JP2009130225A - Substrate processing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a plasma processing apparatus exhibiting high surface processing capability and high throughput. <P>SOLUTION: Four reverse U shaped antennas 61 are disposed on a periphery of processing container 37 at every 90 degree. An AC power supply 62 is connected to each antenna 61 via a rectifier 63 and a DC voltage power supply 64 is connected between the antenna 61 and the AC power supply 62. A first magnet 66 is disposed at the center of each antenna 61, and a pair of second magnets 67, 67 are deposited at both ends of an antenna 61. The first magnet 66 and the pair of the second magnets 67, 67 are arranged such that an external force is applied perpendicularly to a longitudinal plasma current induced by the antenna 61. A plurality of circular ring shaped wafer holders 55 for holding the wafer 1 from below are arranged in a boat 50. Hereby, a high plasma flow is generated and a flow of particles is guided in a wafer surface direction to enable high flux plasma to flow in between the wafers. This achieves high surface processing capability. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

The present invention relates to a substrate processing apparatus.
For example, the present invention relates to a semiconductor wafer that is effective for applying a surface treatment to a semiconductor wafer (hereinafter referred to as a wafer) on which a semiconductor integrated circuit device (hereinafter referred to as an IC) is fabricated.

In an IC manufacturing method, a plasma processing apparatus may be used to perform surface treatment on a wafer.
In this type of conventional plasma processing apparatus, a single wafer method is generally employed in order to ensure uniformity of processing on the wafer surface.
In a single wafer processing system, a plasma source is arranged on the top or side of a reactor (vessel) to generate low-energy activated particles (electrons, ions, radicals), and a single wafer is formed from these particles. Process one by one.

However, the single-wafer plasma processing apparatus has a limit in improving the throughput.
Therefore, it is conceivable to expand the single wafer system to a system capable of batch processing by arranging a plurality of plasma sources.
However, it is difficult to provide high uniformity of surface treatment on the wafer surface only by arranging a plurality of plasma sources.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a substrate processing apparatus capable of exhibiting high surface treatment capability and high throughput.

Typical means for solving the above-described problems are as follows.
A holding member for holding the substrate on the upper surface;
An antenna that generates plasma along a direction perpendicular to the surface of the substrate held by the holding member;
Magnets provided on both sides of the antenna;
A substrate processing apparatus comprising:

  According to the above means, since a strong plasma flow can be generated by the plasma thruster, a high surface treatment capability and a high throughput can be exhibited.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  In this embodiment, a substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention is configured as a batch type vertical plasma heat treatment apparatus (hereinafter referred to as a plasma processing apparatus) for performing various surface treatments on a wafer in an IC manufacturing method. Yes.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, in the plasma processing apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment, a wafer carrier for storing and transporting the wafer 1 as a substrate to be processed is FOUP (hereinafter referred to as FOUP). 2) is used.

The plasma processing apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment includes a housing 11.
A front maintenance port 12 as an opening provided for maintenance is opened at the front front portion of the front wall 11a of the housing 11, and front maintenance doors 13 and 13 for opening and closing the front maintenance port 12 are respectively built. It is attached.
A pod loading / unloading port 14 is opened on the front wall 11a of the housing 11 so as to communicate between the inside and the outside of the housing 11, and the pod loading / unloading port 14 is opened and closed by a front shutter 15.
A load port 16 is installed on the front front side of the pod loading / unloading port 14, and the load port 16 is configured so that the pod 2 is placed and aligned.
The pod 2 is loaded onto the load port 16 by an in-process conveyance device (not shown), and is also unloaded from the load port 16.

A rotary pod shelf 17 is installed in an upper portion of the housing 11 at a substantially central portion in the front-rear direction, and the rotary pod shelf 17 is configured to store a plurality of pods 2.
That is, the rotary pod shelf 17 includes a support column 18 that is vertically set up and intermittently rotated in a horizontal plane, and a plurality of shelf plates 19 that are radially supported by the support column 18 at the upper, middle, and lower positions. The plurality of shelf boards 19 are configured to hold the pod 2 in a state where a plurality of the pods 2 are respectively placed.

