JP2012178488A - Susceptor cover, vapor-phase growth apparatus equipped with susceptor cover - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a susceptor cover in which there is no risk of cracking caused by thermal stress and which is suitable for automatic conveyance, and a vapor-phase growth apparatus equipped with the susceptor cover.SOLUTION: A susceptor cover 1 is installed in a susceptor 27 in a vapor-phase growth apparatus 17 which is installed inside a chamber 23 so as to be revolved, and has a plurality of substrate placing parts 47 in each of which a substrate 25 to deposit a thin film thereon is placed so as to revolve. The susceptor cover 1 has an outer form which is circular, and is configured by providing openings 5 continuously in a circumferential direction, in portions corresponding to the substrate placing parts 47, and divided into an inner circumferential side 1a and an outer circumferential side 1b in a portion between the adjacent openings 5. The inner circumferential side 1a and the outer circumferential side 1b are engaged by such an engaging part 7 that, when any one of the inner circumferential side 1a and the outer circumferential side 1b is carried up, the other is also carried up.

Description

  The present invention relates to a vapor phase growth apparatus that deposits a thin film on a substrate by supplying a vapor phase raw material while heating the substrate, and in particular, a susceptor cover used in the vapor phase growth apparatus and a vapor phase growth including the susceptor cover Relates to the device.

  A thin film is uniformly formed on a plurality of substrates as a vapor phase growth apparatus in which a source gas is supplied into a reaction chamber while a substrate held by a susceptor is heated to a predetermined temperature, and a thin film is deposited (grown) on the substrate surface. Therefore, the vapor phase growth apparatus has a mechanism for rotating the susceptor and rotating the substrate mounting member (substrate tray) on which the substrate is mounted in accordance with the rotation of the susceptor to rotate the substrate during film formation. It has been known.

  FIG. 12 is a cross-sectional view of the vapor phase growth apparatus 70 disclosed in Patent Document 1. A vapor phase growth apparatus 70 disclosed in Patent Document 1 includes a susceptor 73 made of disc-shaped carbon in a flat cylindrical chamber 72 having a gas introduction pipe 71 disposed at the upper center, and an outer peripheral portion of the susceptor 73. A plurality of substrate holders 74 arranged at equal intervals on the concentric circles, and a partition plate 76 that is disposed above the susceptor 73 and that divides the chamber 72 vertically and forms a reaction chamber 75 on the susceptor 73 side. I have.

The chamber 72 is divided into a chamber main body 77 having an opening on the side opposite to the susceptor side, and a chamber lid 78 that is airtightly mounted on the upper peripheral wall of the chamber main body 77 via an O-ring. A rotation drive shaft 79 for rotating the susceptor 73 is provided at the center of the bottom of the chamber main body 77. By rotating the susceptor 73 with the rotation drive shaft 79, the substrate holder 74 holding the substrate 80 is moved to the susceptor 73. In addition to revolving with respect to the center of the susceptor 73, a rotation gear mechanism provided on the outer periphery of the susceptor 73 rotates.
A heater 81 for heating the substrate 80 is disposed in a ring shape below the substrate holder 74, and a ring-shaped exhaust passage 82 is provided on the outer peripheral side of the susceptor 73.

A susceptor cover 85 that is divided into a plurality of parts in the circumferential direction is placed on the upper surfaces of the susceptor 73 and the substrate holder 74.
The susceptor cover 85 is installed for the purpose of preventing the susceptor 73 from being contaminated with the reactant. By removing the dirty susceptor cover 85 from the reaction furnace and installing a new susceptor cover 85, particle contamination can be prevented and stable film formation can be performed.
As shown in FIG. 13, the susceptor cover 85 having such a function has a donut shape having a large opening 89 at the center, and the opening 91 is continuously circular at a portion where the substrate holder 74 is disposed. It is formed in the circumferential direction.
The susceptor cover 85 has a cutting portion 93 at the narrowest portion between adjacent opening portions 91, and the inner peripheral side 85a and the outer peripheral side 85b can be separated by the cutting portion 93. .

