JP2010245228A - Apparatus and method for controlling semiconductor device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve temperature deterioration in the neighborhood of a gate valve which is arranged in a process chamber positioned on the outer peripheral side of a semiconductor wafer so as to perform partitioning between a wafer carrying part and the process chamber. <P>SOLUTION: Temperature in the neighborhood of the gate valve 29 for performing partitioning between the wafer carrying part 28 and the process chamber 21 is controlled. A new partitioning part 32 is arranged between the gate valve 29 and the process chamber 21, wherein material quality of the partition 32 is the same as that of the process chamber 21. A heater 33 for controlling the temperature and a thermocouple 34 are arranged inside the partition 32, so as to control the heater 33, based on the temperature of the thermocouple 34. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a semiconductor device manufacturing apparatus and a control method thereof for performing a heat treatment such as a film forming process on a semiconductor wafer.

  In general, semiconductor devices are manufactured by repeatedly performing various heat treatments such as film formation processing and oxidative diffusion processing on a semiconductor wafer to manufacture a desired device. However, semiconductor devices are increased in density, multilayered and highly integrated. Accordingly, the specifications are becoming stricter year by year, and improvement of uniformity in the wafer surface of these various heat treatments is particularly desired.

  For example, even a very thin oxide film such as a gate insulating film in these heat treatments is required to be further thinned, and at the same time, higher insulation is required. As these insulating films, silicon oxide films have been used. Recently, however, metal oxide films, such as hafnium oxide, which are materials having better insulating characteristics, are used.

  Taking the case of forming hafnium oxide as an example, an organic compound of hafnium is used, supplied while bubbling with nitrogen gas or the like, and the semiconductor wafer is maintained at a process temperature of, for example, about 400 ° C., and ALD ( A hafnium oxide film is deposited by atomic layer deposition (CVD) or CVD (Chemical Vapor Deposition).

  Here, a conventional heat treatment apparatus will be described. FIG. 5 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a schematic configuration of an example of a conventional heat treatment apparatus, and FIG. 6 is a transverse sectional view of the heat treatment apparatus shown in FIG.

  In the process chamber portion 1 that can be evacuated, a cylindrical wafer stage support 2 made of aluminum, for example, is provided standing from the bottom. A wafer stage 3 is installed while being supported by the wafer stage support 2, and a circular ring-shaped trace heat conduction plate 4 is provided on the upper side of the wafer stage support 2.

  The wafer stage 3 has a mechanism capable of raising the temperature (not shown). For example, when depositing hafnium oxide, the wafer stage 3 is maintained at about 400 ° C.

  In the side wall of the process chamber unit 1, a heater 5 for making the side wall temperature in the process chamber unit 1 uniform and a thermocouple 6 for measuring the side wall temperature of the process chamber unit 1 are installed. In the example of FIGS. 5 and 6, seven heaters 5 and six thermocouples 6 for temperature measurement are installed in the side wall in the process chamber portion 1.

  Furthermore, a shower head unit 7 is provided at the ceiling of the process chamber unit 1, and thereby, a processing gas 11, that is, an organic compound gas of hafnium, or the like is supplied into the process chamber unit 1.

  The semiconductor wafer 10 is inserted into the process chamber unit 1 from the wafer transfer unit 8 and film formation processing is performed. A gate valve unit 9 for separating the wafer transfer unit 8 and the process chamber unit 1 is provided. The lower end of the gate valve unit 9 is connected to an actuator 13 via a bellows 12 that can be expanded and contracted in order to maintain an internal airtight state in the process chamber unit 1 and the wafer transfer unit 8.

JP 2003-7694 A

  The problem of the conventional apparatus will be described with reference to FIG. In the conventional apparatus, for example, when hafnium oxide is deposited on the surface of the semiconductor wafer 10, the film thickness becomes relatively thin mainly at a part of the peripheral edge of the wafer rather than at the center of the wafer, and the in-plane uniformity of the film thickness deteriorates. Many phenomena were observed. The reason for this is that the temperature in the vicinity 14 of the gate valve unit 9 that separates the wafer transfer unit 8 and the process chamber unit 1 and is located in the process chamber unit 1 located on the outer peripheral side of the semiconductor wafer 10 is Since the temperature is lower than the temperature in the vicinity of the process chamber portion 1 other than the above, the thermal in- fluence is adversely affected and the uniformity within the wafer surface is degraded.

