CN220556057U

CN220556057U - Shut-off valve of remote plasma generating device and semiconductor equipment

Info

Publication number: CN220556057U
Application number: CN202321553587.XU
Authority: CN
Inventors: 宋宇
Original assignee: Tuojing Chuangyi Shenyang Semiconductor Equipment Co ltd
Current assignee: Tuojing Chuangyi Shenyang Semiconductor Equipment Co ltd
Priority date: 2023-06-16
Filing date: 2023-06-16
Publication date: 2024-03-05
Anticipated expiration: 2033-06-16

Abstract

The utility model discloses a shut-off valve of a remote plasma generating device and semiconductor equipment. The shut-off valve includes: the valve body is arranged on a connecting channel between the reaction chamber of the semiconductor device and the remote plasma generating device and is used for communicating the reaction chamber with the remote plasma generating device in an openable and closable manner so as to conduct or cut off plasma and/or process gas; and the multilayer sealing ring is sleeved at the connecting ports at the two ends of the valve body, the outer layer of the multilayer sealing ring comprises a corrosion-resistant shell, and the inner layer of the multilayer sealing ring comprises an elastic inner core. By adopting the stop valve, the plasma and/or strong oxidizing gas flowing through can be prevented from corroding and damaging the sealing ring on the stop valve, the risk of particle pollution caused by plasma etching of the sealing ring is reduced, and the working time of the stop valve and the semiconductor equipment is prolonged.

Description

Shut-off valve of remote plasma generating device and semiconductor equipment

Technical Field

The utility model relates to the technical field of semiconductor equipment, in particular to a shutoff valve of a remote plasma generating device and the semiconductor equipment.

Background

In a thin film deposition process or a cleaning process of a semiconductor device, such as a thin film deposition device, plasma and a strong oxidizing gas are generally required. When these gases or plasmas flow through the valve, they can create very aggressive effects on the seal ring on the shut-off valve that connects the reaction chamber in the semiconductor device to the remote plasma generating device.

In the prior art, the sealing ring which is currently used is made of perfluoropolyether, has limited capability of resisting plasma corrosion, and can influence the vacuum degree in the reaction chamber after the sealing ring on the cut-off valve is corroded. In addition, with the extension of the service time, the corroded sealing ring can release particles, and the particles enter the reaction chamber to directly influence the film forming quality of the subsequent wafers in the chamber, so that the risk of particle pollution is generated. After the sealing ring is corroded, the process gas for performing the semiconductor processing process can be diffused into the remote plasma generating device to pollute the remote plasma generating device, so that pollutants are brought out of the reaction chamber during cleaning, and the cleanliness in the reaction chamber is affected again. To reduce the above-mentioned risks, it is often necessary in the prior art to replace the current sealing ring periodically, but this in turn leads to a reduced working time of the device.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems in the prior art, there is a need in the art for an improved shut-off valve for a remote plasma generating device, which can avoid the corrosion damage of the flowing plasma and/or strong oxidizing gas to the seal ring on the shut-off valve, reduce the risk of particle contamination caused by plasma etching the seal ring, and improve the working time of the shut-off valve and the semiconductor device.

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 utility model provides a shut-off valve of a remote plasma generating device and a semiconductor device, which can avoid corrosion damage of plasma and/or strong oxidizing gas flowing through to a sealing ring on the shut-off valve, reduce the risk of particle pollution caused by plasma etching the sealing ring, and improve the working time of the shut-off valve and the semiconductor device.

Specifically, the shut-off valve of the remote plasma generating device according to the first aspect of the present utility model includes: the valve body is arranged on a connecting channel between the reaction chamber of the semiconductor device and the remote plasma generating device and is used for communicating the reaction chamber with the remote plasma generating device in an openable and closable manner so as to conduct or cut off plasma and/or process gas; and the multilayer sealing ring is sleeved at the connecting ports at the two ends of the valve body, the outer layer of the multilayer sealing ring comprises a corrosion-resistant shell, and the inner layer of the multilayer sealing ring comprises an elastic inner core.

Further, in some embodiments of the present utility model, the center of the inner layer of the multi-layer sealing ring is a hollow structure.

Further, in some embodiments of the utility model, the corrosion resistant outer shell is a teflon material and the resilient inner core is a rubber elastomer.

