JP2020053530A - Semiconductor manufacturing device - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a semiconductor manufacturing device capable of improving throughput by preventing particles from adhering to a wafer.SOLUTION: Ports 7 and 8 are provided which are used for air supply or air release of a vacuum chamber 2. A movable dustproof cover 9 covers a semiconductor wafer 10 inside the vacuum chamber 2. The dustproof cover 9 includes a dustproof filter. A lower surface of an outer periphery of the dustproof cover 9 is brought into close contact with a bottom surface of the vacuum chamber 2 when supplying air to or releasing air from the vacuum chamber 2.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

  The present invention relates to a semiconductor manufacturing device provided with a vacuum chamber.

  The semiconductor manufacturing apparatus includes a vacuum chamber such as a vacuum chamber or a load lock chamber. When the vacuum chamber is evacuated from atmospheric pressure to vacuum, or vice versa, particles may fly up and adhere to the semiconductor wafer. In order to prevent this, a slow vacuum and a slow vent for gradually opening a valve of an exhaust port or a supply port have been performed. However, when performing slow vacuum and slow vent, it takes time to change from atmospheric pressure to vacuum or to return from vacuum to atmospheric pressure, so that there is a problem that throughput is reduced. On the other hand, there has been proposed a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus in which a semiconductor wafer is covered with a dustproof cover inside a vacuum chamber (for example, see Patent Document 1).

JP-A-10-092724

  In a conventional semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, a sealed dustproof cover having no air permeability is used. Therefore, in order to supply or exhaust air around the semiconductor wafer, it is necessary to provide a gap between the lower surface of the dustproof cover and the bottom surface of the vacuum chamber. There is a problem that particles pass through this gap and adhere to the semiconductor wafer.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus capable of preventing particles from adhering to a wafer and improving the throughput.

  The semiconductor manufacturing apparatus according to the present invention includes a vacuum chamber, a port used for air supply or exhaust of the vacuum chamber, and a movable dust cover that covers the semiconductor wafer inside the vacuum chamber, wherein the dust cover is dustproof. A filter is provided, and the lower surface of the outer periphery of the dustproof cover is brought into close contact with the bottom surface of the vacuum chamber when air is supplied or exhausted from the vacuum chamber.

  In the present invention, the dust cover that covers the semiconductor wafer inside the vacuum chamber has the dust filter. Therefore, since the dust cover does not seal around the semiconductor wafer, air supply or exhaust around the semiconductor wafer is possible without leaving a gap between the lower surface of the dust cover and the bottom surface of the vacuum chamber. Therefore, by adhering the lower surface of the outer peripheral portion of the dustproof cover to the bottom surface of the vacuum chamber when air is supplied or exhausted from the vacuum chamber, it is possible to reliably prevent particles from adhering to the wafer. In addition, there is no need to perform slow vacuum and slow venting, and fast vacuuming, which is quick vacuuming, is possible. Therefore, the time required for the vacuum chamber to be reduced from the atmospheric pressure to the vacuum can be shortened, and the throughput of the apparatus can be improved.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus according to the first embodiment. It is sectional drawing which shows a mode that a load lock chamber returns to atmospheric pressure from a vacuum. It is sectional drawing which shows a mode that the load lock chamber is evacuated from atmospheric pressure. It is sectional drawing which shows the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus which concerns on a comparative example. FIG. 13 is a sectional view showing a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus according to a second embodiment. FIG. 13 is a sectional view showing a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus according to a third embodiment. FIG. 15 is a plan view showing a modification of the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus according to the third embodiment.

  A semiconductor manufacturing apparatus according to an embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings. The same or corresponding components are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof may not be repeated.

Embodiment 1 FIG.
FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus according to the first embodiment. The semiconductor manufacturing apparatus includes a vacuum chamber 1 and a load lock chamber 2 as vacuum chambers. The load lock chamber 2 is a pre-vacuum chamber provided to prevent particles in the atmosphere from entering the vacuum chamber 1. A gate valve 3 is provided between the vacuum chamber 1 and the load lock chamber 2. A gate valve 4 is provided between the load lock chamber 2 and the outside.

