JP2007046086A - Semiconductor fabrication equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide semiconductor fabrication equipment, wherein a fitting means for fitting a shield to the wall face in a reaction chamber is prevented from being consumed by plasma damage, and reaction products stuck to the fitting means are prevented from being peeled off to generate dust. <P>SOLUTION: A shield 29 is freely attachably and detachably fitted to a wall face 23a by a fitting means 32. The fitting means 32 is composed of: a groove 35 for fitting; and a projection 36 for fitting which is freely insertable/removable to and from the groove 35. The projection 36 for fitting is provided at the wall face 23a, and the groove 35 for fitting is formed at the shield 29, and is opened to a fitting face 29c. The groove 35 comprises: a insertion/removal allowable part 35a of allowing the insertion/removal of the projection 36 for fitting; and a removal check part 35b for checking the removal of the inserted projection 36 for fitting, and by rotating the shield 29 around a prescribed axial center along the wall face 23a, the projection 36 for fitting is taken in and out from the insertion/removal allowable part 35a to the removal check part 35b. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus for processing a semiconductor substrate or the like by performing dry etching using plasma or CVD.

  Plasma etching using low-temperature plasma is widely used in the manufacturing process of semiconductor integrated circuits having fine element patterns. FIG. 8A is an example of a schematic diagram showing the internal structure of the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 1 for parallel plate plasma etching. A processing procedure using this apparatus 1 will be described. A wafer 2 as a workpiece is carried into a reaction chamber 4 that can be depressurized from a wafer carry-in gate valve 3 and placed above an RF application electrode 5. Next, an etching reaction gas is introduced into the reaction chamber 4 from the gas introduction port 6, converted into plasma 7 by the power applied by the RF application electrode 5, and after processing the wafer 2, the vacuum reaction port 8 Exhausted.

  In the plasma etching semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 1 as described above, the upper shield 11 and the lower shield 12 are provided on a part of the wall surface 10 in the reaction chamber 4, and the wall surfaces in the reaction chamber 4 are formed by these shields 11 and 12. 10 can be protected from plasma damage and deposition of reaction products. Furthermore, the reaction deposits deposited on the shields 11 and 12 can be easily removed from the reaction chamber 4 by exchanging the shields 11 and 12. It becomes possible to do.

Each of the upper shield 11 and the lower shield 12 is attached and fixed to the wall surface 10 in the reaction chamber 4 by a plurality of fixing bolts 14.
However, the above-described conventional type has a problem that the surface of the fixing bolt 14 is etched due to plasma damage, and the metal material constituting the fixing bolt 14 adheres to the wafer 2 to cause metal contamination. In addition, the reaction product 15 generated by the plasma 7 is deposited on the fixing bolt 14, and the reaction product 15 peels off and drops onto the wafer 2 to form particles, which causes device characteristics deterioration and yield reduction. There is also a problem.

  Further, since the head 14a of the fixing bolt 14 is exposed in the reaction chamber 4, the reaction product 15 is not only fixed on the surface of the fixing bolt 14, but also as shown in FIG. It also adheres and accumulates between the head 14 a of the bolt 14 and the shields 11 and 12. In this case, the heat received from the plasma 7 causes the upper shield 11 and the lower shield 12 to thermally expand, and the reaction product 15 attached between the head 14 a of the fixing bolt 14 and the shields 11 and 12 is peeled off. As a result, there is a problem of dropping and adhering onto the wafer 2. With this mechanism, when a foreign substance falls on the wafer 2, the device pattern is damaged, which causes a decrease in yield and device characteristics.

  Further, the head 14a of the fixing bolt 14 fixing the upper shield 11 is etched due to plasma damage, and the upper shield 11 slides down by the amount of etching, and as shown in FIG. There is a problem that a gap S is generated between the upper shield 11 and the wall surface 10, and when such a gap S is generated, an abnormal discharge may occur between the upper shield 11 and the wall surface 10.

  Further, when each of the upper shield 11 and the lower shield 12 is attached / detached, it is necessary to turn all the fixing bolts 14 to perform attachment / detachment. .

