second branch 270 (inlet line) and the detector 231 in the purge loop 232 may also indirectly monitor the actual residual content of the precursor chemical source in the inlet line of the vapor cylinder 210.

As shown in fig. 1, in some embodiments, a third valve 271 may be removably disposed in the second leg 270 at a location remote from the vapor cylinder 210, and may be used to regulate the flow of carrier gas into the second leg 270, and a second hand valve 272 may be disposed in the second leg 270 at a location proximate to the vapor cylinder 210, and may be used to control the opening and closing of the second leg 270 that delivers carrier gas to the vapor cylinder 210. When it is desired to deliver carrier gas to the vapor cylinder 210, the second hand valve 272 may be opened. When it is not desired to deliver carrier gas to the vapor cylinder 210, the second hand valve 272 may be closed to maintain the gas pressure within the vapor cylinder 210 to avoid volatilization or deactivation of the precursor vapor stored therein.

Further, since the third valve 271 in the second branch 270 can also be periodically removed for replacement. In this embodiment, before the third valve 271 in the second branch 270 needs to be removed and replaced periodically, the second valve 272 on the vapor cylinder 210 can be closed to block the evaporation of the precursor liquid source.

With continued reference to fig. 1, the thin film deposition precursor structure 200 may further include a third passageway 280, one end of which may be connected to a precursor supply 281 and the other end of which may be connected to the vapor cylinder 210. After vapor cylinder 210 provides precursor vapor to reaction chamber 110 for a period of time, a source of precursor liquid may be supplied to vapor cylinder 210 through third passageway 280.

Further, a third hand valve 282 may be provided in the third passageway 280 at a location proximate the steam cylinder 210. When it is desired to supply the vapor cylinder 210 with a precursor liquid source, the third hand valve 282 may be opened. When there is no need to supply the precursor liquid source to the vapor cylinder 210, the third hand valve 282 may be closed to maintain the gas pressure within the vapor cylinder 210 to avoid volatilization or deactivation of the precursor vapor stored therein.

Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 1, a plurality of flow control valves 283 may be distributed elsewhere in the third passage 280 and may be used to regulate the flow of the replenishing precursor liquid source into the third passage 280.

As shown in fig. 1, in the foregoing embodiment of the present invention, in the front structure 200 for thin film deposition, the valve islands may include at least a first valve 241, a second valve 261 and a third valve 271, and after a certain period of use, it is generally required to replace them to ensure the safety of the thin film deposition apparatus.

With continued reference to fig. 1, in some embodiments, a purge gas source 263 may also be connected to one end of the third passageway 280 within the thin film deposition precursor structure 200 in the thin film deposition system 100, i.e., the third passageway 280 may also be purged with a purge gas to purge the precursor chemistry source within the third passageway 280 prior to removing the vapor cylinder 210 from the thin film deposition system 100.

Further, in some embodiments of the present invention, the detector 231 may be further disposed in a plurality of pipelines in the front structure 200 for film deposition, so as to monitor the actual purge cleanliness of the pipeline to be purged in real time. After confirming that no precursor chemical source is in the line, the line purge is completed and the vapor cylinder 210, or at least the valve island, may be removed and replaced. In this embodiment, the purge path is perfected into the annular purge loop 232, and the plurality of infrared detectors 231 are added, so that the purge efficiency and the chemical source content monitoring of the pipelines are improved, and the information of the chemical source content of the precursor in the plurality of pipelines can be known in real time, thereby improving the safety factor of the replacement of the components of the wafer factory.

As further shown in FIG. 1, the reaction chamber 110 of the thin film deposition system 100 may also include a tail drain line 251 that merges with the tail drain line 250 of the purge circuit 232 to drain the excess exhaust gas after the reaction in the reaction chamber 110 and the precursor vapor in the line.

Referring next to fig. 4, fig. 4 illustrates a flow chart of a purge method for a precursor structure of thin film deposition according to some embodiments of the present invention.

As shown in fig. 4, in some embodiments, the purging method of the front structure of thin film deposition may include step S410: at least a first line between the steam cylinder and the pressure testing gauge branch is closed.