JP 2008-262967 A

  The susceptor cover 85 corresponds to a susceptor for a large-diameter / multi-sheet furnace. Such a susceptor cover 85 is provided with a large number of openings 91 as shown in FIG. 13, so that the portion where the adjacent openings 91 are closest is narrower. Therefore, the said part is thermally weak and the crack of the cover by a thermal stress generate | occur | produces. Therefore, in order to prevent the cover from cracking, the susceptor cover 85 is divided into two parts.

As described above, the susceptor cover 85 needs to be removed from the reactor and cleaned. In this case, since it is difficult to remove only the susceptor cover 85 from the reaction furnace, when removing the susceptor cover 85 from the reaction furnace, the susceptor 73 on which the susceptor cover 85 is installed is taken out from the reaction furnace, and then the susceptor cover 85 is removed. It is desirable to transport only to the pass box.
However, the divided susceptor cover 85 is not suitable for automatic conveyance, and it is difficult to remove the susceptor cover 85 from the susceptor 73 and automatically convey it to the pass box.
Therefore, conventionally, when removing the susceptor cover 85 from the reaction furnace, the susceptor 73 in which the susceptor cover 85 is installed must be transported to the pass box, and the pass box must be opened to the atmosphere to recover the cover on the susceptor. did not become.
However, this method undesirably exposes the susceptor 73 to the atmosphere because the pass box is once opened to the atmosphere.

  The present invention has been made to solve such a problem, and is intended to obtain a susceptor cover that is free from danger of cracking due to thermal stress and suitable for automatic conveyance, and a vapor phase growth apparatus including the susceptor cover. It is aimed.

(1) A susceptor cover according to the present invention is provided in a vapor phase growth including a susceptor having a plurality of substrate placing portions on which a substrate on which a thin film is deposited is placed so as to be able to rotate while being revolved in a chamber. A susceptor cover installed on the susceptor in the apparatus,
The susceptor cover has a circular outer shape, and an opening is continuously provided in a portion corresponding to the substrate mounting portion in the circumferential direction. It is divided into two on the outer circumference side,
The inner peripheral side and the outer peripheral side are engaged by an engaging portion that lifts either the inner peripheral side or the outer peripheral side and lifts the other.

(2) Further, in the above-described (1), one of the engaging portions is formed by a step portion that can be placed on the other.

(3) Moreover, the thing as described in said (1) or (2) WHEREIN: The said engaging part is provided in the said inner peripheral side or outer peripheral side, and the convex part which protrudes toward an outer peripheral side or an inner peripheral side; And a concave portion provided on the outer peripheral side or the inner peripheral side to which the convex portion can be fitted.
By providing the engaging portion with the convex portion and the concave portion, it is possible to prevent the inner peripheral side and the outer peripheral side from deviating during conveyance of the susceptor cover.

(4) A vapor phase growth apparatus according to the present invention includes the susceptor cover according to any one of the above (1) to (3).

  In the present invention, the susceptor cover is divided into an inner peripheral side and an outer peripheral side, and is engaged by an engaging portion that lifts the inner peripheral side when the outer peripheral side is lifted. By holding the susceptor cover, the entire susceptor cover can be held. As a result, only the susceptor cover can be automatically transported, and the susceptor cover alone can be taken out without being exposed to the atmosphere.

