JP3297857B2 - Cluster tool device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a cluster tool apparatus in which a plurality of processing chambers for performing a series of different processes on a semiconductor wafer are assembled and connected.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In general, a semiconductor device tends to have a multilayer wiring structure in response to recent demands for higher density and higher integration. In this case, a lower device and an upper aluminum wiring are required. Embedding technology such as a contact hole as a connection portion with the via and a via hole as a connection portion between the lower aluminum wiring and the upper aluminum wiring has become important in order to make an electrical connection between them. It is preferable to use an inexpensive and highly conductive material, for example, aluminum, for filling the contact holes and via holes, and it is highly directional to eliminate the occurrence of voids due to the technical restriction of filling holes. CVD (Chemi) with good step coverage instead of film formation by sputtering
It is desired to form a film by cal vapor deposition. Examples of such a metal thin film forming apparatus include JP-A-6-267951 and JP-A-6-267951.
An apparatus disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent No. 283446 is known.

For example, in order to form an aluminum-CVD film, an organic metal gas D is generally used as a processing gas.
MAH (dimethyl aluminum hydride) is used, and DMAH has a viscosity of 8000 to 100 at room temperature.
The substance is very high, about 00 cp (centipoise), in a syrupy state, and is extremely difficult to handle because it reacts violently with moisture or oxygen in the air and ignites.

[0004]

Therefore, at present, a technique for forming a high quality aluminum-CVD film with good mass productivity has not been sufficiently developed at present. In particular, the aluminum film, unlike other metal film formation, very easily combines with moisture and oxygen components in the air to form an oxide film that causes deterioration of characteristics, so that the film formation technology of aluminum-CVD is difficult. Of course, the management of the semiconductor wafer before and after the film formation process must also pay close attention,
Before film formation, moisture and natural oxide film adhering to the wafer surface are efficiently removed, and after film formation, the wafer temperature is efficiently lowered to the handling temperature to suppress the adhesion of the natural oxide film. There must be. The present invention has been devised in view of the above problems and effectively solving them. An object of the present invention is to provide a cluster tool device capable of forming a CVD aluminum film having good electric characteristics and quality. In addition,
Another purpose of Ming is to treat processing gas etc. leaked from the processing chamber.
By eliminating the surrounding atmosphere individually for each room,
Cluster tool device that can improve safety
Is to provide.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a water removal treatment chamber for heating an object to be processed by a heater to remove water and the like adhering to the surface. An oxide film removal treatment chamber for removing a natural oxide film attached to the surface of the object from which moisture has been removed by etching, a film formation treatment chamber for performing a film formation process on the surface of the object, A cooling processing chamber that cools the object after the film processing; a moisture removal processing chamber; an oxide film removal processing chamber; a film formation processing chamber; and a cooling processing chamber that are commonly connected and shuttable. And a common transfer chamber for loading and unloading the object to be processed.

[0006] With the above structure, the transfer of the object to be processed between the processing chambers is performed through the common transfer chamber which is maintained in a high vacuum state. The treated body is heated to remove moisture adhering to its surface in a moisture removal treatment chamber, and then to a pretreatment chamber in the case of blanket aluminum CVD, and to an oxide film removal treatment in the case of selective aluminum CVD. It is introduced into each room. . In this pretreatment chamber, for example, H ₂ gas is used as a pretreatment gas for reasons such as suppressing growth on a flat surface to promote growth in the via hole and achieving good filling. In the oxide film removing chamber, for example, BCl ₃ and A are used for removing the natural oxide film (alumina) on the surface of the lower aluminum wiring exposed at the bottom of the via hole.
r gas is used. When H ₂ gas is used as the pre-processing gas, an aluminum-CVD film forming process is performed on the surface of the object to be processed by a process gas using a vaporization gas such as DMAH (dimethyl aluminum hydride) in the film forming process. Apply. When BCl ₃ and Ar gas are used as the etching gas, an aluminum-CVD film is formed by a process gas using a vaporization gas of DMAH in a film forming process, and aluminum is selectively formed in the via hole. Form a plug.

[0007] The object to be processed, which has been subjected to the film-forming process of aluminum-CVD and raised in temperature, is then introduced into a cooling processing chamber, where it is cooled to the handling temperature. This makes it possible to form an aluminum-CVD film having good quality and electrical characteristics. On the other hand, when BCl ₃ gas is used as the etching gas, first, the object to be processed is introduced into the gas component removal processing chamber, where
For example, the Cl ions adhering to the surface of the object to be processed are excited and separated and removed by heating and ultraviolet irradiation. And
Next, aluminum-CVD film formation may be performed in the film formation processing chamber as described above. Therefore, the aluminum-CVD film is not deteriorated by Cl ions.

