CN219873400U - Semiconductor processing apparatus with remote plasma source - Google Patents

Semiconductor processing apparatus with remote plasma source Download PDF

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Publication number
CN219873400U
CN219873400U CN202320683227.5U CN202320683227U CN219873400U CN 219873400 U CN219873400 U CN 219873400U CN 202320683227 U CN202320683227 U CN 202320683227U CN 219873400 U CN219873400 U CN 219873400U
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controllable valve
channel
reaction chamber
remote plasma
plasma source
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CN202320683227.5U
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忻圣波
单翌
闫晓晖
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GTA Semiconductor Co Ltd
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GTA Semiconductor Co Ltd
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Abstract

The utility model provides a semiconductor processing apparatus with a remote plasma source. The apparatus comprises: a reaction chamber; a remote plasma source communicating with the reaction chamber through a first channel; the first controllable valve is arranged on the first channel and is used for being controlled to be closed when the film layer preparation process is carried out so as to control the first channel to be closed, and is controlled to be opened when the reaction chamber is cleaned so as to control the first channel to be opened. The utility model can reduce the risk of wafer defects caused by particles generated by the remote plasma source, reduce downtime caused by the risk, reduce the frequency of replacing the remote plasma source and save spare part cost.

Description

Semiconductor processing apparatus with remote plasma source
Technical Field
The utility model relates to the technical field of semiconductors, in particular to semiconductor processing equipment with a remote plasma source.
Background
In the industrial manufacture of semiconductor devices, semiconductor processing equipment for preparing a film layer having specific properties is widely used, and such semiconductor processing equipment includes at least a reaction chamber. In the film process, residues are formed on the inner surfaces of the reaction chamber, and thus the reaction chamber needs to be cleaned. Such cleaning is typically performed in the art using a remote plasma source (Remote Plasma Source, RPS for short).
Please refer to fig. 1, which is a schematic diagram of a remote plasma cleaning structure in the prior art. As shown in fig. 1, a remote plasma source 12 is connected to the reaction chamber 11, and the remote plasma source 12 can ionize fluorine ions of a gas such as nitrogen trifluoride (NF 3) by radio frequency energy to generate plasma, and the plasma enters the reaction chamber 11 to clean the same.
Since the remote plasma source 12 is used for a long period of time, fluoride ions may attack its inner walls to form particles (particles). During film formation of the film, particles may fall to the wafer surface inside the reaction chamber 11 through the passage 13 connecting the remote plasma source 12 and the reaction chamber 11, causing defects. In the prior art, to avoid defects caused by particles falling onto the wafer surface, a shut down is typically required to purge or replace the remote plasma source 12. However, frequent stops can affect product yield and capacity, and increase the workload of equipment maintenance.
Disclosure of Invention
The utility model aims to solve the technical problem of providing a semiconductor processing device with a remote plasma source, which can avoid defects caused by particles falling onto the surface of a wafer, and does not need to shut down to purge or replace the remote plasma source.
In order to solve the above problems, the present utility model provides a semiconductor processing apparatus having a remote plasma source, comprising: a reaction chamber; a remote plasma source communicating with the reaction chamber through a first channel; the first controllable valve is arranged on the first channel and is used for being controlled to be closed when the film layer preparation process is carried out so as to control the first channel to be closed, and is controlled to be opened when the reaction chamber is cleaned so as to control the first channel to be opened.
In some embodiments, the apparatus further comprises a second controllable valve; the reaction chamber is further communicated with a process gas source through a second channel, and the second controllable valve is arranged on the second channel and is opposite to the first controllable valve in switching state.
In some embodiments, the apparatus further comprises a third controllable valve; the remote plasma source is further communicated with a cleaning gas source through a third channel, and the third controllable valve is arranged on the third channel and used for controlling the opening of the third channel when the reaction chamber is cleaned. Preferably, the switching state of the third controllable valve is the same as and changes synchronously with the switching state of the first controllable valve.
In some embodiments, the apparatus further comprises a controller for providing control signals to the first, second, and third controllable valves, respectively; wherein the control signal provided to the first controllable valve is the same as the control signal provided to the third controllable valve and is opposite to the control signal provided to the second controllable valve.
According to the technical scheme, the first controllable valve is arranged on the first channel between the reaction chamber and the remote plasma source, and is controlled to be closed to control the first channel to be closed in the process of preparing the film layer, and is controlled to be opened to control the first channel to be opened in the process of cleaning the reaction chamber, so that the risk of wafer defects caused by particles generated by the remote plasma source can be reduced, downtime caused by the risk is reduced, the frequency of replacing the remote plasma source is reduced, and spare part cost is saved. The controller is further used for realizing the on-off state linkage of a second controllable valve arranged on a second channel between the process gas source and the reaction chamber, a third controllable valve arranged on a third channel between the cleaning gas source and the remote plasma source and a first controllable valve arranged on a first channel between the remote plasma source and the reaction chamber, so that the control cost is reduced, the burden of equipment maintenance personnel is further reduced, and the utilization rate of equipment is improved.