It is susceptor cover explanatory drawing concerning this Embodiment. It is a perspective view which shows the state seen from the diagonal direction while expanding the A section enclosed with the circle | round | yen of FIG. It is explanatory drawing of the vapor phase growth apparatus which installed the susceptor cover which concerns on one embodiment of this invention, and shows the part corresponded to the A section of FIG. 12 which showed the prior art example. It is explanatory drawing which expands and shows a part of FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an entire vapor phase growth apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is operation | movement explanatory drawing of the vapor phase growth apparatus which concerns on one embodiment of this invention, and is a figure which shows the state which opened the chamber. It is operation | movement explanatory drawing of the vapor phase growth apparatus which concerns on one embodiment of this invention, and is explanatory drawing (the 1) of the replacement | exchange procedure of the susceptor cover 12. FIG. It is operation | movement explanatory drawing of the vapor phase growth apparatus which concerns on one embodiment of this invention, and is explanatory drawing (the 2) of the replacement | exchange procedure of the susceptor cover 12. FIG. It is operation | movement explanatory drawing of the vapor phase growth apparatus which concerns on one embodiment of this invention, and is explanatory drawing of the replacement procedure of the susceptor cover 12 (the 3). It is explanatory drawing of the other aspect of the susceptor cover which concerns on this Embodiment. It is a perspective view which shows the state seen from the diagonal direction while expanding the B section enclosed with the circle | round | yen of FIG. It is explanatory drawing of the conventional vapor phase growth apparatus. It is explanatory drawing of the conventional susceptor cover.

As shown in FIG. 1, the susceptor cover 1 of the present embodiment has a large opening 3 at the center and a circular outer shape, and the entire shape has a donut shape.
A plurality of openings 5 are continuously formed in the circumferential direction on the outer diameter side of the large opening 3, and an engaging portion 7 is provided at a boundary portion between adjacent openings 5. The inner peripheral side 1a and the outer peripheral side 1b are detachably connected.
The reason why the inner peripheral side 1a and the outer peripheral side 1b are divided is to prevent the susceptor cover 1 from being deformed or broken due to the generation of thermal stress.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the engaging portion 7 includes an outer peripheral side engaging portion 7b and an inner peripheral side engaging portion 7a. The outer peripheral side engaging portion 7b has a step shape by having a lower protruding portion 9 whose lower half in the thickness direction protrudes in the direction of the inner peripheral side 1a. On the other hand, the inner peripheral side engaging portion 7a has an inverted shape by having an upper protruding portion 11 whose upper half in the thickness direction protrudes in the direction of the outer peripheral side 1b. And the upper protrusion part 11 of the inner peripheral side engaging part 7a can be mounted on the lower protrusion part 9 of the outer peripheral side engaging part 7b. Therefore, if the outer peripheral side 1b is lifted, the inner peripheral side 1a At the same time it is lifted. For this reason, the whole susceptor cover 1 can be lifted by supporting and lifting the outer peripheral side 1b.

  Moreover, the convex part 13 which protrudes toward the outer peripheral side 1b is formed in the front-end | tip of the upper protrusion part 11 in the inner peripheral side engaging part 7a, and the convex part 13 can be fitted in the outer peripheral side engaging part 7b. A recess 15 is formed. By fitting the convex portion 13 and the concave portion 15, the inner peripheral side 1 a and the outer peripheral side 1 b are prevented from shifting in the circumferential direction in the engaging portion 7. Therefore, the outer peripheral side 1b and the inner peripheral side 1a are not shifted in the circumferential direction during the transport of the susceptor cover 1, and can be transported stably. Such stable conveyance makes it easy to realize automatic conveyance.

Next, the vapor phase growth apparatus of the present embodiment on which the susceptor cover 1 configured as described above is mounted will be described with reference to FIGS.
As shown in FIGS. 3 to 9, the vapor phase growth apparatus 17 according to the present embodiment includes a chamber main body 19 and a chamber lid 21 that is provided in the chamber main body 19 and opens and closes the chamber main body 19. 23, a susceptor 27 installed in the chamber 23 on which the substrate 25 is placed, a susceptor cover 1 that covers the upper surface of the susceptor 27, an opposing surface member 29 that faces the susceptor 27, and an opposing surface member An opposing surface member elevating mechanism 31 configured to be able to move up and down while holding 29, a susceptor cover holding device 33 (see FIGS. 7 to 9) configured to be able to move up and down while holding the susceptor cover 1, and an opposing surface member 29 or a susceptor cover 1 and a conveying device 37 that holds and conveys the conveying plate 35.
In the vapor phase growth apparatus 17 of the present embodiment, the source gas introduction nozzle 39 for supplying the source gas is provided on the chamber body 19 side, and the source gas flows from the lower side to the upper side.
In FIG. 3, a part of the transport plate 35 is shown to float in the air, but this is a state where the transport plate 35 is held by a transport robot 41 (see FIG. 5) described later and is on standby. Is shown.
Hereinafter, the main structure of the vapor phase growth apparatus 17 will be described in detail.