A pod transfer device 20 is installed between the load port 16 and the rotary pod shelf 17 in the housing 11. The pod carrying device 20 is composed of a pod elevator 20a and a pod carrying mechanism 20b that can move up and down while holding the pod 2.
The pod transfer device 20 is configured to transfer the pod 2 among the load port 16, the rotary pod shelf 17, and the pod opener 21 by continuous operation of the pod elevator 20a and the pod transfer mechanism 20b.

  The pod opener 21 includes mounting tables 22 and 22 for mounting the pod 2, and cap attaching / detaching mechanisms 23 and 23 for attaching and detaching the cap of the pod 2. The pod opener 21 is configured to open and close the wafer loading / unloading port of the pod 2 by attaching / detaching the cap of the pod 2 mounted on the mounting table 22 by the cap attaching / detaching mechanism 23.

  A sub-housing 24 is constructed across the rear end at the lower portion of the substantially central portion of the housing 11 in the front-rear direction. A pair of wafer loading / unloading ports 25 for loading / unloading the wafer 1 into / from the sub-casing 24 are arranged on the front wall 24a of the sub-casing 24 in two vertical rows. A pair of pod openers 21 and 21 are respectively installed at the lower wafer loading / unloading ports 25 and 25.

The sub-case 24 constitutes a transfer chamber 26 that is fluidly isolated from the installation space of the pod transfer device 20 and the rotary pod shelf 17. A wafer transfer mechanism 27 is installed in the front area of the transfer chamber 26.
The wafer transfer mechanism 27 includes a wafer transfer device 27a that can rotate or linearly move the wafer 1 in a horizontal plane, and a wafer transfer device elevator 27b that moves the wafer transfer device 27a up and down.
As indicated by an imaginary line in FIG. 1, the wafer transfer device elevator 27 b is installed between the right end of the housing 11 and the right end of the front region of the transfer chamber 26 of the sub-housing 24. .
By the continuous operation of the wafer transfer device elevator 27b and the wafer transfer device 27a, the wafer 1 is loaded (charging) and removed from the boat described later with the tweezer 27c of the wafer transfer device 27a as the wafer 1 mounting portion. (Discharging) is configured.

  In the rear area of the transfer chamber 26, a standby unit 28 for accommodating and waiting for the boat is configured. A furnace port shutter 29 is provided on the ceiling surface of the standby unit 28, and the furnace port shutter 29 is configured to open and close a furnace port of a processing furnace described later.

  As indicated by an imaginary line in FIG. 1, a boat elevator 30 is installed between the right end of the casing 11 and the right end of the standby unit 28 of the sub casing 24. A seal cap 32 serving as a lid is horizontally installed on an arm 31 serving as a coupling device coupled to a lifting platform of the boat elevator 30.

As shown in FIG. 1, a clean unit 33 composed of a supply fan and a dustproof filter is provided at the left end of the transfer chamber 26 opposite to the wafer transfer device elevator 27b side and the boat elevator 30 side. Is installed. The clean unit 33 is configured to supply a cleaned atmosphere or clean air 34 (see arrow in FIG. 1) which is an inert gas.
Although not shown, a notch aligner for aligning the circumferential position of the wafer is installed between the wafer transfer device 27a and the clean unit 33.
The clean air 34 blown out from the clean unit 33 is circulated through a boat in the notch aligning device, the wafer transfer device 27a, and the standby unit 28, and is then sucked in by a duct (not shown) and exhausted to the outside of the housing 11. It is made to circulate to the primary side (supply side) that is the suction side of the clean unit 33, and blown out again into the transfer chamber 26 by the clean unit 33.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a processing furnace 35 is vertically installed on the upper rear side of the casing 11.
As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the processing furnace 35 includes a processing container 37 in which a processing chamber 36 for storing a plurality of wafers 1 is formed. The processing container 37 includes an upper lid 37a, a main body 37b, a furnace. A mouth flange 38 is used. The upper lid 37a is formed in a disc shape by an insulating material (quartz, alumina, etc.), and the main body 37b is formed in a cylindrical shape by an insulating material (quartz, alumina, etc.).
The furnace port flange 38 is formed in a circular ring shape from aluminum or the like. Since the furnace port flange 38 is supported by the sub casing 24, the processing container 37 is in a vertically installed state. The furnace port flange 38 forms a furnace port 39 of the processing furnace 35.