  The present invention has been devised to pay attention to the above problems and to effectively solve them. An object of the present invention is to manufacture a semiconductor device that can greatly improve in-plane uniformity of heat treatment on a semiconductor wafer without lowering the temperature in the vicinity of the gate valve portion 9 of the process chamber portion 1. An apparatus and a control method thereof are provided.

  In order to solve the above problems, a semiconductor device manufacturing apparatus of the present invention includes a chamber part, a front chamber part connected to the chamber part, and a gate valve part provided between the chamber part and the front chamber part. And an openable / closable partition disposed between the gate valve section and the chamber section, and a partition heating means provided in the partition section.

  According to this configuration, the partition portion is arranged on the chamber portion side from the gate valve portion, and the partition portion is heated by the partition portion heating means, so that the temperature in the vicinity of the gate valve portion is controlled in the chamber portion. Therefore, it is possible to avoid the temperature in the vicinity of the gate valve portion from lowering than the temperature in the vicinity of the gate valve portion, and to improve the uniformity of the temperature distribution in the chamber portion. As a result, the uniformity of the temperature of the object to be processed and the temperature of the film forming gas in the chamber can be improved, and therefore the uniformity of the deposited film thickness on the object to be processed can be improved.

  In the semiconductor device manufacturing apparatus, the partition heating unit preferably includes a partition heater and a partition thermocouple.

  According to this configuration, it is possible to detect the temperature with the thermocouple for the partition section, and to control the heater for the partition section based on the detection result, thereby controlling the temperature of the partition section.

  Further, as described above, in the case where the partition heating means has a configuration including the heater for the partition and the thermocouple for the partition, the chamber is provided with the thermocouple for the chamber, and the thermoelectric for the partition is provided. The temperature detection means for detecting the temperature of the pair and the temperature of the thermocouple for the chamber, and for the partitioning portion so that the temperature of the thermocouple for the partitioning portion and the temperature of the thermocouple for the chamber portion are equal based on the temperature detection result by the temperature detection means It is preferable to include control means for controlling the heater.

  According to this configuration, the heater for the partition can be controlled so that the temperature of the thermocouple for the partition and the temperature of the thermocouple for the chamber are equal. As a result, the portion in the vicinity of the gate valve in the chamber And the temperature distribution in the portion other than the vicinity of the gate valve portion can be made uniform.

  Further, in the semiconductor device manufacturing apparatus having the above-described configuration, the chamber portion has a mounting portion for mounting the processing object therein, and the inner wall of the chamber portion has a horizontal cross section and the center of curvature is located on the mounting portion. It is preferable that the partition portion has an arc shape, and the partition portion has an arc shape in which the center of curvature is located on the mounting portion with substantially the same curvature as the inner wall of the chamber portion.

  According to this configuration, the inner wall of the chamber part and the inner wall of the partition part form a substantially continuous circle, and the temperature distribution of the part near the gate valve part and the part other than the vicinity of the gate valve part is made more uniform. Can do.

  Further, in the semiconductor device manufacturing apparatus having the above-described configuration, the chamber portion includes a mounting portion on which a processing object is mounted, and the inner wall of the chamber portion has a horizontal section whose center is a diagonal line (two diagonal lines). (Intersection point) may have a rectangular shape located on the mounting portion, and the partition portion may have substantially the same plane as the inner wall of the chamber portion.

  According to this configuration, the inner wall of the chamber part and the inner wall of the partition part form a substantially continuous rectangular shape, and the temperature distribution of the part near the gate valve part and the part other than the vicinity of the gate valve part is further increased. It can be made more uniform.