<Chamber>
The chamber 23 has a flat cylindrical shape as a whole, and includes a lower chamber main body 19 and a chamber lid 21 that opens and closes the chamber main body 19.
A source gas introduction nozzle 39 is installed in the center of the chamber body 19 so that the source gas can be supplied to the substrate 25 placed on the susceptor 27.
The outer peripheral edge portion of the chamber main body 19 is a main body flange 43, which comes into contact with the lid flange 45 of the chamber lid 21 so that the chamber 23 can be hermetically closed (see FIG. 3).
A susceptor 27 is installed in the chamber body 19 so as to be able to revolve (rotate), and a heater 49 for heating the substrate 25 is installed below the substrate mounting portion 47 in the susceptor 27.

  The chamber lid 21 is moved up and down with respect to the chamber body 19 by a lifting mechanism (not shown). A lid flange 45 is formed on the outer peripheral edge of the chamber lid 21, and the lid flange 45 is disposed opposite to the main body flange 43.

<Susceptor>
The susceptor 27 has a disk shape as a whole, and is installed in the chamber 23 so as to be able to revolve as described above. The susceptor 27 is provided with a plurality of substrate placement portions 47 that can rotate, and a substrate 25 on which a thin film is formed is placed on the substrate placement portion 47.
The susceptor 27 is a mechanism that revolves (rotates) as a whole by a drive mechanism (not shown), and the substrate platform 47 rotates in conjunction with this revolution.
<Susceptor cover>
The susceptor cover 1 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 is detachably installed on the upper surface of the susceptor 27. FIG. 2A shows a state where the susceptor cover 1 is installed. As shown in FIG. 2B, the susceptor cover 1 can be removed by lifting it upward.

<Counterface member>
The opposing surface member 29 has a donut plate shape, and a stepped portion 51 is formed on the peripheral edge thereof. By supporting the stepped portion 51 by the facing surface support member 52, the facing surface member 29 is installed so as to form a source gas flow path 53 between the susceptor 27.
In addition, an arc-shaped locking piece 55 that protrudes toward the center in the radial direction is formed at the center of the facing surface member 29.

<Counter surface member lifting mechanism>
The opposing surface member elevating mechanism 31 holds the opposing surface member 29 by engaging the engaging piece 56 with the engaging piece 55 formed on the opposing surface member 29, and can be moved up and down and rotated by a drive unit (not shown). It is configured.

<Susceptor cover holding device>
The susceptor cover holding device 33 is configured to be able to hold the susceptor cover 1 and to be lifted and lowered while being held and to release the holding. Various configurations of the susceptor cover holding device 33 are conceivable. For example, the susceptor cover holding device 33 can be configured by a vacuum suction device that holds an object by a vacuum chuck.
The susceptor cover holding device 33 is installed in the glove box 57 as shown in FIG. The susceptor cover holding device 33 is installed at a relatively high position, and a space for placing the susceptor 27 removed from the chamber 23 is secured below the susceptor cover holding device 33.

<Conveyor>
As shown in FIG. 5, the transport device 37 includes a transport robot 41 installed in the glove box 43 and a transport plate 35 that is also placed in the glove box 43.
The transport plate 35 is a disc, and a part of the transport plate 35 is held by the transport robot 41 and moves in the glove box 57.
Further, when the transport plate 35 is disposed above the susceptor 27, the transport plate 35 covers the susceptor 27 in a plan view, and catches dust (such as a trap of vapor phase product) that falls from the facing surface member 29 or the susceptor cover 1. In addition, the opposing surface member 29 or the susceptor cover 1 can be placed and transported.

  The glove box 57 in which the chamber 23 and the transfer device 37 are installed is provided with a pass box 59 for delivering the facing member 29 and the susceptor cover 1. A vacuum pump 61 and a nitrogen gas supply pipe 63 are connected to the pass box 59 so that the atmosphere in the pass box 59 can be replaced with a nitrogen atmosphere.