Patent Document 1 below describes a sputtering apparatus that is installed in a vacuum chamber and forms a wiring layer of a semiconductor device by Al sputtering. A fixed shield is disposed above a rotatable holding plate of the sputtering apparatus. A plate is provided, and a part of the surface of the fixed shield plate is protected by a small shield plate. The small shield plate is fixedly attached to the fixed shield plate by a plurality of screws.
JP-A-8-41637

  The present invention can prevent the attachment means for attaching the shield to the wall surface in the reaction chamber from being consumed due to plasma damage, and from the periphery of the attachment means such that the reaction product attached to the attachment means is peeled off. A semiconductor manufacturing apparatus capable of preventing the generation of dust, further preventing a gap from being generated between the shield and the wall surface in the reaction chamber, and capable of easily attaching and detaching the shield. The purpose is to provide.

In order to achieve the above object, the first invention is a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus that performs processing by generating plasma in a reaction chamber, wherein the wall surface in the reaction chamber is protected by a shield, and the shield can freely contact the wall surface. A mounting surface, and is detachably mounted on the wall surface by the mounting means. The mounting means is composed of a mounting groove and a mounting protrusion that can be inserted into and removed from the mounting groove. A mounting projection is provided on one of the shields, and a mounting groove is formed on the other. The mounting groove includes an insertion / removal allowing portion that allows insertion / removal of the mounting projection, and an inserted mounting projection. It has a removal prevention part that prevents removal, and the removal prevention part communicates with the insertion / removal permission part, and the mounting projection is prevented from being removed from the insertion / removal permission part by moving the shield along the wall surface. It will be put in and out of the department.

  According to this, when the shield is attached to the wall surface in the reaction chamber, the attachment protrusion is inserted into the insertion / removal allowance portion of the attachment groove, and the shield is moved along the wall surface so that the removal / removal prevention portion is removed from the insertion / removal allowance portion. Get in. As a result, the attachment protrusion is prevented from being removed at the removal preventing portion while being inserted into the attachment groove. Therefore, the shield is attached to the wall surface in the reaction chamber by the attaching means. At this time, the attachment projection is covered with the shield because it is inserted into the attachment groove and is not exposed to the reaction chamber. Thereby, it is possible to prevent the mounting protrusion from being consumed due to plasma damage, and it is possible to prevent the reaction product from adhering to the mounting protrusion.

  Further, the shield is moved along the wall surface, and the attachment protrusion is retracted from the attachment / detachment prevention portion of the attachment groove to the insertion / removal permission portion. As a result, the mounting projection is allowed to be inserted into and removed from the mounting groove at the insertion / removal allowing portion, and the shield can be removed from the wall surface in the reaction chamber by removing the mounting projection from the insertion / removal allowing portion.

  In the second invention, the mounting protrusion has a shaft portion and an engaging portion having a diameter larger than that of the shaft portion, and the mounting groove opens on either the shield mounting surface or the reaction chamber wall surface. The opening has a wide width portion that allows insertion / removal of the shaft portion of the mounting projection and the engagement portion, and a width that allows insertion / removal of the shaft portion and is narrower than the engagement portion. The narrow portion is provided in the insertion / removal allowing portion, and the narrow portion is provided in the removal preventing portion.

  According to this, when the shield is mounted on the wall surface in the reaction chamber, the mounting projection is inserted into the insertion / removal allowing portion from the wide portion of the opening of the mounting groove, the shield is moved along the wall surface, and the mounting projection The shaft portion is inserted from the wide portion of the opening to the narrow portion. At this time, since the narrow portion is narrower than the engaging portion of the mounting projection, the engaging portion is prevented from being pulled out by the pulling out preventing portion while being inserted into the mounting groove. .

  Further, the shield is moved along the wall surface, and the shaft portion of the mounting projection is retracted from the narrow portion of the opening to the wide portion. As a result, the mounting protrusion is retracted from the removal preventing portion to the insertion / removal allowing portion, and the engaging portion is allowed to be inserted / removed from the mounting groove at the wide portion of the opening. Therefore, the shield can be removed from the wall surface in the reaction chamber by removing the mounting protrusion from the wide portion of the opening to the outside of the mounting groove insertion / removal allowing portion.