Specifically, in some embodiments, as shown in fig. 1, the valve islands in the thin film deposited precursor structure 200 may include at least a first valve 241, a second valve 261, and a third valve 271. Therefore, the plurality of hand valves directly connected to the steam cylinder 210, including the first hand valve 242 corresponding to the first valve 241 and the second valve 261 in the first passage 240, the second hand valve 272 corresponding to the third valve 271 in the second branch 270, and the third hand valve 282 in the third passage 280, need to be closed to block the volatilization of the liquid source in the steam cylinder 210.

As shown in fig. 4, step S420 is next performed: and (3) introducing purge gas into the pressure test film gauge branch so as to discharge the precursor vapor remained in the pressure test film gauge branch.

Specifically, as shown in fig. 1, the purge gas source 263 may provide purge gas, the purge gas flows to the first passageway 240 through the second passageway 260, and flows to two ends at the connection port of the first passageway 240, that is, the purge gas completely flows through the purge circuit 232 through the first passageway 240, especially for the connection branch 222 between the pressure test film gauge branch 220 and the first passageway 240 in fig. 2, the original purging process of the straight line pipeline of the steam cylinder 210 performed by relying on the bernoulli effect is updated to complete loop purging, and the pressure test film gauge 221 is purged by the gas during the purging process of the gas pipeline, so that the precursor chemical source therein may also be purged, and the precursor vapor remained in the pressure test film gauge branch 220 may be carried out and finally discharged through the tail line 250, thereby improving the efficiency of pipeline purging.

Further, when the complete loop purging is implemented near the pressure test film gauge 221, the flow of the purging gas can be purged at 8000 standard milliliters/minute (standard cubic centimeter per minute, sccm) for 20 seconds, and then the purging gas is evacuated for 20 seconds, and the purging gas can be automatically circulated and purged through the controller according to the rule, so that the direct gas circulation loop can be implemented at the upstream and downstream of the pressure test film gauge 221.

As shown in fig. 4, step S430 is next performed: and obtaining the chemical source residual content of the precursor vapor in the pressure test film gauge branch.

Specifically, in some embodiments, a detector 231 may be provided in the purge circuit 232. Alternatively, the detector 231 may be an infrared spectrum detector, such as a fourier transform infrared spectrum detector (FTIR), which can be used to monitor the chemical source residual content of the precursor vapor in real time based on the chemical image of the spectral characteristics of the precursor vapor remaining in the pressure test film gauge branch 220.

Preferably, in a plurality of pipelines of the thin film deposition system 100, a plurality of detectors 231 may be disposed to monitor the actual purge cleanliness of the pipeline to be purged in real time, thereby realizing accurate monitoring of the purge cleanliness in the pipeline.

As shown in fig. 4, step S440 is next performed: and in response to the residual content of the chemical source being less than the detection threshold, confirming that the pressure test film gauge branch is purged.

Specifically, in some embodiments, when the detector 231 detects that the chemical source within the pressure test gauge strip 220 is less than a detection threshold on the order of a certain industry, the pressure test gauge strip 220 may be deemed to be purged and the purging operation completed. At this time, the standard signal that the chemical source in the pressure test film gauge branch 220 meets the atmospheric exposure standard of the gas pipeline can be fed back to the controller through signal feedback, and the controller can automatically control the closing of the gas circulation switch valve 233 to end the purging operation of the pressure test film gauge branch 220.

While, for purposes of simplicity of explanation, the methodologies are shown and described as a series of acts, it is to be understood and appreciated that the methodologies are not limited by the order of acts, as some acts may, in accordance with one or more embodiments, occur in different orders and/or concurrently with other acts from that shown and described herein or not shown and described herein, as would be understood and appreciated by those skilled in the art.

Thus, the front structure for thin film deposition provided in the first aspect of the present invention, the thin film deposition system provided in the second aspect of the present invention, and the purging method for the front structure for thin film deposition provided in the second aspect of the present invention have been described. In some non-limiting embodiments, the purging method described above may be stored in the computer-readable storage medium described above provided in the fourth aspect of the present invention, to implement the purging method of the front structure for thin film deposition described above provided in the third aspect of the present invention.

In summary, the invention provides a front device for film deposition, a film deposition system, a purging method for a front structure for film deposition, and a computer readable storage medium, which can accurately monitor the purging cleanliness of an inlet pipeline and an outlet pipeline of a steam steel cylinder, thereby improving the purging efficiency of the pipeline, avoiding the reaction of residual chemical sources in the pipeline when the pipeline is dismantled and being exposed to the air, improving the safety coefficient of the replacement operation of components of a wafer factory, and reducing the pipeline pollution in the operation process.

