JP2001135577A - Semiconductor film deposition system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enhance the efficiency of film deposition work and the yield by removing products adhering to a belt during film deposition work effectively. SOLUTION: After passing through a film deposition chamber 3 the carrying belt 2 of an atmospheric pressure CVD system is fed through the acid based chemical tank 9 of a cleaning unit 10 and impregnated with the acid based chemical for a predetermined time. Products adhering to the opposite sides of the carrying belt 2 are removed by etching with the acid based chemical. Since the acid based chemical is subjected to ultrasonic oscillation through an ultrasonic oscillator 12 in the acid based chemical tank 9, the carrying belt 2 is cleaned more effectively. After leaving the acid based chemical tank 9, the carrying belt 2 is subjected to blowing at an N2 blow section 13 and the acid based chemical adhering to the carrying belt 2 is removed. Subsequently, the carrying belt 2 is cleaned in an ultrasonic cleaning tank 6 filled with pure water in a second cleaning unit 20 and passed through an N2 blow section 7 where moisture is scattered from the carrying belt 2 before the carrying belt 2 is dried by means of a dryer 8.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to a semiconductor film forming apparatus for performing a film forming process on a semiconductor substrate transferred into a film forming chamber by belt transfer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in an atmospheric pressure CVD apparatus for transporting a semiconductor wafer to a belt, an acid-based chemical is sprayed onto the belt in the form of a mist in order to remove products adhered to the belt by the atmospheric pressure CVD process. There is also known a device provided with a cleaning device for etching and removing. Also,
In such an atmospheric pressure CVD apparatus, there is known an apparatus provided with a second cleaning apparatus for further cleaning the belt in an ultrasonic cleaning tank using pure water, downstream of the cleaning apparatus using the acid-based chemical. I have.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view showing an outline of such a conventional atmospheric pressure CVD apparatus 1. As shown in FIG. The film forming chamber 103
A normal pressure CVD operation is performed using a predetermined film forming gas in the chamber, and a plurality of gas heads 103A for supplying a film forming gas into the film forming chamber 103 are provided above the film forming chamber 103. Have been. Conveyor belt 102
Are drive rollers 101A and various guide rollers 101B,
The film forming chamber 1 holds a semiconductor wafer (not shown) which is fed by a belt conveyance system constituted by 101C and 101D and is supplied from a supply side conveyor 114.
The semiconductor wafer that has been transported into the chamber 03 and passed through the film forming chamber 103 is transferred to the take-out side conveyor 115.

A cleaning device 100 using the above-described acid-based chemical is provided on the transport path of the transport belt 102. This cleaning device 10
Numeral 0 is for etching and removing the products adhered to the conveyor belt 102. A thin cleaning chamber 104 corresponding to the cross-sectional shape of the conveyor belt 102 and an acid-based chemical solution mist formed in the cleaning chamber 104 are removed. It has a nozzle 105 for spraying, a supply pipe 112 for supplying an acid chemical to the nozzle 105, and a drain pipe 113 for draining the acid chemical in the cleaning chamber 104.

A second cleaning device 110 using an ultrasonic cleaning tank 106 is provided downstream of the cleaning device 100. In the second cleaning device 110, the conveyance belt 102 is fed into the ultrasonic cleaning tank 106 by the guide mechanism 115,
The ultrasonic cleaning is performed using pure water stored in the ultrasonic cleaning tank 106. An N2 blow unit 107 is provided at an outlet of the ultrasonic cleaning tank 106 so that pure water attached to the transport belt 102 is blown off by blowing nitrogen gas. Further, the transport belt 10
Downstream of 2, a dryer device 108 for drying the conveyor belt 102 by heating is provided.

Next, the overall operation of the conventional atmospheric pressure CVD apparatus having the above configuration will be described. First, normal pressure C
The conveyor belt 102 of the VD device is connected to a supply-side conveyor 114.
After holding the semiconductor wafer from above and passing through the film forming chamber 103, the semiconductor wafer is taken out and taken out of the conveyor 1.
15 and then the cleaning chamber 104
to go into. Then, the products adhering to the conveyor belt 102 are removed by etching using a mist of an acid-based chemical solution that passes through the nozzle 105 in the cleaning chamber 104 and is ejected from the nozzle 105.

Next, the transport belt 102 that has passed through the cleaning chamber 103 enters an ultrasonic cleaning tank 106 filled with pure water and is cleaned. Further, the transport belt 102 that has exited the ultrasonic cleaning tank 106 is
7 to remove the moisture, and dried by the dryer device 108. Then, the transport belt 102 dried by the dryer device 108 is again supplied to the film forming chamber 103.
to go into.