One end of the exhaust pipe 40 is connected to the lower end of the main body 37 b of the processing container 37, and the other end of the exhaust pipe 40 is connected to the vacuum pump 41. An exhaust control valve 42 and a cock (stop valve) 43 are interposed in the exhaust pipe 40. The vacuum pump 41, the exhaust control valve 42, and the cock 43 are connected to the controller 70 through a signal line 44 so as to communicate with each other.
On the other hand, one end of a gas supply pipe 45 is connected to the upper lid 37a of the processing container 37, and the other end of the gas supply pipe 45 is connected to a gas supply / supply device (not shown) for supplying a reactive gas or an inert gas. It is connected. A cock (stop valve) 46 and a flow rate regulator 47 are provided in the middle of the gas supply pipe 45. The gas supply device, the cock 46 and the flow rate regulator 47 are communicably connected to the controller 70 via a signal line 48.

As shown in FIG. 3, a seal cap 32 that horizontally closes the furnace port 39 is supported horizontally on the arm 31 of the boat elevator 30 installed near the processing furnace 35.
The seal cap 32 is formed in a disk shape substantially equal to the outer diameter of the furnace port flange 38, and is configured to be hermetically sealed and closed by being raised by the boat elevator 30.

On the seal cap 32, a boat 50 is vertically erected. The boat 50 constitutes a transfer jig that holds a plurality of wafers 1 and transfers the wafers 1 into and out of the processing chamber 36.
The boat 50 includes a pair of end plates 51 and 52 at the top and bottom, and three holding pillars 53 provided between the end plates 51 and 52 and arranged vertically. The three holding pillars 53 are formed with holding grooves 54 in a plurality of stages (for example, 50 stages) and arranged at equal intervals in the vertical direction so that the holding grooves 54 on the same stage form the same plane. Has been placed.
Each stage holding groove 54 horizontally supports a wafer holder 55 for holding the wafer 1 from below. That is, the outer peripheral edge of the lower surface of the wafer holder 55 is engaged with the upper surfaces of the three holding grooves 54.
The wafer holder 55 is formed in a circular ring shape. The circular ring has an outer diameter larger than the diameter of the wafer 1 and an inner diameter smaller than the diameter of the wafer 1. On the inner peripheral edge of the upper surface of the wafer holder 55, a stepped portion 56 is concentrically buried at a constant depth. The wafer 1 is placed on the bottom surface of the step portion 56. A flow portion 57 is formed on the outer peripheral portion of the upper surface of the wafer holder 55 on an inclined surface that becomes lower toward the outer peripheral side.
A rotary actuator 58 is installed at the center of the lower surface of the seal cap 32, and a support base 59 is installed horizontally at the upper end of the rotary shaft 58 a of the rotary actuator 58. The support base 59 supports the boat 50 on the upper surface. That is, the rotary actuator 58 can rotate the boat 50.
The rotary actuator 58 is communicably connected to the controller 70 via a signal line 58A.