Drawings
In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present utility model, the drawings that are required to be used in the description of the embodiments will be briefly described below. It is evident that the drawings in the following description are only some embodiments of the present utility model and that other drawings may be obtained from these drawings without inventive effort for a person of ordinary skill in the art.
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a remote plasma cleaning structure in the prior art;
FIG. 2 is a schematic view of a semiconductor processing apparatus with a remote plasma source according to an embodiment of the present utility model;
FIG. 3 is a schematic view of an operational state of the embodiment shown in FIG. 2;
fig. 4 is a schematic diagram of another working state of the embodiment shown in fig. 2.
Detailed Description
The technical solutions of the embodiments of the present utility model will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. It will be apparent that the described embodiments are only some, but not all, embodiments of the utility model. All other embodiments, which can be made by those skilled in the art based on the embodiments of the utility model without making any inventive effort, are intended to fall within the scope of the utility model.
Referring to fig. 2 to 4, fig. 2 is a schematic structural diagram of a semiconductor processing apparatus with a remote plasma source according to an embodiment of the utility model, fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of an operating state of the embodiment shown in fig. 2, and fig. 4 is a schematic diagram of another operating state of the embodiment shown in fig. 2.
As shown in fig. 2, the semiconductor processing apparatus includes: a reaction chamber 21, a remote plasma source 22, a first channel 23, and a first controllable valve 231. The remote plasma source 22 communicates with the reaction chamber 21 through a first passageway 23; the first controllable valve 231 is disposed on the first channel 23, and is used for being controlled to be closed to control the first channel 23 to be closed during the film preparation process, and controlled to be opened to control the first channel 23 to be opened during the cleaning of the reaction chamber 21.
Specifically, the reaction chamber 21 is used to prepare a film layer (e.g., a silicon layer, a nano-or microcrystalline silicon layer) having a specific property, thickness, etc., on the surface of a wafer (not shown) loaded therein. The common film layer preparation method comprises the following steps: chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD), plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition (PECVD), physical Vapor Deposition (PVD), and Atmospheric Pressure Chemical Vapor Deposition (APCVD). Such a reaction chamber 21 is typically a vacuum chamber (also referred to as a process chamber or deposition chamber) having one or more inlets. Because of the film preparation process, residues are formed inside the chamber and at the inlet, the reaction chamber needs to be cleaned after the film deposition is completed, or after each deposition step is performed, or after a large number of deposition steps are performed. Such cleaning is typically performed in the art using a remote plasma source (Remote Plasma Source, RPS for short).
In this embodiment, the reaction chamber 21 has a first inlet 211 and a second inlet 212. The first inlet 211 is used for the ingress of materials (e.g., process gases or liquids) required for the preparation of the film process, and the second inlet 212 is used for the ingress of cleaning materials (e.g., cleaning gases or liquids).
Specifically, the remote plasma source 22 is configured to provide plasma to the reaction chamber 21 through the first channel 23 to clean the reaction chamber 21. Since the plasma may erode the inner wall of the remote plasma source 22 to form particles (particles) after long-term use, the particles may fall to the wafer surface inside the reaction chamber 21 through the connection channel 23 between the remote plasma source 22 and the reaction chamber 21 during film formation of the film layer, causing defects.
In some embodiments, the remote plasma source 22 ionizes fluoride ions of nitrogen trifluoride (NF 3) gas by radio frequency energy to generate the plasma. Nitrogen trifluoride is a colorless, odorless and stable gas at normal temperature, and is a strong oxidant. The plasma generated based on nitrogen trifluoride has the advantages of faster cleaning time, reduced emission of harmful gases, reduced damage to the chamber, and the like, and is favored over fluorocarbon processes.
Specifically, the first controllable valve 231 is disposed on the first channel 23, and the first controllable valve 231 is controlled to be closed to control the first channel 23 to be closed during the film preparation process, so as to prevent particles formed in the remote plasma source 22 from falling to the surface of the wafer inside the reaction chamber 21; during cleaning of the reaction chamber 21, the first controllable valve 231 is controlled to open to control the opening of the first channel 23, so that the remote plasma source 22 provides plasma to the reaction chamber 21 through the first channel 23. Since the path of Process gas entering the reaction chamber 21 during the preparation of the film is different from the path of plasma entering the reaction chamber 21 during cleaning, the closing of the first controllable valve 231 during the preparation of the film will not affect the normal Process. By providing the first controllable valve 231, the risk of wafer defects caused by particles generated by the remote plasma source 22 can be reduced, downtime caused by the risk of wafer defects can be reduced, the frequency of replacing the remote plasma source 22 can be reduced, and spare part cost can be saved.