[0008]

However, the conventional cleaning device 100 has the following problems. (1) In the conventional belt etching structure using an acid-based chemical, since the etching is performed with the mist-formed acid-based chemical, the products adhered to the belt cannot be completely removed, which causes dust. As a result, the yield of the products is decreasing. (2) Since the time for which the belt is in contact with the acid-based chemical is short, it is not possible to increase the transport speed more than the current level. For this reason, improvement in the processing capability of the apparatus cannot be expected. (3) The nozzle for blowing out the mist of the acid-based chemical solution is clogged by use for a long time, the amount of the acid-based chemical solution released is reduced, and the etching ability is reduced, so that dust is generated and the product yield is reduced. . (4) In the conventional etching structure, since only the surface of the conveyor belt can remove the products adhered to the belt, dirt on the rear surface of the conveyor belt cannot be cleaned, dust is generated, and the product yield is reduced.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to effectively remove a product adhered to a belt by a film forming operation.
An object of the present invention is to provide a semiconductor film forming apparatus capable of improving the efficiency of a film forming operation and improving the yield.

[0010]

According to the present invention, there is provided a semiconductor film forming apparatus for performing a film forming process on a semiconductor substrate conveyed into a film forming chamber by belt conveyance. A cleaning device is provided on a belt feeding path, and is provided with a cleaning device that etches and removes a product attached to the belt by impregnating the belt with an acid-based chemical and passing the belt through.

In the semiconductor film forming apparatus according to the present invention, the belt is impregnated in an acid-based chemical solution and passed through by a cleaning device provided on a feeding path of the belt for transporting the semiconductor substrate, thereby adhering to the belt. Since the products are removed by etching, it is possible to effectively remove the products adhered to both surfaces of the belt. As a result, it is possible to effectively eliminate the generation of dust due to the deposit on the belt, and it is possible to improve the product yield. In addition, even when the belt feeding speed is increased, sufficient cleaning can be performed, so by increasing the belt feeding speed,
Efficient semiconductor film formation can be achieved, and production efficiency can be improved.

[0012]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of a semiconductor film forming apparatus according to the present invention will be described below by taking a normal pressure CVD apparatus as an example. FIG. 1 shows a normal pressure CV according to a first embodiment of the present invention.
It is sectional drawing which shows the outline | summary of D apparatus 1A. This normal pressure CVD
In the apparatus 1A, the film forming chamber 3 performs a normal-pressure CVD operation using a predetermined film forming gas in the chamber. Are provided. The transport belt 2 is fed by a belt transport system including a drive roller 21A and various guide rollers 21B, 21C, and 21D, and holds a semiconductor wafer (not shown) supplied from a supply-side conveyor 34 to form a film. The semiconductor wafer transported into the chamber 3 and passed through the film forming chamber 3 is transferred to the take-out conveyor 35.

The cleaning device 1 using the above-mentioned acid-based chemical is placed on the transport path of the transport belt 2.
0 is provided. 2 to 4 are enlarged views of the cleaning device 10, and FIG.
Is a top view and FIG. 4 is a perspective view. The cleaning device 10 is used for etching and removing products adhered to the transport belt 2. The cleaning device 10 is used to guide the transport belt 2 to the acid-based chemical solution tank 9 storing the acid-based chemical solution and the acid-based chemical solution tank 9. And a guide mechanism 11. The acid-based chemical tank 9 is made of a material that can withstand the acid-based chemical, and has a width corresponding to the width of the transport belt 2 and a depth that can impregnate the transport belt 2 with the acid-based chemical for a sufficient time. It has a rectangular container shape.

The guide mechanism 11 impregnates the transport belt 2 with an acid-based chemical by moving the transport belt 2 in a substantially V-shaped manner in the acid-based chemical solution tank 9.
The first guide roller 11A disposed at the entrance of the first and the second guide roller 11 disposed deep in the acid-based chemical solution tank 9
B, and a third guide roller 11 </ b> C arranged at the outlet of the acid-based chemical solution tank 9. The depth position from the liquid surface of the acid-based chemical solution tank 9 to the guide roller 11B is set so as to have a transport distance capable of obtaining a sufficient impregnation time with respect to the feeding speed of the transport belt 2.