A processing chamber using a processing gas, such as an oxide film removal processing chamber, a gas component removal processing chamber, and a film formation processing chamber,
Each gas is individually housed in an airtight box that can introduce and discharge gas, and the interior is exhausted to the factory exhaust to ensure safety even if the processing gas leaks out of the processing chamber. can do. Also, in the moisture removal processing chamber or the gas component removal processing chamber, the mounting table including the heater and the terminal unit of the heater are integrally detachably attached to each processing container. This can be easily performed.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the cluster tool device according to the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. 1 is a schematic plan view showing a cluster tool device according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram showing a moisture removal processing chamber, FIG. 3 is a plan view showing a unit mounting plate of a heater unit, and FIG. FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram showing an oxide film removal processing chamber, FIG. 6 is a configuration diagram showing a gas component removal processing chamber, FIG. 7 is a configuration diagram showing a film formation processing chamber, and FIG. 8 is a cooling process. It is a lineblock diagram showing a room. In the present invention, a case where a semiconductor wafer is used as an object to be processed and an aluminum film is formed on this surface by a thermal CVD process will be described as an example.

As shown in FIG. 1, this cluster tool device 2 has a common transfer chamber 4 formed in the shape of an octagonal container made of, for example, aluminum at its center.
The first and second cassette chambers 6 and 8, the moisture removal processing chamber 10,
Gas component removal processing chamber 12, oxide film removal processing chamber 14, first
The second film-forming processing chambers 16 and 18 and the cooling processing chamber 20 are connected via gate valves G1 to G8 which can be opened and closed, respectively.

The moisture removal processing chamber 10 is a processing chamber for heating a semiconductor wafer to remove moisture and the like adhering to the surface thereof, and the oxide film removal processing chamber 14 is formed on the wafer surface after removing the moisture. This is a processing chamber for removing a native oxide film by etching. For example, H ₂ gas (in the case of a blanket) or BCl ₃ gas (in the case of a selective) is used as an etching gas depending on the type of aluminum film formed in a later step. The gas component removal processing chamber 12 is a processing chamber for completely separating and removing the gas components remaining on the wafer surface by heating or ultraviolet irradiation when a processing gas is used in the above-described etching. Reference numeral 18 denotes a processing chamber for performing aluminum CVD film formation on the wafer surface, and a cooling processing chamber 20 includes:
This is a processing chamber for cooling a wafer after film formation to a handling temperature. In the first and second cassette chambers 6, 8, gate doors GD1, GD2 for loading / unloading a cassette C capable of accommodating, for example, 25 wafers W are provided so as to be openable and closable, respectively. , 8 are provided with a cassette table (not shown) so as to be able to move up and down.
The cassette chambers 6 and 8 can be supplied with an inert gas, for example, N ₂ gas, and can be evacuated.

In the common transfer chamber 4, a rotation positioning mechanism 22 for positioning the wafer W loaded therein, and a transfer arm 24 composed of a multi-joint arm mechanism capable of bending, stretching and rotating while holding the wafer W. The wafers can be loaded and unloaded between the chambers by bending, stretching and rotating. The common transfer chamber 4 can be supplied with an inert gas, for example, N ₂ gas, and can be evacuated. The water removal treatment apparatus 10 shown in FIG. 2 has a treatment vessel 26 formed into a bottomed cylindrical shape by, for example, aluminum. The ceiling portion is opened, and a ceiling plate 28 is airtightly sealed by screws 30 here. It is made removable. For example, an O-ring 32 for ensuring the sealing performance is interposed in the mounting portion of the ceiling plate 28.

A mounting table mounting step 34 is provided on a lower side wall in the processing vessel 26, and three screw hole forming sections 36 projecting radially from a peripheral portion as shown in FIG. Unit mounting plate 3 made of, for example, stainless steel having
8 is removably fixed by a screw 42 inserted through a screw hole 35 formed therein, and a mounting table 40 made of, for example, graphite whose surface is coated with SiC is provided on the unit mounting plate 38. The wafer W is placed on the upper surface. The mounting plate 38 is provided with three lifter pin holes 43. A carbon heater 44, for example, whose entire surface is coated with SiC, is embedded in substantially the entire upper surface of the mounting table 40, and can heat the wafer W to a predetermined temperature, for example, about 300 ° C. ing.

Further, lifter pins 46 are provided which penetrate the unit mounting plate 38 and the mounting table 40 in the up and down direction and are capable of moving up and down in the up and down direction. It can be moved up and down. A terminal unit mounting hole 47 having a stepped opening is formed in the bottom 26A of the processing container 26, and a sealing member 49 is interposed therebetween so that the mounting hole 47 is airtightly closed. A terminal unit 48 is detachably attached by screws 50 from below the container bottom 26A. The terminal unit 48 includes two insulated extraction terminals 5 penetrating into and out of the container.
2 and 52 are provided, and these terminals 52 and 52 are connected to heater terminals 54 and 54 provided below the unit mounting plate 38 and electrically connected to the heater 44 by wires 56.