  The operation of the vapor phase growth apparatus 17 of the present embodiment configured as described above will be described separately for “thin film growth and substrate removal and resetting” and “susceptor cover replacement”.

<Thin film growth, substrate removal and resetting>
When a thin film is grown on the substrate 25 using the vapor phase growth apparatus 17, as shown in FIG. 3, the substrate 25 is placed on the substrate placing portion 47, and the facing surface member 29 is placed facing the susceptor 27. The chamber lid 21 is closed. The thin film grows on the surface of the substrate 25 by revolving the susceptor 27 and rotating the substrate mounting portion 47, heating the substrate 25 by the heater 49, and flowing the source gas in this state.

When a predetermined thin film is formed on the substrate 25, the chamber lid 21 is raised in a state where the engaging piece 56 of the facing surface member lifting mechanism 31 is engaged with the locking piece 55 of the facing surface member 29. By raising the chamber lid 21, as shown in FIG. 6, the opposing surface member 29 is lifted together with the chamber lid 21, and the substrate 25 is exposed.
When the substrate 25 on which the thin film is formed is taken out, a new substrate 25 is set on the substrate platform 47, the chamber lid 21 is lowered and the lid is closed, and the same operation as described above is performed.

<Replacement of susceptor cover>
Next, a method for replacing the susceptor cover 1 will be described with reference to FIGS. 7 to 9 illustrate a state in which the chamber lid 21 is raised (see FIG. 6), and the susceptor 27 is taken out of the chamber 23 by the transfer robot 41 and placed under the susceptor cover holding device 33. ing.
As shown in FIG. 7, when the susceptor 27 is placed at a predetermined position, the susceptor cover holding device 33 is lowered, the outer peripheral side 1b of the susceptor cover 1 is sucked and held, and is raised while being held ( (See FIG. 8). Since the outer peripheral side 1b and the inner peripheral side 1a are engaged, the entire susceptor cover 1 can be raised by attracting and holding the outer peripheral side 1b.

Next, the transport plate 35 is transported by the transport robot 41 and placed below the susceptor cover 1 held by the susceptor cover holding device 33. At this time, the surface of the susceptor 27 is covered with the transport plate 35 in a plan view.
With the susceptor cover holding device 33 lowered, the susceptor cover holding device 33 is released while the susceptor cover 1 is placed on the transport plate 35, and the susceptor cover 1 is placed on the transport plate 35 (see FIG. 9). . At this time, since the transport plate 35 is arranged above the susceptor 27, dust attached to the susceptor cover 1 does not fall on the susceptor 27 when the susceptor cover 1 is removed.
Thereafter, the transport plate 35 on which the susceptor cover 1 is placed is transported to the pass box 59 by the transport robot 41, the transported susceptor cover 1 is taken out by the operator, and the cleaned susceptor cover 1 is placed on the transport plate 35. To do.

Then, the transport robot 41 is driven to transport the transport plate 35 to above the susceptor 27 (see FIG. 9), and the susceptor cover 1 is installed on the upper surface of the susceptor by performing an operation reverse to the operation of removing the susceptor cover described above. . That is, from the state shown in FIG. 9, the susceptor cover holding device 33 is lowered, the susceptor cover 1 placed on the transport plate 35 is sucked and held, and the transport plate 35 is removed (see FIG. 8).
Next, the susceptor cover holding device 33 is lowered, the suction holding is released at a predetermined position, and the susceptor cover 1 is installed on the upper surface of the susceptor 27 (see FIG. 7).