An N2 blow unit 13 is provided at the outlet of the acid-based chemical solution tank 9 so that the acid-based chemical solution attached to the conveyor belt 2 is blown off by blowing nitrogen gas. The N2 blow section 13 includes a bifurcated blow pipe 13A disposed on both sides of the conveyor belt 2,
13B, and is disposed between the liquid surface of the acid-based chemical solution tank 9 and the third guide roller 11C. Also, the acid-based chemical solution tank 9
An ultrasonic vibrator 12 for ultrasonically vibrating the acid-based chemical to enhance the cleaning effect is provided at the bottom of the substrate. Also,
The acid chemical solution tank 9 is provided with a supply pipe 14 and a drain pipe 15 for appropriately updating the acid chemical liquid.

A second cleaning device 2 using an ultrasonic cleaning tank 6 is provided downstream of the cleaning device 10.
0 is provided. This second cleaning device 20
In this embodiment, the conveying belt 102 is fed into the ultrasonic cleaning tank 6 by a guide mechanism 25 similar to the guide mechanism 11, thereby performing ultrasonic cleaning with pure water stored in the ultrasonic cleaning tank 6. An N2 blow unit 7 similar to the N2 blow unit 13 is provided at the outlet of the ultrasonic cleaning tank 6, and the pure water attached to the conveyor belt 2 is blown off by blowing nitrogen gas. . further,
Downstream of the conveyor belt 2, a dryer 8 for drying the conveyor belt 2 by heating is provided.

Next, the overall operation of the conventional atmospheric pressure CVD apparatus having the above configuration will be described. First, normal pressure C
The transport belt 2 of the VD device holds the semiconductor wafer from the supply-side conveyor 34 and passes through the inside of the film formation chamber 3, passes the semiconductor wafer to the take-out side conveyor 35, and then enters the first cleaning device 10. . Then, it is fed to the guide mechanism 11 into the acid-based chemical solution tank 9 of the cleaning device 10. Thereby, the conveyor belt 2
Is impregnated with the acid-based chemical for a certain period of time, and the products adhered to both surfaces of the conveyor belt 2 by the etching with the acid-based chemical are removed. Further, the acid chemical in the acid chemical tank 9 is ultrasonically vibrated by the ultrasonic vibrator 12, so that the transport belt 2 can be more effectively cleaned. The transport belt 2 that has exited the acid-based chemical solution tank 9 is N
The acid-based chemical liquid blown by the 2 blow unit 13 and adhered to the conveyor belt 2 is blown off by the nitrogen gas and removed from the conveyor belt 2.

Next, the transport belt 2 that has passed through the cleaning device 10 enters the second cleaning device 20 and enters the ultrasonic cleaning tank 6 filled with pure water for cleaning.
Further, the transport belt 2 that has exited the ultrasonic cleaning tank 6 is
2 Drying device 8
And dried. Then, the transport belt 2 dried by the dryer 8 enters the film forming chamber 3 again.

In the atmospheric pressure CVD apparatus of the present embodiment as described above, the transport belt 2 is impregnated with the acid-based chemical solution stored in the acid-based chemical solution tank 9 to remove the products adhered to the transport belt 2. The following effects can be obtained. (1) Since the belt 2 is directly immersed in the acid-based chemical solution, the etching ability of the product is improved, the product attached to the conveyor belt 2 can be completely removed, dust in the atmospheric pressure CVD apparatus 1A is reduced, and the product is reduced. Yield can be improved. (2) Since the acid-based chemical solution is directly introduced into the acid-based chemical solution tank 9, the nozzle 105 is not clogged as in the related art, so that the discharge amount of the acid-based chemical mist is reduced and the etching ability is not reduced. The yield can be prevented from lowering.

(4) Since the time during which the transport belt 2 is in contact with the acid-based chemical solution is longer, the transport speed can be increased more than before, and the processing capability of the apparatus is improved. (5) Since the acid-based chemical solution is vibrated by the ultrasonic vibrator in the acid-based chemical solution tank 9 in the tank, the etching ability is improved, the generation of dust is reduced, and the product yield can be improved. (6) Since the front and back surfaces of the conveyor belt 2 are cleaned in the acid-based chemical solution tank 9, it is also possible to remove products on the back surface that could not be etched conventionally, leading to more complete dust reduction and product. Yield can be improved.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view showing an outline of an atmospheric pressure CVD apparatus 1B according to a second embodiment of the present invention. In addition,
In FIG. 5, the same components as those in FIG. 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals. In the normal pressure CVD apparatus 1B, a belt 2 is used as a cleaning apparatus 10 using an acid-based chemical.
2 are provided with two acid-based chemical solution tanks 9 and 16 and guide mechanisms 11 and 17 along the feeding path. The acid-based chemical solution tank 9 and the guide mechanism 11 are the same as those provided in the first embodiment.