  An air supply port 5 used to supply air to the vacuum chamber 1 and an exhaust port 6 used to exhaust the vacuum chamber 1 are provided on the bottom surface of the vacuum chamber 1. An air supply port 7 used for supplying air to the load lock chamber 2 and an exhaust port 8 used for exhausting the load lock chamber 2 are provided on the bottom surface of the load lock chamber 2. Each port is provided with a vacuum pump (not shown). A line filter or the like may be provided in a pipe or the like of each port to catch particles.

  A movable dustproof cover 9 that can move up and down covers the semiconductor wafer 10 inside the load lock chamber 2. The dustproof cover 9 partially has a dustproof filter such as HEPA or ULPA having air permeability.

  FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing how the load lock chamber is returned from vacuum to atmospheric pressure. The semiconductor wafer 10 processed and processed in the vacuum chamber 1 is transferred to the vacuum load lock chamber 2 through the gate valve 3. At this time, the dustproof cover 9 is released upward so as not to hinder the transfer of the semiconductor wafer 10. After the semiconductor wafer 10 is transferred to the load lock chamber 2 and the gate valve 3 is closed, the dustproof cover 9 covers the semiconductor wafer 10 inside the load lock chamber 2. At this time, the lower surface of the outer peripheral portion of the dustproof cover 9 is brought into close contact with the bottom surface of the load lock chamber 2. Next, the air supply port 7 is opened to return the load lock chamber 2 from vacuum to atmospheric pressure. At this time, the dustproof cover 9 covers the semiconductor wafer 10 to prevent the particles 11 from adhering.

  FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing how the load lock chamber is evacuated from atmospheric pressure. The semiconductor wafer 10 is transferred from the outside into the load lock chamber 2 through the gate valve 4. At this time, the dustproof cover 9 is released upward so as not to hinder the transfer of the semiconductor wafer 10. After the semiconductor wafer 10 is transferred to the load lock chamber 2 and the gate valve 4 is closed, the dustproof cover 9 covers the semiconductor wafer 10 inside the load lock chamber 2. At this time, the lower surface of the outer peripheral portion of the dustproof cover 9 is brought into close contact with the bottom surface of the load lock chamber 2. Next, the exhaust port 8 is opened to reduce the pressure in the load lock chamber 2 from atmospheric pressure to vacuum. At this time, the dustproof cover 9 covers the semiconductor wafer 10 to prevent the particles 11 from adhering.

  Subsequently, the effect of the present embodiment will be described in comparison with a comparative example. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus according to a comparative example. In the comparative example, since the dustproof cover 9 is not provided in the load lock chamber 2, the swirled particles 11 adhere to the semiconductor wafer 10. In order to prevent this, it is necessary to perform slow vacuum and slow vent for gradually opening the valve of the exhaust port or the supply port.

  On the other hand, in the present embodiment, the dust cover 9 covers the semiconductor wafer 10 to prevent the particles 11 from adhering. Therefore, there is no need to perform slow vacuum and slow vent, and fast vacuum can be achieved, which is quick vacuuming. For this reason, the time required for the load lock chamber 2 to return from vacuum to atmospheric pressure or the time required for reducing pressure from atmospheric pressure to vacuum can be reduced, and the throughput of the apparatus is improved.

  Further, in the present embodiment, the dustproof cover 9 that covers the semiconductor wafer 10 inside the load lock chamber 2 has a dustproof filter. Therefore, since the dust cover 9 does not seal around the semiconductor wafer 10, air supply or exhaust around the semiconductor wafer 10 is possible without leaving a gap between the lower surface of the dust cover 9 and the bottom surface of the load lock chamber 2. . Therefore, by adhering the lower surface of the dustproof cover 9 to the bottom surface of the vacuum chamber when air is supplied or exhausted from the load lock chamber 2, the adhesion of the particles 11 to the semiconductor wafer 10 can be reliably prevented.

  The air supply port 7 is provided outside the dust cover 9. The exhaust port 8 is provided inside the dust cover 9. Thus, not only when the load lock chamber 2 is returned to the atmospheric pressure, but also when the load lock chamber 2 is evacuated, a dustproof effect can be obtained.