  In the third aspect of the invention, the insertion / removal allowing portion is formed at one end of the mounting groove, and the removal preventing portion is formed between the other end of the mounting groove and the insertion / removal allowing portion. A guide surface that guides the engaging portion of the projection to the back of the mounting groove is formed, and the guide surface is inclined toward the back of the mounting groove toward the other end of the mounting groove.

  According to this, when the shield is attached to the wall surface in the reaction chamber, the attachment protrusion is inserted into the insertion / removal portion at one end of the attachment groove, and the attachment protrusion moves relatively from one end to the other end of the attachment groove. As described above, the shield is moved along the wall surface, and the attachment protrusion is inserted into the removal preventing portion from the insertion / removal allowing portion.

  At this time, since the engaging portion of the inserted mounting projection is guided to the back of the mounting groove by the guide surface, the shield is pressed against the wall surface in the reaction chamber to be brought into close contact. Therefore, when the shield is attached to the wall surface in the reaction chamber, it is possible to prevent a gap from being generated between the shield and the wall surface in the reaction chamber, thereby causing abnormal discharge between the shield and the wall surface in the reaction chamber. Can be suppressed.

  According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the shield is rotatable around a predetermined axis with respect to the wall surface, the attachment means is disposed on a circumference centered on the predetermined axis, and the shield is moved to the predetermined axis with respect to the wall surface. By rotating around the center, the attachment protrusion is inserted into and removed from the attachment / detachment prevention portion of the attachment groove.

  According to this, by inserting the mounting protrusion into the insertion groove insertion / removal portion and rotating the shield in one direction around the predetermined axis, the mounting protrusion is detached from the insertion groove insertion / removal portion. Enter the removal prevention part. Thereby, the shield is attached to the wall surface in the reaction chamber.

  In addition, after attaching the shield to the wall surface in the reaction chamber as described above, the shield is rotated in the other direction around the predetermined axis to move the attachment projection from the removal prevention portion of the attachment groove to the insertion / removal permission portion. The shield is removed from the wall surface in the reaction chamber by retracting and removing the attachment projection from the insertion / removal allowing portion.

  By rotating the shield in this way, the shield can be attached to or detached from the wall surface in the reaction chamber, so that the attaching / detaching operation of the shield is simplified, and the cleaning time in the reaction chamber can be greatly shortened.

  As described above, in the present invention, when the shield is attached to the wall surface in the reaction chamber, the attachment protrusion is inserted into the attachment groove and covered with the shield, so that it is not exposed in the reaction chamber. As a result, it is possible to prevent the mounting protrusions from being consumed due to plasma damage, and further to prevent reaction products from adhering to the mounting protrusions. Can be prevented.

  In addition, when the shield is attached to the wall surface in the reaction chamber, the engaging portion of the inserted attachment projection is guided to the back of the attachment groove by the guide surface, so that the shield is pressed against the wall surface in the reaction chamber and comes into close contact. Therefore, it is possible to prevent a gap from being generated between the shield and the wall surface in the reaction chamber, and it is possible to suppress the occurrence of abnormal discharge between the shield and the wall surface in the reaction chamber.

  Further, by rotating the shield, the shield can be attached to or detached from the wall surface in the reaction chamber, so that the attaching / detaching operation of the shield is simplified and the cleaning time in the reaction chamber can be greatly shortened.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. In addition, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected about the same thing as the conventional member mentioned above, and detailed description is abbreviate | omitted.
FIG. 1 shows the internal structure of a parallel plate type plasma etching semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 1. The reaction chamber 4 of the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 1 includes a cylindrical side wall 21, a small-diameter cylindrical upper side wall 22 provided above the side wall 21, and an upper end of the side wall 21 and a lower end of the upper side wall 22. An annular intermediate wall 23 provided continuously, a top plate 24 provided at the upper end of the upper side wall 22, a bottom plate 25 provided at the lower end of the side wall 21, and a holding unit 26 that holds the wafer 2. ing.