The acid-based chemical solution tank 16 and the guide mechanism 17
Is provided downstream of the acid-based chemical tank 9 and the guide mechanism 11, and performs cleaning of the belt 2 with the acid-based chemical by the same configuration and operation as those of the above-described acid-based chemical tank 9 and the guide mechanism 11. However, in the present embodiment, the acid chemical stored in the acid chemical tank 9 and the acid chemical stored in the acid chemical tank 16 have different concentrations. The ultrasonic vibrator 12 provided in the acid-based chemical solution tank 16 and the N2 blow unit 1
3, since the configuration of the supply pipe 14 and the drain pipe 15 is also common,
The same reference numerals are given and the description is omitted.

In the atmospheric pressure CVD apparatus 1B having the above-described configuration, the concentration of the acid-based chemical solution stored in each of the acid-based chemical solution tanks 9 and 16 is changed to remove the products adhered to the transport belt 2 in a stepwise manner. This makes it possible to more effectively remove the product. Although the example in which the film forming apparatus of the present invention is applied to a normal pressure CVD apparatus has been described above, the present invention can be widely applied to various film forming apparatuses using belt conveyance.

[0024]

As described above, in the semiconductor film forming apparatus of the present invention, the belt is impregnated in the acid-based chemical solution and passed through by the cleaning device provided on the feeding path of the belt for transporting the semiconductor substrate. Thereby, the product adhering to the belt is removed by etching. For this reason,
The products adhering to both surfaces of the belt can be effectively removed, and the generation of dust due to the adhering materials of the belt can be effectively prevented, so that the product yield can be improved. Even when the belt feeding speed is increased, sufficient cleaning can be performed. Therefore, by increasing the belt feeding speed, it is possible to realize an efficient semiconductor film forming operation. It is possible to improve efficiency.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional view showing an atmospheric pressure CVD apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view showing a cleaning device provided in the normal pressure CVD device shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged top view showing a cleaning device provided in the normal pressure CVD device shown in FIG.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged perspective view showing a cleaning device provided in the normal pressure CVD device shown in FIG.

FIG. 5 is a schematic sectional view showing an atmospheric pressure CVD apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a schematic sectional view showing a conventional atmospheric pressure CVD apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

1A, 1B ... Normal pressure CVD apparatus, 2 ... Conveyer belt, 3
…… Deposition chamber, 6… Ultrasonic cleaning tank, 7, 13…
N2 blow section, 9, 16 ... Acid-based chemical tank, 10, 20 ...
... cleaning device, 11, 17, 25 ... guide mechanism, 12 ... ultrasonic vibrator, 14 ... supply pipe, 15 ...
Drain pipe.

Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. A semiconductor film forming apparatus for performing a film forming process on a semiconductor substrate conveyed into a film forming chamber by a belt conveyer. A semiconductor film forming apparatus, further comprising: a cleaning device for impregnating and passing a chemical solution through a system chemical to remove a product attached to the belt by etching. 2. The semiconductor film forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the film forming chamber is a normal pressure CVD apparatus for performing a film forming operation by normal pressure CVD. 3. The semiconductor according to claim 1, wherein the cleaning device has an acid-based chemical solution tank storing the acid-based chemical solution, and a guide mechanism that guides a belt to be transported to the acid-based chemical solution tank. Film forming equipment. 4. The semiconductor film forming apparatus according to claim 3, wherein an ultrasonic vibrator is provided in the acid-based chemical solution tank, and the belt is cleaned using ultrasonic vibration of the acid-based chemical solution. 5. The semiconductor film forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the cleaning device has a drying unit for drying the belt after removing a product attached to the belt with the acid-based chemical. 6. The drying device according to claim 1, wherein the drying device includes a blowing device for blowing off an acid-based chemical solution attached to the belt by a blow gas, and a drying device for heating and drying the belt downstream of the blowing device. 6. The semiconductor film forming apparatus according to 5. 7. The semiconductor film forming apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the blow gas is a nitrogen gas. 8. The semiconductor film forming apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a second cleaning device that performs ultrasonic cleaning of the belt downstream of the cleaning device. 9. The semiconductor film forming apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the cleaning device is provided with a plurality of acid-based chemical solution tanks and a guide mechanism along a feeding path of the belt.