Further, in some embodiments of the utility model, the valve body comprises a gate valve, and the multi-layer sealing ring is disposed on a gate of the gate valve.

Further, in some embodiments of the utility model, the valve body includes a rotary angle valve, and the multi-layer seal ring is disposed on a rotary body of the rotary angle valve.

Further, the above-described semiconductor device provided according to the second aspect of the present utility model includes: a reaction chamber for performing a semiconductor processing process; a remote plasma generating device connected with the reaction chamber and providing plasma for the reaction chamber; and a shut-off valve for a remote plasma generating device according to the first aspect of the present utility model.

Further, in some embodiments of the utility model, the reaction chamber includes a gas inlet for introducing a process gas for performing a semiconductor processing process.

Further, in some embodiments of the present utility model, the reaction chamber is coupled to a vacuum pump, and the reaction chamber is evacuated to form a vacuum environment suitable for performing the semiconductor processing process.

Further, in some embodiments of the utility model, a ceramic top cover is included over the interior of the reaction chamber to form a vacuum environment with the reaction chamber.

Further, in some embodiments of the present utility model, the semiconductor device includes a plurality of the reaction chambers independent of each other such that a plurality of the semiconductor processing processes are performed for the same time period.

Drawings

The above features and advantages of the present utility model 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 schematic structure of a semiconductor device provided according to some embodiments of the present utility model;

FIG. 2 illustrates a schematic structural view of a gate valve provided in accordance with some embodiments of the present utility model;

FIG. 3A illustrates a schematic diagram of a multi-layer seal ring provided in accordance with some embodiments of the present utility model;

FIG. 3B illustrates a schematic view of a multi-layer seal ring provided in accordance with further embodiments of the present utility model; and

fig. 4 illustrates a schematic structural view of a rotary angle valve provided according to some embodiments of the present utility model.

Reference numerals:

100. a semiconductor device;

110. a reaction chamber;

111. an air inlet;

112. a vacuum pump;

120. a remote plasma generating device;

130. a connection channel;

140. a shut-off valve;

141. a valve body;

1411. a flashboard;

1412. a rotating body;

142. a multi-layer sealing ring;

1421. a housing;

1422. an inner core; and

1423. a hollow structure.

Detailed Description

Further advantages and effects of the present utility model will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the disclosure of the present specification, by describing the embodiments of the present utility model with specific examples. While the description of the utility model 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 utility model described in connection with the embodiments is to cover other alternatives or modifications, which may be extended by the claims based on the utility model. The following description contains many specific details for the purpose of providing a thorough understanding of the present utility model. The utility model may be practiced without these specific details. Furthermore, some specific details are omitted from the description in order to avoid obscuring the utility model.

In the description of the present utility model, 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 utility model 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 utility model 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 utility model.

As described above, in the prior art, the sealing ring currently used is made of perfluoropolyether, and has limited resistance to plasma corrosion, and when the sealing ring on the shut-off valve is corroded, the vacuum degree in the reaction chamber is affected. In addition, with the extension of the service time, the corroded sealing ring can release particles, and the particles enter the reaction chamber to directly influence the film forming quality of the subsequent wafers in the chamber, so that the risk of particle pollution is generated. After the sealing ring is corroded, the process gas for performing the semiconductor processing process can be diffused into the remote plasma generating device to pollute the remote plasma generating device, so that pollutants are brought out of the reaction chamber during cleaning, and the cleanliness in the reaction chamber is affected again. To reduce the above-mentioned risks, it is often necessary in the prior art to replace the current sealing ring periodically, but this in turn leads to a reduced working time of the device.

In order to solve the problems in the prior art, the utility model provides a shut-off valve of a remote plasma generating device and a semiconductor device, which can avoid the corrosion damage of plasma and/or strong oxidizing gas flowing through to a sealing ring on the shut-off valve, reduce the risk of particle pollution caused by plasma etching the sealing ring, and improve the working time of the shut-off valve and the semiconductor device.

In some non-limiting embodiments, the shut-off valve of the remote plasma generating device provided in the first aspect of the present utility model may be configured in the semiconductor apparatus provided in the second aspect of the present utility model.