In some embodiments, the first controllable Valve 231 is a controllable Gate Valve (Gate Valve). The gate valve is a shutter plate, the moving direction of the shutter plate is perpendicular to the gas/fluid direction, and the pipeline is opened and closed through full opening or full closing. The gate valve is sealed through the contact of the valve seat and the flashboard, and the sealing surface can be overlaid with metal materials to increase the wear resistance.
In this embodiment, the apparatus further comprises a second controllable valve 241; the reaction chamber 21 is further connected to a process gas source 201 through a second channel 24, and the second controllable valve 241 is disposed on the second channel 24 and is opposite to the first controllable valve 231. The second controllable valve 241 may also be a controllable gate valve. By setting the second controllable valve 241 opposite to the first controllable valve 231 in the on-off state, the linkage effect that the second controllable valve 241 is opened and the first controllable valve 231 is opened when the second controllable valve 241 is closed and the first controllable valve 231 is opened when cleaning is performed in the preparation process of the film layer is realized, the control cost is reduced, the risk of wafer defects caused by particles generated by the remote plasma source 22 is further reduced, downtime caused by the risk is reduced, the frequency of replacing the remote plasma source 22 is reduced, and the cost of spare parts is saved.
In this embodiment, the apparatus further comprises a controller 29, the controller 29 being configured to provide control signals to the first controllable valve 231 and the second controllable valve 241, respectively; wherein the control signal provided to the first controllable valve 231 is opposite to the control signal provided to the second controllable valve 241. Specifically, during the film preparation process, the controller 29 provides a first control signal to the first controllable valve 231 to control the first controllable valve 231 to be closed, and provides a second control signal to the second controllable valve 241 to control the second controllable valve 241 to be opened; during purging, the controller 29 provides the second control signal to the first controllable valve 231 to control the first controllable valve 231 to open and the first control signal to the second controllable valve 241 to control the second controllable valve 241 to close. The controller 29 is used for controlling the second controllable valve 241 to be opened and the first controllable valve 231 to be closed during the film preparation process, and controlling the second controllable valve 241 to be closed and the first controllable valve 231 to be opened during cleaning, so that the control cost is reduced.
In this embodiment, the apparatus further comprises a third controllable valve 251; the remote plasma source 22 is further connected to a cleaning gas source 202 through a third channel 25, and the third controllable valve 251 is disposed on the third channel 25 and is used for controlling the third channel 25 to be opened when the reaction chamber 21 is cleaned, so that the cleaning gas source 202 provides cleaning gas to the remote plasma source 22 through the third channel 25. The third controllable valve 251 may also be a controllable gate valve.
Preferably, the third controllable valve 251 is the same as the first controllable valve 231 in switching state and changes synchronously. The path of the process gas in the process gas source 201 through the second channel 24 into the reaction chamber 21 during the film preparation process and the path of the cleaning gas in the cleaning gas source 202 through the third channel 25 into the remote plasma source 22, and thus the remote plasma source 22 provides the plasma into the reaction chamber 21 through the first channel 23 are two independent paths and are not opened at the same time. Therefore, the closing of the first controllable valve 231 and the third controllable valve 251 will not affect the normal process during the preparation of the film. The third controllable valve 251 and the first controllable valve 231 are set to have the same switching state and synchronously change, that is, the first controllable valve 231 and the third controllable valve 251 adopt the same control signal, so that the two valves are closed simultaneously in the process of preparing the film layer, and the two valves are opened simultaneously in the process of cleaning, thereby improving the processing efficiency and reducing the control cost.
In some embodiments, the first controllable valve 231 may be opened after the third controllable valve 251 is opened for a period of time, so that the remote plasma source 22 performs a sufficient plasma treatment on the cleaning gas. Further, the first controllable valve 231 may be closed after the third controllable valve 251 is closed for a period of time, so as to further enable the remote plasma source 22 to perform a sufficient plasma treatment on the cleaning gas.
Accordingly, the controller 29 is configured to provide control signals to the first controllable valve 231, the second controllable valve 241, and the third controllable valve 251, respectively; wherein the control signal provided to the first controllable valve 231 is the same as the control signal provided to the third controllable valve 251 and is opposite to the control signal provided to the second controllable valve 241. Specifically, during the film manufacturing process, the controller 29 provides a first control signal to the first controllable valve 231 and the third controllable valve 251 to control the first controllable valve 231 and the third controllable valve 251 to be closed, and provides a second control signal to the second controllable valve 241 to control the second controllable valve 241 to be opened; during purging, the controller 29 provides the second control signal to the first controllable valve 231 and the third controllable valve 251 to control the first controllable valve 231 and the third controllable valve 251 to both open, and provides the first control signal to the second controllable valve 241 to control the second controllable valve 241 to close. The controller 29 is used for controlling the second controllable valve 241 to be opened and controlling the first controllable valve 231 and the third controllable valve 251 to be closed when the film preparation process is performed, and controlling the second controllable valve 241 to be closed and controlling the first controllable valve 231 and the third controllable valve 251 to be opened when the film preparation process is performed, so that the control cost is reduced, the burden of equipment maintenance personnel is further reduced, and the utilization rate of equipment is improved.