A method of controlling a semiconductor device manufacturing apparatus according to the present invention includes a chamber part, a front chamber part connected to the chamber part, a gate valve part provided between the chamber part and the front chamber part, and a gate valve part. An openable / closable partition disposed between the chamber and a partition heating means provided in the partition; the partition heating means includes a heater for the partition and a thermocouple for the partition; A control method of a semiconductor device manufacturing apparatus in which a chamber portion is provided with a thermocouple for the chamber portion,
The temperature of the partition portion thermocouple and the temperature of the chamber portion thermocouple are detected, and the partition portion heater is controlled so that the temperature of the partition portion thermocouple and the temperature of the chamber portion thermocouple are equal.

  According to this method, the heater for the partition part can be controlled so that the temperature of the thermocouple for the partition part and the temperature of the thermocouple for the chamber part become equal. As a result, the portion in the vicinity of the gate valve part in the chamber part And the temperature distribution in the portion other than the vicinity of the gate valve portion can be made uniform. As a result, the uniformity of the temperature of the object to be processed and the temperature of the film forming gas in the chamber can be improved, and therefore the uniformity of the deposited film thickness on the object to be processed can be improved.

  By using the semiconductor device manufacturing apparatus according to the present invention, the temperature distribution in the chamber portion can be made uniform, and the film thickness is reduced at a part of the peripheral portion of the processing object (for example, a semiconductor wafer). This makes it possible to suppress the deterioration of the in-plane uniformity of the object to be processed (for example, a semiconductor wafer).

It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view which shows schematic structure of the film-forming apparatus which is a semiconductor device manufacturing apparatus of Example 1 of this invention. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing a schematic configuration of a film forming apparatus that is a semiconductor device manufacturing apparatus of Example 1 of the present invention. It is another longitudinal cross-sectional view which shows schematic structure of the film-forming apparatus which is a manufacturing apparatus of the semiconductor device of Example 1 of this invention. It is a cross-sectional view which shows schematic structure of the film-forming apparatus which is a manufacturing apparatus of the semiconductor device of Example 2 of this invention. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view which shows schematic structure of the film-forming apparatus by the heat processing of a prior art. It is a cross-sectional view which shows schematic structure of the film-forming apparatus by the heat processing of a prior art.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

  Example 1 of a single wafer heat treatment apparatus according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a schematic configuration of Embodiment 1 of a single wafer heat treatment apparatus according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a transverse sectional view of the heat treatment apparatus shown in FIG.

  In the first embodiment, a film forming apparatus will be described as an example of a single wafer heat treatment apparatus (semiconductor device manufacturing apparatus). This film forming apparatus has a process chamber portion 21 that is formed in a cylindrical shape or a box shape with aluminum or the like, for example, and a cylindrical wafer stage that is erected from the bottom of the process chamber portion 21. A support base 22 is provided.

  A wafer stage 23 is installed in a state of being supported by the wafer stage support 22, and the wafer stage 23 is formed of, for example, SiC and has a temperature raising mechanism and can be raised to a process processing temperature.

  The inner wall of the process chamber portion 21 is formed in an arc shape, and the center of curvature is located on the wafer stage 23. In this case, the center of curvature of the inner wall of the process chamber portion 21 substantially coincides with the center of the wafer stage 23. As a result, the distance from the peripheral edge of the circular wafer 30 that is the object to be processed to the inner wall of the process chamber portion 21 is substantially constant.

  A circular ring-shaped minute heat conduction plate 24 is provided on the upper side of the wafer stage support 23. The minute heat conductive plate 24 is made of a heat insulating material such as aluminum nitride which has a relatively low thermal conductivity and does not cause contamination to the wafer 30 which is a processing target.

  A heater 25 for making the side wall temperature in the process chamber unit 21 uniform and a thermocouple 26 for measuring the side wall temperature of the process chamber unit 21 are installed in the side wall of the process chamber unit 21. The heater 25 and the thermocouple 26 constitute a chamber part heating means. In the example of FIGS. 1 and 2, seven heaters 25 and six thermocouples 26 for temperature measurement are installed in the side wall in the process chamber portion 21.