The lower ends of the lead-out terminals 52, 52 are connected to a heater power supply 60 via wirings 58, 58 detachably mounted by screws 62. It is supposed to. The terminal unit 48 and the unit mounting plate 38
Are integrally connected by connecting connecting rods 64 and 66 extending from opposite sides with screws 68. Therefore, FIG.
By removing the screw 42 fixing the unit mounting plate 38 to the container side and the screw 50 fixing the terminal unit 48 to the bottom 26A side as shown in FIG.
The mounting table 40 and the terminal unit 48 including the above can be integrally removed from the container 26. Container 2
A cooling jacket 70 for flowing, for example, cooling water and cooling the same is provided in the mounting table mounting step 34 of No. 6. Also,
A gas introducing nozzle 72 for introducing an inert gas, for example, N ₂ gas, into the container and an exhaust port 73 for exhausting the atmosphere in the container are provided on the side wall of the container 26. And an exhaust system 78 provided with a turbo molecular pump 74, a dry pump 76, and the like. The other side wall is provided with a wafer loading / unloading port 82, and the gate valve G for communicating with and blocking the common transfer chamber 4 therefrom.
3 are provided.

Next, referring to FIG.
4 will be described. As shown in FIG. 5, the oxide film removal processing chamber 14 is configured as an RIE (Reactive Ion Etching) plasma apparatus, and has a processing container 84 formed into a bottomed cylindrical body with aluminum, for example. Inside, a mounting table 88 made of a conductive material such as aluminum, which is supported on the container bottom 84A via an insulating material 86, is provided, and constitutes a lower electrode. A high-frequency power source 1 for generating plasma of 13.56 MHz, for example, is connected to the mounting table 88 via a power supply line 102 on the way of an open / close switch 98 and a matching box 100.
04. On the upper surface of the mounting table 88, for example, an electrostatic chuck 90 made of polyimide having a conductive foil embedded therein is provided.
2 and a high-voltage DC power supply 96 via an open / close switch 94, and when necessary, attracts and holds the wafer W on the electrostatic chuck surface by Coulomb force. Further, a focus ring 106 is provided on the periphery of the upper surface of the mounting table 88 so as to surround the periphery of the wafer W on the same plane, so that uniformity of plasma processing in the wafer surface is ensured. ing.

The mounting table 88 and the electrostatic chuck 9
The lifter pins 108 are provided so as to be able to penetrate vertically and penetrate in the vertical direction, and lift and lower the wafers W when loading and unloading the wafers W. An extendable bellows 110 is provided on the lower surface of the mounting table 88 in a gas-tight manner through a bellows hole 112 provided in the container bottom 84A.
10, so that the lifter pin 108 can be moved up and down while maintaining the airtightness in the processing container 84. In addition, a ceiling plate 116 is provided airtightly on a ceiling portion of the processing container 84 via a sealing member 114.
Further, the ceiling plate 116 is provided with a shower head 120 having a diffusion plate 118 therein to form an upper electrode. On the lower surface of the shower head 120, a gas ejection surface 124 having a large number of ejection holes 122 is provided. On the side wall of the shower head 120, a cooling jacket 126 for cooling the head portion by flowing, for example, cooling water is provided.

An H ₂ gas supply system 130 used when H ₂ gas is used as an etching gas and a BCl ₃ gas supply system used when BCl ₃ gas is used as an etching gas are provided at a gas inlet 128 above the shower head 120. 32 are connected, and each system is connected to the H through a mass flow controller 134 and an on-off valve 136 on the way.
₂ gas source 138 and BCl ₃ gas source 140 are connected. Here, using H ₂ gas as the etching gas in forming a blanket aluminum layer in a later step, when forming the selective aluminum film, using BCl ₃ gas. In addition, as the carrier gas, for example, an Ar gas source 15
Ar gas from No. 4 is used, and although not shown, N ₂ gas for purging can also be supplied. An exhaust port 142 is provided around the bottom portion 84A of the processing container 84. The exhaust port 142 has a turbo molecular pump 146 and a dry pump in the middle thereof similarly to the water removal processing chamber 10 shown in FIG. An exhaust system 150 is provided with 148 interposed therebetween so that the inside of the container can be evacuated.

Further, a wafer transfer port 152 is provided on the side wall of the processing container 84, and the gate valve G5 for communicating with and shutting off the common transfer chamber 4 is provided here. Next, the gas component removal processing chamber 12 will be described with reference to FIG. The gas component removal processing chamber 12 separates and removes a processing gas, for example, BCl ₃ , attached to the wafer surface as described above. Except for the difference that an ultraviolet irradiation means is provided, FIG. Water removal processing chamber 1 shown in
Since the configuration is exactly the same as that of the configuration No. 0, the same portions are denoted by the same reference numerals and the description thereof will be omitted, and the ultraviolet irradiation means 156 will be described.