The principle of operation of the shut-off valve of the remote plasma-generating device described above will be described below in connection with some embodiments of the semiconductor device. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that these examples of shut-off valves for remote plasma generating devices are merely some non-limiting embodiments provided by the present utility model, and are intended to clearly illustrate the general concepts of the present utility model and to provide some embodiments for ease of public implementation, and are not intended to limit the overall operation or function of the semiconductor device. Similarly, the semiconductor device is just one non-limiting embodiment provided by the present utility model, and does not limit the arrangement body of the shut-off valve of the remote plasma generator.

Referring to fig. 1, fig. 1 illustrates a schematic structure of a semiconductor device according to some embodiments of the present utility model.

As shown in fig. 1, in some embodiments, a semiconductor device 100 may mainly include: a reaction chamber 110 for performing a semiconductor processing process; a remote plasma generating device 120 connected to the reaction chamber 110 to supply plasma to the reaction chamber 110; and a shut-off valve 140 of the remote plasma generating device.

Specifically, referring first to FIG. 2, FIG. 2 illustrates a schematic structural diagram of a gate valve provided in accordance with some embodiments of the present utility model. In some alternative embodiments, referring to fig. 1 and 2, the shut-off valve 140 of the remote plasma generating device may include: a valve body 141 and a multi-layer sealing ring 142. The valve body 141 may be disposed on the connection channel 130 between the reaction chamber 110 and the remote plasma generating device 120 of the semiconductor apparatus 100 for openably and closably communicating the reaction chamber 110 and the remote plasma generating device 120 to turn on or off the plasma and/or process gas flowing therethrough.

Further, referring to fig. 3A, fig. 3A illustrates a schematic structural diagram of a multi-layer seal ring provided according to some embodiments of the present utility model. In some embodiments of the present utility model, in conjunction with fig. 2 and 3A, a multi-layer seal ring 142 may be sleeved over the connection ports at both ends of the valve body 141, the outer layer of the multi-layer seal ring 142 may include a corrosion resistant outer shell 1421, and the inner layer of the multi-layer seal ring 142 may include an elastic inner core 1422.

Alternatively, in some preferred embodiments, the outer shell 1421 of the multi-layer seal 142 may be formed of a Teflon material and the inner core 1422 of the multi-layer seal 142 may be formed of a rubber elastomer. The teflon used to make the housing 1421 is known by the trade name Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE for short), and is very resistant to plasma etching due to its structural characteristics, and is also suitable for normally open and closed valve applications, in addition to static seals. The rubber elastomer used for manufacturing the inner core 1422 can be fluororubber, perfluoropolyether rubber or any material thereof, and both have larger elasticity, so that the multilayer sealing ring 142 in the embodiment can be applied to valves of remote plasmas and chambers to avoid particle pollution risks caused by plasma etching, and meanwhile, the required system leakage rate can be achieved.

Further, in some preferred embodiments, referring to fig. 3B, fig. 3B shows a schematic structural view of a multi-layer seal ring provided according to other embodiments of the present utility model. As shown in fig. 3B, the center of the inner layer of the multi-layer sealing ring 142 may also be configured as a hollow structure 1423 to compensate for the insufficient elasticity of the teflon material.

In some alternative embodiments, as shown in fig. 2, the valve body 141 may be a gate valve, and the multi-layer sealing ring 142 may be disposed on the gate 1411 of the gate valve.

Optionally, referring to fig. 4, fig. 4 illustrates a schematic diagram of a rotation angle valve provided in accordance with some embodiments of the present utility model. In alternative embodiments, as shown in fig. 4, the valve body 141 may be a rotary angle valve, and the multi-layer seal 142 may be disposed on the rotary body 1412 of the rotary angle valve.

It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the above selection of the gate valve and the valve body of the rotary angle valve is merely one non-limiting embodiment provided by the present utility model, and is intended to clearly illustrate the general concept of the present utility model and to provide a specific solution for public implementation without limiting the scope of the present utility model. The multi-layer sealing ring 142 provided by the utility model can be arranged on any valve body 141 for separating and sealing the reaction chamber 110 from the remote plasma generating device 120, and even at the connecting position between the two, the technical effects of reducing the risk of particle pollution and improving the utilization rate of semiconductor equipment can be realized.