As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the plasma processing apparatus 10 includes a plasma thruster (hereinafter referred to as a thruster) 60. The thruster 60 includes an antenna for generating an induced current and a first magnet and a second magnet for generating a Lorentz force.
The antenna 61 is formed in an inverted U-shape, and a plurality of antennas (four in this embodiment) are equally spaced in the circumferential direction on the outer periphery of the main body 37b of the processing container 37 (in this embodiment, every 90 degrees). Is arranged. The antenna 61 excites the reactive gas plasma.
An AC power source 62 is connected to the antenna 61 via a matching unit 63 that performs impedance matching. The AC power source 62 supplies high-frequency power to the antenna 61. A DC voltage power supply 64 is connected between the antenna 61 and the AC power supply 62, and the DC voltage power supply 64 controls the bias of the antenna 61, whereby the main body 37 b of the processing container 37 by ions excited near the antenna 61. Damage (sputtering, etc.) can be suppressed.
The AC power source 62, the matching unit 63, and the DC voltage power source 64 are connected to the controller 70 by a signal line 65.
The first magnet 66 is composed of a permanent magnet or an electromagnet, and is arranged at the center of the antenna 61. The first magnet 66 is configured such that the polarity is SN in the central direction. The second magnet 67 is also composed of a permanent magnet or an electromagnet, and a pair is arranged on both sides of the antenna 61. The pair of second magnets 67 and 67 are configured such that the polarity is NS in the central direction. That is, the first magnet 66 and the pair of second magnets 67 and 67 apply an external magnetic field B (magnetic lines 68) in a direction perpendicular to the vertical plasma current J induced by the antenna 61. Has been placed.
Thereby, the plasma can be accelerated using the J × B Lorentz force, and a strong plasma flow can be created. The plasma injected between the wafers 1 and 1 by such an action can reach the center position of the wafer 1.

Next, a method for performing a surface treatment on the wafer 1 as one step of an IC manufacturing process using the plasma processing apparatus 10 according to the above configuration will be described.
The controller 70 controls each part of the plasma processing apparatus 10.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, when the pod 2 is supplied to the load port 16, the pod loading / unloading port 14 is opened by the front shutter 15, and the pod 2 above the load port 16 is connected to the pod transfer device. 20 is carried into the inside of the housing 11 from the pod loading / unloading port 14.
The loaded pod 2 is automatically transported and delivered by the pod transport device 20 to the designated shelf plate 19 of the rotary pod shelf 17 and temporarily stored, and then one of the pod openers from the shelf plate 19. 21 and transferred to the mounting table 22, or directly transferred to the pod opener 21 and transferred to the mounting table 22.
At this time, the wafer loading / unloading port 25 of the pod opener 21 is closed by the cap attaching / detaching mechanism 23, and clean air 34 is circulated and circulated in the transfer chamber 26.
For example, nitrogen gas circulates in the transfer chamber 26 as clean air 34, so that the oxygen concentration is set to 20 ppm or less, which is much lower than the oxygen concentration inside the housing 11 (atmosphere).

The pod 2 mounted on the mounting table 22 is pressed against the opening edge of the wafer loading / unloading port 25 on the front wall 24a of the sub-casing 24, and the cap is removed by the cap attaching / detaching mechanism 23. The wafer loading / unloading port is opened.
When the pod 2 is opened by the pod opener 21, the wafer 1 is picked up from the pod 2 by the tweezer 27 c of the wafer transfer device 27 a through the wafer loading / unloading opening, notched by the notch alignment device, and then transferred to the transfer chamber 26. It is carried into the standby unit 28 at the rear and loaded (charged) into the boat 50. That is, the wafer transfer device 27 a transfers the wafer 1 onto the wafer holder 55 of the boat 50.
The wafer transfer device 27 a that has transferred the wafer 1 to the boat 50 returns to the pod 2 and loads the next wafer 1 into the boat 50.

  During the loading operation of the wafer into the boat 50 by the wafer transfer mechanism 27 in the one (upper or lower) pod opener 21, the other (lower or upper) pod opener 21 receives another pod from the rotary pod shelf 17. 2 is transferred by the pod transfer device 20 and transferred, and the opening operation of the pod 2 by the pod opener 21 is simultaneously performed.