  Further, the particles 11 are trapped and accumulated in the dustproof filter attached to the dustproof cover 9 every time the apparatus is operated. Therefore, maintenance such as periodic cleaning and replacement of the dustproof cover 9 is required. Therefore, in a state where the semiconductor wafer 10 is not inside the load lock chamber 2, the lower surface of the dustproof cover 9 is brought into close contact with the bottom surface of the load lock chamber 2, and the air supply port 7 and the exhaust port 8 are operated in reverse. That is, the air supply port 7 provided outside the dustproof cover 9 is used for exhausting the inside of the load lock chamber 2, and the exhaust port 8 provided inside the dustproof cover 9 is used for supplying air inside the load lock chamber 2. Used. Accordingly, the particles 11 accumulated in the dust cover 9 can be removed to some extent, so that the maintenance interval can be extended and the working time of the apparatus can be increased. The reverse operation can be performed manually at the discretion of the operator, but can also be performed automatically as described later.

Embodiment 2 FIG.
FIG. 5 is a sectional view showing a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus according to the second embodiment. A dust cover detection sensor 12 detects the operation of the dust cover 9. The wafer detection sensor 13 detects the presence or absence of the semiconductor wafer 10 in the load lock chamber 2. The control unit 14 counts the number of operations of the dust cover 9 based on the detection result of the dust cover detection sensor 12, and performs the reverse operation for an appropriate period of time (for example, 3 minutes) every predetermined number of operations (for example, 1000 times). However, the reverse operation is performed only when the wafer detection sensor 13 detects that the semiconductor wafer 10 is not present in the load lock chamber 2. After the end of the reverse operation, the operation count of the dust cover 9 is automatically reset.

Embodiment 3 FIG.
FIG. 6 is a sectional view showing a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus according to the third embodiment. An exhaust port 15 is provided outside the dust cover 9 in addition to the air supply port 7. An air supply port 16 is provided inside the dustproof cover 9 in addition to the exhaust port 8. That is, one set of air supply port and one set of exhaust port are provided inside and outside the dustproof cover 9.

  The air supply port 7 and the exhaust port 8 are used during normal operation, and the exhaust port 15 and the air supply port 16 are used during reverse operation. By separating the ports used for the normal operation and the reverse operation in this manner, the backflow of particles from each port or pipe is reduced as compared with the case where the ports are also used, and stable operation with few particles can be performed. .

  FIG. 7 is a plan view showing a modification of the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus according to the third embodiment. In FIG. 6, two ports are arranged front and rear inside and outside the dust cover 9. However, in order to improve the space efficiency of the device, it is better to arrange two ports on the left and right as shown in FIG.

2 load lock chamber (vacuum chamber), 7, 16 air supply port (outer port), 8, 15 exhaust port (inner port), 9 dustproof cover, 10 semiconductor wafer, 12 dustproof cover sensor, 14 control unit

Claims (5)

A vacuum chamber,
A port used for air supply or exhaust of the vacuum chamber,
A movable dust-proof cover that covers the semiconductor wafer inside the vacuum chamber,
The dustproof cover has a dustproof filter,
A semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, wherein a lower surface of an outer peripheral portion of the dustproof cover is brought into close contact with a bottom surface of the vacuum chamber when supplying or exhausting the vacuum chamber.   2. The semiconductor manufacturing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the port includes an outer port provided outside the dust cover and an inner port provided inside the dust cover.   In a state where the semiconductor wafer is not present in the vacuum chamber, a reverse operation is performed in which the outer port is used for exhausting the inside of the vacuum chamber and the inner port is used for supplying air inside the vacuum chamber. The semiconductor manufacturing apparatus according to claim 2. A dust cover detection sensor that detects the operation of the dust cover,
4. The control device according to claim 3, further comprising: a control unit that counts the number of operations of the dustproof cover based on a detection result of the dustproof cover detection sensor, and performs the reverse operation every predetermined number of operations. 5. Semiconductor manufacturing equipment. The outer port has a first air supply port and a first exhaust port;
3. The semiconductor manufacturing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the inside port has a second air supply port and a second exhaust port.

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