  A shower head portion 27 is provided on the ceiling portion of the process chamber portion 21 facing the wafer stage 23 in order to introduce a film forming gas (processing gas) 35 and the like into the process chamber portion 21.

  An exhaust port 31 is provided at the bottom of the process chamber unit 21, and a vacuum pump (not shown) is connected to the exhaust port 31 so that the process chamber unit 21 can be evacuated to a predetermined degree of vacuum. Yes.

  The process chamber unit 21 and the wafer transfer unit 28 as the front chamber are connected to each other, and the wafer 30 is transferred between the process chamber unit 21 and the wafer transfer unit 28 as the front chamber. A gate valve portion 29 is provided for opening and closing. The lower end of the gate valve unit 29 is connected to an actuator 37 via a bellows 36 that can be expanded and contracted in order to maintain an internal airtight state in the process chamber unit 21 and the wafer transfer unit 28.

  Furthermore, a partition portion 32 capable of controlling the temperature is provided between the process chamber portion 21 and the gate valve portion 29, which is a feature of the present invention. The material of the partition part 32 capable of controlling the temperature is the same as that of the process chamber part 21. As an example, the process chamber portion 21 uses aluminum and is provided with a partition portion 32 that can be temperature-controlled with the same material.

  A temperature control heater 33 is inserted into the temperature controllable partition 32. Further, by providing a temperature measurement thermocouple 34, the heater 33 is controlled to the same temperature as the process chamber 21. Is possible. The heater 33 and the thermocouple 34 constitute a partition heating means. In the example of FIGS. 1 and 2, one heater 33 and two thermocouples 34 for temperature measurement are installed in the partition portion 32 capable of temperature control.

  The lower end of the temperature-controllable partition portion 32 is connected to an actuator 39 via a bellows 38 that can be expanded and contracted to maintain an airtight state inside the process chamber portion 21.

  Next, the operation of the semiconductor device manufacturing apparatus according to the first embodiment configured as described above will be described with reference to FIGS. When an ALD film forming process of a metal oxide film such as hafnium oxide is performed on the surface of the wafer 30 in FIG. 3, the gate valve unit 29 and the temperature installed between the process chamber unit 21 and the wafer transfer unit 28 are used. The controllable partition part 32 is opened, and the wafer 30 is inserted into the process chamber part 21 as indicated by an arrow by a transfer arm (not shown).

  Next, as shown in FIG. 1, the gate valve portion 29 and the temperature-controllable partition portion 32 are closed, and the internal atmosphere is exhausted from the exhaust port 31, whereby the inside of the process chamber portion 21 has a predetermined degree of vacuum, for example, 1330 Pa or less. Set to the range.

  In parallel with the above operation, the temperature of the partition 32 that can be temperature controlled is controlled to the same temperature as that of the thermocouple 26 installed in the process chamber unit 21. By controlling the temperature with the heater 33 and the thermocouple 34, the temperature can be raised to the temperature of the process chamber section 21 and controlled to the same temperature.

  For example, when the process chamber temperature is controlled to about 150 ° C., the heater 33 in the temperature-controllable partition 32 is raised so that the temperature of the thermocouple 34 of the temperature-controllable partition 32 is also 150 ° C .. Let warm.

  As for the temperature control circuit, a detailed circuit diagram is omitted, but the temperature detection unit for detecting the temperature of the thermocouples 26 and 34 and the power supplied to the heaters 25 and 33 are controlled based on the detection signal of the temperature detection unit. And a control unit. Specifically, the control unit detects the temperature of the thermocouple 26 and controls the power supply to the heater 25 so that the detected temperature becomes a predetermined target temperature, for example, 150 ° C. Then, the temperature of the thermocouple 34 is detected, and the power supplied to the heater 33 is controlled so that the detected temperature becomes the same target temperature of 150 ° C.