In this embodiment, the apparatus further includes: the reaction chamber 21 is communicated with the pump body 28 through a fourth channel 26. Specifically, the pump body 28 is a vacuum pump, which is a gas delivery mechanism that uses mechanical, physical, chemical, physicochemical, and other methods to pump the reaction chamber 21 to obtain and maintain a vacuum state inside the reaction chamber 21 (the pressure inside the chamber is lower than 1 atmosphere). In this embodiment, the reaction chamber 21 further has an outlet 213. The pump body 28 pumps the reaction chamber 21 through the outlet 213.
An explanation is given below of the operation principle of the semiconductor processing apparatus according to the present embodiment.
As shown in fig. 3, in the preparation of the film process, the controller 29 provides a first control signal S1 to the first controllable valve 231 and the third controllable valve 251, wherein the first controllable valve 231 and the third controllable valve 251 are controlled to be closed, the third channel 25 between the cleaning gas source 202 and the remote plasma source 22 is closed, and the first channel 23 between the remote plasma source 22 and the reaction chamber 21 is closed; the controller 29 simultaneously provides a second control signal S2 to the second controllable valve 241, the second controllable valve 241 being controlled to open, the second channel 24 between the process gas source 201 and the reaction chamber 21 being opened; process gas in the process gas source 201 enters the reaction chamber 21 through the second channel 24 to prepare a corresponding film (e.g., silicon, nano-or microcrystalline silicon) on the wafer surface within the reaction chamber 21. Because the first controllable valve 231 is controlled to be closed, even if particles are formed by erosion of the inner wall of the remote plasma source 22 due to plasma, the closed first channel can effectively prevent the particles from falling to the wafer surface inside the reaction chamber 21 during the film forming process of the film layer to cause defects.
As shown in fig. 4, during cleaning, the controller 29 provides the second control signal S2 to the first controllable valve 231 and the third controllable valve 251, the first controllable valve 231 and the third controllable valve 251 are controlled to be opened, the third channel 25 between the cleaning gas source 202 and the remote plasma source 22 is opened, and the first channel 23 between the remote plasma source 22 and the reaction chamber 21 is opened; the controller 29 simultaneously provides the first control signal S1 to the second controllable valve 241, the second controllable valve 241 being controlled to close, the second channel 24 between the process gas source 201 and the reaction chamber 21 being closed; the cleaning gas (nitrogen trifluoride gas) in the cleaning gas source 202 enters the remote plasma source 22 through the third passage 25, and the remote plasma source 22 ionizes fluorine ions of the nitrogen trifluoride gas by radio frequency energy to generate plasma, and is supplied to the reaction chamber 21 through the first passage 23 to clean the reaction chamber 21.
As can be seen from the foregoing, the semiconductor processing apparatus according to this embodiment may reduce the risk of wafer defects caused by particles generated by the remote plasma source itself, reduce downtime caused thereby, reduce the frequency of replacing the remote plasma source, and save spare part costs by providing the first controllable valve on the first channel between the reaction chamber and the remote plasma source, and providing the first controllable valve to be controlled to be closed to control the first channel to be closed when preparing the film layer process, and to be controlled to be opened to control the first channel to be opened when cleaning the reaction chamber. The controller is further used for realizing the on-off state linkage of a second controllable valve arranged on a second channel between the process gas source and the reaction chamber, a third controllable valve arranged on a third channel between the cleaning gas source and the remote plasma source and a first controllable valve arranged on a first channel between the remote plasma source and the reaction chamber, so that the control cost is reduced, the burden of equipment maintenance personnel is further reduced, and the utilization rate of equipment is improved.
It should be noted that in this document, relational terms such as "first" and "second" and the like are used solely to distinguish one entity or action from another entity or action without necessarily requiring or implying any actual such relationship or order between such entities or actions. Moreover, the terms "comprise," "include," or any other variation thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion. In this specification, each embodiment is described in a related manner, and identical and similar parts of each embodiment are all referred to each other, and each embodiment mainly describes differences from other embodiments.
The foregoing description is only of the preferred embodiments of the present utility model and is not intended to limit the scope of the present utility model. It should be noted that modifications and adaptations to the present utility model may occur to one skilled in the art without departing from the principles of the present utility model and are intended to be comprehended within the scope of the present utility model.