That is, the ceiling portion 28 of the processing container of the gas component removal processing chamber 12 has a large-diameter ultraviolet transmitting hole 158.
The transmission hole 158 has a transparent plate 16 made of a material transparent to ultraviolet rays, for example, quartz.
0 is provided in an airtight manner via a seal member 166. A lamp housing box 162 is attached to and fixed to the upper surface of the ceiling by a screw 164 via a pressing member 168 so as to cover the entire upper part of the transmission plate 160. An ultraviolet lamp 170 is housed in the lamp housing box 162, and the semiconductor wafer W provided on the mounting table 40 is moved to the lamp 170.
At the same time, the wafer is heated to a predetermined temperature, for example, about 300 ° C. by a heater 44 provided on the mounting table 40 so as to excite Cl ions or the like adhering to the wafer surface, thereby irradiating the wafer surface with ultraviolet rays UV. It can be separated from. In this case, the N ₂ gas and the H ₂ gas can be supplied from the gas introduction nozzle 72 into the processing container 26 as needed. And
The wafer loading / unloading port 82 provided on the side wall of the processing container 26 has
The common transfer chamber 4 is connected via the gate valve G4.

Next, based on FIG.
8 will be described. Since both the film formation processing chambers 16 and 18 are configured in exactly the same way, the first film formation processing chamber 16 will be described as a representative here as an example, and the structure of the second film formation processing chamber 18 will be described. Omitted. The film formation processing chamber 16 has a heat C
It is configured as a VD film forming apparatus, and has a processing container 172 formed into a cylindrical shape by, for example, aluminum.
A feed line insertion hole 174 is formed at the center of the bottom 172A of the processing container 172, and a peripheral portion is provided with a vacuum pumping system such as a turbo molecular pump 176 and a vacuum pumping system 179 provided with a dry pump 178. A connected exhaust port 180 is provided, and the inside of the container can be evacuated.

A disk-shaped mounting table 182 made of, for example, alumina is provided in the processing container 172.
A cylindrical leg portion 184 extending downward is provided at the center of the lower surface of the base 82.
The lower end of the leg portion 184 is hermetically attached and fixed to the periphery of the feeder line insertion hole 174 of the container bottom portion 172A using a bolt 188 or the like with a sealing member 186 such as an O-ring interposed therebetween. You.

A resistance heating element 190 made of, for example, carbon coated with SiC is embedded in the entire upper surface of the mounting table 182, and a semiconductor wafer W as an object to be processed mounted on the upper surface side is mounted thereon. It can be heated to a desired temperature. On the upper surface of the mounting table 182, there is provided a thin ceramic electrostatic chuck 192 in which a conductive plate (not shown) such as copper is embedded. The Coulomb force generated by the electrostatic chuck 192 causes The upper surface holds the wafer W by suction.
Note that, instead of the electrostatic chuck 192, a mechanical clamp may be used to hold the wafer W, or this may not be provided. The resistance heating element 190 includes:
The insulated lead wire 194 is connected, and this lead wire 1
94 is the inside of the cylindrical leg portion 184 and the feeder line insertion hole 174.
Through the open / close switch 196 and connected to the power supply unit 198. Also, the electrostatic chuck 192
An insulated lead wire 200 is connected to the conductive plate (not shown), and the lead wire 200 is also drawn out through the inside of the cylindrical leg portion 184 and through the feeder line insertion hole 174, and through the open / close switch 202. Connected to high voltage DC power supply 204.

A plurality of lifter holes 206 are provided at predetermined positions in the periphery of the mounting table 182 and the electrostatic chuck 192 so as to penetrate in the vertical direction. The wafer lifter pins 208 are accommodated therein, and the lifter pins 208 are moved up and down by a lifting mechanism (not shown) when loading / unloading the wafer W.
The wafer W is lifted or lowered. Generally, three such wafer lifter pins 208 are provided corresponding to the peripheral portion of the wafer.

A ceiling plate 212 integrally provided with a shower head 210 is hermetically attached to the ceiling of the processing vessel 172 via a sealing member 214 such as an O-ring. Mounting table 182
Are provided so as to face each other so as to cover substantially the entire upper surface of the. The shower head 210 is for introducing a processing gas into the processing container 172 in a shower shape.
A number of injection holes 216A for ejecting the processing gas are formed on the injection surface 216 on the lower surface of the nozzle 10.

The shower head 210 is mounted on the ceiling plate 212.
Is provided with a gas introduction port 218 for introducing a processing gas, and a supply passage 220 for flowing the processing gas is connected to the introduction port 218. In the shower head 210, a first diffusion plate 224 having a large number of diffusion holes 222 is provided for the purpose of diffusing the processing gas supplied from the supply passage 220. A plate 226 is provided for each.

A cooling jacket 228 through which, for example, a coolant flows to cool the wall surface is provided on the side wall of the processing container 172.
Is provided, and hot water of, for example, about 50 ° C. is made to flow as a coolant. Also, this container 172
A part of the side wall of the wafer is provided with a wafer loading / unloading port 230,
Here, the gate valve G6 for communicating with and shutting off the common transfer chamber 4 is provided.