  By the temperature control operation as described above, the temperature distribution in the vicinity of the gate valve portion 29 and the other portions in the process chamber portion 21 is made uniform. Therefore, the temperature distribution of the semiconductor wafer 30 as the processing object and the temperature distribution of the film forming gas are made uniform. As a result, the uniformity of the deposited film thickness on the surface of the semiconductor wafer 30 is enhanced.

  Next, a predetermined amount of film forming gas 35 is supplied to the shower head unit 27 to perform a film forming process.

  Here, in the conventional apparatus, only a circular ring-shaped minute heat conduction plate 24 is provided on the upper side of the wafer stage support base 22, and the temperature in the vicinity of the gate valve portion 29 is positively increased. Not controllable.

  Therefore, a film thickness decrease due to a temperature decrease in the vicinity of the gate valve portion 29 occurs, and the in-plane uniformity of the formed semiconductor wafer 30 is about 10 to 15%.

Here, the in-plane uniformity is obtained as follows. That is, when measuring n points (n is a natural number) within the wafer surface as measurement conditions, the maximum value (Max), minimum value (Min), and average value (Ave) of the n points are measured as Internal uniformity is

In-plane uniformity (%) = 100 × (Max-Min) / (2 × Ave)

Calculated by

  According to the first embodiment of the present invention, the temperature in the vicinity of the gate valve portion 29 of the process chamber portion 21 can be controlled, and no temperature drop occurs in the vicinity of the gate valve portion 29. Therefore, heat treatment for the semiconductor wafer to be formed is performed. The in-plane uniformity can be significantly improved to about 5%.

  As described above, according to the first embodiment, the partition portion 32 is disposed between the gate valve portion 29 and the process chamber portion 21, and the temperature of the partition portion 32 is controlled by the heater 33 and the thermocouple 34. Since the heating is performed, the temperature in the vicinity of the gate valve portion 29 can be controlled in the process chamber portion 21, and the temperature in the vicinity of the gate valve portion 29 is compared with the temperature in the vicinity of the gate valve portion 29. It is possible to avoid the decrease and to improve the uniformity of the temperature distribution in the process chamber portion 21. As a result, the uniformity of the temperature of the object to be processed and the temperature of the film forming gas in the process chamber portion 21 can be improved, and therefore the uniformity of the deposited film thickness on the object to be processed can be improved.

  Moreover, it becomes possible to detect temperature with the thermocouple 34, and to control the heater 33 based on the detection result, and to control the temperature of the partition part 32.

  Furthermore, the heater 33 can be controlled so that the temperature of the thermocouple 34 and the temperature of the thermocouple 26 are equal. As a result, in the process chamber portion 21, the portion in the vicinity of the gate valve portion 29 and the gate valve portion 29. The temperature distribution in portions other than the vicinity can be made uniform.

  4 is a sectional view of a semiconductor device manufacturing apparatus according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention. The second embodiment is different from the first embodiment in that the temperature-controllable partition portion 32A is formed in an arc shape, and the curvature of the inner wall of the process chamber portion 21A is substantially equal to the curvature of the inner wall of the partition portion 32A. That is, the center of curvature of the chamber portion 21A and the center of curvature of the partition portion 32A are set at the same position.

  By positioning these centers of curvature at the center of the wafer stage 23, that is, at the center of the semiconductor wafer 30, the distance between the process chamber portion 21 </ b> A and the temperature-controllable partition portion 32 </ b> A and the disk-shaped semiconductor wafer 30 is made constant. It is possible to suppress the temperature variation of the peripheral part to the semiconductor wafer 30. As a result, the in-plane uniformity of the heat treatment for the semiconductor wafer 30 can be greatly improved.

  The center of curvature of the process chamber portion 21A and the center of curvature of the partition portion 32A are preferably at the center of the wafer stage 23, but may be at least on the wafer stage 23.