As described above, in this embodiment, since the susceptor cover is divided into the inner peripheral side 1a and the outer peripheral side 1b, the susceptor cover is deformed or broken by a thermal stress even at a high temperature in the thin film growth process. There is nothing to do.
Moreover, since the susceptor cover 1 is engaged by the engaging portion 7 that lifts the inner peripheral side 1a when the outer peripheral side is lifted, the entire susceptor cover can be held by holding the outer peripheral side 1b. Therefore, only the susceptor cover 1 can be automatically conveyed as described above, and automatic conveyance can be realized without exposing the susceptor to the atmosphere.
Furthermore, by providing the engaging portion 7 in the susceptor cover 1 with the convex portion 13 and the concave portion 15, the inner peripheral side 1 a and the outer peripheral side 1 b are not shifted during conveyance of the susceptor cover 1.

In the above embodiment, the engaging portion 7 in the susceptor cover 1 is mounted with the upper protruding portion 11 formed on the inner peripheral side engaging portion 7a on the lower protruding portion 9 formed on the outer peripheral side engaging portion 7b. It was made to hold | maintain so that the whole could be hold | maintained by hold | maintaining outer peripheral side 1b.
However, the susceptor cover of the present invention is not limited to this. As shown in FIGS. 10 and 11, the susceptor cover is formed on the outer peripheral engagement portion 7b on the lower protrusion 9 formed on the inner peripheral engagement portion 7a. The upper protrusion 11 may be placed and the entire susceptor cover 1 may be held by holding the inner peripheral side 1a.

  In addition, as an example of the susceptor cover holding device 33 in the vapor phase growth apparatus according to the present embodiment, a vacuum suction device that holds an object with a vacuum chuck is shown. However, as another example, the outer peripheral edge portion of the susceptor cover 1 is shown. You may comprise by the apparatus provided with the arm which equips both sides with the hook which can hold | maintain a lower surface, and could raise / lower.

  The present invention particularly relates to a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus for forming a compound semiconductor, and can be used to improve the quality of a semiconductor manufactured by the apparatus.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Susceptor cover 1a Inner peripheral side 1b Outer peripheral side 3 Large opening part 5 Opening part 7 Engaging part 7a Inner peripheral side engaging part 7b Outer peripheral side engaging part 9 Lower protrusion part 11 Upper protrusion part 13 Convex part 15 Concave part 17 Gas phase Growth device 19 Chamber body 21 Chamber lid 23 Chamber 25 Substrate 27 Susceptor 29 Opposing surface member 31 Opposing surface member lifting mechanism 33 Susceptor cover holding device 35 Conveying plate 37 Conveying device 39 Raw material gas introduction nozzle 41 Conveying robot 43 Main unit flange 45 Lid Flange 47 Substrate placement portion 49 Heater 51 Step portion 53 Source gas flow channel 55 Locking piece 56 Engagement piece 57 Glove box 59 Pass box 61 Vacuum pump 63 Nitrogen gas supply pipe 70 Gas phase growth apparatus 71 Gas introduction pipe 72 Chamber 73 Susceptor 74 substrate holder 75 reaction chamber 77 chamber book 78 the chamber lid 79 rotates the drive shaft 80 the substrate 81 heaters 82 exhaust passage 85 susceptor cover 85a inner peripheral side 85b outer peripheral side 89 large opening 91 opening 93 cut portion

Claims (4)

A susceptor cover installed on the susceptor in a vapor phase growth apparatus including a susceptor having a plurality of substrate placement portions on which a substrate on which a thin film is deposited is placed so as to be able to rotate while being revolved in a chamber. There,
The susceptor cover has a circular outer shape, and an opening is continuously provided in a portion corresponding to the substrate mounting portion in the circumferential direction. It is divided into two on the outer circumference side,
The susceptor cover, wherein the inner peripheral side and the outer peripheral side are engaged by an engaging part that lifts either the inner peripheral side or the outer peripheral side and lifts the other.   The susceptor cover according to claim 1, wherein one of the engaging portions is formed by a step portion that can be placed on the other.   The engaging portion is provided on the inner peripheral side or the outer peripheral side and protrudes toward the outer peripheral side or the inner peripheral side, and is provided on the outer peripheral side or the inner peripheral side and the convex portion is fitted. The susceptor cover according to claim 1, further comprising a possible recess.   A vapor phase growth apparatus comprising the susceptor cover according to any one of claims 1 to 3.

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