  The holding portion 26 is formed in a circular convex shape and is provided on the bottom plate 25. The reaction chamber 4 is provided with a wafer carry-in gate valve 3, a gas introduction port 6, and a vacuum exhaust port 8, and an RF application electrode 5 is built in the holding unit 26.

  The wall surfaces in the reaction chamber 4, that is, the inner wall surfaces 22 a and 23 a between the upper side wall 22 and the intermediate wall 23 are protected by the upper shield 29, and the outer wall surface 26 a of the holding portion 26 is protected by the lower shield 30. Yes.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the upper shield 29 includes a cylindrical portion 29a that protects the wall surface 22a of the upper side wall 22, and an annular ring that is provided at the lower end of the cylindrical portion 29a and protects the wall surface 23a of the intermediate wall 23. It has a plate-like outer extended portion 29b, and has a mounting surface 29c that can come into contact with the wall surface 23a.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the lower shield 30 includes a cylindrical portion 30a that protects the wall surface 26a of the holding portion 26, and an inner flange portion 30b that protrudes from the upper end of the cylindrical portion 30a to the inner peripheral side. And has a mounting surface 30c that can come into contact with the wall surface 26b of the upper end portion of the holding portion 26.

  The upper shield 29 is detachably attached to the wall surfaces 22a and 23a by the upper attachment means 32, and is detachably attached to the wall surfaces 26a and 26b by the attachment means 33 below the lower shield 30.

  The upper attachment means 32 includes a plurality of attachment grooves 35 and a plurality of attachment protrusions 36 that can be inserted into and removed from the attachment grooves 35. As shown in FIGS. 4 and 6, the mounting projection 36 is provided on the wall surface 23a of the intermediate wall 23 so as to protrude downward, and is formed at the shaft portion 36a and at the tip of the shaft portion 36a and from the shaft portion 36a. Also has a large-diameter engaging portion 36b.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the mounting groove 35 is formed in the outer extended portion 29 b of the upper shield 29 and is open to the mounting surface 29 c, and an insertion / removal allowing portion that allows insertion / removal of the mounting projection 36. 35a and a removal preventing portion 35b for preventing the inserted mounting projection 36 from being removed. The insertion / removal allowing portion 35a is formed at one end of the mounting groove 35, and the removal preventing portion 35b is formed to communicate with the other end of the mounting groove 35 and the insertion / removal allowing portion 35a.

  The opening 37 of the mounting groove 35 allows a circular wide portion 37a that allows the shaft portion 36a and the engaging portion 36b of the mounting projection 36 to be inserted and removed, and allows the shaft portion 36a to be inserted and removed. It is composed of an ellipse-shaped narrow portion 37b that is narrower than the portion 36b. The wide portion 37a is provided in the insertion / removal allowing portion 35a, and the narrow portion 37b is provided in the removal / prevention portion 35b.

  A guide surface 38 for guiding the engaging portion 36b of the inserted mounting projection 36 to the back of the mounting groove 35 is formed in the removal preventing portion 35b. The guide surface 38 is inclined toward the back of the mounting groove 35 toward the other end of the mounting groove 35.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the upper shield 29 is rotatable about a predetermined axis 39 with respect to the wall surfaces 22a and 23a, and each mounting groove 35 and each mounting projection 36 has a predetermined axis. Each of the mounting grooves 35 is curved in an arc shape along the circumference centered on the predetermined axis 39.

  As an example, as shown in FIG. 5B, the inclination angle α of the guide surface 38 with respect to the mounting surface 29c of the upper shield 29 is set to 5.5 °, and as shown in FIG. An angle β between both end portions of the mounting groove 35 around the predetermined axis 39 is set to 15 °.