  In the first and second embodiments, the case where the hafnium oxide film is formed as the heat treatment has been described as an example. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the tantalum oxide film, the titanium oxide film, the zirconium oxide film, and the like are formed. Of course, it can be applied. Furthermore, the apparatus of the present invention can be applied not only to a metal oxide film but also to all film formations such as a nitride film. Further, the present invention is not limited to the heat treatment by film formation, and the present invention can be applied to any heat treatment having temperature dependency.

  As described above, according to the second embodiment, the inner wall of the process chamber portion 21A and the inner wall of the partition portion 32A form a substantially continuous circle, which is closer to the gate valve portion 29 than in the first embodiment. The temperature distribution in the portion other than the portion and the vicinity of the gate valve portion 29 can be made more uniform. Other effects are the same as those of the first embodiment.

  In the first and second embodiments, the inner wall of the process chamber portion has a horizontal cross section (that is, a cross section cut along a plane parallel to the plane including the wafer stage), a square in which the center of the diagonal line is located on the mounting portion, What is necessary is just to have a rectangular shape and a partition part has a substantially the same surface as the inner wall of the said chamber part. Further, the inner wall of the process chamber portion may have a polygonal shape whose horizontal cross section is located on the mounting portion, for example, a hexagonal shape or an octagonal shape. The polygon is preferably a regular polygon from the viewpoint of temperature distribution.

  As described above, the present invention can suppress deterioration of in-plane uniformity of a semiconductor wafer by suppressing a decrease in film thickness due to a decrease in temperature in the vicinity of a gate valve portion between a wafer transfer portion and a process chamber portion. A device manufacturing apparatus can be provided.

21, 21A Process chamber part 22 Wafer stage support base 23 Wafer stage 24 Trace heat conduction plate 25 Heater 26 Thermocouple 27 Shower head part 28 Wafer transfer part 29 Gate valve part 30 Semiconductor wafer 31 Exhaust port 32, 32A Partition part 33 Heater 34 thermocouple

Claims (6)

  A chamber portion, a front chamber portion connected to the chamber portion, a gate valve portion provided between the chamber portion and the front chamber portion, and disposed between the gate valve portion and the chamber portion. A semiconductor device manufacturing apparatus comprising: an openable / closable partition part; and a partition part heating means provided in the partition part.   The semiconductor device manufacturing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the partition heating unit includes a partition heater and a partition thermocouple. The chamber part is provided with a thermocouple for the chamber part,
Temperature detecting means for detecting the temperature of the thermocouple for the partitioning section and the temperature of the thermocouple for the chamber section, and the temperature of the thermocouple for the partitioning section and the thermocouple for the chamber section based on the temperature detection result by the temperature detecting means The apparatus for manufacturing a semiconductor device according to claim 2, further comprising: a control unit that controls the heater for the partitioning section so that the temperatures of the two are equal.   The chamber portion has a mounting portion for mounting a processing object therein, and the inner wall of the chamber portion has a horizontal cross section having an arc shape with a center of curvature located on the mounting portion, and the partition portion 2. The semiconductor device manufacturing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the device has an arcuate shape having substantially the same curvature as the inner wall of the chamber portion and a center of curvature located on the mounting portion.   The chamber portion has a mounting portion for mounting a processing object therein, and the inner wall of the chamber portion has a rectangular shape in which a horizontal cross section is located on the mounting portion with a diagonal center, The semiconductor device manufacturing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the partition portion has substantially the same surface as the inner wall of the chamber portion. A chamber portion, a front chamber portion connected to the chamber portion, a gate valve portion provided between the chamber portion and the front chamber portion, and disposed between the gate valve portion and the chamber portion. And a partition part heating means provided in the partition part, the partition part heating means having a heater for the partition part and a thermocouple for the partition part, and the chamber part includes a chamber. A method for controlling a semiconductor device manufacturing apparatus provided with a thermocouple for a part,
The temperature of the thermocouple for the partition part and the temperature of the thermocouple for the chamber part are detected, and the temperature of the thermocouple for the partition part and the temperature of the thermocouple for the chamber part are equalized. A method of controlling a semiconductor device manufacturing apparatus for controlling a heater.

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