The boat 50 on which a predetermined number of wafers 1 are transferred is lifted by the boat elevator 30 and loaded into the processing chamber 36 of the processing furnace 35 (boat loading) as shown in FIG.
When the boat 50 reaches the upper limit, the seal cap 32 closes the furnace port 39 in a sealed state, so that the processing chamber 36 is hermetically closed.
When closed hermetically, the process chamber 36 is evacuated by the vacuum pump 41. The base pressure of the processing chamber 36 has reached 0.05 Pa or less.
The controller 70 supplies the reaction gas into the processing chamber 36 from the gas supply pipe 45. At this time, the flow rate regulator 47 adjusts the gas flow rate to a predetermined flow rate in the range of 10 sccm to 2000 sccm.
However, the vacuum pump 41 and the exhaust control valve 42 maintain the pressure of the processing chamber 36 at a predetermined pressure within a range of 0.1 Pa to 100 Pa.
The rotary actuator 58 rotates the boat 50. The rotation speed at this time maintains a predetermined rotation speed within a range of 1 rpm to 30 rpm.

The AC power supply 62 applies high frequency power to the antenna 61 via the matching unit 63 to excite the inductively coupled plasma. The power at this time maintains a predetermined value within a range of 50 W to 1 kW.
The first magnet 66 and the second magnets 67 and 67 give a predetermined magnetic field strength within a range of 50 gauss to 2000 gauss.
The DC voltage power supply 64 limits charged particles (particularly ions) incident on the main body 37b of the processing vessel 37 to a desired flux.
Thereby, the reactive particles (electrons, ions, radicals, etc.) that are strongly activated (increased in energy) are subjected to surface treatment on the plurality of wafers 1.

  When the preset processing time has elapsed, the boat cap 30 is lowered by the boat elevator 30 after the rotation of the boat 50, the supply of gas, the application of high-frequency power and the exhaust are stopped, thereby opening the furnace port 39. At the same time, the boat 50 is unloaded from the furnace port 39 to the outside of the processing chamber 36.

The wafer 1 carried out of the processing chamber 36 is accommodated in the pod 2 by a procedure reverse to the operation of the wafer transfer mechanism 27 described above.
By repeating the above operation, a plurality of wafers 1 are batch processed.

  According to the embodiment, the following effects can be obtained.

1) Since a strong plasma flow can be generated by the plasma thruster, a high surface treatment capability can be exhibited.

2) By providing the wafer holder with a flow part for guiding the particle flow in the wafer surface direction, a high flux plasma can be introduced between narrow wafers, so that a higher surface treatment capability can be exhibited.

3) Since the wafer boat full length and high surface treatment capability can be exhibited within each wafer surface, the surface treatment state of the wafer can be made uniform both within the wafer surface and between each wafer.

4) By batch processing a plurality of wafers at a time, the throughput can be greatly improved as compared with the case where wafers are processed one by one.

  Needless to say, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention.

  The plasma processing apparatus according to the present invention can be used for plasma processing in general such as etching and film formation.

  The substrate is not limited to a wafer, but may be a photomask, a printed wiring board, a liquid crystal panel, a compact disk, a magnetic disk, or the like.