Further, a liquid mass flow controller 240 and a vaporizer 242 using H ₂ gas as a vaporizing gas and a carrier gas are sequentially provided in the middle of the supply passage 220, where the liquid DMAH is vaporized and the processing vessel 172 is vaporized. It is designed to be supplied inside. In the supply passage 220 downstream of the vaporizer 242, for example, a tape heater 244 (shown by a broken line in the drawing) for preventing reliquefaction is provided, and this is heated to a predetermined temperature, for example, about 45 ° C. ing. still,
Here, the stock solution of DMAH is heated to, for example, about 50 ° C.
What is necessary is just to reduce the viscosity and feed it in this state.

Next, the cooling processing chamber 20 will be described with reference to FIG. The cooling processing chamber 20 is a processing chamber that cools the wafer W heated by the film forming processing in the film forming processing chamber 16 or 18 to the handling temperature. The cooling processing chamber 20 has a processing container 246 molded into a cylindrical shape with a bottom, for example, made of aluminum. A cooling table 248 made of, for example, aluminum is provided inside the processing chamber 246, and a wafer W can be placed. For example, a coolant at 25 ° C.
For example, a cooling jacket 250 for flowing cooling water to cool the cooling water is provided, and the wafer W mounted on the upper surface is cooled to, for example, about 50 ° C.

The cooling table 248 is provided with lifter pins 252 that can be moved up and down through the cooling table 248. When the wafer W is loaded and unloaded, it is raised and lowered to lift the wafer W. , Carry it down.

In the processing container 246, the ceiling plate 25
4 is hermetically attached via a seal member 256 so as to be detachable, and an exhaust port 258 is provided around the container bottom 246A. The exhaust port 258 has an exhaust port provided with a turbo molecular pump 260 and a dry pump 262. System 264
Is connected so that the inside of the container can be evacuated.
A gas nozzle 266 for supplying an inert gas, for example, an Ar gas, is formed on one side wall of the processing container 246, and a wafer loading / unloading port 268 is provided on the other side wall. The above-mentioned gate valve G8 for communicating and shutting off is provided.

By the way, among the above-mentioned processing chambers, safety measures against the leaked gas must be taken for the processing chamber which has a risk of leaking the processing gas to the outside. Therefore, each processing chamber, specifically, the oxide film removal processing chamber 14 using BCl ₃ as a processing gas, the first and second film forming processing chambers 16 and 18 using DMAH, and the BCl ₃ gas are transferred to the wafer. As shown in FIG. 1, an airtight box 270 is provided around each of the processing chambers around the gas component removal processing chamber 12 to be excluded from the surface. Each hermetic box 270 has the same configuration, and FIG. 9 shows an hermetic box 270 provided in the oxide film removal processing chamber 14 as an example. The hermetic box 270 is for preventing the processing gas from leaking to the surroundings, so that the hermetic box is not required to be so airtight, and a clean gas inlet 272 for introducing clean air into a part of the hermetic box 270 is provided. Is provided, and a gas exhaust port 274 is provided at a portion remote from the gas exhaust port 274. By connecting the gas exhaust port 274 to a factory exhaust duct, the airtight box 270 is provided.
A gas flow is generated in the entire interior, and in the event that a leaked gas is generated, the processing gas is discharged to the factory exhaust duct along the gas flow.

Next, the operation of the present embodiment configured as described above will be described. First, the overall flow of the semiconductor wafer W will be described with reference to FIG. First, since the aluminum film easily reacts with air or moisture to form an oxide film, each of the processing chambers 10, 12, 14, including the common transfer chamber 4,
16, 18, and 20 are maintained at a high degree of vacuum, for example, about 5 × 10 ⁻⁶ Torr as a base pressure when not used,
The formation of a natural oxide film is prevented. When the unprocessed semiconductor wafer W is loaded into the first cassette chamber 6 through the gate door 1 in a state of being accommodated in the cassette C from the outside, it is sealed, and the inside of the first cassette chamber 6 has the above-described base pressure. Vacuum until When the pressure reaches the base pressure, the gate valve G1 is opened to extend the transfer arm 24 in the common transfer chamber 4 which is maintained at the base pressure in advance, to take out one unprocessed wafer W, and to rotate it by the rotation positioning mechanism. 22
Alignment is performed by detecting the orientation flat of the wafer. Wafer W after alignment
Is transported again through the gate valve G3, which has been opened using the transfer arm 24, into the moisture removal processing chamber 10 which has been preliminarily adjusted to the base pressure, where it adheres to the wafer surface by heating the wafer W. Vaporized moisture and the like are removed.