With continued reference next to fig. 1, the reaction chamber 110 of the semiconductor apparatus 100 may include a gas inlet 111 to introduce a process gas for performing a semiconductor processing process, for example, a highly oxidizing reaction gas for performing a thin film deposition process. Optionally, in some other embodiments, the gas inlet 111 of the reaction chamber 110 may also be filled with purge gas, cleaning gas, etc. to meet the operation requirements in the reaction chamber 110 at different stages.

In some alternative embodiments, as shown in fig. 1, the thin film deposition process may be performed by physical vapor deposition, i.e., by physically vaporizing a material source (solid or liquid) surface into gaseous atoms, molecules, or partially ionizing the gaseous atoms, molecules, or partially ionizing ions under vacuum, and depositing a thin film having a specific function on the substrate surface through a low-pressure gas (or plasma) process. The reaction chamber 110 may be connected to a vacuum pump 112. The reaction chamber 110 may be evacuated by a vacuum pump 112 to form a vacuum environment suitable for performing a thin film deposition process. Alternatively, the reaction chamber 110 with the vacuum pump 112 coupled thereto may be adapted to perform other semiconductor processing processes requiring a vacuum environment.

Further, a ceramic top cover (not shown in fig. 1) may be included over the interior of the reaction chamber 110 to form a vacuum environment with the reaction chamber 110. During the film deposition process or the cleaning process of the reaction chamber, a large amount of heat is generated in the reaction chamber 110 due to the bombardment of the high-density plasma particles, and the ceramic top cover can effectively avoid the generation of radio frequency loss.

Furthermore, in some preferred embodiments, as shown in fig. 1, a plurality of reaction chambers 110 may be included in the semiconductor apparatus 100 independently of each other, thereby enabling the apparatus to perform a plurality of different semiconductor processing processes at the same time period.

In summary, the utility model provides a shut-off valve of a remote plasma generating device and a semiconductor device, which can avoid corrosion damage to a sealing ring on the shut-off valve caused by flowing plasma and/or strong oxidizing gas, reduce the risk of particle pollution caused by etching the sealing ring by plasma, and improve the working time of the shut-off valve and the semiconductor device.

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

1. A shut-off valve for a remote plasma-generating device, comprising:

the valve body is arranged on a connecting channel between the reaction chamber of the semiconductor device and the remote plasma generating device and is used for communicating the reaction chamber with the remote plasma generating device in an openable and closable manner so as to conduct or cut off plasma and/or process gas; and

the multi-layer sealing ring is sleeved at the connecting ports at the two ends of the valve body, the outer layer of the multi-layer sealing ring comprises a corrosion-resistant shell, and the inner layer of the multi-layer sealing ring comprises an elastic inner core.

2. The shut-off valve of claim 1, wherein the center of the inner layer of the multi-layer seal ring is hollow.

3. A shut-off valve as in claim 1 or 2 wherein said corrosion resistant outer shell is of teflon material and said resilient inner core is of rubber elastomer.

4. The shut-off valve of claim 1, wherein the valve body comprises a gate valve, and the multi-layer seal is disposed on a gate of the gate valve.

5. The shut-off valve of claim 1, wherein the valve body comprises a rotary angle valve, and the multi-layer seal ring is disposed on a rotary body of the rotary angle valve.

6. A semiconductor device, characterized by comprising:

a reaction chamber for performing a semiconductor processing process;

a remote plasma generating device connected with the reaction chamber and providing plasma for the reaction chamber; and

a shut-off valve for a remote plasma-generating device as recited in any one of claims 1 to 5.

7. The semiconductor device of claim 6, wherein the reaction chamber comprises a gas inlet for introducing a process gas for performing a semiconductor processing process.

8. The semiconductor device of claim 6, wherein the reaction chamber is coupled to a vacuum pump to evacuate the reaction chamber to form a vacuum environment suitable for performing the semiconductor processing process.

9. The semiconductor device of claim 8, wherein the reaction chamber comprises a ceramic top cover above an interior thereof to form a vacuum environment with the reaction chamber.

10. The semiconductor device of claim 6, wherein the semiconductor device comprises a plurality of the reaction chambers independent of each other such that a plurality of the semiconductor processing processes are performed for a same time period.