The previous description of the disclosure is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to make or use the disclosure. Various modifications to the disclosure will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the generic principles defined herein may be applied to other variations without departing from the spirit or scope of the disclosure. Thus, the disclosure is not intended to be limited to the examples and designs described herein but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and novel features disclosed herein.

Claims (12)

1. A front structure for thin film deposition, comprising:

the vapor steel cylinder is internally provided with precursor vapor for film deposition and is connected with the reaction cavity through a first passage;

the pressure test film gauge branch is arranged on the branch of the first passage and is used for monitoring the pressure in the first passage through the pressure test film gauge; and

and one end of the purging branch is connected with the pressure testing film gauge branch, the other end of the purging branch is connected with a tail exhaust pipeline branched from the first passage, the purging branch, the first passage, the pressure testing film gauge branch and the tail exhaust pipeline form an annular purging loop, purging gas is introduced into the first passage, and the purging gas completely flows through the purging loop so as to discharge the precursor steam remained in the pressure testing film gauge branch, and the purging branch comprises a detector for detecting the chemical source residual content of the precursor steam remained in the pressure testing film gauge branch.

2. The preamble of claim 1, wherein a removable first valve is provided in the first passageway between the pressure test gauge branch and the reaction chamber to regulate the flow of the precursor vapor from the first passageway, and a first hand valve is provided in the first passageway between the pressure test gauge branch and the vapor cylinder, the first hand valve being in a closed state immediately prior to removal of the first valve.

3. The preamble of claim 1, further comprising a second passageway having one end connected to a source of purge gas and the other end connected to the first passageway such that the purge gas flows entirely through the purge circuit via the first passageway to carry out the precursor vapor remaining in the pressure test thin film gauge branch.

4. A pre-arrangement according to claim 3, wherein a second valve is provided in the second passage adjacent to the connection to the first passage for regulating the flow of purge gas into the first passage.

5. A pre-structure as in claim 3 wherein the purge gas comprises a carrier gas having a mobile phase that is a gas.

6. The pre-structure of claim 5, wherein a second branch further extends from the second passage, one end of the second branch is connected to the second passage, and the other end of the second branch is connected to the vapor cylinder, so as to introduce the carrier gas into the vapor cylinder, so that the precursor vapor in the vapor cylinder is loaded into the reaction chamber through the first passage by the carrier gas for reaction.

7. The lead structure of claim 6, wherein a third valve is removably positioned in the second leg at a location remote from the vapor cylinder to regulate the flow of the carrier gas to the second leg, and a second valve is positioned in the second leg at a location proximate to the vapor cylinder, the second valve being closed immediately prior to removal of the third valve.

8. The precursor structure of claim 1, further comprising a third passageway having one end connected to a precursor supply and the other end connected to the vapor cylinder for supplying a precursor liquid source to the vapor cylinder for storage, wherein a third hand valve is provided in the third passageway at a location adjacent to the vapor cylinder.

9. The preamble of claim 1, wherein the detector comprises an infrared spectrum detector that monitors a chemical source residual content of the precursor vapor based on a chemical image of a spectral characteristic of the precursor vapor remaining in the pressure test film gauge branch.

10. A thin film deposition system, comprising:

the precursor structure for thin film deposition according to any one of claims 1 to 9, to introduce a precursor vapor into the reaction chamber; and

and the reaction cavity is used for carrying out film deposition reaction on the wafer through the precursor vapor.

11. A method of purging a front-end device for thin film deposition, comprising the steps of:

closing at least a first pipeline between the steam steel cylinder and the pressure testing film gauge branch;

introducing purge gas into the pressure test film gauge branch so as to discharge precursor steam remained in the pressure test film gauge branch;

obtaining the chemical source residual content of the precursor vapor in the pressure test film gauge branch; and

and responding to the residual content of the chemical source being smaller than a detection threshold value, and confirming that the pressure test film gauge branch is completely purged.

12. A computer readable storage medium having stored thereon computer instructions which, when executed by a processor, perform the method of purging a thin film deposition front-end apparatus of claim 11.