  As shown in FIGS. 3 and 7, the lower mounting means 33 is similarly configured with a plurality of mounting grooves 35 and a plurality of mounting projections 36, and the mounting grooves 35 are formed on the inner side of the lower shield 30. The mounting projection 36 is formed on the wall surface 26 b of the upper end portion of the holding portion 26 so as to protrude upward. Further, the lower shield 30 is rotatable about a predetermined axis 40 with respect to the wall surfaces 26 a and 26 b, and each mounting groove 35 and each mounting projection 36 have a circumference around the predetermined axis 40. Is placed on top.

Hereinafter, the operation of the above configuration will be described.
When the upper shield 29 is mounted in the reaction chamber 4, the cylindrical portion 29 a of the shield 29 is inserted inside the upper side wall 22, and the mounting protrusion 36 is opened in the mounting groove 35 as shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 2, the upper shield 29 is rotated around a predetermined axis 39 in one direction A, and the shaft of the mounting projection 36 is inserted. The portion 36 a is inserted from the wide portion 37 a of the opening 37 into the narrow portion 37 b.

  As a result, as shown in FIG. 6B, the attachment projection 36 enters the removal / removal prevention portion 35b from the insertion / removal allowing portion 35a, and at this time, the narrow portion 37b is formed by the engagement portion 36b of the attachment projection 36. Since the engagement portion 36b is inserted into the mounting groove 35, the engagement portion 36b is prevented from being removed at the removal prevention portion 35b. In this way, the upper shield 29 is attached to the wall surfaces 22 a and 23 a in the reaction chamber 4.

  Further, in the attachment of the upper shield 29, when the attachment projection 36 moves relatively from one end to the other end of the attachment groove 35, as shown in FIG. Since the portion 36 b is guided to the inner side of the mounting groove 35 while being in sliding contact with the guide surface 38, the mounting surface 29 c of the upper shield 29 is pressed against the wall surface 23 a in the reaction chamber 4 to come into close contact. Therefore, it is possible to prevent a gap from being generated between the upper shield 29 and the wall surface 23a, thereby suppressing the occurrence of abnormal discharge between the upper shield 29 and the wall surface 23a. it can.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 6B, the mounting protrusion 36 is inserted into the mounting groove 35 and thus is covered by the upper shield 29 and is not exposed to the reaction chamber 4. Thereby, it is possible to prevent the mounting protrusion 36 from being consumed due to plasma damage, and further to prevent the reaction product from adhering to the mounting protrusion 36, and from the peripheral portion of the mounting protrusion 36. Dust generation can be prevented.

  When the upper shield 29 in the reaction chamber 4 is removed, as shown in FIG. 2, the upper shield 29 is rotated around the predetermined axis 39 in the other direction B, and the virtual shield shown in FIG. As indicated by the line, the shaft portion 36 a of the mounting projection 36 is retracted from the narrow portion 37 b of the opening 37 to the wide portion 37 a. As a result, as shown in FIG. 6A, the mounting projection 36 is retracted from the removal preventing portion 35 b to the insertion / removal allowing portion 35 a, and the engaging portion 36 b of the mounting projection 36 is the wide portion of the opening 37. In 37a, insertion / removal from the mounting groove 35 is allowed. Therefore, the upper shield 29 can be removed from the wall surfaces 22a and 23a by removing the mounting projection 36 from the wide portion 37a to the outside of the insertion / removal allowing portion 35a of the mounting groove 35.

  By rotating the upper shield 29 in this way, the shield 29 can be attached to or detached from the wall surfaces 22a, 23a in the reaction chamber 4, so that the attaching / detaching operation of the upper shield 29 is simplified, and the reaction chamber 4 The cleaning time can be greatly shortened.

  Further, when the lower shield 30 is attached to and detached from the wall surfaces 26a and 26b, the lower shield 30 is rotated around the predetermined axis 40 as shown in FIG. Move it.

  In the above embodiment, as shown in FIG. 6, the mounting projection 36 of the upper mounting means 32 is provided on the wall surface 23a of the intermediate wall 23 and the mounting groove 35 is formed in the upper shield 29. The projection 36 may be erected on the mounting surface 29 c of the outer extension 29 b of the upper shield 29, and the mounting groove 35 may be formed on the wall surface 23 a of the intermediate wall 23.