Next, the wafer W from which water has been removed is carried into the oxide film removal processing chamber 14 maintained at the base pressure in advance through the gate valve G5, and adheres to the wafer surface by etching. Remove the native oxide film. Here, when a selective aluminum film is formed in a subsequent step, for example, a BCl ₃ gas is used as an etching gas, and when a blanket aluminum film is formed, for example, an H ₂ gas is used as an etching gas.
When BCl ₃ gas is used as an etching gas, C
Since l ions and B ions, particularly Cl ions, adversely affect the electrical characteristics of the aluminum film, these ions must be completely removed from the wafer surface. Therefore, the wafer W after the etching using the BCl ₃ gas is:
Next, it is carried into the gas component removal processing chamber 12 which has been made to have a base pressure in advance through the gate valve G4, where B ions and Cl ions are excited by heating and ultraviolet irradiation,
These are separated from the wafer surface and eliminated.

Next, the wafer W from which the gas components have been removed is introduced through the gate valve G6 or G7 into the first or second film forming processing chamber 16 or 18 which has been previously set to the base pressure. Thus, the two film forming processing chambers 16 and 18
The reason for providing is to improve the throughput in view of the time required for the film forming process. When H ₂ gas is used as the etching gas instead of BCl ₃ gas in the oxidation removal processing chamber 14, the wafer is directly passed through the first or second wafer without passing through the gas component removal processing chamber 12. It will be carried into the film formation processing chamber. For the wafer carried into the film formation processing chamber 16 or 18, for example, a gas obtained by vaporizing DMAH (dimethyl aluminum hydride) is used as a processing gas, and an aluminum film is formed at a predetermined temperature by CVD processing here. Will be.

Next, the wafer W after the formation of the aluminum film is carried into the cooling processing chamber 20 maintained at the base pressure in advance through the gate valve G8, where it is cooled to a predetermined handling temperature. . Then, the processed wafer W is stored in the cassette C in the second cassette chamber 8 maintained at the base pressure in advance via the gate valve G2. In this way, unprocessed wafers are sequentially flown and processed, and during a film forming process requiring a relatively long processing time, the throughput is improved by using the vacant film forming processing chamber.

Next, specific processing in each processing chamber will be described individually. First, the water removal processing will be described with reference to FIGS. In FIG. 2, the wafer W mounted on the mounting table 40 is heated by energizing a heater 44 embedded in the mounting table 40 from a heater power supply 60. At this time, the heating temperature of the wafer W is, for example, about 400 ° C., the internal atmosphere is an inert N ₂ gas atmosphere, and the pressure is set to, for example, about 5 × 10 ⁻⁶ Torr. The water on the wafer surface is vaporized by the heating, and the vaporized water is removed by suction by the exhaust system 78. The processing time depends on, for example, the processing temperature, but is set to about 180 seconds when the processing temperature is about 400 ° C. During the processing period, a coolant is caused to flow through the cooling jacket 90 provided in the processing container 26 to prevent the temperature of the processing container 26 from excessively rising, thereby maintaining safety.

When the maintenance of the moisture removal processing chamber 10 is performed, the unit mounting plate 38 is attached to the mounting table mounting step 34 as shown in FIG. Screw 4 for mounting and fixing
2 and the screw 50 for attaching and fixing the terminal unit 48 to the container bottom 26A is removed, and the unit mounting plate 38 is pulled up to connect the connecting rods 66, 6
The terminal unit 48 integrally connected through the terminal 4 can also be taken out integrally. At this time, needless to say, the wiring 58 connecting the heater power supply 60 and the lead terminal 52 is removed in advance. In this manner, the unit mounting plate 38 supporting the mounting table 40 and the terminal unit 48 can be integrally removed, so that the maintenance work of the heater 44, the mounting table 40, or the terminal unit 48 can be easily performed. Become.

Next, the oxide film removing process will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 5, a wafer W mounted on a mounting table 88 is adsorbed and held on a mounting surface by a Coulomb force generated from an electrostatic chuck 90, and in this state, a lower portion is supplied while an etching gas is supplied from a shower head 120. 13.56 M from the high frequency power supply 104 to the mounting table 88 as an electrode
A high frequency voltage of Hz is applied, plasma is generated between the high frequency voltage and the shower head 120 as the upper electrode, and a plasma etching process is performed. Here, as described above, when forming a selective aluminum film in a later step, BCl ₃ and Ar gas are used as etching gases, and when forming a blanket aluminum film, H ₂ gas is used as an etching gas. At this time, the etching conditions are BCl ₃ and A
When flowing r gas, BCl ₃ is 400 SCCM, Ar
About 100 SCCM, and when flowing H ₂ gas, about 100 SCCM.
The etching process is performed at a temperature of about 150 mTorr and a wafer temperature of 60 ° C. or less for about 60 to 240 seconds. In this case, a coolant is caused to flow through the cooling jacket 126 to cool the shower head 120 so that the shower head 120 is not excessively heated.