Preferred embodiments will be noted.
(1) a holding member for holding the substrate on the upper surface;
An antenna that generates plasma along a direction perpendicular to the surface of the substrate held by the holding member;
Magnets provided on both sides of the antenna;
A substrate processing apparatus comprising:
(2) The substrate processing apparatus according to (1), wherein a plurality of combinations of the antenna and the magnet are provided so as to surround the processing chamber.
(3) The substrate processing apparatus according to (1) or (2), wherein the holding member has a flow part having an inclined surface at an outer peripheral edge part.
(4) a boat that supports the substrate;
A rotary actuator for rotating the boat;
An antenna to activate the particles;
A magnet that gives motion to charged particles;
A holding member for guiding the flow of particles in the plane direction;
A processing vessel that contains the substrate, the boat, a holding member, and a rotary actuator and holds particles;
An exhaust pipe for exhausting particles in the processing vessel;
A gas supply pipe for introducing gas into the processing vessel;
A substrate processing apparatus comprising:
(5) The substrate processing apparatus according to (4), wherein the holding member has a flow portion in which an inclined surface for guiding the flow of particles in a planar direction is formed.
(6) The substrate processing apparatus according to (4), wherein the rotary actuator includes a rotation shaft and a support base, and rotates the boat on the support base.
(7) The antenna generates dissociation and ionization effects on the particles using an AC power source and a matching unit, and generates induced currents on the charged particles, thereby generating particles activated at high energy. The substrate processing apparatus according to (4).
(8) The substrate processing apparatus according to (4), wherein the magnet gives acceleration or flow to the charged particles by giving a physical action by a magnetic field to the induced current.
(9) A method of manufacturing a semiconductor device using the substrate processing apparatus according to (4),
Loading the boat with a substrate;
Carrying the boat loaded with the substrate into the processing vessel;
Rotating the substrate and the boat by the rotary actuator; supplying the gas into the processing vessel;
Evacuating the processing vessel;
Generating particles activated to high energy by the antenna;
Applying a physical motion to the charged particles by the magnet;
Guiding the flow of particles toward the substrate surface by the holding member;
Processing the substrate in the processing vessel with the boat, the holding member and the antenna;
Unloading the substrate and the boat from the processing vessel;
Recovering the substrate from the boat;
A method for manufacturing a semiconductor device comprising:

It is a partially-omission perspective view which shows the plasma processing apparatus which is one embodiment of this invention. It is side surface sectional drawing. It is front sectional drawing which passes along a processing furnace. It is front sectional drawing which shows the process furnace part in a process step. FIG. It is a front view of a processing furnace. The plasma flow is shown, (a) is a plane sectional view, (b) is a front sectional view.

Explanation of symbols

1 ... wafer (substrate), 2 ... pod,
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Plasma processing apparatus (substrate processing apparatus), 11 ... Housing | casing, 11a ... Front wall, 12 ... Front maintenance port, 13 ... Front maintenance door, 14 ... Pod loading / unloading exit, 15 ... Front shutter, 16 ... Load port, 17 ... Rotary pod shelf, 18 ... post, 19 ... shelf,
20 ... Pod conveying device, 20a ... Pod elevator, 20b ... Pod conveying mechanism,
21 ... Pod opener, 22 ... Mounting table, 23 ... Cap attaching / detaching mechanism,
24 ... Sub housing, 24a ... Front wall, 25 ... Wafer loading / unloading port, 26 ... Transfer chamber,
27 ... Wafer transfer mechanism, 27a ... Wafer transfer device, 27b ... Wafer transfer device elevator, 27c ... Tweezer, 28 ... Standby section, 29 ... Furnace port shutter,
30 ... Boat elevator, 31 ... Arm, 32 ... Seal cap,
33 ... Clean unit, 34 ... Clean air,
35 ... Processing furnace, 36 ... Processing chamber, 37 ... Processing container, 37a ... Upper lid, 37b ... Main body, 38 ... Furnace port flange, 39 ... Furnace port,
40 ... exhaust pipe, 41 ... vacuum pump, 42 ... exhaust control valve, 43 ... cock (stop valve), 44 ... signal line, 45 ... gas supply pipe, 46 ... cock (stop valve), 47 ... flow controller, 48 …Signal line,
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 50 ... Boat (conveying jig), 51, 52 ... End plate, 53 ... Holding pillar, 54 ... Holding groove, 55 ... Wafer holder, 56 ... Step part, 57 ... Flow part,
58 ... Rotary actuator, 58a ... Rotary shaft, 58A ... Signal line, 59 ... Support base, 60 ... Thruster (plasma thruster), 61 ... Antenna, 62 ... AC power supply, 63 ... Adjuster, 64 ... DC voltage power supply, 65 ... signal line, 66 ... first magnet, 67 ... second magnet, 68 ... magnetic field lines,
70: Controller.

Claims (1)

A holding member for holding the substrate on the upper surface;
An antenna that generates plasma along a direction perpendicular to the surface of the substrate held by the holding member;
Magnets provided on both sides of the antenna;
A substrate processing apparatus comprising:

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