  Similarly, the mounting groove 35 of the lower mounting means 33 is formed in the lower shield 30 as shown in FIG. 3, and the mounting projection 36 is erected on the wall surface 26b of the holding portion 26 as shown in FIG. However, the attachment protrusion 36 may be provided so as to protrude downward on the attachment surface 30 c of the inner collar portion 30 b of the lower shield 30, and the attachment groove 35 may be formed on the wall surface 26 b of the holding portion 26.

  The semiconductor manufacturing apparatus according to the present invention is useful as a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus such as dry etching or CVD for generating plasma in a vacuum.

It is sectional drawing of the reaction chamber of the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus in embodiment of this invention. It is a figure of the shield of the upper part of a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, (a) is a perspective view, (b) shows the XX arrow view of (a). It is a figure of the shield of the lower part of a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, (a) is a perspective view, (b) shows the XX arrow view of (a). It is a XX arrow line view in FIG. It is a figure of the groove | channel for attachment of a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus similarly, (a) is a top view, (b) shows the XX arrow line view of (a). FIG. 4 is a view of a mounting groove and a mounting protrusion of the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, where (a) shows a state where the mounting protrusion is inserted into an insertion / removal portion of the mounting groove, and (b) shows that the mounting protrusion is prevented from being removed. The state inserted in the part is shown. It is a YY arrow line view in FIG. It is a figure of the conventional semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, (a) is sectional drawing of a reaction chamber, (b) shows the enlarged view of a shield and a wall surface.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 4 Reaction chamber 7 Plasma 22a, 23a, 26a, 26b Wall surface 29, 30 Shield 29c, 30c Attachment surface 32, 33 Attachment means 35 Attachment groove 35a Insertion / removal allowance part 35b Desorption prevention part 36 Attachment protrusion 36a Shaft part 36b Engagement part 37 Opening part 37a Wide part 37b Narrow part 38 Guide surfaces 39, 40 Predetermined axis

Claims (4)

A semiconductor manufacturing apparatus that performs processing by generating plasma in a reaction chamber,
The walls in the reaction chamber are protected by a shield,
The shield has a mounting surface that can contact the wall surface, and is detachably mounted on the wall surface by the mounting means.
The mounting means is composed of a mounting groove and a mounting protrusion that can be inserted into and removed from the mounting groove.
A mounting projection is provided on one of the wall surface and the shield and a mounting groove is formed on the other,
The mounting groove has an insertion / removal allowing portion that allows insertion / removal of the mounting projection, and a removal prevention portion that prevents removal of the inserted mounting projection,
The removal prevention part communicates with the insertion / removal permission part,
A semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, wherein a mounting projection is inserted into and removed from an insertion / removal permission portion by moving the shield along the wall surface. The mounting projection has a shaft portion and an engaging portion having a larger diameter than the shaft portion,
The mounting groove has an opening that opens on either the mounting surface of the shield or the wall surface of the reaction chamber,
The opening is composed of a wide portion that allows insertion / removal of the shaft portion of the mounting projection and the engagement portion, and a narrow portion that allows insertion / removal of the shaft portion and is narrower than the engagement portion,
The wide part is provided in the insertion / removal allowing part,
The semiconductor manufacturing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the narrow portion is provided in the removal preventing portion. The insertion / removal allowing portion is formed at one end of the mounting groove,
The withdrawal prevention portion is formed between the other end of the mounting groove and the insertion / removal allowing portion,
A guide surface that guides the engaging portion of the mounting protrusion to the back of the mounting groove is formed on the withdrawal prevention portion,
3. The semiconductor manufacturing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the guide surface is inclined toward the back of the mounting groove toward the other end of the mounting groove. The shield can be rotated around a predetermined axis with respect to the wall surface,
The attachment means is arranged on a circumference centered on a predetermined axis,
4. The mounting protrusion is inserted into and removed from the insertion / removal preventing portion of the mounting groove by turning the shield around the predetermined axis with respect to the wall surface. The semiconductor manufacturing apparatus according to any one of the above.

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