Next, the gas component removing process will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 6, the wafer W placed on the mounting table 40 is heated to a predetermined temperature, for example, about 300 ° C. by the heater 44, and at the same time, for example, the wavelength is emitted from the ultraviolet lamp 170 of the ultraviolet irradiation means 156 located thereabove. The UV light of 254 nm is emitted, and this UV light passes through the transmission plate 160 and irradiates the wafer surface. With the synergistic effect of heating by the heater 44 and irradiation of ultraviolet rays,
BCl ₃ molecules, B ions, C attached to the wafer surface
Gas components such as l ions are excited to a higher energy order,
This is equal to or more than the bonding energy with the wafer surface, is separated from the wafer surface, is sucked from the exhaust system 78 and is eliminated.

At this time, the inside of the processing vessel 26 is set to an H ₂ gas or N ₂ gas atmosphere, and the process pressure is 5 m to 1 m.
It is maintained at about 50 mTorr. Although the process time depends on the process temperature and the intensity of ultraviolet UV, when the wavelength is 254 nm and the light intensity is 30 mW / cm ² as described above, the process is performed for about 180 seconds. Note that, in this apparatus, the unit mounting plate 38 and the terminal unit 48 can be integrally attached to and detached from the processing container 26, thereby improving maintainability. This is the same as in the case of the gas component removal processing chamber described above.

Next, a process for forming an aluminum film will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 7, the wafer W mounted on the mounting table 182 is suction-held by Coulomb force from the electrostatic chuck 192. In this state, the wafer W is heated to a predetermined process temperature, for example, 200 ° C. by the resistance heating element 190, and at the same time, DMAH is used as a processing gas.
Vaporized gas from the shower head 210 to the processing vessel 172.
, And a CVD film of aluminum is formed on the wafer surface. At this time, the process pressure is maintained at, for example, about 2 Torr, and the DMAH is, for example, 100 SCC in gaseous terms.
Supply about M.

When supplying the processing gas, the raw material liquid 23
4 is pumped from the tank 232, and is vaporized by the vaporizer 242 with H ₂ gas which is both a vaporized gas and a carrier gas, and the generated vaporized gas is introduced into the processing vessel 172 as described above. During the film formation, the processing container 172
For example, a coolant of about 50 ° C. is caused to flow through a cooling jacket 228 provided on the side wall of the cooling device, and is cooled to a safe temperature.

Next, the wafer cooling process will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 8, the temperature of the wafer W immediately after the film formation processing placed on the cooling stand 248 is about 200 ° C.
For example, a coolant having a temperature of about 25 ° C.
The wafer W is cooled down to a handling temperature of about 0 ° C. In this case, the pressure inside the processing container 246, for example, 1
An inert gas of about Torr, for example, an Ar gas atmosphere is used to suppress generation of an oxide film. As described above, in the present invention, when performing pre-processing and post-processing required during the CVD deposition of an aluminum film, a plurality of processing chambers corresponding to these processings are collectively provided around the common transfer chamber 4. Since the processing is continuously performed without exposing the wafer to the air on the way, it is possible to form an aluminum CVD film having excellent quality and electrical characteristics.

Further, the processing chambers 12, 14, 16, and 18 which may use or leak the processing gas are individually housed in, for example, an airtight box 270 as shown in FIG. , Even if the processing gas leaks,
Since an air flow from the clean gas inlet 272 to the gas outlet 274 flows in the box 270, the processing gas is removed accompanying the flow, and safety can be improved. In this regard, a conventional general cluster tool device employs a structure in which a plurality of processing chambers are all housed in one hermetic box.
Since the capacity of the hermetic box itself becomes very large, and the suction effect of the factory exhaust duct is not sufficiently exhibited, the leaked processing gas is not sufficiently sucked into the factory exhaust duct side, and in the worst case the operator side There was also a risk of leaking into

However, since the processing chambers are individually covered with the hermetic boxes 270 as in the present invention, the capacity of each box is very small. It is possible to remove by aspiration, and accordingly, it is possible to improve safety accordingly. In addition, in the conventional airtight box, when maintenance of one processing device in the cluster tool device is performed, the operation of all the other processing devices must be stopped. When the individual processing chambers are covered with the hermetic box, the operation of only the processing chamber to be maintained may be stopped, and the other processing chambers can be maintained in the operating state, and the throughput can be improved. For example, when the maintenance of the first film forming process chamber 16 is performed, the operation of only the process chamber 16 may be stopped, and the second film forming process chamber 18 can maintain the operating state. Can be continued. The method of forming TiN by CVD is roughly classified into a method using an organic Ti compound and a method using T
There is a method using an inorganic halogen compound such as iCl _4. However, when Al is formed using DMAH as a raw material gas, the electrophilicity of Al atoms is large, and impurities in TiN (about 0.1 to 3% ), Which has a large number of electrons, accelerates the nucleation process in the early stage of CVD and enables uniform film formation. The effect of the membrane treatment is observed.