Claims (9)

1. A semiconductor processing apparatus having a remote plasma source, comprising:
a reaction chamber;
a remote plasma source communicating with the reaction chamber through a first channel;
the first controllable valve is arranged on the first channel and is used for being controlled to be closed to control the first channel to be closed when the film layer preparation process is carried out, and controlled to be opened to control the first channel to be opened when the reaction chamber is cleaned;
the apparatus further includes a second controllable valve, the reaction chamber further communicates with a process gas source through a second channel, the second controllable valve being disposed on the second channel and being opposite to the first controllable valve in on-off state.
2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first controllable valve is a controllable gate valve.
3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the remote plasma source generates the plasma by ionizing fluoride ions of nitrogen trifluoride gas with radio frequency energy.
4. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a controller for providing control signals to the first controllable valve, the second controllable valve, respectively;
wherein the control signal provided to the first controllable valve is opposite to the control signal provided to the second controllable valve.
5. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a third controllable valve; the remote plasma source is further communicated with a cleaning gas source through a third channel, and the third controllable valve is arranged on the third channel and used for controlling the opening of the third channel when the reaction chamber is cleaned.
6. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the switch state of the third controllable valve is the same as and changes synchronously with the switch state of the first controllable valve.
7. The apparatus of claim 5, further comprising a controller for providing control signals to the first controllable valve, the second controllable valve, the third controllable valve, respectively;
wherein the control signal provided to the first controllable valve is the same as the control signal provided to the third controllable valve and is opposite to the control signal provided to the second controllable valve.
8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the device comprises a plurality of sensors,
the controller is used for providing a first control signal for the first controllable valve and the third controllable valve to control the first controllable valve and the third controllable valve to be closed and providing a second control signal for the second controllable valve to control the second controllable valve to be opened during the film preparation process;
the controller is further configured to provide the second control signal to the first controllable valve and the third controllable valve to control the first controllable valve and the third controllable valve to open and provide the first control signal to the second controllable valve to control the second controllable valve to close during cleaning.
9. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a pump body, wherein the reaction chamber communicates with the pump body through a fourth channel.
CN202320683227.5U 2023-03-30 2023-03-30 Semiconductor processing apparatus with remote plasma source Active CN219873400U (en)

Priority Applications (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
CN202320683227.5U CN219873400U (en) 2023-03-30 2023-03-30 Semiconductor processing apparatus with remote plasma source

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
CN202320683227.5U CN219873400U (en) 2023-03-30 2023-03-30 Semiconductor processing apparatus with remote plasma source

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
CN219873400U true CN219873400U (en) 2023-10-20

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Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
CN202320683227.5U Active CN219873400U (en) 2023-03-30 2023-03-30 Semiconductor processing apparatus with remote plasma source

Country Status (1)

Country Link
CN (1) CN219873400U (en)

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