In the above embodiment, the cluster tool device capable of selectively performing the selective aluminum film formation and the blanket aluminum film formation has been described. Suit equipment may be used. An example of such a cluster tool device is shown in FIG. 10. In the case of blanket aluminum film formation, BCl ₃ is used in the oxide film removal processing chamber 14.
Since no gas is used, there is no need to form an airtight box here, and further, it is not necessary to provide the gas component removal processing chamber 12 (see FIG. 1) itself for removing the BCl ₃ gas remaining on the wafer surface. It should be noted that in FIG.
Although only one is described, two may be provided as in the case shown in FIG. In addition, in FIG. 1 and FIG. 10, three or more film forming chambers may be provided to further improve the throughput. In addition, the present invention is not limited to the case where the film is formed on a semiconductor wafer, and is of course applicable to the case where a film is formed on another object to be processed, such as an LCD substrate or a glass substrate. Further, as a base film, CVD-T
iN or TiCl ₄ that does not require pretreatment etching can be used. Further, in the above embodiment, the first and second film forming processing chambers 16 and 18 are both used as processing chambers for forming an aluminum film. It may be used as a processing chamber for forming a base film of the same material as the substrate surface, for example, a TiN film or a TiW film over the entire surface. As the processing gas, T
When forming an iN film, for example, TDEAT of an organic gas is used.
And TDMAT and He, NH ₃ MH, etc. can be used. As the inorganic gas, TiCl ₄ and IPA, MMH, M
H, H ₂ or the like is used. By providing the processing chamber for forming the base film in this manner, after forming the base film, a blanket aluminum film can be formed in the next aluminum film forming processing chamber without exposing the base film to the atmosphere. Water and oxides in the atmosphere do not adhere, and it is not necessary to perform pre-etching to remove them.

As described above, according to the cluster tool device of the present invention, the following excellent functions and effects can be exhibited. Or using a process gas during processing, or by covering separately by intake and exhaust possible airtight box processing chamber that occurs not only improves safety since effectively be eliminated the atmosphere in the box, the maintenance target Since the operation of only one processing chamber can be stopped and the other processing chambers can be operated, the throughput can be improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view showing a cluster tool device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram illustrating a moisture removal processing chamber.

FIG. 3 is a plan view showing a unit mounting plate of the heater unit.

FIG. 4 is an exploded view showing a detached state of the heater unit.

FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram showing an oxide film removal processing chamber.

FIG. 6 is a configuration diagram showing a gas component removal processing chamber.

FIG. 7 is a configuration diagram illustrating a film formation processing chamber.

FIG. 8 is a configuration diagram showing a cooling processing chamber.

FIG. 9 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a state where an airtight box is provided in a processing chamber.

FIG. 10 is a schematic configuration diagram of a cluster tool device according to another embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 Cluster tool device 4 Common transfer chamber 6 First cassette chamber 8 Second cassette chamber 10 Water removal processing chamber 12 Gas component removal processing chamber 14 Oxide film removal processing chamber 16 First film formation processing chamber 18 Second film formation processing Chamber 20 Cooling chamber 24 Transfer arm 44 Heater 48 Terminal unit 156 UV irradiation means 170 UV lamp 270 Airtight box 272 Clean gas inlet 274 Gas exhaust W W Semiconductor wafer (workpiece)

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Toru Ikeda 6-5-11 Hiyoshidai, Tomisato-cho, Inba-gun, Chiba (56) References JP-A-6-21196 (JP, A) JP-A-6-61148 ( JP, A) Fully open 1986-85143 (JP, U) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) C23C 14/00-16/56 H01L 21/205 H01L 21/285 H01L 21 / 302 H01L 21/31 H01L 21/68

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A plurality of processing chambers that use or generate a processing gas when performing processing on an object to be processed, and the processing chamber is connected to each of the chambers so as to be able to communicate and shut off in common. In a cluster tool device having a common transfer chamber for loading and unloading, each processing chamber that uses or generates the processing gas is individually accommodated in an airtight box capable of introducing and discharging a gas, and the inside of this airtight box is A cluster tool device configured to discharge the atmosphere of the cluster tool. 2. The processing chamber includes an oxide film removal processing chamber that removes a natural oxide film attached to a surface of the processing object by using a processing gas by etching, and a processing gas on the surface of the processing object. A film forming process chamber for performing a film forming process by using, a gas component removing process chamber for removing an etching gas used in the oxide film removing process chamber, and a process in the film forming process chamber.
Prior wherein among the processing chamber you a base film over the entire surface of the object, the cluster tool apparatus according to claim 2, characterized in that it comprises at least one. 3. The processing chamber for forming the underlayer film is made of TiN.
A film or a TiW film is formed, and the film forming process chamber is made of aluminum.
3. The method according to claim 2, wherein a blanket film is formed.
Cluster tool device.